Digital Commons Network^™

Stereotype Threat In Older Adults’ Episodic Memory Tests: Susceptibility And Protection, Talia Barrett

Honors Theses

The objective of the present study was to investigate whether prior task success would protect older adults against stereotype threat in an episodic memory test. Previous experiments have established that, whereas stereotype threat negatively impacts older participants’ episodic memory performance, prior task success benefits it. However, up until this point, researchers had yet to combine the two manipulations to test their joint effect on episodic memory. Participants were randomly assigned to read a stereotype threat or neutral passage, after which they were placed in the success or no success group. Participants next received a stereotype condition reminder, and they then …

Who’S Laughing Now? Satire’S Effect On Negative Partisanship, Emma West

Honors Theses

“Negative partisanship,” most basically defined as the phenomenon whereby Americans largely align against one party instead of affiliating with the other, has grave implications for democracy: it has already affected productivity in Congress, the acceptance (rather, lack thereof) of election results (e.g. 2016), and watered down the importance of ideology in American politics. Parsing the independent variables that influence negative partisanship is vital in combating its detrimental effects, and this project proposes satire as a possibility. An analytical history of both topics is explored. Interestingly, psychological mechanisms for interpreting satire and the out-party share many similarities in mechanisms of subjective …

Pluralistic Ethical Personalism, Qifan Hu

Honors Theses

In the thesis, I sketch out a general outline for a pluralistic, personalist theory of ethics. This theory intends to capture the phenomenon that our life experience is saturated with ethical and other kinds of values; and it also emphasizes the idea that each ethical agent, or human being, has a unique ethical project that is understandable in light of various ethical values.

The Lie-Brary Of Congress: Misinformation’S Grip On The American Legislative Process, Caleb Bitting

Honors Theses

This thesis investigates the influence of misinformation on the policy-making pro- cess by examining its temporal relationship with congressional speech on the floor of Congress. Through the application of Granger causality tests, I aim to determine the extent to which misinformation permeates political discourse and affects representatives from both political parties. My findings reveal that misinformation drives congressional speech on certain issues, and it appears to have an asymmetrical impact on Republicans and Democrats. While not set up to answer the question about a false dichotomy, my thesis hints that Republicans spread significantly more systems-based misinformation than their Democratic counterparts.

Finding The Common Denominator: Understanding The Shared Experiences Of Female Math Majors, Abigail R. Rosenbaum

Honors Theses

Despite efforts to increase gender diversity in STEM fields, women remain underrepresented in mathematics, especially in advanced academic and research positions. This study aimed to explore the experiences of female math majors as they attempt to navigate this male-dominated space. Through qualitative interviews with seven female math majors, two female math professors, and a focus group with education majors at Woodbridge College, small liberal arts college in the United States, several common themes were identified that define the experiences of female math majors. The findings suggest that math is held at an elevated status in society and that there is …

Examining The Impact Of Living Arrangements On Children's Academic Achievement, Rachel G. Coan

Honors Theses

In my paper I examine how different living arrangements impact how well a child performs in school. The living arrangements are: living with both biological parents, living with biological mother, and living with biological father. Using a linear regression method, I regress living arrangements against GPA and find that children who do not live with both of their biological parents are expected to perform about 0.3 GPA points worse in school than children who do. With added control variables the difference in predicted GPAs decreases. Additionally, I find that living arrangements aren’t predicted to impact children differently depending on their …

A Close Analysis Into The Portrayal Of Female Protagonists Through The Lens Of Gendered Authorship: Specifically Looking Into The Works Of Jane Austen, Frances Burney, John Cleland, And Samuel Richardson, Isabella G. Beyloune

Honors Theses

I explore the difference in gendered authorship in 18th century English literature. Choosing to focus on authors such as Jane Austen, Frances Burney, John Cleland, and Samuel Richardson, I aim to see if gender of the author matters in giving a realistic portrayal of eighteenth century British female protagonists, and if there actually is a difference depending on that gender (male or female, specifically). To do this, I perform case study comparisons. All chapters include a close textual analysis of the authors’ use of dialogue and narrative style for depicting their characters. Chapter 1 focuses on the comparison between Austen’s …

