Cultural Taxation And College Students: Undergraduate College Students And Their Experiences With Unfair Cultural And Identity Taxation, Sherry Chowdhury

Senior Projects Spring 2021

A popular but burdensome commonality amongst minorities is the seemingly universal experience of bearing some mental or emotional burden as a result of our identities and membership in said minority group, where expectations are made of us to educate, endure, and explain culturally relevant issues. Amado Padilla (1994) initially coined this experience with the term “cultural taxation,” but specifically in relation to faculty of color and ethnic scholars who did double the work their White colleagues did in respective fields. As much past research on cultural taxation and identity taxation (Hirschfield & Joseph, 2012) has been conducted largely on faculty …

Reducing Youth Incarceration Through Protections In Childhood Development: A Case Study Of West Virginia, Claire Heather Virginia Lindsay

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Childhood Development is a trajectory that is subject to many risks and protections, enacted by a host of institutions, systems and actors. High rates of youth incarceration in the U.S. demonstrate one of the ways risk factors in childhood can lead to outcomes that are often very harmful to development beyond childhood. West Virginia has the highest rate of youth incarceration in the U.S. and therefore offers a unique look into what systems are at play when considering vulnerable youth populations. Through Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory I examine the various systems of childhood development and how they interact to affect …

The Role Of A Polyrhythm’S Pitch Interval In Music-Dependent Memory, Hadley R. Parum

Senior Projects Spring 2021

When listening to music, humans can easily and often automatically assess the perceptual similarity of different moments in music. However, it is difficult to rigorously define the way in which we determine exactly how similar we find to moments to be. This problem has driven inquiry in music cognition, musicology, and music theory alike, but previous results have depended on behaviorally mediated responses and/or recursive analytic strategies by music scholars. The present work employs the context-dependent memory paradigm as a novel way to investigate the extent to which listeners consider two musical examples to be similar. After incidentally learning words …

Caregiver Cues: The Role Of The Body In Infant-Caregiver Relationships, Anamaria Alvarez

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Touch, gaze, posture, and their synchrony between an infant and their caregiver are the means by which an attachment between the two is formed. The nonverbal elements of communication between the infant-caregiver dyad can explain the nature of their relationship and can serve as a tool for classifying attachment styles. Attachment Theory (AT) proposes that the attachment the infant forms with their caregiver establishes a model for relationships that the infant will carry into adulthood. This paper will untangle the underlying processes of the infant-caregiver relationship to make a case for refining the corporeal lens through which we view AT. …

Fitting In: A Study On Adolescent Identity-Uncertainty And Group Entitativity, Isabela Ixchel Cruz-Vespa

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Uncertainty-Identity Theory hypothesizes that the more uncertain people are about themselves, the more likely they are to identify with groups as a way to define themselves and guide their behavior. Research has shown that this identification can happen to an extreme level when the group is highly entitative, or provides clear expectations for how group members should behave, think and feel, thereby resolving their uncertainty. Adolescence is a development period defined by self-uncertainty, and therefore also heightened vulnerability to highly entitative, extremist groups. This experiment tests the prediction that adolescents who are experiencing high self-uncertainty will be more likely to …

Framing Narratives For Resilience: A Proposal On Utilizing A Narrative Intervention For Remote College Students, Dayveliz Hernandez Muztafa

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Globally, COVID-19 left students vulnerable to the mounting stress of balancing different role responsibilities all under one roof. This period of isolation negatively impacted people’s mental health: parents’ poor well being obscured their children’s needs with increased life demands, an increase of verbal aggression within these relationships were visible, and students reported higher levels of academic stress (PeConga et al., 2020; Prime et al., 2020; Lee et al., 2021; Horita et al., 2021). Because demands on parent-child relationships are high, resilience’s protective factors are at risk with low family cohesion (Rivera et al., 2008). Therefore, this proposal aims to ameliorate …

A Bilingual Advantage For Children With Autism: Effect Of A Bilingual Education On Set Shifting In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Chandler Flannery O'Reardon

Senior Projects Spring 2021

The proposed study will examine the effect of an early bilingual school environment on the set shifting abilities of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). More specifically, it will evaluate how an English-French bilingual education program affects the set shifting abilities of children with ASD compared to a monolingual English education program. Set shifting will be measured by the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) task both before and after the respective education programs. I hypothesize that there will be a main effect of both time point and education program on set shifting abilities such that (a) set shifting abilities will …

Online Education And The Socioeconomic Achievement Gap: A Solution Or A Problem?, Narain Darakananda

Senior Projects Spring 2021

The socioeconomic achievement gap refers to how students of lower socioeconomic status (SES) underperform academically relative to their higher SES peers. In addressing this issue, researchers have considered online learning as a potential solution. Because online learning platforms provide increased flexibility and access for students, some argue that online education will democratize education and narrow the socioeconomic achievement gap. As such, in recent decades, online learning has increasingly been used as an addition to and, in some cases, even a replacement for in-person learning. A closer examination of the subject, however, reveals that the widespread adoption of online learning may …

Merging The Waves: An Eclectic Approach To Practicing Acceptance And Commitment Therapy And Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Diksha Chittavidya-Ananda

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Surveys of major trends in psychotherapy reveal that the large majority of psychotherapists draw therapeutic strategies from a number of different theoretical orientations. Among the most endorsed theoretical orientations by contemporary therapists are cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and mindfulness-based therapies. Despite the widespread tendency for therapists to eclectically combine theories, few sources exist to guide therapists in cohesively using both CBT and mindfulness theories together in clinical practice. This paper will discuss the clinical and empirical rationale for (and against) using CBT in conjunction with acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and explore how both therapies can be systematically used together …

