Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Collusion In Peer Evaluation, Suo Wang

Honors Scholar Theses

The exact consensual and impartial division function by DeClippel et al (2008) offers a procedure for dividing a fixed award among partners. The peer evaluation mechanism proposed by DeClippel et al (2008) offers participating partners incentives to tell the truth. This paper examines and demonstrates that, when agents form at most one coalition and report wrong values of the relative shares, they capture the total amount of money being divided and their share improves by exactly the same percentage. When multiple coalitions emerge, the division function fails to assign payoffs to each partner. This paper also includes a discussion of …

Exceptionalist-In-Chief: Presidents, American Exceptionalism, And U.S. Foreign Policy Since 1897, John A. Dearborn

Honors Scholar Theses

“American exceptionalism” has been an important part of presidential foreign policy, especially since the end of the nineteenth century when the United States emerged as a global power. I argue that presidents’ beliefs, rhetoric, and actions during their administrations reveal their attitudes toward exceptionalism. In this work, I propose four types of Presidential American Exceptionalism that presidents’ foreign policies since 1897 can be categorized into: messianic Americanism, messianic internationalism, realist exemplarism, and pragmatic moralism. I define these categories and explain them using case studies of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, and …

Delay Of Principle B In Spontaneous Speech, Kelcie Burns Reid

Honors Scholar Theses

There is a debate over whether children exhibit a delay in the development of Principle B, one of three chief binding principles. The present study examines spontaneous speech data from nine children and identifies Principle B errors in third person pronouns. The study uses spectrographic analysis on a sample of utterances to determine the frequency of cliticized pronoun use. The results found that children do not make Principle B errors in spontaneous speech, and that they do not use shortened pronoun forms more often than fully pronounced pronouns.

Urban Parking Economics And Land Consumption: A Case Study Of New Haven, Connecticut And Cambridge, Massachusetts, Bryan P. Blanc

Honors Scholar Theses

It has become increasingly apparent that providing copious off-street parking has deleterious effects on urban form and function. This study compares parking policy in New Haven, Connecticut and Cambridge, Massachusetts that have pursued very different types of parking policies that have resulted in different outcomes in terms of land use. Since 1951, off-street parking provision has increased by nearly 400% in New Haven, meanwhile both employment and residential population have declined in the city. In contrast, off-street parking provision in Cambridge has risen around 140% since 1952, while employment and residential populations in the city have increased by 50% and …

An Investigation Of Gender Differences In Pro-Environmental Attitudes And Behaviors, Sonja Plavsic

Honors Scholar Theses

Environmental responsibility has become an increasing concern in today's world. "Green" practices have become the norm with a growth in recycling options on school campuses and in cities, emissions restrictions for cars, and many brands positioning themselves as eco-friendly. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there are gender differences regarding pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors among college students as predicted by socialization and social role theories, ecofeminism, and social norms. Participants were 313 University of Connecticut students (124 male, 189 female) who took part in an online survey measuring their attitudes towards the environment and conservation behavior. This …

A Pilot Test On The Role Of Power In Mate Choice, Addison Zhao

Honors Scholar Theses

To test two competing theories, social role and sexual strategies, a study was proposed to have participants evaluate dating profiles that varied in agency, communion, and status. Power was also manipulated to test for effects on likelihood to date an individual. To test methods used for the proposed study, a pilot study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a power prime task, a manipulation check for the power prime task, the attractiveness of 24 pictures, and an analysis of 12 profiles. The study found that power priming with analogies did not significantly lead to participants feeling powerful. This finding …

A Comparative Analysis Of Paleoindian And Terminal Archaic Lithic Assemblages From Southeastern Connecticut To Determine Diagnostic Debitage Attributes, Colleen Mcalister

Honors Scholar Theses

The Paleoindian and Terminal Archaic periods can be differentiated on the basis of projectile point typology. This study was conducted to determine whether these two stone tool production periods could also be distinguished based solely on debitage, or the by-products of stone tool production. Goals included accurately analyzing and classifying stone tool flakes from an Early Paleoindian site, a Late Paleoindian site, and two Terminal Archaic sites, based on morphology, material, and possible geographical sources. The methods used here will help future researchers to classify sites as Paleoindian or Terminal Archaic in the initial site exploration phase.

Participatory Approaches To Purchasing Decisions Within The Healthcare System, Alana Dorris

Honors Scholar Theses

The main purpose of this study was to use sociotechnical and Macroergonomic principles to better understand purchasing policies and procedures at a large hospital. The study hypothesized (H1), that most purchasing is done through GPOs rather than manufacturers directly, and that GPOs are cost effective but impede innovation. It also hypothesized (H2), that this hospital, representative of the current healthcare purchasing process at most hospitals, has limitations to the amount of end-user participation in the purchasing decision process.

Community-Centered Design: Using Applied Research To Develop A New Identity For The Windham Harm Reduction Coalition, Celia E. Poirier

Honors Scholar Theses

This project combines design and communication in the development of a visual identity for a local syringe exchange program. Background research revealed the legal, political, and social controversy that these programs face in the United States. Despite resounding evidence of their effectiveness at preventing HIV, many exchange programs are highly stigmatized in their communities. A new visual identity aims to overcome residents' past misconceptions about Willimantic's syringe exchange, and promotes the program as a valuable resource in town.

Does The Early Bird Really Catch The Worm?: An Economic Analysis Of Application Factors For Honors Students At The University Of Connecticut, Mallika M. Winsor

Honors Scholar Theses

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test whether application date affects the probability that an entering UConn honors freshman will graduate with Honors.

Design/methodology/approach – Utilizing 1998-2007 Honors and Office of Institutional Research data, the effect of application date is examined using an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model in Microsoft Excel.

Findings – Results from and OLS model controlling for measures of academic ability and ambition suggest that applying between October and January increases an incoming honors freshman’s honors graduation probability by approximately 30 percentage points each. Application date is significant for Nurses, Engineers who took the …

Anxiety Symptoms In Individuals With High Functioning Autism, Jane C. Kelleher

Honors Scholar Theses

Research indicates a complicated relationship between anxiety disorders and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The current study examined the relationship between anxiety symptoms and ASD in 30 Optimal Outcome (OO) individuals, 33 High Functioning Autism (HFA) individuals, and 34 Typically Developing (TD) individuals. The groups were compared on the K-SADS measure of anxiety symptoms. The HFA group presented greater anxiety than both the OO and TD groups, and the OO and TD groups only differed on one anxiety symptom. Across all three groups, there was a significant association between greater anxiety symptoms and a higher level of social and communicative impairment. …