Medical Emergency Preparedness Among Undergraduate Students, Savannah L. Finigan

Honors Theses

Knowing how to respond to a medical emergency is a valuable life skill that college students ought to have the opportunity to attain in order to save lives. This study aims to understand how prepared and confident local students are to respond to a medical emergency. Participants consisted of undergraduate students who had no healthcare or nursing school experience. A survey was distributed that asked students to rank and describe their own confidence to respond to medical emergencies. The survey also questioned how much former training or experience they had with medical emergencies. The results of the survey show that …

Swimming Lessons: Exploring And Embracing The Graphic Memoir, Sophia Donati

Honors Theses

My thesis is both creative and analytical, delving into the graphic memoir genre and its components. My own graphic memoir is at the heart of this piece: Swimming Lessons, which I wrote and drew over the past four years. The first and main piece of my thesis is the 122-page completed draft of Swimming Lessons which details three significant parts of my life centering on my relationship with swimming. Following my graphic memoir is the analytical reflective essay which details the graphic memoir by situating Swimming Lessons in conversation with other prevalent texts in the genre. This piece centers on …

Zerschlagen: German Unification And Divided Identity, Harrison Quinn

Honors Theses

The Unification of East and West Germany ended one of the Cold War’s longest divides, but only on paper. After decades under a unified German state, former East Germans face lower standards of living, economic opportunities, and access to national utilities compared to their Western counterparts. This inequality stems from the bifurcated German identity, which remains largely unaddressed amid German state ambitions for a central role in international institutions. The failure to properly acknowledge East German identity and the suppression thereof demonstrates the failure of Unification to unite the German nation. Political ambitions outweighed a true reconciliation of German nationhood, …

Deconstructing Campus Sexual Assault Among Black Students: An Assessment Of Campus Climate At Predominately White Institutions, Ariana A. Gambrell

Honors Theses

Interpersonal violence is a prominent issue on university and college campuses within the United States. Women attending college are a particularly vulnerable population to experiencing sexual violence. Many of the previous research studies have focused on white women in relation to campus sexual assault (CSA). The primary goal of the present study is to measure the prevalence of sexual assault within minority based populations on campus. Previous research studies have found members of minoritized groups to be at a higher risk of experiencing campus interpersonal violence than are White Women, people without disabilities, and cisgender individuals. In addition, being apart …

The Implementation Of Augmented Reality And Low Latency Protocols In Musical Instrumental Collaborations, Qixiao Zhu

Honors Theses

Past projects involving musical software have been completely virtual, while these software do well in entertainment and education, there is the question of whether these software are playable to the same extent as physical musical instruments. The software presented in this paper, "AR Jam", utilizes various software and hardware tools to form a networked mixed reality system for the users to play music on. The intention of this project is to seek new ways to explore more playable musical instruments in the digital world. The paper presents the software's implementation, challenges such as optimization problems of the synthesizer, and the …

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Risk Factors For Fatal Intimate Partner Violence And Domestic Violence Services Provided, Faith E. Alves

Honors Theses

The current study assessed the COVID-19 pandemic-related changes in risk factors for fatal intimate partner violence (IPV) among female victims. It additionally analyzed IPV services received before and during the pandemic. Data came from a system that most domestic violence (DV) agencies in Connecticut utilize to record their contacts with their clients, including an initial screening through a police-social service intervention. Results indicated that unemployment of the partner was significantly higher in the during-COVID group. Additionally, the delivery of criminal justice services was significantly higher in the pre-COVID group whereas delivery of law enforcement services was significantly higher in the …

Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On College Students And Their Teamwork Abilities, Cameron Garde

Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic left a significant negative impact on the mental health of the world, most notably on traits that affect how people work well with others. Previous research into the effects of the pandemic have found how education has been impacted from the sides of both colleges and students to detract from upper education as a whole. Teamwork and group efforts also ran into unforeseen issues, heavily impacting college students both in the middle of and well past the effects of pandemic restrictions. This thesis uses and analyzes data from a survey disseminated to the University of New Haven …

Can Current Stereo Recording Techniques Improve? A Creative Analysis And Experiment On Stereo Recording, Gabriel Asher Jones

Honors Theses

Listening to music in stereo has become the societal norm and because of its popularity, it has become, “invisible by its own success” (Théberge 1). Contrary to its growth, the older and more commonly used stereo microphone techniques are still being used today and very few new and unique techniques have made a similar impact. To test if the commonly used techniques have room for improvement this project compares them to brand-new ones. In order to understand and utilize stereo microphone placements numerous fundamental ideas need to be considered to achieve a certain sound and level of quality. Every microphone …

“Have You Seen Me?”: Forensic Art For Human Identification, Mckenzie Stommen

Honors Theses

Forensic art for human identification is used to identify victims, suspects, and unidentified decedents. The field is highly interdisciplinary, and forensic artists draw on a broad range of skills, knowledge, and relationships with colleagues to complete this work. This paper will focus mainly on age progression and forensic facial reconstruction, although more applications of forensic art do exist. The case study in forensic art discussed here took the form of an age progression.

