Digital Commons Network^™

Don’T Give The Fae Your Name: Focus Of Attention And Victim Blaming, Entropy Cramer

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Victim-blaming is thought to be a result of the fundamental attributional error, where people over-emphasize internal attributions about the victim. Despite this, there is little literature on manipulating the focus of attention and the result for victim-blaming. People who are high in rape myth acceptance tend to visually focus on the victims longer (Süssenbach et al., 2015). Rempala and Bernieri (2005) found that adding irrelevant information, such as height and weight, to the trial about the victim increased victim-blaming compared to when it was absent. The current study investigated if relevant information about the victim and perpetrator changed the amount …

Out In The Arena: Examining The Lgbtq+ Experience In Ihsa, Katharine C. Didier

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated factors influencing Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) LGBTQ+ riders’ perceptions of inclusion, safety, and belonging, with the hypothesis that teams with diversity and inclusion policies would be perceived as more accepting. An online survey was developed to gather information from self-identified LGBTQ+ IHSA students. Questions covered demographics, team environment, and perceived inclusivity within their equestrian programs. Question types included multiple choice, Likert-type, short answer, and open-ended. IHSA coaches were asked to share the survey link with team members. Students were able to respond anonymously. The survey was open for 8 weeks. Reminders were sent out at 3 …

Attention Or Affect? Evaluating The Discriminant Validity Of Cpt-3 Performance, Gavin F. Price

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

The Conner Continuous Performance Test Third Edition (CPT-3) is a behavior-based measure of attention-related problems commonly used to assess Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Research into the discriminant validity of the CPT-3 remains limited, particularly regarding the influence of internalizing symptoms such as anxiety and depression on performance. The current study examined whether CPT-3 performance was more strongly associated with cognitive indicators of inattention or internalizing symptoms, such as depressive or anxious symptoms. Archival data from 105 adult clients at Murray State University Psychological Center was analyzed. Cognitive inattention was measured using Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) – Working Memory Index (WMI) discrepancy …

Using Vaginal Cytology To Confirm Estrus In Swine - Pilot Study, Carly J. Johnson

Honors College Theses

This study aims to determine whether there is a correlation between cellular changes observed in vaginal cytology and the physical signs of estrus in swine. Vaginal cytology is a technique commonly used in dogs, cats, and rodents, and if proven effective in swine, it could serve as a practical tool for producers to confirm estrus status and improve reproductive management.

Modern Technology Addiction: Developer Duty Of Care, Jonah Hampton

Honors College Theses

Technology addiction includes any frequent use of technology which interferes in the user’s life. The subject continues growth as an epidemic and research field, yet prior literature does not often analyze the role of technology developers. This study performs a literature and legal synthesis to evaluate user and company responsibility, implications of responsibility, and promising solutions. Post 2020 literature was selected for coverage on context, addictive features, effects, solutions, or perspectives on law. Legal examples from different addiction industries were also selected for analysis to understand previous precedents. The study found a pattern of addictive traits, persuasive design, and recurring …

Flooding Behavior Near The Us/Canada Border: Complications And Approaches, Maria T. Dodson

Honors College Theses

Flood forecasting remains a major challenge due to the nonlinear nature of hydrological systems and uncertainties in environmental data. This study aimed to address the prevalent challenges that arise from forecasting flooding behavior. To address the inherent complexity of hydrological forecasting, a machine learning framework was developed and trained on major contributing factors. To achieve an optimal balance between computational efficiency and predictive performance, a Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) was selected as the optimal machine learning model. As the chosen dataset, North American Land Data Assimilation System Phase 2 (NLDAS2), is known to have inaccuracies in the important feature Relative …

Effectiveness Of Education On Increasing Training Likelihood: An Analysis In Relation To Physique Inflation, Reid J. Venable

Honors College Theses

Resistance training is a widely recommended form of exercise for enhancing muscular strength, improving metabolic health, and promoting overall quality of life. In addition to these benefits, perhaps the most popular reason for participating in resistance training is to achieve muscle hypertrophy and attain a desired or aesthetic physique. However, various factors such as the use of performance-enhancing drugs and social media have led to “physique inflation,” a cultural phenomenon in which exposure to highly enhanced or unrealistic body types shifts perceptions of what is considered a “normal” or attainable physique. As a result, many individuals avoid or delay resistance …

Characterizing The Relationship Between Parturition In Beef Cattle And The Lunar Phase And Meteorological Factors., Caroline E. Chambers

