Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Fantasy Versus Reality: A Twenty-First Century Film Series To Explore How The Absurdity Of Alternate Realities Affects The Individual In The Audience, Courtney Wunderwald

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

The purpose of this study was to understand how film viewers contextualize on-screen alternate realities with their personal perspectives, and if that is accurately represented by scholarly film critique. I then compared my findings with filmmaker interviews, which discuss their reasons for including specific imagery, symbols, and characters to evoke certain emotions or reactions from their audiences. My project aspired to offer a method that might redefine how viewers reflect on films and to open a discussion to gather data from audiences before assuming their reactions in film critique. I was always fascinated by the power of cinema, particularly how …

Pedagogy Of Pitch In L2 Blackfoot, Naatosi I. Fish

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Pitch in Blackfoot is characterized by the raising of relative pitch on a syllable in a word. Pitch is not a consciously recognized piece of information among native speakers or teachers. However, pitch is important as it impacts the meaning of words. This study looks at the efficacy of visual guides for Blackfoot pronunciation of pitch by second language learners. I hypothesized that use of visual assistance would improve pitch pronunciation in second language learners.

Subjects were nine Blackfoot learners recruited on campus. Participants were shown 15 words with images and asked to pronounce them. Subjects were then given pitch …

The Relationship Between Racing Experience And The Ability To Adhere To A Race Plan, Erika Ackerlund

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Before beginning a race, athletes formulate a plan for how they want to approach the event. Depending on the given athlete and/or race, this plan may be highly developed or composed of vague ideas. Aspects of a race plan may be formulated due to “exercise duration, race dynamics, or environmental conditions” (Wu, Abbiss, Pieffer, Brisswalter, & Nosaka, 2014).

I was curious what factors influenced an athlete’s ability to adhere to a race plan. I believe that some athletes are able to execute according to their race plan in the moment, while others are not. The null hypothesis was that racing …

Language Use In Totalistic Social Groups, Emily H. Allen

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

A totalistic social group is defined as a collection of individuals who share similar values and goals and who live together within intensive boundaries enforced by the group’s leadership and/or members themselves (Lifton 1969). The focus of this project is to better understand the effect of language on (I) a totalistic group’s social structure and (II) the ideologies and actions of members. The limited linguistic research on totalistic groups claims that leaders and members use language in order to enforce rules and beliefs, encourage conformity, and maintain as well as increase membership. By examining language practices in the US military, …

Face Perception And Identification, Audrey Aamot

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

The present research aimed to examine the combined effects of the own-race effect and own-age bias in relation to memory performance. The own-race effect suggests that individuals perform better when asked to remember faces of the same race as their own, as opposed to faces of a different race (Meissner, Brigham & Butz, 2005). Own-age bias is a tendency for individuals to perform better when remembering faces from the same age group as their own (Rhodes & Anastasi, 2005, 2012). It was hypothesized that when recognizing faces of a different age and race, memory accuracy would be worse, when compared …

Rocky Mountain High: An Investigation Of Downhill Snow Sports And Marijuana Use, Silas Phillips

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

What comes to mind when you imagine a ‘stoner?’ Most stereotype the term– some couch-bound, chip-munching slouch with a foggy gaze (and perhaps a goofy grin). Marijuana and its chemical effects hold an increasing presence in American minds. With full legalization of recreational use in 8 states and various degrees of medical legality in 18 others, the substance is caught up in a cultural shift. Our society is tackling the ethicality of marijuana, and the stigmas built around the drug are changing. What was once cited for ‘reefer madness’ is becoming (to some) a medical treatment, or just another way …