New developments in artificial intelligence, facial recognition, computed tomography, and DNA have implications for forensic art, and have already begun to find a place in the field. …

Music Therapy Interventions And Their Outcomes On Hematology And Oncology Patients, And Outpatient Groups, Alexandra Paque

Honors Theses

There is a variety of research published about the use of music therapy interventions and their outcomes for the pediatric hematology-oncology and outpatient groups, however the research is not combined to put together a description of the most effective interventions utilized in one place. This scoping review addressed the questions of what music therapy interventions are used in the pediatric hematology/oncology and outpatient settings, and what the outcomes of music therapy were respectively. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were established to determine what articles to include in the review. Three databases including Google Scholar, WMU Library, and PubMed were searched to …

The Fall Of The Pakatan Harapan (Ph): Contesting Nationalism In Malaysia, Cheng Kidd Sun

Honors Theses

The collapse of the 22 months-old Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition-government in 2020 was the ultimate manifestation of contestations over nationalism that have continued in Malaysia since the nation’s inception more than six decades ago. The “middle ground” platform — a political moderation strategy to win across ethnic lines to obtain multiethnic support — that helped the PH coalition to win the 14th Malaysian General Election was shattered due to identity tensions. The current political discourse has persistently insisted that the betrayal of politicians and political parties, along with economic insecurity and media fragmentation, had contributed to the downfall of this …

Creation Of Preschool Evaluation For Children Experiencing Sensory Processing Disorders, Mary Vestal

Honors Theses

For our thesis project, we partnered with Dr. Michelle Suarez, the co-director of the Resiliency Center at Western Michigan University. When we first met with her, she informed us about the high rates of expulsion for Kalamazoo preschool students with various regulation challenges relating to sensory processing disorders, regulation, autism, and trauma. In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, preschool students are expelled at three times the rate of children in K-12 (2022). Additionally, according to the Equal Justice Society, 250 preschool children get suspended or expelled each day nationwide (2021). The article continues to …

Creation Of Preschool Evaluation For Children Experiencing Sensory Processing Disorders, Brittney Tuck

Honors Theses

For our thesis project, we partnered with Dr. Michelle Suarez, the co-director of the Resiliency Center at Western Michigan University. When we first met with her, she informed us about the high rates of expulsion for Kalamazoo preschool students with various regulation challenges relating to sensory processing disorders, regulation, autism, and trauma. In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, preschool students are expelled at three times the rate of children in K-12 (2022). Additionally, according to the Equal Justice Society, 250 preschool children get suspended or expelled each day nationwide (2021). The article continues to …

Case Study - The Outcomes Of Occupational Therapy For An Autistic Teen, Molly Boyle

Honors Theses

This study sought to understand the outcomes of occupational therapy through interviews of a person with autism spectrum disorder (defined below), their family, and an occupational therapist. By interviewing each of these people, this study aimed to examine the impact of occupational therapy on the autonomy and independence of a young adult with autism and his family.

Ideological Extremism, Conspiratorial Thought, And Support For Authoritarianism In The United States, Sophie N. Martino

Honors Theses

Since the nation’s founding, Americans have tended to take democracy for granted. People see democracy as a given, believing that adherence to democratic values will persist. However, in the past few election cycles, there has been a trend in support for authoritarianism in the United States – not just with political leaders and figures, but also with individuals susceptible to authoritarian values and signals. This thesis seeks to address this apparent threat of authoritarianism in the United States, delving into possible factors that play a role in the growing support for authoritarian attitudes among Americans. I believe that two phenomena …

Accepting The Monster Within: Addressing Mental Illness Through Young Adult Literature, Jenna Ellis

Honors Theses

This creative research project discusses the importance and practice of implementing a unit on mental health in young adult literature in secondary-level ELA curriculum. The first portion of this thesis is an original short story, entitled “Beneath the Surface,” which portrays a middle-schooler, Leith, whose anxiety manifests itself as a monster. “Beneath the Surface” explores mental illness through a metaphor of the ocean, utilizing water imagery to depict Leith’s experiences with and symptoms of anxiety. Following the short story is an annotated bibliography describing mental health texts for students to read in an ELA unit on mental health as well …