Undressing Evil: On The Language, Function, And Eradication Of Evil, Nelson Hilario

Senior Projects Spring 2021

How does one begin a discussion about evil? The question of evil is approached by different thinkers via fundamentally different routes, leaning on disparate methods, and asking distinct questions—the basis and intention of each inquiry differ. Nietzsche’s On The Genealogy of Morality shows us that the region of violence is language, that violence begins with language. This is Nietzsche’s categorical contribution to the study of evil: that “evil” belongs to the domain of language (in defining “evil,” contrasting “evil,” and developing a dialect to talk about “evil”). Furthermore, Nietzsche’s understanding of the role of guilt, and what one does to …

Communicating With Play: Helping Adults Recognize Separation Anxiety Disorder And Social Anxiety Disorder In Preschool Children, Katlynn Marie Shamro

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Despite well-founded and agreed upon evidence showing preschool-aged children experience anxiety (CDC, 2020), children ages 2-6 are continuously understudied, underdiagnosed, and undertreated for these disorders (NIMH, 2019). Researchers attribute this to the primarily cognitive, as opposed to behavioral symptoms of anxiety, communication deficits during the preschool years, and the nature of childhood amplifying already existing barriers to a diagnosis of anxiety. Because diagnosis is the first step to gaining access to mental health resources and early intervention mitigates symptoms and impaired functioning (Barstead et al., 2018), as well …

How Fast Are “Fast-Friends”? Do People Make Accurate Friendship-Relevant Judgements Of Strangers Within The First Minute Of Interaction, David Koehn Benson

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Impression formation involves the use of swift, automatic judgements in combination with slower controlled processing of incoming information to adjust those judgements. “Thin-slice” literature has also shown us that humans are capable of surprisingly accurate interpersonal judgements from small snippets of expressive behavior. Although friendship does take time to develop, assessing others along dimensions that seem to be related to friendship development during the acquaintance process often involves interpersonal judgements. This researcher sought to determine whether interpersonal judgements made in the first minute of zero-acquaintance interaction (strangers meeting) are accurate and resilient enough to resist adjustments made after a subsequent …

The Incorporation Of Indigenous Tradition In Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy: A Pathway To Cultural Inclusivity Within Mental Health, Angelo Adonnis Winings

Senior Projects Spring 2021

The use of psychedelic medicine has been a part of society and the evolution of humanity since the beginning of our existence. Throughout the years, these practices were integrated into cultures around the world throughout the years, as societal structures promoted traditional practices reflective of ritual and custom. One such practice that survived the test of time is the use of psychoactive substances to promote mental states that put the user in touch with spiritual ancestors as well as with the subtleties of the world around them. These practices included tribal usage in indigenous cultures from Africa, the Americas, parts …

Drag Participation As A Mechanism For Dealing With Minority Stress In Lgbtqia+ Populations, Sally E. Bass

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

“Light Skin Is The Right Skin? And Long Hair Don’T Care?”: An Investigation Of Colorism And Texturism Amongst Black And Latina Women, Rakim Griffin

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Conversations related to slavery and colonization can be difficult, yet they are necessary in order to address the negative impacts they still have on people of color today. Racial phenotypicality bias is one lasting racist practice that originated during slavery and colonization periods in Latin America and the United States. This form of bias operates by favoring and praising eurocentric phenotypes (such as light skin and straight hair) compared to afro-centric phenotypes (such as dark skin and afro-textured hair). Colorism and texturism (C&T) are two primary forms of phenotype biases that are specifically related to skin and hair. These two …

The Intersectionality Of Anti-Fat Prejudice, Lily Moerschel

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Abstract

Anti-fat prejudice has received little to no attention in social justice discourse. Fat Americans are discriminated against in healthcare, education and in the workplace. This discrimination includes, but is not limited to, lowered salary, unexplained termination from a job, unsolicited medical advice, body scrutiny, bullying, social exclusion, and being denied in vitro fertilization. Situating anti-fat prejudice in an intersectional framework will facilitate the dismantling of weight-normative doctrines. In the present study, participants completed a race IAT and a weight IAT, as well as a demographic questionnaire and the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM). Implicit racial bias was positively correlated …

The Pressure Cooker Of Higher Education: Multiple Predictors Of Pressure To Succeed Among Today's College Students, John Michael Richards

Senior Projects Spring 2021

This study was aimed at understanding the various factors that affect pressure to succeed amongst American college students, with an emphasis on the financial burden of tuition. Previous research on tuition costs demonstrates that the cost to attend university has steadily and drastically increased since the mid-1970s. Student well-being and satisfaction is considered in light of the many causes of stress in a student’s everyday life. The burden of tuition, familial pressure, and academic self-concept are discussed as dynamic factors in student pressure to succeed. Student well-being and the impact of stress on student learning is also introduced in the …

Clarifying The Relationship Between Instagram Use And Mental Health: Exploring The Role Of Individual Differences In Problematic Instagram Use And Goal Pursuit, Ana Guaba Perez

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Social media platforms are increasingly becoming part of the everyday life of Americans. The increasing use of social media platforms has been parallel to the declining mental health of adolescents, and young adults causing scientists and the public alike to wonder if there is a link between these trends. The aim of this study was to explore how the self-regulation framework can enrich social media research by taking into account individual differences in goal pursuit, and conflict. In addition, this study aimed to clarify the relationship between screen time and mental health. Social media use, mental health, and self-regulation strategies …