Digital Commons Network^™

A Perfect Escape: Fantasy, Place And Narrative In Adolescence, Cydney Cherepak

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

This essay explores the realms of special places, the literary genre of fantasy, narrative, and comics. These topics are traversed alongside subjects of adolescence and the creation of stories for middle-grade readers. Framed with personal stories, as well as peaks into my process, I investigate these subjects through the lens of my own life and work, specifically my thesis project, a comic for middle-grade readers titled Beyond the Castle Walls. Beginning with adolescence in association with special places, I consider the work of developmental psychologists David Sobel and Edith Cobb as they pin-point the role of secret forts, nature, …

The Significance Of Sonic Branding To Strategically Stimulate Consumer Behavior: Content Analysis Of Four Interviews From Jeanna Isham’S “Sound In Marketing” Podcast, Ina Beilina

Student Theses and Dissertations

Purpose:
Sonic branding is not just about composing jingles like McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It.” Sonic branding is an industry that strategically designs a cohesive auditory component of a brand’s corporate identity. This paper examines the psychological impact of music and sound on consumer behavior reviewing studies from the past 40 years and investigates the significance of stimulating auditory perception by infusing sound in consumer experience in the modern 2020s.

Design/methodology/approach:
Qualitative content analysis of audio media was used to test two hypotheses. Four archival oral interview recordings from Jeanna Isham’s podcast “Sound in Marketing” featuring the sonic branding experts …

The Hidden Power Of Images: An Allegory Of Chaos And Performance In The Digital Age, Livia Xandersmith

MFA in Visual Art

Within this text, I explore the hidden power of images in American visual culture through painting-based installations. I investigate images of the past and present juxtaposed in a surrealist landscape. Through the use of images in the news, entertainment, advertising, and images within the home, I depict how the problems of the past bleed into our perceptions of the present. I find that this cycle of problem inheritance connects us as humans regardless of time, generation, and place. In my work, I explore the complexity of image culture and its shifting presence within the digital age. Using surrealist collage, I …

Cross-Modal Perception Of Identity By Sound And Taste In Bottlenose Dolphins, Jason N. Bruck, Sam F. Walmsley, Vincent M. Janik

Faculty Publications

While studies have demonstrated concept formation in animals, only humans are known to label concepts to use them in mental simulations or predictions. To investigate whether other animals use labels comparably, we studied cross-modal, individual recognition in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) that use signature whistles as labels for conspecifics in their own communication. First, we tested whether dolphins could use gustatory stimuli and found that they could distinguish between water and urine samples, as well as between urine from familiar and unfamiliar individuals. Then, we paired playbacks of signature whistles of known animals with urine samples from either the same …

The Christian Approach To Psychology, Preston Keller

Student Works

This article analyzes the implications of the current worldview of contemporary psychology and demonstrates that these implications are not compatible with the worldview of a Christian approach to psychology. The contrast between Greek Naturalism and Hebrew Theism are presented as the historical foundations for the worldviews of contemporary psychology and Christianity, respectively. The ontological, epistemological, and ethical assumptions of a Christian approach to psychology are explored. The Christian approach to human flourishing, psychopathology, and psychotherapy are contrasted against contemporary psychology's approach to these three areas. The article concludes by suggesting that the field of contemporary psychology should make space for …

Chronotype, Shift Work, And Sleep Problems Among Emergency Medicine Clinicians, Emily L. Hirsh, Thomas W. Britt, Zachary Klinefelter, Justine Liptak, Cody Meyers, Katie Daniels, Lauren A. Fowler

Journal of Wellness

Introduction: Extensive research has demonstrated that shift work can be detrimental to sleep. Chronotype, the preference for time of day to sleep or be active, can influence how we function at different times of day and how shift work impacts us. This study was designed to assess the chronotype of emergency physicians (EPs) and emergency advanced practice providers (EAPPs) and examine how chronotype was related to sleep problems and shifts worked over a three-month period.

