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From The Big Leagues To Little League. Identity Tensions And Experiences Of Former Elite Athletes Coaching Their Children In Athletics, Jake Manning

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

For many families, their children’s athletic activities are a primary source of parent-child bonding for both parents and children, and many parents choose to coach their children’s sports teams to be more involved. While research shows the benefits and challenges that come when the parent navigates a dual role of parent and coach, research has not yet looked at parents who played sports at a professional or collegiate level. Through semi-structured interviews with 5 former elite athletes who coached their children in athletics, this study applies communication theory of identity to analyze their experience and explore the benefits and challenges …

A Systematic Review Of Socioeconomic Status On Infant-Directed Speech, Laura K. Flaker

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project reviews the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on infant-directed speech (IDS) and examines potential interventions aimed at increasing the use of IDS. Existing research indicates that caregivers from higher-SES backgrounds tend to use more frequent and higher-quality IDS, including greater vocabulary diversity and more responsive interactions, compared to caregivers from lower-SES backgrounds. These differences are often influenced by factors such as parental stress, limited time, and access to resources. Understanding the differences in IDS is crucial to reducing disparities in language development. Findings from this review suggest that interventions such as increasing access to mental health services and …

Fear, Memory, And Deterrence: Reassessing Nuclear Peace In The 21st Century, Nathan H. Schroeder

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research investigates the paradox of nuclear peace theory: the idea that nuclear weapons, despite their destructive capacity, have contributed to a more stable global order. By tracing the historical development of nuclear arsenals and the strategic logic of deterrence, the project examines whether the post-1945 decline in large-scale wars between superpowers and wartime deaths can be attributed to the threat of mutual annihilation. It also explores the psychological and cultural consequences of this deterrence-based peace, including the normalization of fear and its potential link to desensitization toward violence in younger generations. From Cold War-era school drills to modern apocalyptic …

Effect Of Jet Lag And Nighttime Shifts On The Circadian Rhythm Of Humans, Mahd Adrees

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project reviews the circadian rhythm and its disruption by jet lag and nighttime shifts. It discusses the effects on melatonin, sleep quality, and physiological symptoms using articles from Google Scholar. Key studies, mechanisms, and statistics will support these points. A discussion follows, comparing and contrasting the various literature sources. This review aims to raise awareness and summarize strategies to reduce jet lag and nighttime shift effects, improving wellbeing.

Research News, Grants, 2026, Volume 1, Soumyajit Majumdar

Grants (2015-)

Grants and contracts awarded during January - March 2026

Breaking The Cycle: Substance Use Disorders, Recidivism, And The Role Of Reentry Programs, Sophia R. Veloz

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This Honors Research Paper examines the relationship between substance use treatment and recidivism among justice-involved individuals, gathering from my academic background as a dual major in psychology and national security and my internship at Oriana House in Akron, Ohio. Oriana House is a private nonprofit organization that provides inpatient and outpatient services for adults with substance use disorders, including detoxification, motivational interviewing (MI), Substance Use Disorder (SUD) counseling, telehealth, and 12-step facilitation. Their mission emphasizes reducing recidivism by addressing substance use and supporting long-term recovery. The main research question in this study is whether taking part in structured, community-based treatment …

Impact Of Exercise, Hr Management Incentives, And Employee Wellness Programs On Job Performance And Motivation, Emma N. Barnes

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project is a literature review discussing the overall impact that exercising,  Human Resource Management incentives, and wellness programs have on job performance levels and employee motivation. The literature to be reviewed connects the importance and effects of exercise to the benefits it can supply to organizations looking to increase employee performance as well as rewards that motivate individuals. Within the field of Human Resource Management and Industrial and Organizational Psychology, there is plentiful research on what plays pivotal roles in performance and theories on motivational aspects of work. Diving further into years of already completed research on these topics, …

A Child On Stand: The Impact Of Experiencing Trauma On Children’S Testimonial Efficacy In Legal Proceedings, Morgan Sweger

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Children who are victims of physical, sexual, emotional, or verbal abuse are nearly always left deeply traumatized by such events. In extreme cases, abused children may be asked to testify against their abuser(s) in legal proceedings, recounting their trauma in front of a room full of strangers. For some, the trauma of abuse may influence a child’s ability to effectively recall and describe their experiences and for others, the process of participating in legal proceedings creates deeper wounds. Research has aimed to understand whether children lack the ability to contribute sufficient testimonies during investigations of abuse and how these investigations …

The Discord Revolutions: A Study Of Media Influence And Regime Changes, Justin C. Eason

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will be a paper analyzing the influence of Media on regime changes, specifically as it pertains to the two recent revolutions in Nepal and Madagascar. I will show how past regime changes and historical events have been shaped by media influence, and how the revolutions in Nepal and Madagascar are different, and could set a different pattern when compared to previous rebellions.

