Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Computerized Cognitive Training In The Treatment Of Depression: Individual Differences And Perceptions Of Cct, Sophie Schiff

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Major Depressive Disorder is a serious mental health disorder that affects 8% of adults in the United States. Adults aged 18-29 are at an elevated risk with a prevalence of 12%. Depression is most often characterized by mood symptoms, however, individuals with depression often also present with cognitive weaknesses on objective neuropsychological measures across several domains. These deficits are not only associated with mood symptoms, but significantly interfere with treatment and have been found to persist even with successful treatment of affective symptoms. Research into interventions directly targeting cognition has increased in recent years. While traditional first-line treatments for depression, …

Late-Life Depression: The Interplay Between Cerebrovascular Risk, Cortical And Subcortical Atrophy, And Treatment Response, Dakota Egglefield

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Late-life depression (LLD) is associated with poor response to antidepressant medication treatment, cognitive impairment, cerebrovascular disease, and brain changes both in white and gray matter. Of particular interest is the vascular subtype of LLD, vascular depression (VD). Although LLD and VD have received considerable research attention, there are still areas that must be further clarified to adequately characterize aspects of LLD and VD that provide valuable information for possible interventions. Such areas include a stronger understanding of the moderating role of brain atrophy and changes in cognition in treatment response in LLD. This dissertation consists of three separate studies aimed …

Perceptual Expectation, Rebecca Keller

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

You are currently seeing many things, and, hopefully, you are currently about to see many other things. Many of the things that you are about to see will not be surprising, because you expect to see them. Sometimes, though, when you expect to see one thing and are faced with another, that thing will look like the thing you expected it to be, and not like the thing it actually is. This dissertation is an attempt to get a handle on what is happening in the visual system in these instances. In particular, I am trying to figure out what …

Challenging Beliefs: Examining The Efficacy Of Corrections For Conspiratorial And Partisan Misinformation, Ava Zwolinski

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The threat of misinformation is widely acknowledged among researchers and laypeople (NORC, 2021). When misinformation coalesces with conspiracy theories, the repercussions can be especially dangerous, sometimes even fatal. Events such as the January 6th insurrection and the Buffalo Tops Supermarket shooting were both, in part, inspired by misleading information and conspiracy theories (Burke, 2022; Dawsey, 2023). While misinformation involving conspiracy theories is recognized as possibly posing a greater threat to correction efforts (Lewandowsky, 2021a), no study has yet experimentally manipulated the presence or absence of conspiratorial elements within misinformation. This dissertation explores whether conspiratorial misinformation is more difficult to correct …

Claiming The Right To Belong: Diversity And The Politics Of Inclusion In Queens, New York, Susan J. Tanenbaum

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines social integration in a diverse civic and political mainstream. The social science research on intergroup contact in U.S. cities undergoing significant demographic change tends to focus on encounters between members of majority “in-groups” and minority “out-groups” in the context of workplaces, neighborhoods, and families. I contend that civic politics is another compelling strategic site for observing intergroup contact between emerging and established players. My study presents three cases of claims-making activity during the post-9/11 period in New York City’s borough of Queens, where close to 50% of the population is foreign-born and no single racial group predominates. …

Love In The Time Of Dating Apps: Exploring Latino Young Adults’ Experiences Constructing Online Identity, Partner Preferences, And Plans For Happily Ever After, Dakota Z. Ross-Cabrera

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines how Latino young adults navigate dating apps; construct their dating app profiles, select partners and develop preferences, and conceptualize their futures. While earlier dating app research explores these themes with quantitative data or with non-Latino samples, the qualitative experiences of Latino young adults have been broadly excluded. Latinos are a large portion of the dating app market, and their relationships, outcomes, and future family formation are integral to understand. Drawing on 60 qualitative interviews with Latino young adult dating app users, I find that app users encounter five stages of dating app usage including constructing and often …

