Digital Commons Network^™

Storytelling: A Natural Mnemonic, Hailey Stephens

Honors Theses

The present study explored the effectiveness of storytelling as a teaching method in enhancing memory performance for educational material compared to traditional lecture-based instruction. Memory plays a crucial role in learning, and effective teaching strategies should facilitate information encoding, retention, and retrieval. Storytelling, an ancient yet often overlooked pedagogical tool, has been shown to engage students emotionally and cognitively, making presented content more memorable. In the present study, participants were randomly assigned to either a storytelling-based instruction group or a traditional lecture group. Both groups received instruction on the ASSURE Model and were tested immediately after the lesson and again …

Pulse Pressure, White Matter Hyperintensities, And Cognition: Mediating Effects Across The Adult Lifespan, Jade Hannan, Sarah Newman-Norlund, Natalie Busby, Sarah C. Wilson, Roger Newman-Norlund, Chris Rorden, Julius Fridriksson Ph.D., Leonardo Bonilha

Faculty Publications

Objectives: To investigate whether pulse pressure or mean arterial pressure mediates the relationship between age and white matter hyperintensity load and to examine the mediating effect of white matter hyperintensities on cognition.

Methods: Demographic information, blood pressure, current medication lists, and Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores for231 stroke- and dementia-free adults were retrospectively obtained from the Aging Brain Cohort study. Total WMH load was determined from T2-FLAIR magnetic resonance scans using the TrUE-Net deep learning tool for white matter segmentation. In separate models, we used mediation analysis to assess whether pulse pressure or MAP mediates the relationship between age and total …

The Impact Of Teaching Multiple Responses On Resurgence Of Target Behavior And Persistence Of Alternative Responding, Brittany H. Loder-Lafferty

Theses & Dissertations

This study evaluated the effects of teaching multiple alternative responses on the resurgence of a target response and the persistence of an alternative response in an applied setting. Using a between-participants group design, we examined how teaching multiple alternative responses impacted resurgence and persistence upon exposure to extinction. Additionally, we investigated the role of preference in response allocation and shifts in preference following extinction. Results indicated resurgence across both conditions, with no consistent difference in severity between single and multiple alternative responses. However, within session analysis revealed greater persistence of the alternative response for participants taught multiple responses, suggesting potential …

Analyzing Decolonial Subjectivities In Reggaeton And Latin-Trap Music In Puerto Rico: A Critical Discourse Analyisis, Andres I. Rivera Amador

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project studies decolonial possibilities for subjectivities in the urban music genres of reggaeton and Latin-trap in Puerto Rico. Using Ian Parker’s critical discourse analysis to analyze the lyrics and videos of three key songs, it systematically examines subjects constructed in songs, objects, discourses, and their relationships to each other. In addition to studying reggaeton and Latin-trap lyrics, the project highlights the emergence of social themes that guide the critical discursive analysis. Psychological literature and decolonial theory supplement the analysis, bringing in important theoretical insights regarding the songs’ salient social themes, such as black pride and resistance, gender fluidity and …

Mass Shooting Perceptions, Public Mental Illness Stigma, And Social Media Use: A Regression Analysis, Kayla Cross

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mental illness is frequently associated with mass shootings in news media, which can result in negative stigma among individuals diagnosed with mental illness. While mental illness and mass shootings have been explored previously, social media perceptions have not yet been examined in relation to mental illness stigma and mass shootings. The purpose of this study was to examine public mental illness stigma, mass shootings, and perceptions through social media in a correlational study subjected to regression analysis. The theoretical framework for the study was based on Tajfel and Turner et al.’s theory of social identity and intergroup behaviors. The analysis …

Empirical Study On The Correlation Between Social Media Usage And Self Esteem, Parbatti Boodhoo

Publications and Research

Social media is a major part of everyday life for most young adults, and its effects on mental health, especially self-esteem, have become a growing area of research. Some studies have found that using platforms like Instagram or TikTok can negatively impact how people see themselves, especially when they compare their lives to others online (Magner, 2018). Others have shown that the way people use social media matters, passively scrolling may lower self-esteem, while interacting positively with others could have the opposite effect (Shashwat & Singh, 2024). On the other hand, social media can also help people feel more connected …

A Novel Way Of Conceptualizing And Measuring Situation Selection, Jiyoung Kwak

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Situation selection is a form of emotion regulation where people approach or avoid certain things, places, or objects to proactively regulate their emotions. Though it is the only strategy that occurs before encountering emotion-eliciting events, situation selection remains understudied. The present research proposes a new measure of Day Recollection Situation Selection (DRSS) in which participants are prompted to recall the day's events before reporting their approach and avoidance behaviors. Across two studies, we aimed to: (1) develop the DRSS measure, (2) compare it to existing measures of situation selection and well-being, (3) examine within- and between-person variability, and (4) compare …