Who Should Be Responding To Mental Health Crises: A Public Perception Study, Bryan E. Phillips

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project includes a survey which will be evaluating, out of Police Officers, Paramedics, and Mental Health Clinicians, who Intro to Psychology students believe are best fit to respond to Mental Health Crises as well as what factors may influence said belief. To do this they will be provided with a survey that collects demographic information, personal experiences with each profession, and detailed scenario-based questions with differing variables allowing the participants to decide which profession they believe is best equipped to deal with each scenario. This data will then be put into a research manuscript to be presented via posterboard …

The Implementation Of A Token Economy On The Behaviors Of Children With Adhd, Dominic M. Hritsko

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The Saturday Treatment Program (SatTP) is a ten-day treatment program that was designed through the Cleveland Clinic and takes place at a middle school on Saturdays during the school year. The program design follows that of the Summer Treatment Program, where counselors utilize a comprehensive point system that is part of a token economy to evaluate children’s behaviors (ADHD summer treatment program). I will be working with other counselors led by Dr. Hallie Fetterman Ph.D., a pediatric psychologist, to deliver the program and evaluate the behaviors of sixteen children. The program is split into three age groups: six through …

From Touchbacks To Touchdowns: Analyzing The Impact Of The Nfl's New Kickoff Rule Changes, Joshua A. Klatt

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

My proposal analyzes the impact of the NFL's new dynamic kickoff rule changes that were implemented in the Fall of 2024. I use a two-way fixed effects differences-in-differences model using FBS collegiate Division 1 football teams as the control group, and NFL teams as the treatment group. Three of the most important outcome variables I analyze are touchdowns per kickoff return, average yards per kickoff return, and the number of kickoff returns per game.

Examining The Effects Of Black Parenting Styles Of Self-Esteems, Alexander J. Ruffin-Stcyr, Lorris Robinson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This study examined the relationships between parenting styles, Afrocentric values, and psychological flourishing among African American families. Grounded in cultural and developmental perspectives, the study focused on how social and cultural contexts shape well-being outcomes. Parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive) and Afrocentric values were explored as key predictors of flourishing.

Using a quantitative survey design, data was collected from 86 African American adults who completed standardized measures assessing parenting style, cultural values, and flourishing. Correlational analyses revealed that permissive parenting was significantly and negatively associated with flourishing, indicating that higher levels of permissive parenting were linked to lower well-being. …

Neurobiological Determinants Of Psychopathy And Their Ethical Implications In Capital Punishment Cases, Brooklyn Lewis

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This literature review examines the relationship between the neurobiological determinants of psychopathy and the ethical implications of applying capital punishment to violent offenders. Drawing on research from neuroscience, psychology, and criminal justice, the paper explores how structural and functional differences in brain regions associated with emotional processing, impulse control, and moral reasoning are linked to psychopathic traits. The review synthesizes findings on how these neurobiological factors may contribute to an increased risk of violent behavior while emphasizing that such influences are not deterministic. The paper further analyzes how neuroscientific evidence is interpreted within legal contexts, particularly in relation to assessments …

Moving Positively: A Review Of Positive Psychology Interventions In Counseling, Spencer M. Fleming, Ingrid Weigold Ph. D

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Positive psychology is a relatively new and developing subfield of psychology which examines the machinations and roles of various character strengths and traits such as growth, well-being, meaning, life satisfaction, character strengths, and more. Positive psychology holds various implications for counseling, therapy, individual growth, and self-determination. However, current literature on positive psychology interventions (PPIs) are scattered, nuanced, and lack overall consensus. Thus, encompassing research is necessary to identify common trends, areas for improvement, and a clear direction moving forward. The present review analyzes positive psychology interventions (PPIs) within psychology and counseling. This review examined forty-eight articles, including fifteen meta-analyses, on …

Framing Female Athletes: Gender Bias And Representation In Sports Communication, Katie E. Baumer

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will examine how female athletes are framed and represented within sports communication, with a focus on identifying patterns of gender bias across traditional and digital media. The research will analyze existing literature to understand how media portrayals of women athletes differ from those of men and how these differences influence visibility and perception of female athletes. Sources will be organized and compared to reveal recurring trends and highlight the factors that contribute to the biased representation. This research will take place during Fall 2025 and conclude in Spring 2026 with a final written report and presentation at the …