Féminas Speaking Up: Three Papers On Feminine Transgender Identities, Gender Identity Activism, And Language Reform In Lima, Peru, Ernesto Cuba

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this three-paper dissertation, I explore the linguistic and discursive practices of Féminas, a leading transgender rights activist organization based in Lima, Peru. Building on scholarship on language ideologies (Irvine & Gal, 2000), queer linguistics (Motschenbacher, 2011), and socio-onomastics (Ainiala & Östman, 2017), I analyze the role that language beliefs and language-in-use plays in performing local (trans)gender identities and shaping grassroots politics within this specific community of practice (Eckert & McConnell-Ginet, 1992). Based on an extensive corpus of semi-structured interviews and ethnographic material gathered during my long-term investigation with Féminas, I present three studies exploring distinct –though related– ideologically-driven sociolinguistic …

Investigating The Impact Of Affect In Suicide-Specific Attentional Biases, Beverlin Rosario-Williams

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Objective: Biased processing of suicide-related information has been implicated in risk of future suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Although previous studies have classified this biased processing, the tasks used to examine these biases cannot definitely specify which attentional processes are related to risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Therefore, via two independent studies, this dissertation sought to distinguish suicide-specific attentional engagement and disengagement biases from other forms of cognitive processing, such as accessibility of suicide-related stimuli and threat bias toward and away from socially threatening stimuli. Additionally, this dissertation investigated under which affective conditions suicide-specific engagement and disengagement biases emerged. …

Relationship Quality, Predictors, And Outcomes In Adolescent Age-Gap Relationships: An Exploratory Study, Alexandra Bonagura

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Despite the ubiquity of age of consent laws and the importance of understanding age-related vulnerabilities for sexual exploitation, few researchers have directly examined abuse in adolescent age-gap relationships. This study sought to expand the understanding of these relationships through an exploratory, mixed-methods, online survey focusing on retrospective accounts of adolescent age-gap relationships. Using the survey platform Prolific, information from a sample of 120 U.S. adults who had engaged in a romantic or sexual relationship during adolescence with an older person at least five years their senior was collected. Results suggest differing pathways for these relationships including abusive relationships, more normative …

Association Of Autistic Traits And Psychiatric Symptoms In Children With A Fragile X Premutation Allele: The Neurodevelopmental Profile, Ariel Zucker

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Throughout the lifespan, approximately 14% of males and 5% of females with a fragile X premutation (PM) (defined as 55-200 CGG repeats on the X-linked FMR1 gene) are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). For individuals that do not meet diagnostic criteria for ASD, autistic traits (ATs) are often present in this population and have been shown to have a subtle and sub-clinical presentation of social communication and interaction deficits. While less is known about the phenotype of children with a PM, studies have found increased rates of ASD and ATs in adults with a PM allele compared to controls. …

Bodies For Catastrophe: A Montage Study Of Palestinian Digital Labor, Francisco Ramos

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis investigates Palestinian digital labor through the method of montage. Digital labor, understood as bodily activity transfigured by digital machines into exploitable information, is examined within the context of Israeli surveillance technologies used against Palestinians. The study critically explores the dual political functions of these technologies: as tools of settler-colonial domination aiming to dispossess Palestinians, and as neoliberal mechanisms seeking to profit from the surveillance of Palestinian bodies. The second half of the thesis turns to the ways Palestinians engage with such technologies and unsettle the economic and colonial logics embedded in them.

