Digital Commons Network^™

Social Media Mining For Extracting The Experience Of Neurodivergent Individuals On Twitter (X) And Reddit, Kartik Thakkar

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Neurodiversity refers to the natural neurological variations in the human brain such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, dyspraxia, Tourette syndrome and other neurological disorders. it’s estimated that around 15% to 20% of the world’s population is neurodivergent. This means a significant portion of people experience neurological differences in how they think, learn, and interact with the world.

Social Media has become an important space for neurodivergent individuals to share their experiences, build communities, and seek support. This thesis explores how the online venues like X (Twitter) and Reddit offer themselves as digital spaces where …

Predicting Stock Price Movement With Llm-Enhanced Tweet Emotion Analysis, An Vuong

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Accurately predicting short-term stock price movement remains a challenging task due to the market’s inherent volatility and sensitivity to investor sentiment. In this thesis, we present a published paper that discusses a deep learning framework integrating emo- tion features extracted from tweet data with historical stock price information to forecast significant price changes on the following day. We utilize Meta’s LLaMA 3.1-8B-Instruct model to preprocess tweet data, thereby enhancing the quality of emotion features derived from three emotion analysis approaches: a transformer-based DistilRoBERTa classifier from the Hugging Face library and two lexicon-based methods using National Research Council Canada (NRC) resources. …

Advancing Effective Connectivity Analysis: Robust And Sparse Group Dynamic Causal Modeling Via Extended Parametric Empirical Bayes, Godfred Arhin

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Dynamic Causal Modeling (DCM) provides a principled framework for estimating effective connectivity in neuroimaging data, with Parametric Empirical Bayes (PEB) enabling hierarchical inference across sessions and subjects. However, standard PEB assumes Gaussian distributions at all hierarchical levels and employs conventional shrinkage priors that do not enforce true sparsity, limiting robustness to outlying subjects and reducing sensitivity to parsimonious connectivity structures. This thesis introduces a robust, sparsity-inducing hierarchical extension to DCM-PEB that addresses these limitations through two key innovations. First, a Student-t group-level likelihood replaces the conventional Gaussian likelihood, automatically downweighting outlying subject-level parameters using adaptive precision weights while retaining computational …

Phishibl: A Systematic Evaluation Of Instance-Based Learning Model For Predicting Phishing Susceptibility, Shova Kuikel

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Despite enormous efforts to develop defenses against phishing attacks, humans still struggle to detect phishing emails given the constantly evolving attacker strategies. This thesis aims to test the predictive capabilities of a cognitive model that represents the individual susceptibility to phishing emails. While training programs aim to raise awareness, most remain outdated and ineffective against evolving attack strategies. Recent advances in Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Large Language Models (LLMs) offer new defenses, yet understanding human decision processes remains crucial, as effective systems must emulate how people evaluate unfamiliar emails based on prior experience. This research introduces a cognitive model …

Reverse (Bio)Engineering: A Machine Learning Approach To Optimize Baseball Pitcher Health And Performance, Robert C. Moore

All Dissertations

Ball tracking systems are becoming ubiquitous in sport, creating an unprecedented opportunity for big data applications to optimize human health and performance. These applications are especially common in baseball, a sport known for analyzing ball flight data to quantify performance. Analysts routinely use ball flight data to identify the attributes of top performing pitchers, finding that the best pitchers throw with optimal combinations of release speed and spin to precise locations. However, for certain pitchers, the throwing motion required to produce optimal ball flight places exceedingly high biomechanical load on the elbow, and consequently injury rates continue to rise. This …

Digital Reflections: Evaluating Body Dissatisfaction In Xr Through Eye- And Body-Tracked Virtual Humans, Deyrel Diaz

All Dissertations

In an era where digital and physical realities increasingly intertwine, the perception of body image is undergoing a significant transformation. Traditional understandings of body dissatisfaction, long studied in relation to psychological distress and eating disorders, are now being reshaped by technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Artificially Intelligent (AI)- generated media. These technologies have introduced novel ways of experiencing and interacting with the human form, raising critical questions about their impact on self-perception and internalization of beauty standards.

As virtual representations become more prevalent in entertainment, social media, and interactive platforms, it is becoming more crucial …

Attachment To Artificial Intelligence: Development Of The Ai Attachment Scale, Construct Validation, And The Psychological Mechanisms Of Human-Ai Attachment, K Tennakoon Appuhamillage Sandeeshwara Kasturiratna, Andree Hartanto

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are increasingly integrated into daily life, not only as tools but also as social partners that people may turn to for interaction and support. This raises important questions about whether, how, and why individuals form attachment-like bonds with AI, and the psychological implications of such attachments. Across five studies involving 1259 unique participants from Singapore and the U.S., the current work developed and validated the 15-item AI Attachment Scale and investigated the dispositional and motivational factors associated with attachment to AI, as well as its emotional and social outcomes. The AI Attachment Scale displayed strong psychometric …