An Intervention To Empower People To Confront Sexism, Rebecca Grace Drake

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Even though sexist comments and behavior occur frequently in everyday life, people do not often confront the individuals who are responsible. However, interpersonal bias confrontations can be powerful tools for reducing expressions of bias and norm setting. The current studies tested an intervention designed to increase confrontations by harnessing theory and research on what holds people back from confronting. We designed a half-hour intervention consisting of engaging and evidence-based videos on confronting bias and self-reflection exercises to increase personal relevance. The module aimed to boost confronting by intervening at multiple points of the decision-making process by increasing recognition of sexism, …

Tackling Social Stigma: An Ethical Obligation In Healthcare Intervention To Involuntary Childlessness, Persis Naumann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The stigma associated with involuntary childlessness has negatively affected health and well-being for several decades. This situation is particularly exacerbated for women within the Tamil socio-cultural context, resulting in feelings of shame, neglect, denial, isolation, and constituting a significant barrier to long-term access to healthcare services. Although advancements have been made in the provision of biomedical care, the psychosocial support remains inadequately addressed. Moreover, there are currently no healthcare interventions that specifically target the stigma associated with this issue, which hinders open communication with healthcare providers, delays necessary treatments, and adversely impacts overall health outcomes. The central thesis of this …

Theodore B. Taverner, Joshua Holt

Persimmon Creek

A war veteran with PTSD wakes on abandoned train tracks, a gun in hand, blood on his clothes, and a body by his feet. Disoriented and haunted by fragmented memories, he struggles to piece together the truth as sirens close in.

The Kinship Of Creatives, Saba Saif Ur Rehman

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

This research essay contends that artists and creative individuals must recognize their agency in shaping societal narratives, particularly during times of technological and political upheaval. The essay draws on the insights and contributions of visionaries like Walter Benjamin, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Tomm Moore to emphasize the power of imagination and creativity in addressing real-world issues. It argues that previous technological advances have often reinforced hierarchical and oppressive systems, benefitting a select few while neglecting the masses. As we enter the fourth Industrial Revolution, this essay calls the artists to reclaim their tools from being co-opted for exclusionary and …

The Wheel Of Fire: An Obsessive-Compulsive Reading Of Frodo Baggins, Andreas J.W. Minshew

Journal of Tolkien Research

Although addiction has been the main psychological framework for understanding the Ring’s influence, it does not fully capture Frodo’s inner conflict. This paper argues that an obsessive-compulsive reading accounts for his ego-dystonic relationship with the Ring and his lack of an initial period of using it for pleasure, both of which differentiate his experience from other Ringbearers. This reading, rather than in opposition to addictive or post-traumatic frameworks, can coexist with both to bring added nuance to how readers and scholars understand Frodo’s experience.

Community Music Among Brazilian Culture: A Community Engagement Project, Ayla Tedeschi

Expressive Therapies Theses

Although community music eludes a fixed definition due to its fluid and context-dependent nature, its effects are found to be beneficial throughout the world. An example of this is seen among native and emigrant Brazilians where music is part of the individual, community, and culture. This thesis explores the therapeutic value of community music among current residents of Brazil and Brazilians that have emigrated to the United States. Through a community engagement project, this research hypothesized that although music may serve different purposes occasionally, the primary function-to create community and culture-remains the same. Participation in two key community music making …

Couples In The Playspace: Community Engagement With Developmental Transformations, Amanda Roberts

Expressive Therapies Theses

Couple therapy is an evolving field in the modern therapeutic landscape. With that evolution comes an opportunity to study the application of drama therapy with couples. Although there is limited evidence supporting the use of drama therapy with couples, there is no research on the use of Developmental Transformations (DvT), a play-based improvised form of drama therapy, with couples. As a first step in exploring this gap, this community engagement project invited two monogamous couples to engage in two separate brief DvT sessions. Given that this project was community-oriented rather than clinical, the focus of this capstone was self-reflective in …

Using Expressive Arts Therapy With Autistic Children To Help Regulate And Build Coping Skills: A Literature Review, Swara Swaminathan

Expressive Therapies Theses

This literature review is about whether we can use Expressive Arts Therapy with autistic children to regulate and build coping skills. The author could not find articles that covers the entire topic, but she split the topic in terms of autism in India and various application of Expressive Arts Therapy globally. She was able to find Expressive Arts Therapy or Creative Arts Therapy was helpful to autistic children, or children with trauma. She could also notice the stigma of autism in India in some of the articles.