The research is structured nonlinearly using …

Loneliness And The Urban American (Non-)Romantic, Sarah C. Cook

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Loneliness, also known as ‘perceived social isolation,’ is an increasingly common feeling among Americans. It can be critically unhealthy when chronic, and recent revelations about its health effects have garnered a significant amount of media attention. Although statistical evidence tells us that marriage is the strongest defense against loneliness, over a third of Millennials and Gen-Zers say marriage is outdated; and census data shows that living alone is both one of the fastest-growing demographics in America, as well as a relatively stable housing arrangement. After examining existing research and media reports on loneliness itself in some depth, including factors that …

An Analysis Of Relationships Between Demographics In Vermont’S Court Diversion Participants, Jennifer Hill

Student Theses

As solutions to mass incarceration continue to emerge, court diversion programs and specialty courts across the United States have grown as alternative options to the traditional criminal legal system. The State of Vermont has been utilizing court diversion programs for over 50 years to address harm in their communities. Court diversion has proven to be effective in reducing recidivism, improving cost efficiency and connecting individuals to their communities. However, what has gone unexamined are the potential disparities in opportunities for diversion participation along demographic lines. This study utilized a chi-square test of independence to explore the relationships between age, gender, …

Corporate Social Advocacy: A Study Of Brand And Consumer Activism In The Era Of Social Media, Christa L. Taylor

Student Theses and Dissertations

As corporations recognize the importance of balancing profitability with social responsibility, the adoption of corporate social advocacy has become a critical approach for addressing pressing social issues, fostering trust, and enhancing brand reputation. Growing public pressure has forced corporations to take a more vocal stance on social and political issues. Considering that corporate social advocacy is an emerging trend and is viewed as a practice outside of a corporation’s standard business practices, organizations have been presented with a new challenge of achieving legitimacy in their advocacy and taking on an expanded role as corporate citizens. This study explores the ways …

Mental Health Stigma Related To Depression And Suicidal Behavior In Korean-Americans, Soo Min Kim

Student Theses

Despite the surge of the Korean population within the United States, the Korean-American population is significantly underrepresented in research when observed separately from other Asian groups. The Republic of Korea has had the highest suicide rate within the OECD nations for well over a decade (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development), and evidence suggests that the risk of suicidality may extend to Koreans living abroad (Kung, 2018). There is also evidence of high prevalence of depressive symptoms in Korean-Americans (Bernstein et al., 2011). In addition, Koreans are consistently demonstrated to hold stigmatizing beliefs about mental illness, however, very little research …

An Investigation Of Continued Contact Between Victim And Perpetrator After Sexual Violence, Maria Bates

Student Theses

Given the prevalence of sexual violence and child sexual abuse (CSA) it is imperative to accurately conceptualize victim experience following sexual violence. Rape myths do not provide an adequate understanding of victim behavior post-abuse/assault (e.g., Denne et al., 2013; Harsey & Freed, 2023; Romero-Sanchez et al., 2018; Russel & Hand, 2017), such as prescribing that victims of sexual violence would never hold contact with a perpetrator post-abuse/assault (e.g., Maurer, 2015; Shepp et al., 2019; St. George et al., 2022; Smith, 2023). Since research shows that many victims, particularly CSA victims, know the perpetrator, (e.g., Basile, 2020; Gewirtz-Meydan & Finkelhor, 2020; …

Turning Movements Into Markets: How Corporations Co-Opt Cultural Values For Profit, Anthony J. Capote

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, I explore how corporations engage in values-based marketing in the 21^st Century. It is hardly a new phenomenon for corporate advertising to co-opt popular cultural values and trends. With the rise of platform capitalism — under which digital platforms generate wealth by cultivating our online data and resell it to advertisers — as well as the political and social context of the Trump Administration, however, major corporations have entered a new phase in the marketing framework that aims to attract consumers based specifically on their cultural and political values. Using a mixed methods approach I explore …

Examining Visual Processing Of Hierarchical Figures Through Behavioral Measures And Pupillometry In Relation To Autistic Traits In Adults, Chloe Brittenham

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autistic traits in the general population are associated with differences in sensory processing, particularly within the visual domain. Previous studies examining global (i.e., overall gist) and local (i.e., detail) visual processing in relation to ASD have sometimes yielded contradictory findings yet converge on a common theme: slowed global processing and increased local bias associated with ASD. Despite this consensus, the mechanism underlying these differences remains unclear, whether it be differences in visual attention, higher or lower visual perception, and/or cognitive style. The use of traditional tasks and stimuli may further complicate the understanding of contributing …

