Digital Commons Network^™

The Effect Of Two Common Herbicides On The Growth And Development Of Two Anuran Species (Boreorana Sylvatica And Dryophytes Chrysoscelis), Jerica Eaton

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Amphibian populations have been declining globally since the 1950s. Many species that have experienced declines are viewed as 'environmental indicators' that reveal habitat degradation. Declines can be attributed to several factors, including chemicals used in agriculture, such as Roundup and Atrazine. Agrochemicals contaminate water bodies through runoff or leaching and cause alterations to aquatic ecosystems. This study evaluated the effects of herbicide usage on two wild anuran populations using wood frogs (Boreorana sylvatica) and Cope’s gray tree frogs (Dryophytes chrysoscelis) as a model. We determined the effect of the herbicides at two concentrations, a high concentration …

Efficiency Of Warm-Up Segment In Dyadic Parent Child Interaction Coding System: A Replication Study, Jayde Robinson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The clinical utility of assessment and treatment practices is of growing concern in the field of psychology. The Dyadic Parent Child Interaction Rating System (DPICS) is an analog behavioral observation that is the primary assessment measure in Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). The clinical utility of the DPICS has the potential to be improved. Using archival data from a community sample in eastern Kentucky, this study examined the effectiveness of the five-minute warm-up segment at the beginning of the observation. The warm-up segment is meant to control for reactivity effects that may occur, however, there is little evidence that the …

School Personnel Perceptions Of School-Based Mental Health Prevention And Interventions, Kelsey Lytle

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Despite millions of children across the United States experiencing at least one mental health disorder about half do not receive any sort of treatment or counseling. Within schools, many children receive formal intervention services once they are identified. However, there are many other children who would benefit greatly from learning social emotional skills who have not been identified. Prevention could be a great resource to prevent children from falling through the cracks. The purpose of this study was to assess personnel perceptions on the school’s role in student mental health, mental health interventions and prevention, evidence-based practices, and barrier to …

Disproportionality Of English Learners In Special Education, Alysa Gordon

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate the presence of disproportionality of English learners in special education. The search process yielded evidence of both overrepresentation and underrepresentation of English learners in special education, with some studies indicating disproportionality in specific disability categories. Underrepresentation was found to be present in categories of emotional behavioral disability, speech and language impairment, other health impairment, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism. Overrepresentation was found to be present in multiple disability categories, especially with specific learning disabilities and speech language impairment. Potential variables that could be contributors to overrepresentation were found to be educators’ …

A Systematic Study Of The Highly Endemic Spider Beetle Fauna (Coleoptera: Ptinidae: Ptininae) Found In The Coastal Deserts Of Perú, Marlena Askren

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Spider beetles are small, often flightless insects that occur in hyperarid environments around the world. They exhibit interesting morphology and behavior that allows them to conserve water they obtain from plant material, dung, and other detritus. One hyperarid region in which they are found is the Pacific coast of Perú and northern Chile. The Sechura Desert, Peruvian Coastal Desert, and Atacama Desert make up the arid coast where spider beetles occur from north to south. Through multiple years of field work and museum collections, populations of spider beetles were found along the coast in isolated pockets of vegetation, separated by …

Understanding Injury Risk In Female College Dancers: The Interplay Of Mobility And Strength, Audrey Clark

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

INTRODUCTION: Female college dancers present a unique set of demands that contribute to a risk of injury different from other sports. Two of the primary physical demands of dance, mobility and strength, are also known risk factors for non contact injuries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between mobility, strength, and non contact injuries in female college dancers and add to the current gap in literature. METHODS: Participants (n=10) completed an injury history, hand-grip assessment, Functional Movement Screen (FMS), and monthly follow up injury surveys during the duration of the study. Means, standard deviations, correlations, and …

Biocultural Mobility: The Impact Of Osteoarthritis On Rural Kentuckians, Alexandria Anderson

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common chronic degenerative joint disease that results in joint pain and loss of joint function, and it is rising in prevalence alongside an aging population. OA has a complex etiology, with various biological, mechanical, and sociocultural factors affecting its acquisition and progression. Like most diseases, OA has a differential prevalence among populations; it is disproportionally more common in underserved communities, including rural areas. This thesis presents (1) a study comparing selected OA treatment type and patient travel time, (2) a study comparing OA comorbidity amount and rurality, and (3) a discussion of exploratory interdisciplinary methods in …