Cumulative Lifespan Stress And Inflammation Are Associated With Black-White Racial Disparities In Mortality Among Americans, Isaiah Spears

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Black Americans disproportionately experience higher rates of health challenges and mortality compared to White Americans, yet the mechanisms underlying these disparities remain inadequately understood. Prominent theoretical models highlight stress and resulting allostatic load as putative mechanisms through which these Black-White racial disparities emerge; however, empirical data supporting such models with regard to mortality remains sparse. The current study examined the potential role of cumulative stress exposure across the life span and elevated levels of C-Reactive Protein, a biomarker of inflammation, in contributing to the longstanding increased mortality risk among Black relative to White Americans. Data were drawn from the Saint …

Differences In Anxiety Presentation Amongst Collegiate Athletes, Alyssa Garabedian

Honors Projects in Biological and Biomedical Sciences

Anxiety affects millions of individuals, spanning from mild symptoms to life-halting disorders. The symptoms and experiences individuals face in terms of anxiety vary depending on their demographics, as well as living conditions. Athletes are affected by anxiety in different ways than typical non-athlete individuals. Athletes have an entirely different realm of life to consider when thinking about anxiety, and that is, their sporting, competitive life. This study analyzes the symptoms and characteristics of anxiety in college athletes differing by gender and sport type. The data collected through a survey of collegiate athletes at Bryant University will be used to determine …

Identity Light Stories And Their Retellings, Xander S. Barney

Honors Program Theses and Projects

This project looked at entertaining stories and the different audiences they may be told to. The goal was to learn more about the relationships of the storyteller through their entertaining stories, specifically focusing on those they have told the story to and those present in the story they tell. Ten emerging adults from ages 18 to 29 were interviewed and asked to tell an entertaining story and then recount a time they remember telling it. Participants were all English-speaking from the northeastern United States and had completed some level of college. These interviews were coded to look for themes of …

The Impact Of Apoe Genotype On Neuropsychological Functioning In Mild Cognitive Impairment And Alzheimer’S Disease, Emma Larracey

Honors Program Theses and Projects

The presence of the Apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 (epsilon 4) allele is the primary genetic risk factor for developing sporadic Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and has recently been identified as a risk factor for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). While previous research has repeatedly indicated the significance of APOEε4 in AD susceptibility, studies investigating the impact of APOEε4 on neuropsychological performance in AD and MCI have yielded contradictory results. Our study examined how the presence of APOEε4 impacts performance in individuals with MCI and AD on neuropsychological assessments evaluating memory, language, attention, executive, and visuospatial skills. Using archival data collected by the …

The Development Of Liking And Familiarity Responses To A Novel Musical Scale, Maya Velazquez, Dan H. Berkowitz, Nicholas Kathios, Psyche Loui

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Musical preference is shaped by listening experience

Listeners tend to like music they’ve heard before familiarity correlates with liking (1).

As listeners acquire knowledge of how music is structured, they make better predictions about events as they unfold.

Familiarity and prediction are key drivers of musical pleasure (2,3).

Present study aims to characterize the relationship between listening experience/exposure and preferences during childhood

Perception Of Emotions In Autism With Controlled Elicitation, Austin Gillespie, Rachel Dewald

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Recognizing emotions play a crucial role in effective communication.(1)

Previous research has rated autistic expression as awkward.(2)

These studies captured unnaturally elicited emotions by having participants imitate emotions from scripted prompts and pictures

Relationship Closeness And Eating Disorder Pathology In Undergraduate Female Friends Dyads, Jessica Nguyen, Maegan Nation

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Eating disorders (ED) are one of the leading mental health concerns among undergraduate students

Rates nearly doubled from 15% in 2013 to 28% in 2020 and 2021

Relationship closeness may play a crucial role in both development and recovery from EDs.

Limited research on platonic relationships and ED pathology, specifically relationship closeness.

Examining Components Of The Interpersonal Psychological Theory Of Suicide In A Clinical Sample Of Children With Suicidal Thoughts And Behaviors, Alana Brixner Nunes

Theses and Dissertations

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 10- to 14-year-olds. Despite a need to identify risk factors for suicide among children, there is limited research on suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) in childhood. The interpersonal psychological theory of suicide (IPTS) suggests that the desire for suicide emerges from perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness and that the transition from suicide ideation (SI) to a suicide attempt (SA) results from an acquired capability for suicide. However, no research has examined whether the IPTS applies to suicidal thoughts and behaviors among children. The present research examined components of the IPTS in …

Divided Attention With Long-Term Memory: Recollection And Familiarity For Musical Melodies, Gaia Steinberg, Jackson S. Pelzner, Rhiannon N. Soriano Smith

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Objective: Test whether the well-established effects of divided attention 1, 2. (DA) found with non-musical (i.e., verbal and pictorial) materials generalized to musical melodies.