Heteronormativity And Fair Housing: Comparing Housing Opportunities Among Cisgender And Transgender Women, Joseph E. Lara

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the American housing market, gender norms regulate access to safe and stable dwellings. When looking for a home, transgender communities, plagued by multiple vulnerabilities and politicized by conservative politicians, endure vastly different experiences than their cisgender counterparts. Despite an ongoing housing crisis, civil rights laws have widened homeownership opportunities for cisgender women, but transgender women face multiple obstacles to owning a home. How have gender norms influenced the housing market, and how have socially embedded heterosexism and cisgenderism benefited cisgender women over transgender women? This manuscript explores the cultural norms regulating the creation and access to housing, the history …

Essays On Monopoly Power In Housing Rental Markets, Goncalo Filipe Pessa Figueiredo Costa

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation consists of three chapters on market power in housing rental markets. It introduces the concept of dynamic monopoly power in housing rental markets, develops methods to estimate that form of market power, and uses its analytical lense over the New York City (NYC) housing rental market.

In the first chapter, I formulate a search model in which market frictions give landlords rent-setting (dynamic monopoly) power. This model incorporates search frictions in the spirit of Manning’s (2003) monopsonistic labor market framework. In this setting, the demand faced by individual landlords (i.e., residual demand) results from an equilibrium between tenants’ …

Empirical Essays On Retail Investors, Institutional Investors, And Anomalies, Yuqing Yang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation consists of five chapters on market efficiencies through retail and international mutual fund investors.

Chapter 1 This chapter briefly introduces this dissertation.

Chapter 2 This chapter Anomalies Never Disappeared: The Case of Stubborn Retail Investors delves into the “stubborn” retail investors and finds that anomalies traded against by retail investors never disappear in the long run, defying the conventional wisdom that anomalies are disappearing in recent years as market efficiency improves. Incorporating retail trading, I develop asset pricing models that surpass existing prominent models in explaining these long-run alphas. I hypothesize that retail investors exacerbate anomalies: the more …

Chipping The Blue Wall: The Effect Of Dogs On Police Officer Receptivity To An Employee Assistance Program, Kenneth M. Quick

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

There is substantial evidence that demonstrates the negative impact of stress on police officer mental health is increasing due in large part to perceived societal shifts in support for the police and trends in criminal justice reform efforts. While employee assistance programs (EAP) are the dominant mechanism for police agencies to address officer mental health, officers are reluctant to use them due to a combination of mental health stigma and organizational distrust. This dissertation studied police officer perceptions of an employee assistance program (EAP) and the effect of exposure to professionally trained dogs during an outreach session on indicators of …

Fornix Integrity And Reaction Time To Novel Scenes And Objects In Visual Recognition Memory, Melissa Elder

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The fornix of the hippocampus may play an important role in working and long-term visual recognition memory. Data from a study on the role of hippocampal subfields in visual recognition memory was used here in conjunction with diffusion tensor imaging of the fornix to assess the relationship between the fornix integrity and behavioral performance, including percentage correct and reaction times. Two tasks were employed to separately evaluate working and long-term visual recognition memory, using a combination of indoor and outdoor naturalistic scenes and everyday objects. The subjects included 32 healthy adults, aged 18-44 years whose tensor imaging tractography was obtained …

Me And Mathematics: “Doing What You’Re Talking About”: In Dialogue With My Family, Eden Morris

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper is a philosophically oriented accompaniment to my audio project (accessible through the following link: https://cuny.manifoldapp.org/projects/me-and-mathematics). Working together, the paper and audio collages form a call to action and a resource. My primary finding is the importance of doing what you’re talking about or exploring and implementing your ideas experientially. Doing what you’re talking about is important for effective teaching/learning and feeling in line with oneself. This working concept came to my attention during my research conversation with my oldest living relative, and then, again, with my youngest (non-baby) relative. This doing what you’re talking about is a way …