Asecret Charting And Sensory Processing Disorder - A Tool For Parents And Teachers, Taylor Lerman

Honors Theses

When considering the results of research from this study, the reader should note this specifically applies to elementary school aged students but could be applicable outside of this study for the purpose of added ages. The cumulative ASECRET charts do not explicitly apply to that of a typical child and added disabilities to consider are discussed within the discussion section of research. Conditions left unmentioned should not be considered inapplicable, but for the purpose of this research, discussion points focus on sensory processing and conditions with higher rates of comorbidity to sensory processing compared to others. The purpose of this …

The Effects Of Survival, Pleasantness, And Storytelling Conditions On True And False Memory Recollection, Rachel Daniels

Honors Theses

The purpose of the present study was to analyze the extent to which various processing scenarios influenced participants' rates of true and false memory recollection. Participants were placed in one of three conditions, storytelling, survival, or pleasantness, and then studied a list of common nouns. They were then instructed to comment on the words in a specific manner depending on the condition to which they were randomly assigned. Following this, participants completed a math distractor task, and were then asked to complete a free recall test for the previously studied words. The results indicated that participants in the storytelling condition …

The Effects Of Holistic Modalities On Stress Reduction In Nursing Students Attending School During The Pandemic, Rachel Kamp

Honors Theses

Nursing students tend to experience high levels of stress due to the pressures and demands of nursing school, including exams, clinical, and interactions with professors and preceptors (Labrague et al., 2017). Recently, the COVID-19 Pandemic has created additional stressors. Both mind and body modalities (yoga, meditation, deep breathing etc.) and exercise modalities (running, walking, etc.) are some of many health promoting, stress reducing activities that were proven to be effective in reducing stress in nursing students prior to the pandemic. This study aims to determine if these modalities are still effective now, and how nursing faculty supports stress reduction in …

Entrepreneurial Finance, Jackson Stewart

Honors Theses

The writings and research presented in this document are for a chapter of a textbook the focuses on entrepreneurship. The chapter focuses on many areas of entrepreneurship including: opportunities, networking, roles, economics, innovations, and history. The area that the potential writings focus on is entrepreneurial finance, or how one acquires capital to start their own business.

There are many ways to gain capital to start a business. These include a variety of investors that can give someone funds or loan that are given out by financial institutions. Investors are a great way to gain capital as investors will give the …

A Survey Of Speech-Language Pathologists' Academic Preparation In Craniofacial Anomalies, Francesca Myerski

Honors Theses

Craniofacial anomalies occur in 1 of 750 newborns a year with the three main types being cleft lip, cleft palate, and cleft lip and/or cleft palate. There are six main factors that affect craniofacial anomalies that are focused on in this research, including genetics, environmental factors, medications, diet, health risks, and surgical procedures/surgeons. The research found that there is a lot of information on craniofacial anomalies and speech-language pathologists need to learn about as much as possible. The lack of knowledge and academic preparations speech-language pathologists have in craniofacial anomalies has decreased their awareness in the birth defect and has …

Sexual Harassment In An Overlooked Occupation: Experiences Of Cna And The Influence Of Nurses, Audrey Pennington

Honors Theses

The prevalence of sexual harassment (SH) in health care facilities has been documented in previous research, but few studies have focused on Certified Nursing assistants (CNA; Burgess et al., 2018; Dean, 2020; Deery et al., 2011; Hibino et al., 2006). The purpose of this study is to explore SH that CNA experience from their patients and what influence supervising nurses may have in impacting the negative outcomes of SH. Participants (N = 95) were recruited to take an online survey through social media and snowball recruiting. The hypotheses of this study were not supported by the data, but results may …

The Effects Of Virtual Reality On Mental Health Software User Satisfaction And Retention, William Hooten

Honors Theses

Mental health issues have become increasingly important in today's society. With that being said, researchers and consumers are looking for new ways to manage and treat mental health using new technologies in labs and the consumer space. This innovation has led to the presence of mobile self-help mental health applications, applications for peoples’ phones that are used to manage symptoms of mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, track goals, meditate, and more. However, mobile mental health applications, and mobile applications in general, have a problem concerning user satisfaction and overall user retention – studies have shown that 95% …