The Effects Of The Replication Crisis Instruction On Skepticism, Ericka Hoppes

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Over the past decade, there has been growing concern regarding the Replication Crisis in psychology. The crisis has called into question the credibility of psychological research by highlighting the field’s difficulty in reproducing findings (Open Science Collaboration, 2015), as well as the prevalence of questionable research practices amongst psychologists (e.g., p-hacking, falsifying data, incomplete reporting of measures, etc.). Given that the crisis presents psychological research through a critical lens, learning about the aspects of the crisis can be a useful pedagogical tool for helping students develop a healthy sense of skepticism regarding scientific studies. The present study investigated how teaching …

Preservice Teachers' Perceptions Of Gifted Students' Characteristics And Needs, Courtney Warren

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Gifted students possess unique needs that require appropriately challenging opportunities to develop their advanced abilities. To meet these needs, gifted students must be correctly identified, which is often through teacher referral, thus subjecting the identification process to teachers’ knowledge and perceptions of giftedness. Teachers can also implement practices, such as differentiation, to meet gifted needs within their own classrooms. Thus, teachers must hold accurate perceptions of gifted students and their needs. However, teacher preparation programs often offer minimal training in giftedness. The purpose of the current study was to examine preservice teachers’ perceptions of gifted students’ characteristics and needs. Thirty-one …

True Love Stays, Sydney Thier

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

True Love Stays is a love story, albeit an atypical one. Inspired by the bond I have cultivated with my dog, Ava, it explores the nature of relationships with other people and myself. As an essayist and a filmmaker, I was inspired by the way that writers like Jo Ann Beard, Joan Didion, and Leslie Jamison write about love and how Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Alice Birch approach the complexities of identity and relationships on-screen. This collected work is meant to be a multi-genre approach to unpacking how love, desire, and grief interact with identity formation through character-driven writing and an …

Influence Of Biochar On Rooting And Establishment Of Chamaecyparis And Thuga Species, Megan Mudd

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study investigated the effects of biochar amendment on the rooting and establishment of evergreen propagules, thus addressing the critical need for improved nutrient use efficiency and water retention in containerized substrates within the horticulture and floriculture industry. Biochar, a product of biomass pyrolysis, offers promising potential due to its high porosity and surface area, which contribute to enhanced soil fertility and water retention. Two experiments were conducted, one in a greenhouse and the other in a cold frame, using cuttings from Chamaecyparis obtusa, Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Vintage Gold’, and Thuja occidentalis ‘Emerald Green’. Treatments included varying percentages of biochar …

Examining Antecedents Of Diversity Initiative Fatigue: A Moderatedmediation Model, Anne Simpson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis investigates the relationships between bias awareness, motivation to respond without prejudice, racialized attitudes, and diversity initiative fatigue (DIF) among employees within an academic setting, specifically focusing on faculty and staff at Western Kentucky University. Data were collected through a survey-based approach to measure these constructs and assess their relationships. This study hypothesized that bias awareness negatively correlates with DIF and motivation to respond without prejudice mediating this relationship. Furthermore, the research examines how racialized attitudes moderate the relationship between bias awareness and motivation to respond without prejudice. By examining these relationships using a moderated mediation model, the study …

Examining The Impact Of A Mobile-Delivered Brief Intervention On Substance Coping Motives Among A Sample Of Interpersonal Trauma Survivors With Heavy Alcohol Use, Lily Milam

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Brief interventions (BIs) aim to reduce risky alcohol use but show limited effectiveness for interpersonal trauma (IPT) survivors, who may use alcohol to cope with trauma-related issues. BIs typically do not target coping-related motivations or include effective emotion regulation strategies, which may improve outcomes for at-risk groups like IPT survivors. Additionally, digital interventions often struggle with low engagement. This study examined a trauma-informed and peer-supported BI to reduce coping-related drinking motives in heavy drinking young adults and assess its effectiveness compared to a standard BI and assessment only condition. Participants (N=133, 79.2% Female, 91.2% White, M age=19.77) with a lifetime …

Characterization Of Legionella Pneumophila Effector Protein Ceg10, Emmanuella Ofoka

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Legionella pneumophila, the causative agent of Legionnaires' disease, utilizes a Type IV secretion system (T4SS) to transport effector proteins into host cells. This bacterium is said to have over 300 effector proteins. Among these, the Ceg10 effector protein had remained uncharacterized, despite evidence suggesting the importance of bacterial effector proteins in the host-pathogen interaction. This study aimed to perform a structural and functional characterization of Ceg10 through transcriptomic, bioinformatics, and molecular analyses. Transcriptomic profiling of HEK 293T cells expressing Ceg10 revealed significant differential gene expression, with approximately 20 upregulated genes, including leucine-rich repeat, as well as other downregulated genes. …

Person-Centered Planning: An Improvement Science Approach To Interventions Impacting Teacher Implementation, Stacie Hutchison

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study used an improvement science framework to influence special education teachers’ behaviors and their implementation of transition service development through person centered planning and ongoing teacher support. Grounded in adaptive leadership principles and a theory of action emphasizing the need for new professional learning and sustained support, this research investigated how targeted interventions impact teacher practice.