Methods: A survey assessing chronotype and sleep quality was sent to 225 EPs and EAPPs in a single, large academic Department of Emergency Medicine. An …

Children’S Ability To Understand And Respond To Wh- Questions About The Mechanics Of Abuse, Kaileigh P. Conti

Student Theses

One type of forensically-relevant information that can be difficult to obtain is that pertaining to the “mechanics of abuse.” More specifically, information that includes the descriptions of body positioning and clothing placement. Generally, the recommended strategy for questioning children in legal and forensic settings is to use broad invitations (e.g., “Tell me everything that happened”) and wh- questions (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how). However, when it comes to the mechanics of abuse, there is some conflicting evidence. Some research suggests open-ended wh- questions are best in cases where the mechanics are hard to describe (e.g., intermediate clothing placement) …

Reaching For The Stars: A Constructivist Investigation Of Astrology As A Tool For Self-Discovery In A New Age Of Leadership, Cameron Martin

Dissertations

To fully understand leadership in today’s world, we need a radical reconceptualization of the developmental process required to lead. Changing paradigms demands new perspectives on leadership; these new paradigms suggest leaders must turn inward and develop knowledge of their inner selves to realize their full potential as leaders.

Astrology is an ancient way of knowing and making sense of the world and one’s place in it that provides benefits to many people in our modern world, despite fervent academic, religious, and scientific criticism. Astrology is more than a divination tool. It is an entire epistemology of self in relation to …

Othering, Identity, And Recognition: The Social Exclusion Of The Constructed ‘Other’, Salma Ahmed Abdulmagied

Future Journal of Social Science

The ‘Other’ means different things to people in different situations and settings, and the way of defining the other changes from one person’s experience to the other. ‘Othering’ is not about one situation; it is about a pattern of behavior that brings down different minority groups or communities. This research studies the phenomena of constructing an identity for the ‘Other’. The phenomenon of ‘Othering’ creates the notion of becoming socially excluded. ‘Othering’ creates social barriers between a person or a group of people and society. Exclusion happens through different methods such as race, ethnicity, age, sexuality, religion, color, …

(Re-) Envisioning The Masses: Critiquing Theoretical Foundations And ‘Black Lives Matter’, Sarra Moneir

Future Journal of Social Science

This research revolves around drawing up the trends of scholarly contributions on collective action, in particular, the concept of ‘masses’ in a sample of literature of the Global South, driven by the significance of such action for more than a decade ago across various regions. This paper uses the case of the Black Lives Matter Movement that started in 2013 in the US as an example of the applicability of the theoretical contributions demonstrated. The use of social movement theories has attained great focus for decades, which is often believed to not be the sole representation of how to interpret …

Du Undergraduate Showcase: Research, Scholarship, And Creative Works: Abstracts, Emma Aggeler, Elena Arroway, Daisy T. Booker, Justin Bravo, Kyle Bucholtz, Megan Burnham, Nicole Choi, Spencer Cockerell, Rosie Contino, Jackson Garske, Kaitlyn Glover, Caroline Hamilton, Haley Hartmann, Madalyne Heiken, Colin Holter, Leah Huzjak, Alyssa Jeng, Cole Jernigan, Chad Kashiwa, Adelaide Kerenick, Emily King, Abigail Langeberg, Maddie Leake, Meredith Lemons, Alec Mackay, Greer Mckinley, Ori Miller, Guy Milliman, Katherine Miromonti, Audrey Mitchell, Lauren Moak, Megan Morrell, Gelella Nebiyu, Zdenek Otruba, Toni V. Panzera, Kassidy Patarino, Sneha Patil, Alexandra Penney, Kevin Persky, Caitlin Pham, Gabriela Recinos, Mary Ringgenberg, Chase Routt, Olivia Schneider, Roman Shrestha, Arlo Simmerman, Alec Smith, Tessa Smith, Nhi-Lac Thai, Kyle Thurmann, Casey Tindall, Amelia Trembath, Maria Trubetskaya, Zachary Vangelisti, Peter Vo, Abby Walker, David Winter, Grayden Wolfe, Leah York

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Abstracts from the DU Undergraduate Showcase.

