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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

From Retribution To Restoration: An Analysis Of Restorative Justice As A Policy Reform Effort To Dismantle The School-To-Prison Pipeline In New York City Public Schools, Leigh T. Yartz Jan 2018

From Retribution To Restoration: An Analysis Of Restorative Justice As A Policy Reform Effort To Dismantle The School-To-Prison Pipeline In New York City Public Schools, Leigh T. Yartz

Senior Independent Study Theses

This Independent Study explores and examines restorative justice as a policy reform effort made by schools, specifically in New York City, to address a phenomenon known as the school-to-prison pipeline. While it has been found that zero tolerance policies fuel this pipeline through the criminalization of minor infractions, this study argues that using restorative justice policies to manage disciplinary matters within schools creates an avenue to dismantle this pipeline. This occurs through establishing a more inclusive school climate, thus leading to lower levels of punitive discipline and school push out, which ultimately lessens the rate at which youth come into …


Americanized Chinese Dishes As Heritage Food And Bridging Identities, Megu Itoh Jan 2018

Americanized Chinese Dishes As Heritage Food And Bridging Identities, Megu Itoh

Senior Independent Study Theses

Chinese food has become ingrained in the lives of everyday Americans. But while ordering Chinese takeout is now an ordinary occurrence, Chinese food culture still experiences the lasting consequences of discrimination in the United States. First viewed as the uncivilized other and later as the exotic other, the status of Chinese food has shifted overtime. Chinese food has also experienced changes in its actual form, adapting to the American palate by adjusting flavor and presentation. My research explores the ways in which this Americanized Chinese food has impacted the identities of Chinese restaurant workers, and continues to manifest change within …


Beyond The Breakfast Club: The Influence Of Breakfast Type On Cognition, Jillian D. Saccogna Jan 2018

Beyond The Breakfast Club: The Influence Of Breakfast Type On Cognition, Jillian D. Saccogna

Senior Independent Study Theses

The glycemic index (“GI”) of a food refers to the magnitude with which the food elevates an individual’s blood glucose levels, and this value can be used to calculate the glycemic load (“GL”) of a specific portion of food. Some evidence suggests that blood glucose levels may play a key role in self-control. Emerging research suggests that consuming low GI or GL breakfasts may enhance memory performance and result in greater levels of positive affect compared to high GI or GL breakfasts. Participants in the present study were randomly assigned to consume either a low GI/GL breakfast or a high …


The Influence Of Exposure To Unbalanced Sex Ratios On Perceived Vocal Attractiveness, Taylor N. Sikich Jan 2018

The Influence Of Exposure To Unbalanced Sex Ratios On Perceived Vocal Attractiveness, Taylor N. Sikich

Senior Independent Study Theses

The population sex ratio greatly impacts human behavior, especially mating patterns. Recent research shows that visual exposure to unbalanced sex ratios influences perceived facial attractiveness for opposite-sex faces. When opposite-sex faces are scarce in exposure, subsequent opposite-sex faces are rated as more attractive than when they are plentiful during exposure. The current work examines an auditory analog of this effect by exposing listeners to unbalanced ratios of male and female voices and measuring the perceived attractiveness of subsequently presented opposite sex voices. A 2x2 ANOVA was conducted with participant sex and sex ratio exposure as the between-subject factors. Results showed …


The Stigmatization Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder As Influenced By Gender, Evelina Alex Jan 2018

The Stigmatization Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder As Influenced By Gender, Evelina Alex

Senior Independent Study Theses

Children who are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder are inherently more vulnerable to stigma in ways that children without this diagnosis are. The current study was an experimental study in which attitudes towards children with and without Autism were measured through a vignette along with an attribution questionnaire. The purpose of the questionnaire, modified from Ling, Mak, & Cheng (2010) was to analyze peoples’ perceptions about the actions of children with and without Autism. The questionnaire examined sympathy, helping behavioral intention, punitive behavioral intention, perceived controllability, and anger. Disability status was defined as the first independent variable, with gender being …


Attachment Style And Romantic Satisfaction As Predictors Of Relationship Visibility On Facebook, Amanda I. Wells Jan 2018

Attachment Style And Romantic Satisfaction As Predictors Of Relationship Visibility On Facebook, Amanda I. Wells