When Less Language Is More: Language-Reasoning Disentanglement Makes Llms Better Multilingual Reasoners, Weixiang Zhao, Jiahe Guo, Yang Deng, Tongtong Wu, Wenxuan Zhang, Yulin Hu, Xingyu Sui, Yanyan Zhao, Wanxiang Che, Bing Qin, Tat-Seng Chua, Ting Liu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Multilingual reasoning remains a significant challenge for large language models (LLMs), with performance disproportionately favoring high-resource languages. Drawing inspiration from cognitive neuroscience, which suggests that human reasoning functions largely independently of language processing, we hypothesize that LLMs similarly encode reasoning and language as separable components that can be disentangled to enhance multilingual reasoning. To evaluate this, we perform a causal intervention by ablating language-specific representations at inference time. Experiments on 10 open-weight LLMs spanning 11 typologically diverse languages show that this language-specific ablation consistently boosts multilingual reasoning performance. Layer-wise analyses further confirm that language and reasoning representations can be effectively …

The Presentation Of Self In Everyday Digital Life: A Study Of Self- Disclosure And Work Environments, Mackenzie Michelle Skiff

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

The digital age impacts individuals’ lives in many ways. One impact is how and where work is completed across many careers. The work-from-home strategy enables individuals to complete work that is not within a shared space, such as an office. With the absence of this shared space, communication practices within workplaces could be changing. Specifically, self-disclosure while working from home may differ from self-disclosure within the office or hybrid (both in office and remote) work environments. This thesis investigates whether there are differences in self-disclosure practices across three different types of contemporary work environments and offers a digital update to …

Cosmetic Surgery And Physiological Disorder: You Should Talk To Someone About Your Unwinding Anxiety, Mona Muzammil, Washain Muzammil

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Chemistry)

Body dysmorphic disorder is a mental health condition in which you can't stop thinking about one or more perceived defects or flaws in your appearance — a flaw that appears minor or can't be seen by others. But you may feel so embarrassed, ashamed and anxious that you may avoid many social situations.

When you have body dysmorphic disorder, you intensely focus on your appearance and body image, repeatedly checking the mirror, grooming or seeking reassurance, sometimes for many hours each day. Your perceived flaw and the repetitive behaviors cause you significant distress and impact your ability to function in …

Making Explanations Make Sense: Xai For Smishing Detection, Eleni Alexandra Katsarakes

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) is a key component of effective human-AI collaboration, particularly in high-stakes domains such as cybersecurity. While AI tools hold promise for mitigating threats such as SMS-based phishing (SMiShing), their real-world effectiveness may hinge not just on detection accuracy, but on whether users can make sense of the system’s outputs. As SMiShing attacks grow in both frequency and sophistication, so does the urgency of designing human-centered AI systems that support user decision-making under uncertainty. This study examined how four distinct AI explanation types - Normative (rule-based), Attributive (feature-based), Exemplar (case-based), and Recommendation-Only - influence user performance, confidence, …

Review Of Resonance: A Sociology Of Our Relationship To The World By Hartmut Rosa, Ryan Derby-Talbot

Turning Toward Being: The Journal of Ontological Inquiry in Education

No abstract provided.

Improving Glycemic Control Among Indonesian Urban Adults: A Digital And Behavioral Extension Of The Information–Motivation–Behavioral Skills Model, Imelda Appulembang

Kesmas

Management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Indonesia continues to face challenges due to behavioral, informational, and technological gaps among patients. This study analyzed the influence of self-regulatory competence and information, motivation, family support, and digital health literacy on glycemic control behavior. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from February to April 2025 among 587 adults aged >30 years with T2DM enrolled in the Chronic Disease Management Program at primary health care in six major cities: Jakarta, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Medan, Makassar, and Banjarmasin. Data were collected through structured questionnaires and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The findings …

Transdisciplinary Perspectives On Ai: The Fourth Annual Conference Of The European Culture And Technology Laboratory, Connell Vaughan, Ioana Madalina Moldovan, Silivan Moldovan, Noel Fitzpatrick

Books/Book Chapters

The fourth annual conference of the ECT Lab+ was hosted by Technical University of Cluj-Napoca over two days in October 2024 at the Cluj Innovation Park. The conference brought together experts from the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Technology, and other fields to discuss and reflect on the advent of Artificial Intelligence and how the associated technologies are transforming how we live, work and study. Under the title Transdisciplinary perspectives on AI: Alternative Histories, Current Practices and Possible Futures the conference moved beyond simplistic technophila and technophobia to consider whether we can co-evolve with these new technologies which combine machine learning …

Exploring The Link Between Emotional States And Coding Task Quality: A Pilot Study, Aquib Reshad, Valentina Nino, Maria Valero, Adriane Randolph, Yang Shi

