Digital Commons Network^™

Teaching The Middle East In Portland Public High Schools, Nicholas C. Jenkins

University Honors Theses

This paper examines the ways in which the Middle East is taught to high school students in Portland Public School. Specifically, it focuses on the required history courses, Modern World History and United States History for Freshman and Juniors, respectively. Beginning with a definition of the Middle East, this paper starts by placing itself and the author within a discourse community of educators, historians, and writers who discuss the issues with incorporating multiple points of view into their curriculum. After a discussion of the methods by which the data was collected, this paper concludes by offering a description of that …

Color Associations As Advertising Strategies: An Analysis Of Consumer Attitudes Toward The Healthfulness Of Energy Bar Packaging, Rachel Lotz

University Honors Theses

Color plays a strong role in shaping consumers’ attitude toward brands, expectations, and likeability in the field of advertising. Associations with colors are formed within consumers’ culture and are often universal in meaning. Through three studies, the role of color in relationship to perceived healthfulness on energy bar packaging is observed. The results show a strong correlation between a particular color associated with healthfulness due to preconceived color associations often highlighted in advertising strategies. However the results raised unexpected, yet insightful correlations with other colors, which participants identified as healthy. When participants were asked to pick the energy bar that …

Transformative Encounters In Conflict Processes, Garrett Evans

University Honors Theses

Beyond resolutions and agreements, there is a deeper level of internal and relational transformation which some conflict processes seek to bring forth. The purpose of this paper is to examine three models of transformation, how it occurs, and how to facilitate it; and to seek common themes and patterns between these models. With these themes identified and illuminated by insights from psychology, philosophy, and interpersonal neurobiology, I offer a synthesized hypothesis of transformation and recommendations for facilitation. Finally, I address future directions for study, particularly in the intersection of trauma, interpersonal neurobiology, contemplative psychology, and conflict transformation.

Applying Deception Detection To True And False Confessions: A Novel Approach To Conducting Experiments In Legal Psychology, Olivia Preston

University Honors Theses

Recent exonerations of convicted defendants by the efforts of advocates like the Innocence Project are accompanied by a concerning finding that a large proportion of defendants had falsely confessed to the alleged crime. False convictions result in due process violations and the suffering and stigma of the convicted and their families, in addition to imposing an economic burden on the community. Prior research has identified structural interrogation practices and individual characteristics that increase risk of false confessions, however knowledge on how to identify true and false confessions is minimal and undeveloped. Cues to deception in false statements may be an …

Integration Of Movement/Posture: A Dynamic Adaptive Process Model, Daniel A. Akins

University Honors Theses

Structural Integration (SI) is a process of manual therapy and sensorimotor education that aims to facilitate sustainable improvement in whole-body biomechanical functioning and a sense of ease and coherence in normal movement/posture. Traditional and currently widespread explanations for the physiological mechanisms underlying SI theory and practice have focused on notions of fascial tissue change and postural alignment, while recent challenges to these explanations advocate a shift away from these interests toward a neurocentric model that emphasizes movement, pain, and biopsychosocial factors. SI seeks to professionalize and become an auxiliary to healthcare, so it must embrace scientific standards while maintaining its …

Oregon Youth Peer Courts: Grand Jury Style, Sierra Udland

University Honors Theses

Youth Courts are diversionary programs for first time misdemeanors committed by youth. The court is made up of the youth's peers who interact with the defendant and ultimately impose a sentence. In this study two Oregon Youth Courts are examined to discover if the program goals of restorative justice are present. The courts utilize a specific style of peer jury model, called the "Grand Jury style" because the jurors ask the questions and decide the case. Eight cases are observed with a subset of jurors surveyed about sentencing decisions. Restorative justice principles are found through both modes of data collection. …

Exploring The Negative Perceptions Of Female Legislators: The Consequences Of Gender Quotas In Argentina, Marcella Silverman

University Honors Theses

This paper examines how the presence of gender quotas effect public perceptions of female legislators in regards to their competence and qualifications needed to enter public office. This paper suggests that gender quotas can promote negative public perceptions due to pre-established gender norms and meritocracy violations similarly to sentiments in Affirmative Action programs. Analyzing the survey data taken from participants in Argentina, the results suggests that perceptions of female legislators are impacted by the individual’s knowledge of what a gender quota is as well as the specifics of how Argentine gender quotas are executed. Of the total percentage of participants …

Psychology At A Distance: Examining The Efficacy Of Online Therapy, Ryan Baird Thompson

University Honors Theses

Online therapy presents both potential benefits, and possible hazards, when compared with traditional face-to-face (FTF) therapy. Questions of clinical efficacy are of primary interest to mental health workers and researchers. In this literature review, I break the concept of efficacy into a tripartite investigation of outcome, process, and self-report evidence. The outcome evidence indicates that teletherapy patients experience similar results compared with control groups. The process studies indicated that working alliance was unaffected by the medium of communication. Finally, the survey studies reported that clients were predominantly satisfied with online therapy. Therapists, however, had misgivings about the online therapy environment. …

