Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Does Alcohol Mediate The Relationship Between Sexual Victimization And Risk Perception In A Date Rape Vignette, Kaylee N. Flower, Antover P. Tuliao, Dennis E. Mcchargue

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The present study used a date-rape vignette to examine the relationship between prior victimization, drinking habits (AUDIT score), risk perception. This was part of a larger study that analyzed sexual victimization and aggression. The present study looked at the 913 college-aged women that self-identified as heterosexual and bisexual at 2 mid-western colleges. They completed a battery of surveys that identified relevant history and behaviors. Findings suggest that the problematic drinking variable (AUDIT) mediates the relationship between prior victimization and risk perception.

The Consequences Of Welfare Bans Of Drug Felony Convictions On Crime, Amanda Sughroue

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The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) was enacted in August of 1996, causing a major transformation in the US welfare system (1). • This study focused on one of the provisions, Section 115, which places a lifetime ban on receiving welfare through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) for those who are convicted of a drug felony in the states that adopted the provision. • About half of the states opted out of the ban. • The intention of the provision was to cut down on drug use and drug …

Using An Equilibrium Displacement Model To Simulate The Impact Of An Environmental Meat Tax On Grain And Livestock Markets, Regan Gilmore

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Research Question

What are the potential effects of imposing a hypothetical environmental tax on meat consumption, including beef, pork, and poultry, on the livestock and grain markets in the United States from farm to fork?

Faculty advisor: Azzeddine Azzam

This was the first half of my research project; the second half (with the results) is shown on the following poster: "Simulating the Impact of a CO2-equivalent Meat Tax on Grain and Livestock Markets" @ https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ucareresearch/151/

Infant Language Assessment Predicts Later Math Disabilities, Aaron T. Halvorsen, Dennis Molfese

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Prevention of cognitive disabilities currently remains out of reach. Yet, interventions are crucial to maximizing developmental outcomes later in life. To be effective, interventions must occur at the earliest age possible to mitigate potential developmental problems. This study is an attempt to identify newborn infants at risk for developing math disabilities later in life. Several studies used assessment tests at relatively late ages in order to predict future cognitive abilities (Aarnoudse-Moens et al., 2013; Kiechl-Kohlendorfer et al., 2013). More recent research used MRI scans of neonate brains to investigate the relationships between academic abilities and preterm births (Ullman et al., …

Gender Differences In Social Support, Self-Salience, And Mental Health, Ee Shin (Emily) Hum, Christina Falci

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Men and women tend to manifest distinct mental health outcomes. Specifically, women report higher levels of internalizing symptoms, such as depression and anxiety, whereas men report higher levels externalizing symptoms, such as alcohol abuse (Rosenfield, S., Lennon, M. C., & White, H. R., 2005; Rosenfield, S., & Smith, D., 2010). However, it is unclear what mechanisms shape the gender differences in mental health outcomes. This research will explore two key possible mechanisms: social support and self-salience. Our aims in this study are to examine how and why mental health outcomes vary by gender? And also to what extent do social …

Medieval Nemea: Building A Public Digital Resource, Lauren A. Vagts, Effie Athanassopoulos

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This site presents medieval ceramics from the excavations at the site of Nemea, in southern Greece. We have created a digital resource with results and artifacts from archaeological excavations conducted in the 1970s and 1980s, which have remained unpublished. The website incorporates a variety of materials, including excavation notebooks, maps, data bases, photographs, and 3D models of ceramics. Omeka was selected as the software for this project for several reasons. Omeka offers the Dublin Core metadata as a way to standardize and organize digital data, allowing its users access to a well-developed platform. Omeka is also an open source software …

Effects Of Parent Child Interaction And Language Stimulation On Children's Language Development, Rachel E. Timm, Helen Raikes

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Research Questions:

• Does parent positive regard relate to a child’s receptive language development?

• Does language stimulation relate to a child’s receptive language development?

• Does parent bookreading behavior (reading fluency, reading intonation/animation, comfort level, and child involvement) relate to a child’s receptive language development?