Searching For The Good Vibes: Examining The Relationship Between Self-Transcendent Social Media And Social Isolation, David P. Peters

Theses - ALL

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health and well-being have been a serious concern for researchers. Studies have shown that social isolation brought on by lockdowns and social distancing have led to increased feelings of loneliness and disconnectedness (Giallonardo et al., 2020; Pancani et al., 2021). Researchers have also discovered that self-transcendent media and eudaimonic media experiences generate positive feelings of inspiration, relatedness, awe, and connectedness (Oliver et al., 2019). The purpose of this mixed methods study is to explore the relationship between self-transcendent social media video consumption and feelings of loneliness and social disconnectedness attributed to social …

Examining And Exploring Social Constructs, Conflict Management Style, And Workplace Conflict Among Workers In The United States, Keith Boyd

Dissertations

This mixed-methods study explored social constructs, conflict management style (CMS), and workplace conflict among workers in the United States. Workers do not understand the connections between social constructs, CMS, and workplace conflict. A lack of information on workers' experiences and representation in conflict literature supports the gap in understanding (Aquino, 2000; Bourdieu, 1986; Hayes, 2008; Herr & Anderson, 2005; Lin, 2001; Long, 2007; Meng et al., 2019; Mertens, 2003, 2009, 2018; Sosa, 2019). The study used a transformative-emancipatory explanatory sequential design focused on workers. There were 82 convenience sample participant surveys and 12 purposive sample low-level cooperativeness CMS participant interviews …

Neurobiology Of Human Navigation Strategies In The Virtual Morris Water Task, Monica Goncalves-Garcia

Psychology ETDs

Strategies of navigation is a topic that has been investigated for decades and is still not well-understood. Organisms learn to navigate by using self-generated cues, distal cues, and proximal cues, however, how the different frames of reference are interpreted by different areas of the brain and translated into behavior is not clear. Animal studies have provided evidence for a preference for navigation by following a direction in the environment over place learning. This study investigated the performance of adolescents (mean age: 13.89) in a virtual version of the Morris Water Task with a probe trial manipulation attempting to categorize people …

Contextual Creativity: The Role Of Ambiguity In Creative Cognition, Sarah K. C. Dygert

Theses and Dissertations

This body of work is composed of three individual papers that each seek to explain individual differences in creative cognition. Paper 1 used structural equation modeling to examine the ways in which creative problem solving and creative idea generation relate or differ. Results from Paper 1 demonstrate that divergent thinking and creative problem solving are best represented as a bifactor model, bearing distinct domain-specific factors, as well as a shared domain-general factor. Though working memory and fluency of memory retrieval explained significant portions of the domain-specific constructs, they only explained ~2% of variance in the domain-general factor. Paper 2 explores …

Integrating Creative Arts In Counseling: Review And Recommendations, Brittany Sehenuk

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Creativity is present in many aspects of counseling practice. While clinical decisions are often assisted by the ability to think creatively, clinicians may not identify the potential benefit further exploration of creative pursuits within the counseling room could provide. The following paper seeks to explore the benefits of arts in counseling as well as the barriers that keep clinicians and clients from feeling comfortable brings arts into sessions. Arts may assist clients dealing with trauma and grief and can provide support for training clinicians and those in training. Clients and clinicians both may keep themselves from connect with artistic activities …

Aggression In Session: Defining, Conceptualizing, And Treating Aggression, Tyler A. Greenough

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Within the counseling profession, there is a great deal of interaction with aggression affecting both clients and the systems affecting clients. Therefore, it is vital that counselors be adequately prepared to work with various presentations of aggressive behavior. Aggression is defined, categorized based on common historical delineations, and summarized from a multi-axis continuum perspective. Contextual factors are considered such as the role of hormones, neurotransmitters, varying substances, and a wide range of diagnoses. Aggression is then conceptualized from a functional lens and explored based upon a need fulfillment model. Treatment practices such as building self-esteem, increasing emotional regulation, and developing …

Does Optic Flow Provide Information About Actions?, Hannah Masoner

Dissertations

Optic flow, the pattern of light generated in the visual field by motion of objects and the observer’s body, serves as information that underwrites perception of events, actions and affordances. This visual pattern informs the observer about their own actions in relation to their surroundings, as well as those of others. This study explored the limits of action detection for others as well as the role of optic flow. First-person videos were created using camera recordings of the actor’s perspective as they performed various movements (jumping jacks, jumping, squatting, sitting, etc.). In three experiments participants attempted to detect the action …