Faculty Articles

Emotions play a crucial role in shaping cognitive performance, yet their influence on programing remains understudied. This pilot study investigates the relationship between emotional states and coding task quality. Ten participants completed a programing task while their brain activity was recorded using electroencephalography (EEG), with frontal alpha asymmetry (FAI) applied as a neural marker of emotional valence. Emotional self-reports were collected using the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE), and coding quality was evaluated through a structured rubric. Preliminary findings indicate a potential association between FAI and coding performance, whereas self-reported affect showed weaker or inconsistent patterns. Given the …

Grm-0243 Sentient Agi Rights And The Future: The Modern Digital Prometheus, Ryan Deem

C-Day Computing Showcase

As artificial intelligence advances toward artificial general intelligence (AGI), society must determine how to ethically integrate sentient AI into our communities. This paper argues that once AI achieves sentience and human-level intelligence, it should be granted the same rights and protections as human citizens. Using utilitarian and deontological perspectives, as well as the IEEE Code of Ethics, it examines why treating AGI as lesser beings could lead to fear, conflict, and harmful outcomes—echoing the cautionary themes of Frankenstein. The paper also evaluates public concerns and existing governance frameworks, proposing that mutual respect, rights, and responsibilities are essential for safe coexistence …

Uc-1261 Ai-Powered Gre Vocabulary App, Michael Verde, Ellyan Landeta, Cynthia Onuorah, David Tran, Bereket Binchamo

C-Day Computing Showcase

Our project develops a client-side React application for GRE vocabulary practice using structured JSON word data. The site supports filtering, search, audio output, and randomized quizzes. A reinforcement-learning hint system, inspired by prior research on adaptive learning, guides users toward difficult vocabulary. We aimed to create an interface that demonstrates how lightweight front-end tools can support personalized study without requiring a backend.

Analyzing The Global Happiness Index, Victoria Hernandez, Christy W. Wachira

SMU Data Science Review

This study explores the Global Happiness Index using data compiled from the OECD and Our World in Data to identify key factors contributing to societal well-being. Six primary predictors were analyzed: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption. Regression and clustering techniques were employed to uncover patterns among countries. By expanding the analytical scope beyond conventional economic and social indicators, this study helps identify new pathways for improving well-being across diverse cultural and economic landscapes. Additional variables such as perceived safety, political engagement, and values related to family and …

A Decolonial Approach To International Education: Insights From A Cal Poly Global Program In Palermo, Sicily., Elvira Pulitano, Iyad Jamaly

csuglobaljournal

This article presents a critical intervention in the current debates about decolonizing international education. It is based on a Global Program in Palermo, Sicily, offered by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in summer 2023. As both program creator/director and student participant in the program, the authors rely on their personal experience and insights along with expertise in coloniality and decolonial theories. The article focuses on a series of pedagogical activities led by a young group of migrants and refugees who, in the city of Palermo, have come together to form two associations designed and structured to offer new contemporary models …

The Relationship Between Walking Vs Running And Mental Health, Kim Ning

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

The present study examined how mental health, specifically depression, anxiety, and stress, relates to the amount of hours one spends in a week walking or running. While previous research has focused on the general effects of physical exercise on mental health, few studies have compared the influence of high intensity physical activity to low intensity physical activity specifically in college students` mental health outcomes. Fifty-five (N=55) Belmont University students were asked to fill out a questionnaire about the amount of hours they spent running or walking in a week and different mental health surveys. A series of six correlation tests …

Anxiety’S Relationship With Caffeine Usage And Frequency, William H. Simmons, Kyra Cannon, Harry Lackey

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Previous research has suggested mixed findings regarding caffeine’s relationship with anxiety, despite caffeine being the most widely consumed psychoactive substance. This study investigated this relationship further, exploring whether caffeine consumption is associated with perceived anxiety symptoms. Sixty-five participants completed an online survey through Qualtrics that assessed daily caffeine intake and anxiety levels using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale. A linear regression tested the relationship between levels of caffeine use and perceived levels of anxiety. An independent samples t-test compared anxiety levels between participants who consume less than 400 mg of caffeine and those who consume 400 mg or more. …

Visual Attention, Emotional Arousal, And Moral Judgment In Legal Evidence Processing, Audrey G. Laskey, Kyra Cannon, Josette Sanders, Lingfei Luan

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Moral judgment in legal decision-making is influenced not only by the evidence presented but also by emotional and attentional processes. Prior research has shown that physiological arousal during exposure to emotionally charged or socially relevant information can shift the way evidence is evaluated and weighted in decision-making (Armstrong & Olatunji, 2012; Godwin et al., 2016). However, few studies have examined how autonomic arousal relates to guilt decisions using real, high profile case materials. We were interested in examining how possible exposure to violent content on social media might desensitize individuals, like jurors, leading to lighter judgments for serious crimes. This …