Honors College Theses

For beef cattle, parturition is one of the most critical stages in the reproductive process. It is crucial that farmers understand the factors that may influence the timing of parturition. There is a persistent preconception that the onset of parturition is influenced by the lunar phase and weather factors. The objective of this study is to characterize the association between parturition in beef cattle, the lunar phase, and/or different weather factors such as barometric pressure and temperature. Cattle records were obtained from Chambers Family Farm in Cumberland Furnace, TN. Data was collected from 142 calvings from January 2017 to October …

Strategic Business Planning For An Optometry Practice: A Comprehensive Approach To Market Analysis, Operations, And Growth, Molly Elizabeth Weber

Honors College Theses

This study is a comprehensive analysis of the field of optometry in order to develop a business plan which could be utilized to open a new optometry practice. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats are all studied in order to gain a robust view and offer insights of how a business would fair in the field of optometry to allow entrepreneurs to make informed decisions in business endeavors involving practice operations, market terrain, and growth potential.

Exploring Future Educators’ Roles In Classroom Aac Use: Insight Into Knowledge, Skills, And Attitudes, Katrina M. King

Honors College Theses

The United States public school system requires the provision of a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE) for qualifying students with disabilities (U.S. Department of Education, n.d.). Speech, language, and hearing related disabilities are among the qualifying categories (U.S. Department of Education, n.d.). Students with these disabilities may have complex communication needs (CCN), or significant limitations in their speech, language, and communication abilities (Communication Rights Australia, 2018). Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), a type of assistive technology, offers support for these students, however, several barriers inhibit full communicative participation (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association [ASHA], n.d.-a). …

Evaluating Soil Responses To Three Different Tillage Practices, Robert L. Burchett, Cordale L. Straub Senior, Logan D. Renfrow Sophomore

Scholars Week

Evaluating Soil Responses to Three Different Tillage Practices

Luke Burchett, Logan Renfrow, and Cordale Straub

Mentor: Dr. Iin Handayani Ph.D

Hutson School of Agriculture, Murray State University, Kentucky, USA

ABSTRACT

Tillage systems can greatly affect soil health by changing its structure, chemistry, and biological activity. This study examined how soil organic carbon (SOC), soil pH, soil moisture, soil organic matter (SOM) responds under three tillage systems: no-till, biannual tillage, and conventional tillage. Soil samples were taken from a 1–7.6 cm depth during September 2025 across three locations. The no-till site was located in Caldwell County, Kentucky, on an irrigated double-crop …

Antibiotic Stewardship And The Prevention Of Healthcare-Associated C.Diff, Nevaeh Tyson, Angel Pearson

Scholars Week

Healthcare-associated Clostridium difficile (C.difficile) infections remain a significant burden to many healthcare facilities across North America. This infection is often linked to long-term antibiotic use and ineffective infection control methods. This presentation addresses current evidence-based practice protocols on the prevention of C.difficile, emphasizing the need for increased monitoring of antibiotic therapy and improved infection control strategies.

Exploratory Analysis Of Prerequisites To Teaching Early Perspective Taking In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Zoe Painter

Honors College Theses

The purpose of the current study was to determine the effectiveness of a behavioral intervention package for improving perspective-taking skills in children with ASD and specifically extend previous research focused on teaching the ability to identify what others are experiencing through their senses. Less complex verbal behaviors hypothesized to be prerequisites to this skill were first assessed systematically in three male children with ASD receiving ABA services in a community-based clinic, and then participants were taught to predict behavior according to the sensory experiences of others (e.g. after observing that a man sees a fly in his drink, responding the …

It's A Sin, Jamie Rogers

B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498)

Sex is political. Counter-cultural responses to sexual propriety are often modeled as resistance to conservative values. Many subcultures have a long tradition of opposing mainstream norms, particularly regarding sexual and political correctness. While the association of pain with sexuality dates back to ancient rituals, such as those for the Goddess Inanna in 3000 B.C., the post-World War II era witnessed an exponential growth of sexual fetishism, particularly in BDSM. This period also saw the emergence of fetish materials like rubber, latex, and military or medical gear, with leather fetishism evolving into a distinct subculture. Leather and latex were employed to …

The Effects Of Plastic Mulch And Irrigation On Hemp Chemistry And Leaf Endophytes, Allison Rietman, Connor Morozumi, Robert C. Pearce, Natalie Christian

Journal of Agricultural Hemp Research

As an emerging crop, cultivation techniques for industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) are still being developed and optimized. For example, irrigation and plastic mulching are some management practices that have been touted for their benefits in improving crop quality. Both techniques ensure ample water availability, which has often been attributed to improving hemp cannabinoid and terpene composition. In this study, we examined how supplemental irrigation implemented in a plastic mulch system influenced the cannabinoid and terpene profiles of one cultivar of CBD hemp, Lifter. We grew industrial hemp in field with plastic mulch and applied regular irrigation to one group …