I selected a mixed-methods design for this study, combining semi-structured interviews, Likert scale surveys, open-ended questions, and a single-participant case study to evaluate outcomes. Findings revealed that a traditional professional development model incorporating opportunities to practice skills and proactively address potential barriers led …

Personality And How It Relates To Coping Flexibility, Rebecca Kearns

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Stressful events, negative emotions, and negative events are all a normal part of life. How we react and cope with these events can reduce the damage stress can have on our mental health and well-being. There are many ways to cope with situations, but not all are considered to be beneficial. The ability to alternate between different coping strategies within a given situation is called coping flexibility. Having high coping flexibility is considered to be healthy and adaptive, but not everyone possesses the ability to flexibly cope with situations. Personality may explain individual differences among coping flexibility. The big five …

Expanding On The Relationship Between Incivility And Resource Depletion: Examining Race And Personal Tolerance For Mistreatment As Moderators, Aishwarya Kurmar

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Workplace incivility is ubiquitous, regularly impacting working adults. Through the framework of Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, I examined the relationship between workplace incivility and resource depletion using daily diary methodology. Workplace incivility negatively impacts employee outcomes at the organizational and individual level. As such, it was hypothesized that workplace incivility would have a positive correlation with increased resource depletion, measured as psychological fatigue. Under selective incivility theory, disenfranchised groups face increased instances of incivility. Following this theory, non-whites were hypothesized to experience a greater association between workplace incivility and resource depletion. Additionally, an individual’s personal tolerance of mistreatment for …

Social Comparison And Pressure: Examining The Roles Of Sex And Rank, Ashley East

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Faculty in academia face intense competition and growing expectations, often shaped by perceptions of others’ performance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these dynamics were magnified, making social comparison a critical factor in understanding academic workplace pressures. The purpose of this study is to examine the changing work pressures and social comparison tendencies among academics during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is hypothesized that social comparison tendencies will be positively related to time pressure (H1a) and telepressure (H1b), with moderation by sex (H2a and H2b) and organizational rank (H3a and H3b). Using a panel survey of 197 tenure-track and tenured faculty members in …

Parental Stress, Child Negative Affect, And A Mediating Relationship With Negative Talk, Olivia Goodman

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study aimed to establish if a relationship existed between parenting stress and their child’s depression, anxiety and somatization, referred to as negative affect. Alongside establishing this relationship, this study investigated if parent negative talk, as seen in Parent-Child Interactive Therapy (PCIT) sessions, affected that relationship. It was hypothesized that parenting stress would negatively impact their children’s negative affect, and that parenting stress would lead to increased negative talk towards their children, in turn negatively impacting their children’s negative affect. A total of 47 families from archival PCIT video sessions created the data set. Results found that there was no …

Caves, Calculus, And Climate Change: Measuring And Modeling The Discharge Of Biz Falls In Mammoth Cave National Park, Ava Lich

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Climate change poses a significant global challenge, with increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide as a primary driver of rising temperatures and environmental disruptions. Karst systems, such as those in South-Central Kentucky, play a role in sequestering atmospheric CO₂ through the dissolution of limestone, a process that forms unique landscapes while mitigating climate impacts. This study investigates the discharge dynamics of Cascade River in Great Onyx Cave to enhance understanding of the relationship between hydrology and carbon sequestration in karst environments. A barrel weir equipped with pressure transducers was employed to collect and measure water flow, and Torricelli’s law was …

"Dental Health For Mental Wealth": A Comprehensive Analysis Of The Underexplored Impact Of Oral Health And Behaviors On Neurobiology And Psychological Well-Being, Brooke C. Beck

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This thesis explores the link between oral health and psychological state, specifically, the effect of oral health on psychological state and how appropriate oral health impacts this relationship. A review of the literature was conducted and studies interpreted within the scope of oral health’s impact on psychological health and detailing some of the pathways proposed for such a link. The literature search was limited to the English language from well-known databases mainly from 2015 to 2025. A few outliers are present to include foundational information.

The effects of oral disease and oral self-care behaviors were dissected through a biochemical perspective, …

Ua19/16/1/1 2025 Hilltopper Baseball Media Guide, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

2025 baseball media guide produced by WKU Athletic Media Relations, includes athletic records and statistics, photographs, schedule and information regarding opponents.

