Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Political And Economic Feasibility Of An American Industrial Policy, Brian S. Driscoll '93

Honors Projects

An industrial policy is "any government measure that prevents or promotes changes in the structure of an economy." This paper provides an overview of the issue, by focusing on how government can encourage productivity growth in the economy.

By studying other countries we hope to learn how industrial policy might work in America. The obvious choice to model is Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), but other countries, most notably the British and the French, have adopted certain policies as well. On the whole, while Japan has been most successful, MITI may have more credit than is due, …

Causes And Effects Of Welfare Dependency, Chris Bisaillon '93

Honors Projects

The effect of welfare on work incentives has been a hotly debated topic since its inception in 1935. My research project examines the work incentive effects of an important component of the welfare system, namely Aid to Families with Dependent Children. I have done this by analyzing data drawn from a massive database of 12,800 youths called the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. I primarily use two theories for my analysis, the neoclassical theory of labor supply and the welfare-disincentive theory promoted by Charles Murray. These two theories allow me to formulate and test a number of hypotheses regarding the …

The Demand For Higher Education: A Cost/Benefit Analysis Of The Human Capitol Theory, Bruce T. Bennett '93

Honors Projects

I will attempt to identify the costs and benefits of the high school graduate using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth as the database. The study will be cross-sectional using those respondents born in 1964 or 1965. Using this data, I will formulate and test a number of hypotheses concerning the personal characteristics such as innate ability, family background, and other socioeconomic variables affecting the decision to go to college. Furthermore, I will explore the possibility of structural differences occurring between four groups - black males, white males, black females, and white females - to see if family background and …

The Degree Of Eating Disorder Pathology And Its Relation To Depression And Self-Esteem In A Nonclinical College Student Population, Derik M. Thieme '93

Honors Projects

Research on eating disorders has mainly focused on clinical populations and adolescents. In this study, a nonclinical sample comprised of female college students was studied. The relationship between eating disorder symptomatology and the variables of depression and self-esteem were examined using the following measures: (1) The Eating Disorders Inventory-2; (2) The Beck Depression Inventory; and (3) The Multidimensional Self-Esteem Inventory. A total of fifty-six subjects were studied. It was hypothesized that those subjects who scored higher overall on the EDI-2 would exhibit higher levels of depression and lower levels of self-esteem than those who scored lower overall on the EDI-2. …

Collective Security In The Gulf: An Analysis Of The Development Of The Gulf Cooperation Council And Regional Security As A Function Of The Council, David Michael Priess '93

Honors Projects

The region today referred to as the Middle East has always interested the greatest world empires. From the times of Alexander the Great through those of the Roman Empire, the Arab expansion, the Mongols, the Ottomans, and indeed right up to the present, this area at the crossroads of three continents has drawn the attention and interference of foreign peoples. Some of them came to conquer, others simply to pass through on their way to other locales, but all considered the area in some way important to their imperial and/or commercial goals and aspirations.

Tax Increment Financing: A Cost/Benefit Analysis For The State Of Illinois, James C. Joslin '93

Honors Projects

While there are many supporters of TIF, it is not without opposition. The highly respected Chicago Business letter, Crains, believes that "TIFs are one of the all time great economic development boondoggles in Illinois" (9/14/92). Many people also have the perception that 'TIF has been misused to finance 'sweetheart' deals with local developers at state expense" (Ayers 21). Whether this is true or not, there are clearly differences in the level of blight and deterioration among districts. Many argue that development would have occurred in some of these districts without the aid of TIF, and that these developments merely shift …

Foreign Direct Investment In Mexico, Yuet Wei Wan '93

Honors Projects

Over the last decade, Mexico's economy has been undergoing a series of exciting changes. In 1983, Mexico was still a highly inward-oriented economy with a government that was outspoken in its criticism of multinational cooperations. Today, Mexico ranks among the most outwardly-oriented developing economies of the world (Nunez 7). The present administration, under the leadership of President Salinas, has implemented significant changes aimed at liberalizing Mexico's policy towards foreign direct investment (FDI). The changes in Mexico's policy have been largely in response to the 1982 debt crisis and deteriorating economic conditions. This study deals with the way in which macro-economic …

Assessment Profiles Of Children And Adults Identified As Learning Disabled, Malanie Mcdiarmid '93

Honors Projects

This study examined four major assessment profiles associated with learning disabled (LD) students and adults: the discrepancy between Verbal and Performance Intelligence Quotient (lQ), with Performance greater than Verbal, the Bannatyne pattern, and the ACID profile, and a profile suggested by Ozols and Rourke (1988). The validity of these profiles was examined by using more reliable diagnostic criteria to avoid the methodological flaws present in other LD profile studies. Subjects were 120 children and adults defined as having an Academic Skills Disorder according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders-Revised (American Psychiatric ;Association, 1987) criteria. The subjects' performances …

State-Dependent Learning During Alprazolam Assisted Exposure: A Pilot Study Of Social Phobia, Patrick B. Mcgrath '93

Honors Projects

Social phobia is a newly defined disorder, and treatments for it typically involve pharmacotherapy or some form of in vivo exposure. When combining these therapies, there are three possible outcomes: No effect, an additive effect, or an interference effect. If additive, the pharmacotherapy will enhance the extinction of fear, and it will not increase the chance of relapse after drug discontinuation. If there is an interference effect, the pharmacotherapy will block extinction to the phobic situation, and there will be a relapse of anxiety when placed in the phobic situation in the no drug state. If this is the result, …

An Animal Model Of Alzheimer's Disease: Behavioral And Histological Assessment Following Bilateral Intrahippocampal Injections Of B-Amyloid (25-35), David E. Kang '93

Honors Projects

Pathologically, Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by deposits of neuritic plaques (NP) and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) typically found in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and basal forebrain. Increasing evidence suggests that the major constituent of NP, a B-amyloid protein(BAP) composed of 39-42 amino acids, possesses neurotoxic properties. It has been reputed that the neurotoxic properties of BAP(1-40) may be dependent on the aggregational state of the peptide. Recent studies have demonstrated in vitro that a fragment of the B-amyloid protein, BAP(25-35), disrupts intracellular calcium homeostasis, decreases neuronal survival, and potentiates the toxicity of excitatory amino acids (EAA). While some evidence supports …

The Effects Of Session Time And Satiation On The Form Of The Vi Response Function, Laura Campbell '93

Honors Projects

There has been considerable recent controversy over the empirical form of the function relating response rate to reinforcement rate on Variable Interval (VI) schedules. Some theories (matching, for example) predict a monotonic relationship between response rate and reinforcement rate. Other theories (behavioral economics, for example) predict a bitonic relationship. There is empirical support for both positions. Recently, Dougan, Kuh, and Vink (in press) have shown that session length is one variable which alters the form of the function. Functions were predominantly monotonic when sessions were short (10 minutes), and predominantly bitonic when sessions were long (30 minutes), when data from …