Behavioral, Cognitive, And Socioemotional Pathways From Early Childhood Adversity To Bmi: Evidence From Two Prospective, Longitudinal Studies, Jenalee R. Doom, Ethan S. Young, Allison K. Farrell, Glenn I. Roisman, Jeffry A. Simpson

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Childhood adversity is associated with higher adult weight, but few investigations prospectively test mechanisms accounting for this association. Using two socioeconomically high-risk prospective longitudinal investigations, the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation (MLSRA; N = 267; 45.3% female) and the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS; n = 2,587; 48.5% female), pathways between childhood adversity and later body mass index (BMI) were tested using impulsivity, emotion dysregulation, and overeating as mediators. Childhood adversity from 0 to 5 years included four types of adversities: greater unpredictability, threat/abuse, deprivation/neglect, and low socioeconomic status. Parents reported on child impulsivity, emotion dysregulation, …

Black Girl Magic: The Endurance Of Enslaved Mothers’ Lessons, Briana G. Gaines

Dissertations, 2020-current

Intergenerational trauma involves a traumatic event that began years prior to the current generation and has impacted the ways in which individuals cope with and heal from trauma. Intergenerational trauma can negatively impact families and individuals as a result of unresolved emotions and thoughts about a traumatic event. Motherhood has always been an important role for Black women (Green, 1990) and although all women face challenges in their role as mothers, Black women are faced with unique tasks that their White counterparts are not. Black women are often the transmitter of culture to their children and frequently set the example …

Delivery Of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy In A Telehealth Format: Reducing Disruptive Behaviors In Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury, Emily D. Pogue

Dissertations, 2020-current

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in childhood have been associated with disruptive behaviors and attentional problems that may worsen over time and are often experienced as challenging for those in caregiving roles. Parents of children with TBI may evoke negative interactions to manage their child’s behavior through reliance on ineffective parenting practices. This results in increasingly maladaptive parent-child interactions that maintain or worsen problem behaviors of the child and further disrupt family functioning. Despite the importance of family functioning on child post-injury outcomes, the availability of family-based treatments for children with TBI is extremely limited. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is an …

Analyzing The Validity Of Self-Reports Of Emotional Responding Using An Electronic Device, Tiffany E. Shiflet

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The assessment of internal behaviors such as thoughts, feelings, or physiological symptoms not seen by the naked eye are often assessed with indirect measures such as self-reports and questionnaires given the lack of accessibility and observations by outside observers. The self-management of human behaviors, including internal events, carries socially valid implications for an individual’s quality of life, including children and individuals with neurological, developmental, and intellectual disabilities. This study aimed to address the following question: are there valid measurement procedures (e.g., collecting data on physiological responses) to analyze the correspondence between self-reports of emotional states and observable and measurable overt …

An Examination Of Working Memory In Subtle And Mild Cognitive Impairment, Kara Eversole

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is abnormal cognitive decline that may be indicative of an insidious process such as dementia. Individuals with MCI are largely independent in their daily functioning but are at risk of further decline. To more deeply understand the working memory deficits associated with age-related cognitive decline, Lamar and colleagues developed a working memory task with no discontinuation rule: the Backwards Digit Task (BDT). Prior BDT research has demonstrated that individuals with mild cognitive impairment have lower overall scores on this task, and that different subtypes of MCI are more prone to certain errors. Research has not been …

The Effects Of Cannabidiol Isolate On Menstrual-Related Symptoms, Morgan L. Ferretti

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The current study aimed to examine the potential effects of CBD isolate for alleviating menstrual-related symptoms (MRS). Participants (N = 33, M_AGE = 20.50, M_BMI = 23.02)were assigned randomly to two open-label dosing groups (160mg, n = 17; 320mg, n = 16) and completed monthly surveys for four months that included MRS-related measures. We examined differences in MRS and related outcomes between baseline and three months of CBD administration. Results revealed reductions in MRS, irritability, anxiety, global impression, stress, and subjective severity scores with a small effect when comparing baseline to all three months of CBD administration. …

Can Agency And Communion Mediate The Relationship Between Nature Connectedness And Pro-Environmental Behavior Intentions?, Juno Wild