Senior Independent Study Theses

The current study investigates the influence of adult attachment style on romantic posting behaviors on Facebook. Attachment theory has been widely used to examine behaviors and attitudes within romantic relationships, but little research has been done to extend these findings to the context of social media. A survey of 212 participants was conducted using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. The results of a linear regression analysis showed that attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety predicted lower levels of romantic satisfaction, a finding reflective of previous attachment research (Hazan & Shaver, 1987). Two separate regression analyses were conducted to examine possible predictors of participants’ …


An Analysis Of The Ego-Depletion Effects Of Emotion Versus Attention Draining Tasks: Even Emotionally Arousing Depletion Tasks Do Not Show An Ego-Depletion Effect, Savannah Binion Jan 2018

An Analysis Of The Ego-Depletion Effects Of Emotion Versus Attention Draining Tasks: Even Emotionally Arousing Depletion Tasks Do Not Show An Ego-Depletion Effect, Savannah Binion

Senior Independent Study Theses

The theory of ego-depletion has come under intense scrutiny within the past few years. Beginning around 2010, researchers conducted meta-analyses and large replication studies that have investigated this topic, and found a wide range of evidence for and against the existence of an ego-depletion effect. Although the goal has been to determine whether this effect exists or not, the research has proved that the answer may be more complicated than that. The purpose of the current research was to examine the different theories about self-control, and to test two specific depleting tasks against a control group. The depleting tasks were …


Manipulating Diversity: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Annalise Keating’S Intersectional Portrayal Of Race And Sexuality On The Primetime Television Show How To Get Away With Murder, Melany Le Jan 2018

Manipulating Diversity: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Annalise Keating’S Intersectional Portrayal Of Race And Sexuality On The Primetime Television Show How To Get Away With Murder, Melany Le

Senior Independent Study Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the intersectional portrayal of the character Annalise Keating as a black queer woman, navigating complex interracial relationships and highly institutionalized environments of legal and higher education systems throughout the first two seasons of How to Get Away with Murder. Utilizing ideological criticism, this research found that despite her marginalized identities, Keating carefully constructs her image to resemble a white, heterosexual woman in order to alleviate, or completely avoid oppression from the major institutions that govern her life and work. Additionally, Keating’s experiences and actions are unique within the world of How …


Real Fake News: The Colbert Report And Affective Polarization, Jeffrey J. Skoroda Jan 2018

Real Fake News: The Colbert Report And Affective Polarization, Jeffrey J. Skoroda

Senior Independent Study Theses

This Independent Study examines the relationship between political satire and affective polarization. Affective polarization is a newly growing form of political polarization wherein partisans are polarized based on mutual dislike for opposing partisans rather than ideological disagreements. Political news has been linked to this recent trend in polarization. Over the past two decades, political scientists have taken an interest in investigating the impact of political satire programs like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report through the same lens as traditional political news. These satirical news programs implement satire, a more complex form of comedy that can require more cognitive …


Big Book In A Small Pond: An Investigation Of Preschool Teachers’ Use Of Emergent Literacy Strategies When Reading Big And Typical-Sized Picture Books Aloud, Sara Beckstrom Jan 2018

Big Book In A Small Pond: An Investigation Of Preschool Teachers’ Use Of Emergent Literacy Strategies When Reading Big And Typical-Sized Picture Books Aloud, Sara Beckstrom

Senior Independent Study Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency with which preschool teachers use a variety of instructional strategies to promote students’ emergent literacy skills during group read-aloud time. These strategies included print-referencing, dialogic reading techniques, and Shared Book Experience practices. More specifically, the researcher compared the teachers’ use of these strategies when reading typical-sized books versus big books. A total of eight preschool teachers participated in this study. The researcher filmed each participant reading two children’s books aloud—one big and one typical-sized, and the videos were transcribed and coded for read- aloud behaviors. The teachers’ use of emergent …


Zero To Hero: Elite Burials And Hero Cults In Early Iron Age Greece And Cyprus, Alina M. Karapandzich Jan 2018

Zero To Hero: Elite Burials And Hero Cults In Early Iron Age Greece And Cyprus, Alina M. Karapandzich