Measures:

• Preschool Language Scale-5 (PLS-5)
• Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-4 (PPVT-4)
• HOME Language and Literacy Scale
• Video Codes from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care

Results:

• Positive regard was not significantly related to the PLS-5 or the PPVT-4.
• The HOME Language and Literacy Scale was a significant predictor of the PPVT-4 and was related to the PLS-5 …

Masculinity And Body Shame: A Comparative Path Analysis, Amanda Dale

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A series of regression analyses were conducted to determine the direct and indirect relationships among individual difference variables to predict body shame at four levels. Tables 1 and 2 report which variables were significantly predictive at each level for men and women, respectively, while Figures 1 and 2 depict the structures of each trimmed model showing only the significant pathways to highlight the structural differences between the models.

The overall fit of the models for men and women were 51.11% and 44.16%, respectively. At the first level, predicting self-objectification, BMI, sexual victimization, and body evaluation were significant predictors for men, …

Usda-Unl Artifacts Roadshow: The Development Of A 2d Archive Of Great Plains Projectile Points, Maia Behrendt

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The Archaeological Survey is primarily concentrated through Federal and State lands. Nebraska like much of the Great Plains is overwhelmingly privately owned. As a consequence less than 1% of the state has been subject to professional survey. Private land owners, however, know of many archaeological sites that have not been documented. Engagement with the public about sites and about collected artifacts thus has the potential to greatly increase knowledge of the past.

Over the past three years the University of Nebraska and the USDA Forest Service have conducted “Artifacts Roadshows” to talk with land owners about private artifact collections. These …

Mediators Of The Relationship Between Depression And Alcohol-Related Harm: The Role Of Alexithymia, Impulsivity And Negative Reinforcement Outcome Expectancies, Andrew Brauer Mcgrath, Dennis E. Mcchargue Ph.D.

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Background and Objectives: The prevalence of alcohol misuse on college campuses is a considerable problem. Depression is commonly found to be related to increases in alcohol related harm; however, not frequently found to be directly related to increases in alcohol use. This pattern suggests that there are factors related to depression that exaggerate alcohol problems other than the association between depression and the amount of alcohol used. This study examined the relationship between depression and alcohol related harm in college binge drinkers, focusing on emotional, behavioral, and cognitive variables believed to mediate the association. The roles of alexithymia, impulsivity, and …

The Influence Of Emotional And Situated Social Cognition Factors On Consents To Search, Sarah A. Moody

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The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution holds that the government cannot conduct an unreasonable search or seizure without probable cause or consent. A surprising majority of people acquiesce to search requests and research is lacking in determining what factors play a role in these decisions. Findings from the current research on the roles of emotions and situated social cognition in consents to search may help police officers and other legal authority figures ensure against coercive or unfair consents. Based upon regression models constructed from the data, authority figures can alter their search requests to help prevent coercion. The current …

Differences Between Actors And Leaders In Terrorism, Allie C. Curttright

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This project examines the difference between those that leader terrorist organizations and those who carry out acts of political violence. The two main differences examined here are age and education level. The findings of this research are that leaders of terrorist organizations are older and more educated than those who carry out political violence.

Research Advisor: Dr. Kevin Smith

Emotion Regulation And Valance Bias, Drue Marr, Catherine Brown, Maital Neta

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In this study we wanted to look at the affects of emotion regulation on individual differences in valance bias. The ability to regulate emotions brings into question how difficult/easy it is for individuals that have a more natural positive bias/disposition to them, or have a more natural negative bias/disposition to them. We would expect someone with a negative disposition to have a more difficult time regulating his or her emotions, as evidenced by the elevated EMG levels and EDA readings that we acquired. The purpose of this study was to better understand the way one perceives surprised expressions, as surprised …

Chinese Students’ Perceptions Of Level Of Stress, Qinwei Veronica Zhang

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With a hope of providing more contextual effective and culturally appropriate services for Chinese and international students in the future, this descriptive study aims at finding out current Chinese students' perceptions of their experiences and stress in US colleges along with a variety of coping strategies they utilize to combat the stress during their process of adaptation and adjustment to the new environment.