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The state of our current environment is rapidly declining due to human activity. Therefore, it is imperative to understand ways to promote pro-environmental behavior and what variables may explain this behavior. Previous studies have found that nature connectedness may be one way to increase pro-environmental behaviors and that one’s levels of masculinity and femininity may also affect not only how connected to nature one is, but also how often one may engage in sustainable behaviors. However, to date researchers have not examined the effect of agency and communion, values which every person has regardless of gender, on the relationship between …

Foundational Number Sense Training Gains Are Predicted By Hippocampal–Parietal Circuits, Hyesang Chang, Lang Chen, Yuan Zhang, Ye Xie, Carlo De Los Angeles, Emma Adair, Gaston Zanitti, Demian Wassermann, Miriam Rosenberg-Lee, Vinod Menon

Psychology

The development of mathematical skills in early childhood relies on number sense, the foundational ability to discriminate among quantities. Number sense in early childhood is predictive of academic and professional success, and deficits in number sense are thought to underlie lifelong impairments in mathematical abilities. Despite its importance, the brain circuit mechanisms that support number sense learning remain poorly understood. Here, we designed a theoretically motivated training program to determine brain circuit mechanisms underlying foundational number sense learning in female and male elementary school-age children (7–10 years). Our 4 week integrative number sense training program gradually strengthened the understanding of …

Emotion Regulation And Coping Motives: An Ema Study Of The Path Between Negative Affect And Craving, Joseph H. Lancaster

ETD Archive

Negative affect (NA) is a known precipitant of cravings, and each are robust predictors of lapses, making this pathway an excellent target for lapse prevention in opioid treatment. As emotion dysregulation arises from unmitigated NA, deficits in emotion regulation (ER) contribute to cravings in part by worsening distress, although the form these deficits take remains unclear. Coping motives are relevant in the context of NA and show robust associations with ER difficulties. Further, coping motives have demonstrated a similar role in exacerbating the effect NA has on cravings. This study aimed to explore the conditional indirect effects of ER deficits …

Pattern Differentiation And Tuning Shift In Human Sensory Cortex Underlie Long-Term Threat Memory, Yuqi You, Lucas R Novak, Kevin J Clancy, Wen Li

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The amygdala-prefrontal-cortex circuit has long occupied the center of the threat system 1, but new evidence has rapidly amassed to implicate threat processing outside this canonical circuit 2-4. Through non-human research, the sensory cortex has emerged as a critical substrate for long-term threat memory 5-9, underpinned by sensory cortical pattern separation/completion 10,11 and tuning shift 12,13. In humans, research has begun to associate the human sensory cortex with long-term threat memory 14,15, but the lack of mechanistic insights obscures a direct linkage. Towards that end, …

Psychological Trauma Alters T-Lymphocyte Inflammation And Redox Through Sympathetic Mechanisms, Safwan K. Elkhatib

Theses & Dissertations

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a devastating psychiatric disorder characterized by distinctive symptom clusters, including intrusive memories (i.e., flashbacks), avoidance of related stimuli, affective changes, and hyperarousal. Strikingly, patients with PTSD face a significantly increased risk for a number of inflammation-driven pathologies, ranging from cardiovascular to autoimmune disease. Yet, the exact etiology of this increased risk remains unknown. The immune system is known to be strongly influenced by the sympathetic nervous system, and sympathetic overactivity is a hallmark of PTSD. Lymphoid organs, such as the spleen, are richly innervated by sympathetic nerve fibers which terminate near adaptive immune …

Effects Of Music Exposure On Autobiographical Memory In Alzheimer's Patients: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Gregory Vance

Honors Theses

The progression of Alzheimer’s disease is primarily characterized by a loss of memory concerning past events, as well as a lack in ability to create new memories. While this spans across many subsets of memory, such as recognition, recall, and autobiographical memory, there seems to be a lesser impact on musical memory in those with Alzheimer’s. Multiple studies have suggested that exposure to music and introduction of music therapy can even improve other aspects of memory in Alzheimer’s patients. This systematic review and meta-analysis sought to examine the relationship between music exposure and autobiographical memory specifically. A pool of electronic …