Bridging Cattle Farming And Technology: The Development Of Moomanager, Matthew Hayes

Honors College Theses

Small-scale cattle producers face persistent challenges in adopting digital tools for herd management, often due to barriers such as limited digital literacy, software complexity, and poor alignment with practical workflows. Existing literature highlights the potential benefits of mobile applications in agricultural contexts, yet adoption rates remain low among smaller operations. This thesis investigates how a streamlined, mobile-first application can address these adoption barriers while supporting essential farm management tasks. The study details the design and development of MooManager, a mobile application built with React Native and Supabase and structured around core features such as cattle tracking, beef sales logging, and …

Structure Determination Of Mg2tihn And Mg3tihn (N=1-25) Clusters, Meagan Dobbs

Honors College Theses

Fossil fuels are a resource that is used in everyday life. A major problem with the reliance on fossil fuels lies in their major contributor to global warming. When fossil fuels are burned, they release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and warm the Earth. In order to decrease the amount of greenhouse gases being emitted new fuel sources are being considered, and a leading candidate is hydrogen. This project looks at magnesium hydride clusters doped with a titanium atom. Specifically, the Mg₂TiH_n (n =1-25) and Mg₃TiH_n (n =1-25) clusters are considered. The …

Society’S Press: Designing A Digital Commons To Promote Critical Thought And Civil Discourse, Louis Driver

Honors College Theses

This thesis proposes the design of a new digital commons aimed at counteracting the negative incentives that currently dominate online discourse. This paper outlines the research and design of a system that promotes informative, medium-length, user-generated content, emphasizing thoughtful communication over virality. Inspired by academic peer-review practices, the proposed platform will implement a community-driven moderation model to reduce low-quality contributions and foster constructive feedback.

Speech Stigma: Exploring Predictors Of Attitudes Toward Nonspeaking Autistic Individuals, Kate Herrmann

Honors College Theses

Roughly 30% of autistic individuals are nonspeaking, meaning they do not (or very minimally) communicate with speech. Many nonspeaking individuals have the ability to communicate with others by using augmentative and alternative communication, such as speech-generating devices or communication boards. The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of speaking individuals toward nonspeaking autistic people through a survey measuring attitudes and stigma toward nonspeaking people, autistic people, and disabled people, respectively. Predictors of attitudes, such as contact, knowledge, gender, and psychological inflexibility were examined. It was hypothesized that participants who have more contact with and knowledge of nonspeaking, …

Jamie Rogers Art399 Portfolio, Jamie Rogers

Professional Practices (ART 399)

Sex is political. Here, I view kink as a non-authoritarian resistance to conservative sexual values. This subculture has a long tradition of opposition to mainstream conservative values, particularly those of sexual and political correctness. While the association of pain with sexuality can be dated back to ancient rituals, such as those in favor of the Goddess Inanna in 3000 B.C., the post-World War II era witnessed an exponential growth of sexual fetishism, particularly in BDSM. This period also saw the emergence of fetish material like rubber, latex, and military or medical gear, with leather fetishism evolving into a subculture. Leather …

Rising Rates Of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Carly Ogilvie

Honors College Theses

While autism spectrum disorder has always been around, the diagnosis rates are skyrocketing. There are many different theories and ideas as to why rates are increasing so rapidly. These theories cover a wide range of ideas such as better tests, side effects of vaccines, and everything in between. The goal of this research is to analyze the statistics on the rising rates of autism spectrum disorder diagnoses and to look into why they are rising. This research will compare diagnosis rates over the past several decades and then evaluate theories on the reason behind the diagnosis rates. Although there is …

Development Of A Mechanochemical Synthesis For A Palladacycle: Exploring Solvent Characteristics And Reaction Kinetics, Kyle Lintzenich

Honors College Theses

Palladacycles are a class of palladium complexes that show utility in catalyzing carbon-carbon cross coupling reactions. Mechanochemistry provides a greener alternative to synthesizing these palladacycles via repeated impacts that transfer mechanical energy into the reaction mixture, promoting formation of the desired complex. Specifically, liquid assisted grinding (LAG) has proven to be a viable tradeoff to neat mechanosynthesis of adding a small amount of liquid to decrease synthesis times or improve conversion. Some liquids actively participate in the reaction in a process termed as non-innocent LAG. This work focuses on the development of a mechanosynthetic method using non-innocent LAG for a …