Past Meets Future: Combining Gis, 3d Technologies, And Legacy Data To Reanalyze Ceramics At Copan, Honduras, Stephanie Sterling, Heather Richards-Rissetto, René Viel

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The archaeological site of Copán—a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Honduras—was a primary center for cultural and economic exchange in the Maya world from the fifth to ninth centuries. Our research investigates the sociopolitical climate of the city immediately preceding this collapse. This poster presents the results of a pilot study intended to evaluate the potential of using a combination of digital technologies and legacy data to reanalyze a subset of diagnostic ceramics from select sites outside of Copan’s urban core. Our methods involved:

(1) Applying photogrammetry to generate 3D models for approximately 30 potentially temporally-diagnostic ceramic types

(2) Digitizing, …

The Relationship Between Executive Attention And Spatial Working Memory In Adults, Erica Ness, Emily Franzen, James Thomas, Haily Sain, Lalah Mclaughlin, Lindsey Spohr, Greg Degirolamo, Anne R. Schutte

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The study examined the effects of executive attention on spatial working memory in adults using a location recall task. Attention is suggested to play a crucial role in maintenance of a remembered location in spatial working memory. Awh and Jonides (2001) found that reaction times to a presented stimulus were faster when the stimulus was held in spatial working memory. A subsequent study found that when holding a location in spatial working memory, tasks which shift attention cause memory performance to be worse for the remembered location. An ERP study by Awh and Jonides (2001) found similar response amplitudes between …

Population Neuroscience Approaches To Minority Discrimination And Health, Alleah Bouley, Alexander Johnson, Bethany Stoutamire, Elizabeth Straley, Jacob Cheadle

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Alleah Bouley, Alex Johnson, Bethany Stoutamire, Elizabeth Straley

UCARE Abstract: Academic Year 2015-2016

Advisor: Dr. Jacob Cheadle

Population Neuroscience Approaches to Minority Discrimination and Health

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The primary purpose of our research is to explore the effects of social exclusion and discrimination on the mental and physical health and wellbeing of sexual minorities (gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals). Addressing this complicated issue is a team effort, so participation in this project will provide a novel set of research experiences for participating undergraduates.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Our UCARE research will address two important questions. The first question we will address …

Nature As A Buffer: The Physiological Effects Of Exposure To Nature On Stress, Tyler J. Stading, Jeffrey R. Stevens

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Exposure to images of nature following a stressful event can reduce physiological measures associated with stress. The objectives of this study was to determine whether exposure to nature before the stressor can buffer the stress response. We varied whether nature or urban images were viewed before or after a stressor and measured galvanic skin response in our participants. We describe how order of presenting the stressor influences nature’s calming effect on physiology.

Precision Agriculture And Big Farm Data: Producer Adoption And Opinions, Michael H. Castle, Bradley D. Lubben, Joe D. Luck

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Using scarce resources to feed an ever-increasing world population in the climate of increasingly-volatile commodity prices has charged producers with the task of becoming more efficient. The answer to these problems may lie within technological advancements, through the usage of precision agriculture and the “big” data these technologies are capable of producing. These technologies are expected to have an enormous impact that could effectively allow farmers to produce more with less. As such, research regarding producer adoption and opinions of the technology are of great relevance. Furthermore, there is great debate over the data produced by these technologies; with the …

Inferring Task Based On Eye Movements: The Living Classifier, Jordan E. Marshall, Mallory Richert, Mark Mills, Michael D. Dodd

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Several studies, including Yarbus (1967), have found that various task instructions for viewing images influence visual behavior. This holds true for both experimenter driven and participant driven tasks. Research has also shown that classifier technology is capable of determining the task that was being performed based on the individual’s eye movements. Typically classifier technology is designed to perform tasks humans are known to be cable of performing. However, little research has been done on the human ability, or lack thereof, to determine task based on eye movements.

Purpose: To determine to what extent humans are able to classify task performed …

Engineering Outreach Education Through Social Media, Katie E. Meiergerd, Dagen Valentine, Jennifer R. Keshwani, Bradley Barker

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Familiarizing teachers and educators with Engineering and other related STEM fields is crucial in educating students, so ensuring teachers with access to these resources is important. The objective of this work is to identify ways to use social media to provide support to K – 12 educators interested in implementing engineering education with their students.

Parents' Perceptions Of Their Role In Early Childhood Health, Alejandra Ayotitla Cortez, Michelle Huesca, Mackenzie Sommerhalder, Brandy Clarke, Lorey Wheeler, Susan M. Sheridan

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The purpose of this study was to conduct exploratory analyses regarding parents’ perceptions of their role in the health of young children. This study also sought to understand the differences in parents’ perceived roles and their levels of concern for their children’s health status. Understanding such differences is critical to identifying specific areas that might require further intervention.