Exploring The Impact Of Yoga On Self-Perception In People With Aphasia, Meta Riley Hurm

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Instances of complex diagnoses and acquired language loss, such as aphasia, are often accompanied by a variety of deficits in quality of life. Most notably, individuals’ self-perceptions can be altered by these diagnoses, as new life complications bring about the necessity for major adjustments. This study utilized interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to analyze the effects of participation in an adapted yoga program on self-perception, specifically evoking change in identity, emotional health, sense of community, and self-acceptance. Through interviews with six individuals with a primary aphasia diagnosis, findings revealed three major superordinate themes of self-perception: identity, self-care, and attunement. Participants' answers …

Determining Localization Of Surf-4 In Drosophila Melanogaster In The Secretory Pathway, Jada Scott

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The purpose of this research is to determine the role of the Surfeit-4 gene, or Surf-4 locus protein, during Drosophila melanogaster development. Surf-4 was identified in the Srivastava lab in a biochemical screen for proteins that associate with the basement membrane (BM): a structure needed and required for normal development and its degradation is a hallmark of tumor metastasis. Surf-4 has been predicted to function within intracellular compartments and is known to be expressed in many parts of the developing fly. We are currently determining why Surf-4 is important in development and what role, if any, it could play during …

Möbius Transformations And Hyperbolic Geometry In The Upper Half-Plane, Emma Bunch

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In this thesis, we discuss several properties of Möbius transformations and hyperbolic geometry, a type of non-Euclidean geometry, in the upper half-plane using tools of complex analysis. We begin with preliminaries for our work, comprising the stereographic projection, the representation of circles and lines in the complex plane, conformal maps, and a result on cross-products, which we include for further development. We proceed to Möbius transformations and discuss their properties, cross-ratios, and various mappings. We additionally provide useful calculations. Lastly, we conclude with the hyperbolic metric in the upper half-plane and explore hyperbolic distance, including its invariance under Möbius transformations. …

Bibliography, Mary P. Bennett

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Bibliography of publications by Mary Bennett.

Examining The Impact Of Political Affiliation And Related Images On False Memories, Shawn Sullivan

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The 2024 election, similar to the 2020 election, promised political divide and rampant misinformation (Pennycook & Rand 2021). Given the intensity of this polarization, the season provided a unique opportunity to gain insight into public perceptions and false memories. False memories can impact how we view and disseminate mass media; further contributing to the emergence and circulation of misinformation, leading to significant implications for digital literacy. This study aims to understand how individuals' self-identified political affiliation contributes to their susceptibility to misinformation. Furthermore, I aim to understand how viewing related images may influence the memory of fictional events. Although both …

Gender, Victimization, And Delinquency: Examining Gendered Pathways To Crime Among Juveniles, Caitlin Hinds

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The intersection of gender, crime, and victimization is a critical area of study within criminology, particularly as it relates to understanding the differing pathways men and women take into criminal behavior. Historically, crime statistics have shown a significant male predominance, particularly in violent offenses. Feminist criminology has played an essential role in reframing the narrative around gender and crime, emphasizing the need to examine the gender pathways that shape male and female experiences differently. While men may employ violence more overtly, women often rely on more subtle strategies to navigate criminal activities, avoiding physical confrontation when possible. Feminist criminologists argue …

Exploring The Role Of Bingocize® Workshops In Enhancing Health And Well-Being In Older Adults, Kaitlyn Gray

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

As the population of older adults grows, the need for better health and well-being also grows, making it necessary to implement effective strategies for healthy aging to improve the length and quality of life of older adults (CDC, 2024). This study evaluates the effectiveness of a Bingocize^® Workshop in improving the physical health of older adults. Bingocize^®, a unique program combining bingo with exercise, is designed to increase physical activity. Eleven (11) participants aged 68.55 ± 6.235 attended a ten-week workshop, two times per week focusing on physical exercises tailored to their abilities. The primary objective was …

The Impacts Of Land Use And Groundwater Inputs On Stream Health And Habitat Of Jennings Creek, Bowling Green, Kentucky, Allison Francis

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In Bowling Green, Kentucky, the Jennings Creek watershed encompasses the entire city and surrounding area; however, little work has been completed focused on assessing the Creek’s water quality, habitat, and biological indicators. Jennings Creek is fed by several karst groundwater springs, making it highly vulnerable to contamination due to the rapid connection between the surface and subsurface via sinkholes and underground rivers. An examination of Jennings Creek’s water quality, habitat, and biological indicators provides an assessment of the watershed’s health.

The methodology closely followed the methods for assessing habitat by Kentucky’s Energy and Environment Cabinet and was approved for the …