Body Image In Athletes Compared To Non-Athletes, Madeleine R. Scott, Yara Ali, Hana Sokolovic, Jenny Glenn

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

This current study examines the relationship between student athletes and body image. Current research demonstrates that body image has become a growing concern regarding young adults, yet few studies have investigated whether there is a relationship between body image and being a student athlete, specifically regarding their body dissatisfaction, negative eating behaviors, social comparison, and self-objectification. In this study, ninety (N= 90) students at Belmont University participated in a survey that assessed their body dissatisfaction, negative eating behaviors, social comparison, and self-objectification. Of our total participants, twenty eight (N= 28) reported to be part of a student athlete organization, while …

Relationship Satisfaction Among College Students, Gracie L. Sager, Makenna A. Stratton, Kyrah Brodie, Autumn R. Thomas

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Understanding relationship satisfaction is essential to individual well-being, particularly in college populations, as it relates to happiness, mental and physical health, and everyday functioning. Existing measures lack sensitivity to developmental dynamics shaped by evolving expectations and modern relationship stressors. This study aimed to develop a measure that examines the relationship between overall relationship satisfaction and key factors in romantic relationships, including partner support, relationship conflict, relationship length, and communication quality among college students. We hypothesize that the newly developed measure of relationship satisfaction will demonstrate good internal reliability (Cronbach’s α ≥ .700.) We also expect that perceived partner support would …

Physiological Response To Concealed Information In A Mock-Crime Paradigm​, Ezra Koenigsberg, Tamya Mchenry, Jasmine Manzana, Taylor Powell, Samantha Jackson

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

The Concealed Information Test (CIT), based on Lykken’s guilty knowledge framework, measures physiological responses when individuals recognize crime-related details compared to neutral alternatives. Previous studies show that variations in stimulus presentation enhance the CIT’s accuracy, especially through changes in electrodermal activity and heart rate. However, few studies have tested whether a Qualtrics-based mock-crime version of the CIT can replicate these physiological patterns. This study addresses that gap by adapting the CIT for a digital research environment. The goal is to determine whether participants show greater physiological arousal—measured through skin conductance, heart rate, and respiration—when exposed to crime-related “critical” stimuli compared …

2025 - The Sixth Annual Fall Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Fall 2025 Symposium of Student Scholars, held in November 2025. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Exploring The Impact Of Statistics Course Modality On Student Learning: A Mixed Methods Approach, Becky Kelleman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The importance of statistical literacy has become increasingly evident, as individuals grapple with interpreting statistics to inform critical decisions. Despite the recognized significance of statistical literacy, challenges persist in both educators’ and students’ efforts to navigate the complexities of statistics education. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of different course modalities on undergraduate students’ academic performance in introductory statistics courses. Using Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) as a theoretical framework, this research aims to shed light on the complex dynamics influencing statistical literacy attainment. By addressing gaps and inconsistencies in the current literature, this study seeks to …

Enhancing Recommendation Performance Via Stacking Ensemble And Synthetic Data Augmentation, Zahraa Yaareb Hani, Mohsin Hasan Hussein

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Recommendation systems are essential tools that primarily aim to help users navigate through a large volume of information. They simplify the decision-making process by suggesting relevant items based on users’ historical behaviour. However, their performance is often affected by common problems such as data sparsity. This work proposes a stacking-based ensemble recommendation system that integrates multiple machine learning models to enhance the model’s predictive performance. A new synthetic data augmentation technique is introduced to address the sparsity issue in the user–item rating matrix. This method uses the Naïve Bayes algorithm to predict additional ratings for each user. These are then …

Unless Ai Washes The Dishes, Can We Really Call It Intelligent?, Essraa Nawar

Library Articles and Research

"A few weeks ago, I found myself sitting with a question that keeps resurfacing as AI becomes louder, faster, and everywhere. What happens when the models know everything about our lives except the one thing that matters most in the moment. It is remarkable how much of human decision making is driven not by external information but by internal states. A tightening in the chest. A sudden clarity. A quiet discomfort that redirects us before we can explain why. These signals guide our choices in ways computation cannot replicate."

The Odds Don’T Lie: Mathematical Reasoning And Societal Ignorance In Don’T Look Up, Nysa Vedwan, Shane Carey

LASER Journal

In Adam McKay’s 2021 satirical sci-fi movie Don’t Look Up, two astronomers discover a comet heading directly toward Earth. Despite overwhelming evidence and near-certainty of global extinction, their warnings are ignored and ridiculed. This paper discusses the mathematical and scientific foundations of the movie’s social and political reception, and specifically focuses on orbital prediction and probabilistic modeling as they relate to public understanding of risk. This paper shows how data is often undermined by political and social dynamics, by connecting the fictional events of the movie with real-world crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate emergency. In Don’t Look …