Cross-Linguistic Differences In Neural Encoding And Processing Of Stop Consonants: The Impact Of Language Experience On Attention Allocation, Aline Dos Santos Oliveira

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study aims to examine the intricate relationship between language experience and the neural processing of stop consonant speech sounds. Previous research has shown minimal differences in amplitudes and latencies of cortical Auditory Evoked Potentials (AEPs) to speech sounds across listeners from various language backgrounds. It is only towards the later latencies (around the P2 peak at 200 ms), that there have been suggestions of cross-linguistic differences. In addition, a recent study, observed an AEP difference between monolinguals and bilinguals when processing speech, specifically an "Nd effect”. The Nd effect, which is an increased negativity of the AEP is proposed …

Unveiling Iolanta: Blindness In Nineteenth-Century Opera, Nafset Chenib

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores the main tropes of representing and narrating blindness in nineteenth-century opera and fictional literature with a particular emphasis on Tchaikovsky’s 1892 one-act opera Iolanta, with its blind protagonist. Examination of the production history of Iolanta reveals that misrepresentations and misconceptions ingrained within Tchaikovsky's libretto and music have governed directorial choices, consequently giving rise to a homogeneous, predominantly unfavorable portrayal of blindness on the stage. I suggest an approach to the opera that is more consonant with the lived experience of blindness.

A Comparison Of The Islamophobic Experiences Of The Female Convert And Immigrant Muslims In America, Aliaa Dawoud

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study compares the Islamophobic experiences of female converts and immigrants in America. It is based on interviews with a total of thirteen women, six Muslim born ones and seven converts. Both groups included hijabis and non-hijabis. Unlike most other studies, in which the converts are mostly or exclusively converts from Christianity, two of the interviewees were converts from Judaism while another one was a convert from a Christian/Buddhist/atheist background.

This study argues that Islamophobia is primarily manifested in the form of pervasive everyday racism that is levied at both female converts and immigrants alike, largely in the form of …

Housing Displacement In Corlears Hook: From Naghtongh To One Manhattan Square, Don Macleod

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The displacement of residents from their homes in New York City began with the European settlement of New Amsterdam and continues to this day. This paper focuses on displacement in Corlears Hook, part of Manhattan’s Lower East Side from the violent extirpation of a Lenape settlement in 1643 New Amsterdam to the gentrification of a traditional working-class neighborhood along the East River propelled by the influx of luxury housing development. Throughout Corlears Hook’s long history, displacement has been caused by violence, well-meaning efforts to improve slum conditions, ham-fisted “urban renewal” projects that favored the wealthy and civic improvements that used …

Framing Teacher Migration: An Analysis Of Jamaican Media Coverage From 2016–2023, Denise Wiley

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The emigration of teachers from Jamaica has attracted significant media coverage highlighting an increase in resignations and vacancies in many classrooms. This paper analyzes media framing on the topic, and how such framing might preclude the exploration of policy alternatives to address the issue. Methods A qualitative content analysis was conducted on articles published between August 1, 2016, and September 30, 2023. Relevant articles were retrieved from the Gleaner digital archive. Using a survey instrument of 13 questions, a total of 78 articles were analyzed for coding. Results Four frames emerged from the analysis: crisis – urgent attention is required …

Twenty Years Of Community-Based College Success: Oral Histories From Practitioners, Partners, And Peer Mentors Supporting City University Of New York (Cuny) Students, Benjamin J. Carey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

For the past twenty years, community-based college success programs have supported a generation of young people entering all twenty-five City University of New York (CUNY) Colleges. As the country’s largest urban university system, CUNY has historically been a major engine of economic mobility for young people in New York City. However, gaps in academic preparation and navigational support have weakened student persistence and graduation rates. Community-based organizations (CBOs) that have provided college access support to New York City public school students since the 1980s began to extend their services into college to provide targeted interventions and improve student outcomes. Grounded …