Background: Few studies have used melodies to test recognition models (e.g., DPSD). Parks et al.2 showed stimulus complexity alters source memory reliance on recollection (R) and familiarity (F).

Method: Used a 2 (attention) x 2 (melody type) mixed design with an old-new recognition test to compare DA effects across well-known and novel melodies.

Experiment 1: Applied an n-back task to split participants’ attention; no significant DA effect was observed.

Experiment 2: Shortened melody length and added …

Effects Of Surprisal And Prediction Uncertainty On Detailed And Gist Aspects Of Memory, Thanh Tan Nguyen

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Schemas guide comprehension and memory of everyday activities, yet theories differ on how schema‐unexpected or schema‐expected events affect memory. In this study, we compared predictions from the Schema‐Linked Interactions between Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Medial Temporal Lobe (SLIMM) model, which proposes a U‐shaped function for gist memory (both highly expected and highly unexpected events are well remembered) and a linear function for detailed memory, with those of the Schema Copy Plus Tag (SC+T) theory, which proposes a linear function for both gist and detailed memory. Participants read everyday activity narratives with events varying in surprisal, prediction uncertainty, and relevance to …

The Relationship Between Social Media Marketing And Social Comparison On Pre-Adolescent Self-Esteem And Consumer Identity, Madison Kruse

CSB and SJU Distinguished Thesis

The current study aimed to address gaps in the literature regarding pre-adolescent social media usage by examining whether gender, social media marketing, and social comparison predict U.S. pre-adolescent (ages 8-12) self-esteem and consumer identity. A paper survey was administered to participants (N=43) through on-site and flyer recruitment methods. The survey consisted of questions regarding pre-adolescent social media usage time and preferences, self-esteem, social comparison, and consumer identity. Scales used were adaptations of The Child Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale (CRSES), The Social Media Comparison of Ability Scale (SCO-Ability), and the Consumer-Company Identification Scale. Results showed that pre-adolescents (ages 8-12) are exposed to …

The Mindful Way: A Mindfulness Psychoeducational Group For Latinx College Students, Karen A. Morales

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have extensively studied mindfulness as a promising intervention that can aid college students in managing stressors. Unfortunately, researchers have underrepresented minority populations like Latinx college students in mindfulness literature. The Mindful Way (TMW) is a culturally responsive psychoeducational group program that aims to close the gap in the literature. The pre-test and post-test of TMW program measures student’s tendency to practice mindfulness, their personal and academic resilience, degree of self-compassion, emotion regulation skills, problematic alcohol consumption, and symptoms of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, before and after participating in the program. The hypothesis of the present study is …

What The F**K Happened: An Analysis Of Why The Emerging Democratic Majority Theory Failed, Olivia Mitchell

Honors College Theses

Despite the Democratic belief that new generations would usher in a more successful era for the party, the 2024 presidential election saw the Republican Party candidate win the popular vote for the first time in two decades. Both Harris and Trump continued the trend of using social media to appeal to young voters, relying heavily on the use of digital platforms and new media to cater to their target audiences. But their approaches varied drastically, reflecting the patterns of political engagement and activity of young Millennial and Generation Z voters, and their successes and failures served as evidence of the …

Threads Of Time: A Lifespan Perspective On Temporal Simulations, Self-Continuity And Meaning In Life, Jonathan Louis Jie Sheng Chia

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This research investigates how temporal simulations—prospection and retrospection — influence meaning in life (MIL) through the mediating role of self-continuity, and whether these relationships vary with age. Across two studies, self-continuity mediated these associations, but the specific pathways appeared to be nuanced. In Study 1, using a correlational design, frequency of prospection and retrospection positively and negatively predicted MIL via self-continuity respectively. These indirect effects, however, became nonsignificant when accounting for personality and dispositional affect, suggesting the effects of temporal simulation frequency to be primarily driven by these individual differences. Study 2 experimentally manipulated temporal simulations. Prospection enhanced MIL through …

Generative Artificial Intelligence Dependency: Scale Development, Validation, And Its Motivational, Behavioral, And Psychological Correlates, Adalia Yin Hui Goh

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The growing integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) into everyday life has raised questions about its potential psychological and behavioral consequences. The present research develops and validates the Generative AI Dependency Scale, a multidimensional tool developed to assess individual differences in dependency on generative AI systems. Across six studies involving 1,223 participants from the United States and Singapore, the Generative AI Dependency Scale demonstrated strong psychometric properties, including a stable three-factor structure (cognitive preoccupation, negative consequences, withdrawal) and good test-retest reliability (ICC = .85). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a higher-order dependency construct, and scalar measurement invariance was established across sex …