Use Of Behavioral Activation Theory To Identify Depression Among Hiv-Positive Women Of Color In The Rural South, Tascha R. Johnson

University Honors Theses

Women of color (WOC) are disproportionately affected by the HIV epidemic in the Southern United States and are at increased risk of infection, mortality and being lost to care. It has been found that compared to Whites, WOC are more likely to have more negative views towards mental illness and are less likely to seek help. The research presented here considers how depression acts as a barrier to health care and discusses the challenge that WOC face in identifying and naming depression. The Behavioral Activation Theory, posits that women may show depression through their behaviors even if they don’t explicitly …

Fitness And Fatness: The Conflation Of Weight With Health, And The Consequences Of Fat-Shaming, Kristin Spurkland

University Honors Theses

Obesity is widely accepted as one of the major health crises facing the United States, and increasingly, the world. Labeled a disease by the American Medical Association, and frequently characterized as an epidemic, obesity is the target of high profile national health interventions, media campaigns, and a multi-billion dollar self-help industry. The message produced by public health agencies is that obesity is a killer, and that reducing weight is a beneficial and achievable goal generating many positive health outcomes. This paper presents two primary arguments that counter the prevailing attitudes towards obesity: that as a stand-alone measure, Body Mass Index …

An Examination Of Approaches To Domestic Violence Advocacy: Recommendation For Generalizable, Experimental Study, Melanie Stewart

University Honors Theses

Only since the 1970s has there been societal interest in establishing Domestic Violence (DV) advocacy to address the violent oppression of women. The catalyst which brought this issue to the forefront of social consciousness was the Women's Liberation Movement. The activism of the 1960s civil rights movements set the stage for the Battered Women's Movement. Feminists recognized violence as a product of patriarchal society. Patriarchy, and with it personal and institutional violence, was embedded in every aspect of society. Shifting ideological and political views have influenced the evolution of DV advocacy from the grassroots activists’ fight for equality, to the …

Rewriting History: Using Reconciliation Processes To Revise Dominant Cultural Narratives And Assessing Cultural Readiness For Reconciliation, Flannery Mack

University Honors Theses

Truth and Reconciliation processes are key to rebuilding societies damaged by broad-based, government-sanctioned violence by revising dominant cultural narratives of the violence. In Indonesia, there has been no such process following the killings of between 500,000 and 2 million suspected communists in 1965-66. This paper is an exploration of conflict transformation theory, and of what form a truth and reconciliation process might take in Indonesia following 50 years of impunity. Using Joshua Oppenheimer's 2012 and 2014 documentaries The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence as primary reference points, I use critical discourse analysis to look at how the …

The Russian-German Exiles In Kazakhstan: 1940 & 1990 Migrations, Irina Rudenko

University Honors Theses

This thesis aims to review and contribute to the growing scholarship documenting the experience of the Russian-German exiles. Organized into two parts: the first half concentrates on the 1940 deportations and the second half on the 1990 migrations. The journey of the 1940 Soviet deportations is studied through parallels of the government’s intentions juxtaposed with the realities on the ground. Then a literature review of work done by scholars in the Soviet archives discusses the common consensus in regards to claims of Soviet ethnic cleansing and genocide. An overview of the documented realities of exile confronted by the deportees supplements …

Animal Hoarding: An In Depth Look At The Issues And Interventions, Amanda Mooneyham

University Honors Theses

Animal hoarding cases in regard to 501(c)3 nonprofit agencies have been on the rise in recent decades and current intervention strategies are struggling to address this complex social problem. Animal hoarding not only affects the animals being abused, but it has adverse effects on humans and the environment. This paper examines the complexities surrounding animal hoarding, specifically focusing on the rescue hoarder mentality. The current intervention methods used are criminal prosecution, civil/regulatory enforcement, and mental health evaluations/treatments. Criminal prosecution is effective for some animal hoarders, but a lack of laws protecting animals along with animals being viewed as property translates …

Cost Of Commuting: A Review Of Determinants, Outcomes, And Theories Of Commuting-Related Stress, Damon M. Holland

University Honors Theses

Commuter-related stress, its history, associated determinants, outcomes in work environments and theoretical and methodological approaches were examined. In this cross-disciplinary review, I synthesize the research findings on commuting-related stress as it relates to workplace outcomes. In the extant literature, control, predictability, impedance, and length of commute are commonly associated with commuter stress. In addition, prior research has identified workplace aggression and absenteeism as prominent work-related outcomes of commuter stress.