Simulations Of Magnetar Spin-Down Lifetimes Using Magnetic Braking Models, Sophie Wessel

Honors College Theses

The beginnings of magnetar lifetimes are not very well understood. It is important to improve our understanding of magnetar origins in order to investigate possible evolutionary connections to other classes of NS, such as X-ray dim isolated NSs (XDINSs). Here we follow in the steps of another paper1 in modeling the spin evolution of magnetars, utilizing two avenues of evolution: one involving exponential B-field decay, and the other involving suband super-exponential B-field decay. We replicate the results of the paper, utilizing Monte Carlo methods to generate and evolve synthetic populations of magnetars, which are then compared to the current known …

Differences Between Media And Industry Professionals’ Views On Welfare Issues At Equine Racetracks In The United States, Olivia Burris

Honors College Theses

The objective of this project was to see if there was a difference in views between lay publications in the media and industry professionals regarding welfare issues occurring at equine racetracks. This study focused on the issues of drug usage and racing-related injuries in racehorses. This project examined current lay publications versus surveys of industry professionals discussing the specific welfare issues. These lay publications were reviewed and summarized for comparison to the industry professionals’ responses to the survey.

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 …

Deepfakes On Trial: Developing A High-Accuracy, Court-Admissible Ai Pipeline For Deepfake Detection In Corporate Fraud Litigation, Aiden J. Green

Honors College Theses

As deepfake technology advances, cybercriminals are increasingly using AI-generated videos and audios to impersonate executives and carry out sophisticated CEO fraud schemes. These synthetic forgeries target human trust and corporate communication systems, creating an urgent need for forensic tools capable of authenticating digital evidence with legal accuracy. This thesis presents a forensic-grade AI deepfake detection pipeline designed for this purpose, emphasizing courtroom admissibility, reproducibility, and evidentiary integrity. Built entirely with free, opensource tools, the framework combines metadata analysis, AI-powered spectrogram analysis, neural artifact detection, and facial manipulation recognition into a transparent workflow that accurately identifies synthetic media. It was trained …

Critical Period Constraints And Learning Strategies: Balancing Incidental And Intentional Vocabulary Acquisition In Japanese Second Language Acquisition, Emma Ward

Honors College Theses

The Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) supposes there is a biologically determined window during which language acquisition occurs most efficiently. This theory has profound implications for Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research, suggesting the timing of language learning can significantly impact one's ability to achieve native-like proficiency. As vocabulary acquisition is a fundamental aspect of language learning, understanding how to optimize learning strategies within the constraints imposed by the critical period is essential for maximizing language learning outcomes. The Japanese language, with its complex writing systems and unique syntactic structures, presents significant challenges for learners, especially those who begin learning the language …

Mirrors Of Learning: Amplifying Engagement And Retention With Culturally Relevant Teaching In 21st-Century Education, Britney Buckner

Honors College Theses

This research investigates the impact of Culturally Relevant Teaching (CRT) on student engagement and information retention, in alignment with 21st-century learning objectives. CRT, which incorporates educational content reflecting the diverse identities of students, fosters a deeper connection to the material and aligns with the fundamental purpose of education in preparing students for societal and global contexts. By mirroring their realities in the curriculum, students are motivated to learn and retain information, recognizing its relevance to their lives. This increased retention is essential for accurately assessing student knowledge against state and national benchmarks, indicative of successful 21st-century education. Furthermore, CRT supports …

How Music Is Used To Facilitate Communication In Speech-Language And Music Therapy For Children With A Diagnosis Of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Anna Mcgreevy

Honors College Theses

The goal of this research was to determine how music is being used in speech and music therapy sessions for children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, to discover the most common targets of these therapy sessions, and to examine the anatomical and physiological constructs that support the inclusion of music. This study was a review of literature, and included research from a variety of articles, several written in the past 25 years. Overall, results showed that music-based speech interventions such as Melodic Based Communication Therapy and Developmental Speech and Language Training, as well as music therapy interventions, are …

Cognitive Advantages Of Dual Language: Bilingualism And Its Relationship With Working Memory And Controlled Attention, Ellison Alexander

Honors College Theses

This study investigates language familiarity and executive function within individuals who are fluent in or actively learning a second language, demonstrating whether bilingualism influences working memory performance and controlled attention. The study population consisted of undergraduate students attending Murray State University. Three groups were evaluated: students with a low-experience level in a second language (100 level classes), a high-experience group (200 level classes and beyond), and a separate control group of monolingual students without college-level language experience. All groups completed assessments of working memory performance and controlled attention by engaging in the Symmetry Span task and the Simon task. In …