Senior Independent Study Theses

Adulation of heroes, including the flawed, militaristic, authoritative men of Homeric epic, was an important feature of ancient Hellenic culture. This phenomenon is reflected in cults and shrines built in the Archaic period. How did these so-called “hero cults” form, and can Early Iron Age (EIA) elite burials form a connection between the tomb cults of the Late Bronze Age (LBA) and the hero cults of the Archaic and later Classical periods? The purpose of this study is to examine EIA burials whose elite goods and archaeologically visible tombs reflect the burial of a “heroic” person. In doing so, I …


Food For Thought: The Effects Of Past And Present Food Insecurity On Subjective Well-Being And Child Behavior, Jena C. Styka Jan 2018

Food For Thought: The Effects Of Past And Present Food Insecurity On Subjective Well-Being And Child Behavior, Jena C. Styka

Senior Independent Study Theses

Food insecurity arises when one does not have physical, social, or economic access to safe, sufficient, and nutritious food. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (2016), food insecurity affects 15.6 million U.S. households. Its effects go beyond the physical consequences that might arise from not having adequate nutrition, influencing subjective well-being and behavior in both adults and children. This 2 x 2 quasi-experiment investigated how current and prior food insecurity influenced depression, anxiety, stress, life satisfaction, and happiness in parents, as well as how it influenced child behavior. Results indicated that prior experiences of food insecurity resulted in …


Masculinity (De)Construction And Policing: A Comparative Study Of Representation, Policies, And Legitimacy, Sarah Huffman Jan 2018

Masculinity (De)Construction And Policing: A Comparative Study Of Representation, Policies, And Legitimacy, Sarah Huffman

Senior Independent Study Theses

The culture of policing oftentimes equates police competency with masculinity, valorizing physicality and bravery, but at the expense of other characteristics included in policework such as service and protection. The introduction of more female officers into police services leads the question as to how their increased representation (de)constructs traditional masculinist attitudes and affects gender inclusive policy and actions of a police service, encompassing police response to cases of domestic and sexual violence. This study investigates whether higher gender equity in a police service increases gender inclusive policy and actions by the police and whether this factor, in turn, increases public …


You've Got A Friend In Me: The Effects Of Lgbtqia+ Legislators On Same-Sex Partnership Rights In Latin America, Danica Genners Jan 2018

You've Got A Friend In Me: The Effects Of Lgbtqia+ Legislators On Same-Sex Partnership Rights In Latin America, Danica Genners

Senior Independent Study Theses

Scholars have debated how descriptive representation might operate as a vehicle for furthering minority rights. Rarely discussed in this literature is the role that the election of LGBTQIA+ politicians can have on overall approval of LGBTQIA+ rights within a country. This study aims to identify the various effects that LGBTQIA+ sexual minority federal representatives in Latin America have on public opinion on pro-LGBTQIA+ policies. Using a multi-year, cross-national survey of eleven Latin American countries my study tests whether the election of a LGBTQIA+ representative is related to more progressive views on same-sex marriage. This study finds that the election of …


Power, Profit, And Political Participation: How Neoliberal Rationality Limits Citizen Influence In A Democracy, Emma Woods Jan 2018

Power, Profit, And Political Participation: How Neoliberal Rationality Limits Citizen Influence In A Democracy, Emma Woods

Senior Independent Study Theses

Democracy’s promise is that citizens hold the ultimate power in government. However, the ascension of neoliberal rationality, an economic rationality that focuses primarily on economic growth with political activity being secondary or merely instrumental to economic growth, acts as a threat to that promise. This paper offers a critical analysis of political participation in a democracy, using two theoretical frameworks, liberalism and neoliberalism. Based in these theoretical frameworks, it provides an analysis of how changes in individual conceptions of self have institutional effects on politics. Laying out the framework of neoliberalism, tracing its ideological roots in liberalism and its subsequent …


Inclusion Of Blocking Power For A Complete Voting Power Analysis In The Imf, Shiwani Varal Jan 2018

Inclusion Of Blocking Power For A Complete Voting Power Analysis In The Imf, Shiwani Varal

Senior Independent Study Theses

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) calculates the voting power of a country by dividing the total of one member's votes by the total of all members' votes. This method of calculating the power of a state judges power as voting weight. However, voting weights are the total number of votes a country has in an institution, while voting power is the influence a country has on a policy decision. A better approach to calculate this voting power within an institution is by using voting power indices. However, literature only calculates the winning power, while voting power is defined as the …