Best Practices For Internal Controls To Prevent Occupational Fraud In Small Businesses?, Stephanie Shao

University Honors Theses

Fraud is a growing issue that organizations face. In the 2016 Report to the Nations, the ACFE estimated that organizations typically lose 5% of revenues each year to fraud. This is an extremely large cut of revenues that most businesses cannot afford to lose.

The ACFE reports that 30% of fraud victims within their study was small businesses with less than 100 employees (2016). While the median loss per fraud case is the same at $150,000 for for-profit organizations of any size, the frequency of fraud at small businesses is much higher than at large businesses (ACFE, 2016).

Though $150,000 …

Fathering Interventions For Men Who Use Intimate Partner Violence And Child Maltreatment: Perceived Benefits And Risks, Aaron L. Brown

University Honors Theses

Intervention classes for fathers that use family violence are in the very early stages of development. The purpose of this paper is to better understand how fathering interventions are minimizing risks and maximizing benefits in working to address the service and knowledge gaps toward father’s that use IPV, CM, or both IPV and CM. Initially, the service and knowledge gaps are identified as well as the perceived benefits and risks of offering fathering interventions. Then, based on the analysis, several recommendations are made for the implementation of these interventions. Following this, I describe two widely available intervention curricula, and discuss …

Determining The Relationship Between White Matter Volume And Processing Speed In Adolescence, Julius Laxamana

University Honors Theses

Neuroimaging techniques have recently been used to research and identify relationships between structure and function. Because adolescence is a critical period for development of the brain, the present study’s goal was to identify the possible relationships between white matter (WM) volume and processing speed during this period. White matter was of particular interest as it consists of the myelinated axons of some nerve cells which are essential for nervous system functioning. The WM volume of 157 adolescents (ages 12-17) were determined from T1-weighted images via FMRIB’s Automated Segmentation Tool (FAST), whereby the brain was separated into WM, gray matter (GM), …

Self-Infantilizing Women: Paternalism In Abortion Lawmaking And Legislator Gender, Cherie H. Martin

University Honors Theses

Mainstream feminist political science discourse primarily focuses on abortion as an issue of male dominance over female individuals, and little research has been conducted to determine whether female lawmakers, too, are complicit in paternalism in anti-abortion rhetoric and lawmaking, and the implications of such self-infantilization. The present thesis surveys the existence of paternalistic language in state-level anti-abortion bills for the 2016 legislative session, and analyzes the results by legislator gender. The data conveys that both male and female legislators employ paternalistic language in anti-abortion legislation, which implies there is more to the abortion debate than gender differences. This paper explores …

How Felon Disenfranchisement Legislation Alters Citizenship And How It Can Be Challenged, Shanae Jung

University Honors Theses

Elements of "civil death" were put into heavy practice in the reconstruction era, as the U.S. sought to use disenfranchisement as a means of restricting the integration of "undesirable" groups, specifically the recently emancipated African-Americans. Many states have since done away with restrictions on the voting rights of ex-offenders beyond completion of their sentence and sentence requirements; however, Iowa, Florida, and Kentucky employ strict standards for granting re-enfranchisement—nearly impossible for most to complete. Elsewhere in the U.S. there has been a move from disenfranchisement; Virginia’s Governor recently reinstated franchise rights to ex-offenders through executive order and has continued to do …

Pre-Roosting Assemblages In Birds: An Observation Of American Crows In The Portland Park Blocks, Katherine Hendricks

University Honors Theses

The first objective of this study is to describe the seasonal patterns of variation in crow numbers and to assess the extent to which crow numbers vary with weather over the course of the winter in the Portland State University Park Blocks. The second objective of this study is to draw on current literature to help determine a possible explanation for the crow gatherings that occur at the Portland State University Park Blocks. I observed the population of crows from October 23^rd 2016 to March 31^st 2016 with a restricted survey area around Millar Library on the Portland …

A Low-Cost Apparatus For Laboratory Exercises And Classroom Demonstrations Of Geometric Optics, William Vincent Tex Hahn

University Honors Theses

Current trends in research towards the teaching of geometric suggest a constructivist approach. Student experimentation dealing directly with student misconceptions through repetition of examples in many contexts to confront conflicting reasoning allow students to construct definitions with their experiences and observations. Developing the scientific method of observation, prediction/experimental design, conducting experiments and repeating is reinforced with these techniques. Cataloguing student misconceptions and redesigning course material and laboratory experiments in their context has only recently begun. Use of technology has also been shown to increase student interest in course material and 3D printers have recently become common tools in schools. Additionally, …

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (Mbsr) As An Alternative Therapy For Chronic Pain, Kayla Ohlgren

