Psychology Commons^™

Confronting Ptsd In The Aftermath Of Abuse, Ayla A. Bilyeu

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This narrative follows a young woman through seven clinical sessions with a psychiatrist as she confronts her diagnosis of PTSD following abuse sustained in a romantic relationship.

Development, Line By Line: An Introspective Case Study On Narrative Identity And Development Through Poetry, Milla Miller

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Situated at the intersection of creative writing and psychology, this project analyzes the author’s adolescent poetry alongside her current work to explore psychosocial and narrative identity development. Specifically, the work contrasts poems written about developmental stages in process with those written in reflection of previous stages in order to reveal how the understanding of self evolves. In addition to the complexities revealed by these temporal differences, structural elements unique to the poems provide further levels of understanding: choice of form and figurative dexterity show cognitive and narrative advancement; themes reveal psychosocial conflicts; and repetition across a poetic lifespan identifies the …

Improving Student Outcomes In Introductory Formal Logic, Bryce Rosenwald

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Across a variety of educational settings, undergraduate introductory courses in formal logic tend to have high failure rates. In this paper, I explore practical, evidence-based steps that logic instructors can take to improve student outcomes. The topics covered are small class sizes, problem-based learning, clicker questions, group activities, and spaced practice. The effect of small class size is moderated by many variables, including each instructor’s unique characteristics and the pedagogical techniques used in large vs. small classrooms. Problem-based learning and clicker questions are determined to be excellent techniques for introducing content and furthering understanding of content, respectively. Small groups can …

Dungeons And Disorders: Destigmatizing The Mental Health Conversation, Wren Hart

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Games, especially tabletop role-play games, have often been used by individuals to explore parts of their identities or concepts that are bigger than they are. Dungeons and Disorders is an adventure module detailing the quest of heroes destined to save a land plagued by debilitating problems. Dungeons and Disorders combines this tendency with psychological information on mental health disorders, in order to begin destigmatizing the mental health conversation. Players of this module will get to explore dungeons based on mental health disorders, starting with obsessive compulsive disorder and culminating with depression. The final boss of Dungeons and Disorders is an …

Advancing Technology & Digital Lifestyles: Facilitating A Group Independent Study, Kailey Droz

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

For my senior capstone project, I facilitated a group independent study (ISP) through Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Washington University called Advancing Technology and Digital Lifestyles. A small group of students and I critically and creatively analyzed our relationship with technology, and its impacts on the individual, interpersonal relationships, culture, and society. Prior to facilitating, I did research within the fields of cyberpsychology, social psychology, communication studies, and media studies. I am sharing my syllabus and facilitation notes, my final project (two short stories), an annotated bibliography, and a reflection on the group ISP and my process.

Here …

Facial Action Coding System And Induced Compassion, Camille Fogel

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The present study investigated the differential effects of a brief compassion meditation compared to a brief mindfulness meditation on felt and facially expressed compassion while viewing images of suffering. Participants (N = 82) were randomly assigned to one of two meditation conditions designed to promote compassion and relaxation, or relaxation alone. Participants then filmed themselves as they watched a two-minute compassion-inducing video that depicted suffering from around the world. These participant videos were later coded using three-distinct facial coding schemes: Complex FACS, Simplified FACS, and intuition rating. Finally, participants responded to a battery of self-report items about the level of …