The Right To Seek Joy, Tyler Rose Clemons

Faculty Publications

Within the past three years, roughly half of American states have restricted access to gender-affirming medical treatment for children. In this article, I argue that these bans violate transgender children’s right to liberty guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. I do so by excavating the Framers’ understanding of liberty as the right to seek joy. Rooted in the philosophies of John Locke and Epicurus, the Framers understood liberty as the right to make important life decisions according to one’s subjective preferences without undue interference from the government. Based on this understanding, I develop a new framework for substantive …

Abuse Of Contract: A Proposal For A New Cause Of Action, Miriam A. Cherry

Faculty Publications

With the growth of online commerce and the platform economy, many companies are including provisions in their online terms and conditions that extend far beyond what reasonable consumers would expect. Some terms and conditions purport to bind customers to separate contracts in future transactions that have little to do with the first contract. Other boilerplate purports to cover family members of the customer who created an account. Some retailers have argued that people shopping in their brick-and-mortar stores are subject to terms and conditions because those shoppers had at some point previously created an online account. For example, Disney argued …

Finding, Founding, And Forging: Queer Formulations Of Family In Nineteenth-Century British Novels, Brian Hicks

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how nineteenth-century British novels imagine and negotiate queer formulations of family at moments when biological kinship, marriage, and inheritance were increasingly formalized as social and legal imperatives. Reading canonical texts by Austen, Shelley, Wilde, Brontë, and Hardy, alongside the proto-modern and modernist work of Joseph Conrad and Virginia Woolf, I argue that these novels resist consanguinity as the sole basis of family and instead theorize queer kinship as something found, founded, or forged through affinity, care, and shared orientation rather than blood or reproduction. Drawing on queer theory, feminist criticism, phenomenology, and Foucauldian accounts of power and …

Examining The Pre-Columbian Use Of Psychotropic Plants In The South American Andes: Tobacco, Coca, And Ayahuasca, Jalayne Allison

Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher Program

This thesis offers a literature review that traces the origins and variations in the use of tobacco (Nicotiana sp.), coca (Erythroxylum coca spp.), and ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi) in the Andean highlands and Amazon region along the western coast of South America. This mountainous region stretches across seven countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. Diverse South American Indigenous groups and ancient civilizations, such as the Inca Empire, have inhabited this area. This review delves into key concepts of Andean cosmology, especially those related to ecology and hydrology as interpreted through Inca beliefs. These concepts are pivotal in the application …

Physiological Leptin Replacement Does Not Reverse Metabolic Adaptations To Starvation In Sprague Dawley Rats, Sydney Junot, Layla Deprimo, Camille Meaux, Arline Narez, David Mcdougal

Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher Program

Historically, low insulin levels were the signaling event considered responsible for metabolic adaptations to starvation, such as increased sympathetic outflow and increased serum levels of ketones, glucagon, and free fatty acids. Leptin, a hormone produced by adipose tissue, is known to decrease in response to caloric restriction. Recent work in the field suggested that leptin infusion in the final hours of a 48-hour fast reversed all metabolic adaptations to starvation, thus raising questions about an underappreciated role of leptin in the starvation response. This study tested whether physiological leptin replacement, maintaining fed plasma leptin concentrations, during a 72-hour fast in …

Passing In Plain Sight: Visibility, Activism, And Identity, Rei Zimmerman

Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher Program

The act of passing would seem to be the opposite of activism because it is an act meant to avoid detection. While the language of passing is, itself, problematic, African-descended people passing as white might be read as attempting to capitulate to a racial binary. Similarly, trans people passing as cis or cishet might be read as attempting to capitulate to the gender binary rather than challenging it. But this paper explores the potential for reading passing as a surprising act of activism that foregrounds resistance, resilience, and solidarity rather than disappearance. I focus on Leslie Feinberg’s groundbreaking trans novel …

Semantic Control In The Prefrontal Cortex: An Ale Meta-Analysis, Francesca Thomassee, Christopher Cox

Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher Program

Semantic control is the ability to manage our knowledge about the world to ensure that the information produced is appropriate to a given context (Lamdon Ralph et al., 2017). While the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) has been found to be significantly involved in semantic control (Jackson, 2021), it remains unclear if there is a region of the LIFG that is specific to semantic control and is not involved in any other executive tasks. To investigate this, we employed an activation likelihood estimate (ALE) meta-analysis of prior PET and fMRI research including strong-weak association and feature selection tasks. Based on …

Anxiety Disorders Do Not Modulate Performance Monitoring During Visuomotor Learning, Olivia Perry, Leo Barzi, Kaylie Grimm, Leah Charles, Christopher Hill

Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher Program

Humans experience different levels of anxiety throughout their daily lives. Some individuals even experience chronic, unprovoked anxiety that leads to a diagnosis of a psychological disorder known as generalized anxiety disorder. Many neurological diseases develop anxiety as a comorbidity and hinder therapeutic interventions. However, we don’t understand how anxiety disorders may affect the development and learning of new motor skills. Thus, the purpose of this study is to evaluate how different levels of anxiety may affect your ability to learn a new skill. We recruited physically healthy, right-handed young adults with and without a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder. Participants …

Imposter Syndrome And Coping-Motivated Cannabis Use: The Impact Of Race, Lan Qiu, Katharine Thomas, Julia Buckner

Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher Program

Cannabis use among college students has become increasingly prevalent, with coping being
one of the primary motives for use. Imposter syndrome, characterized by persistent self-doubt
and fear of being exposed as a fraud despite evidence of competence, is particularly common
among students. Given its association to social anxiety and social anxiety’s relation to coping
motives and cannabis-related problems, imposter syndrome may contribute to coping-motivated
cannabis use and related problems. Yet, no known research has examined the impact of race
on the relation of imposter syndrome and cannabis use behaviors among Black and non-
Hispanic/Latine White students. The current sample included …

Action Research In Action: How Lab Findings Informed Change In Baton Rouge’S Math Classrooms, Brookelyn Pasipanki, Avery Ned, Colleen Sinclair

Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher Program

In a 3-year collaboration with the East Baton Rouge Parish School System (EBRPSS), we conducted semi-annual surveys of student motivation to see if we could identify key psychological factors underlying math performance. We developed the Math Mind Measures (MMM) to assess 10 distinct motivational factors. Analyses revealed that math anxiety and math self-efficacy were the strongest predictors of end-of-year standardized test scores. We shared our findings with students and teachers, via focus groups, to shape a Teacher Action Checklist. This checklist aims to inform practice by enhancing motivation and decreasing demotivation. EBRPSS also implemented professional learning trainings to capitalize on …

Feelings And Futures: Social Design Addressing Identity And Engagement Of Adolescent Girls In A Community-Based Organization, Eseoghene Mukoro

Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher Program

Community organizations can provide numerous benefits to adolescent youth in various aspects of their lives—socially, psychologically, and physically, to name a few. Unfortunately, many youth-serving organizations aim to serve youth without directly involving their perspectives in the creation of their respective programs. At the Gardere Initiative, adolescent girls appear to have low levels of engagement and belonging, while their male counterparts enjoy activities and spaces catered to them. This poses a question of how this community organization might better serve the desires and life context of these adolescent girls.
Social Design is the practice of designing an intervention (product, service, …

Memory For Everyday Chores In Younger And Older Adults, Cameron Mccleary, Katie Cherry

Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher Program

This study examined episodic memory performance for everyday household chores in younger (18-32 years) and older adults (65-79 years). With the increasing older adult population in the United States, understanding age-related memory differences and identifying strategies to enhance memory performance in later life is needed. Building on previous research demonstrating the pictorial superiority effect and benefits of semantic encoding across the adult lifespan, this study utilized a 2 × 2 × 2 between-groups factorial design to investigate the effects of age group (younger, older), encoding task (standard intentional learning, semantic elaboration), and stimulus format (text only, text with pictorial illustrations) …

Relearning Language: A Meta-Analysis Of Syntactic Priming In Aphasia, Ally Miller, Willem Van Boxtel

Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher Program

Background: Despite the importance of grammatical skills for participation
in daily life, treatments for sentence–level abilities in aphasia
are comparatively scarce. The psycholinguistic paradigm of syntactic
priming has recently been advanced as a potential assessment and
treatment for grammatical skills, and existing evidence on priming in
aphasia is highly promising. Nevertheless, a comprehensive analysis of
the strength of priming effects in aphasia, as well as treatment components
which might amplify these effects, has not been reported.
This meta–analysis synthesizes existing findings on syntactic priming
in aphasia, aiming to provide a comprehensive picture of priming
effects and their potential application for …

Motor Planning And Execution During Feeding In Autistic Children, Iresa Lincoln

Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher Program

Autism is one of the most common pediatric developmental disability diagnoses, diagnosed in approximately 1 in 31 children in the U.S. and 1 in 100 children globally. Autism is often characterized by differences in social communication and repetitive patterns of behavior, activities,
or interests; however, prevalence of clinically significant motor differences in autistic individuals is between 50-95%. These motor differences often interfere with activities of daily living and community participation. Research assessing motor control in autism has yielded mixed findings as to whether the motor differences observed in autistic individuals are associated with differences in motor planning or motor execution. …