University Honors Theses

This thesis discusses the possibility of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as an alternative therapy for chronic pain in contrast to traditional medical care. It examines 18 peer-reviewed scholarly articles and identifies benefits for chronic pain patients in terms of pain severity, quality of life, psychological distress, and duration of benefits. This thesis also identifies practical benefits of MBSR such as cost, implementation, no negative side effects, and the creation of life-long skills to be used after treatment has ended. In conclusion, there is a significant gap in the current academic literature pertaining to chronic pain patients who are minorities, men, …

Trust & Growth In The Workplace: An Analysis Of Leadership In Flat Organizations, Drake George

University Honors Theses

Management styles affect the overall performance of employees and the growth of a business. Intertwined with leadership are the concepts of trust and credibility in relation to the success of a business and the satisfaction of employees and customers. A leader’s ability to adapt their management style to forecast changes in their industry strengthens their command of the business, and can establish trust. The overall challenge of transparency is that it is multifaceted. Trust from employees to leadership, trust from leadership to employees and trust from consumer to business all play a large role in establishing honest business practices. Through …

Perceived Addiction To Pornography, Level Of Distress And Their Correlates, Paul Grimes

University Honors Theses

Negative psychological states such as distress, shame and depression have been linked to problematic porn use. This is a proposal for a study that seeks to identify if perceived addiction to pornography and stress are correlated. In addition to this perceived addiction to porn, other perceived addictions (food, sex, alcohol, marijuana and cigarettes) will be tested to determine the level of comorbidity of addictions in people. The hypothesis of this study is: People that perceive themselves as having pornography addiction will have higher rates of other perceived addictions than those who do perceive themselves to be addicted to pornography; in …

Who’S Afraid Of Response Bias?, Megan A. K. Peters, Tony Ro, Hakwan Lau

Publications and Research

Response bias (or criterion) contamination is insidious in studies of consciousness: that observers report they do not see a stimulus may not mean they have absolutely no subjective experience; they may be giving such reports in relative terms in the context of other stimuli. Bias-free signal detection theoretic measures provide an excellent method for avoiding response bias confounds, and many researchers correctly adopt this approach. However, here we discuss how a fixation on avoiding criterion effects can also be misleading and detrimental to fruitful inquiry. In a recent paper, Balsdon and Azzopardi (Absolute and relative blindsight. Consciousness and Cognition 2015; …

The “Burnout” Construct: An Inhibitor Of Public Health Action?, Bianchi Renzo, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

The prevention and treatment of the “burnout syndrome” within the critical care community is an important objective of the Moss et al. Burnout in the occupational area is based on the idea that burnout is especially common in individuals who care for critically ill patients. We think that the authors’ observations and recommendations are diminished by the fact that studies of burnout’s prevalence are methodologically problematic. The current definition and use of the burnout construct may in fact be detrimental to public health decision making.

Hispanics Immigrants On The Fields: Is Discrimination A Barrier To Get Non-Agricultural Jobs?, Wilson Emiliano Lopez Barrera

Agribusiness and Applied Economics

This research presents evidence supporting the existence of differences in treatments received by Hispanics job-seekers on agricultural and non-agricultural labor markets found through an experimental labor market. Hispanics males’ productivity predicted by agricultural employers was higher than the predicted by non-agricultural employers, suggesting that Hispanics males are believed to fit better in agricultural activities. This may imply an invisible barrier preventing Hispanics to access non-agricultural jobs. Employers’ beliefs reactions to a more informative signal related to productivity sent to the labor market were tested. Hispanic job-seekers’ signals did not significantly reduce the gap between agricultural and non-agricultural employers’ beliefs; suggesting …

Motivations And Predictors Of Cheating In Pharmacy School, Eric J. Ip, Kathy Nguyen, Bijal M. Shah, Shadi Doroudgar, Monica K. Bidwal

Faculty Publications & Research of the TUC College of Pharmacy

Objective. To assess the prevalence, methods, and motivations for didactic cheating among pharmacy students and to determine predictive factors for cheating in pharmacy colleges and schools.

Methods. A 45-item cross-sectional survey was conducted at all four doctor of pharmacy programs in Northern California. For data analysis, t test, Fisher exact test, and logistic regression were used.

Results. Overall, 11.8% of students admitted to cheating in pharmacy school. Primary motivations for cheating included fear of failure, procrastination, and stress. In multivariate analysis, the only predictor for cheating in pharmacy school was a history of cheating in undergraduate studies.

Conclusion. Cheating occurs …

Absolute Pitch And Tone Identification, Gilead Bar-Elli

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

Absolute pitch (AP), besides the psychological and neurological interests it has, raises some conceptual difficulties that can teach us about the richness of our notion of musical tone and various aspects of its identification. It is argued that when AP is conceived under a slim notion of identifying the pitch of a crude sound, it is hardly meaningful and has no significance in music comprehension. The rich notion, which is the meaningful and important one, involves knowing the position of a tone in a tone-space and its relations. This is presented as experiential: hearing and identifying tones under concepts and …