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Honors Theses

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Full-Text Articles in Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms

Sleep Duration Is Associated With Caudate Volume And Executive Function, Nicole Jones May 2023

Sleep Duration Is Associated With Caudate Volume And Executive Function, Nicole Jones

Honors Theses

The ineligible role of the caudate nucleus in sleep has been implicated throughout multiple scientific studies. Previous literature has shown that greater caudate volume is associated with longer habitual sleep duration in older adults- ranging from 55 years of age and up. However, the association between sleep duration and caudate volume remains unknown in the younger population. In this study, we examined the caudate volume in youth to older adults (10 to 85 years old) with a greater sample size (N=464) to increase statistical power. The volumetric size of the caudate nucleus showed significantly positive association with habitual sleep duration, …

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The Associations Between Adolescent Motives For Social Media Use With Body Dysmorphia, Eating Disorder, And Anxiety And Depression Symptoms, Kaylan Melvin May 2023

The Associations Between Adolescent Motives For Social Media Use With Body Dysmorphia, Eating Disorder, And Anxiety And Depression Symptoms, Kaylan Melvin

Honors Theses

Adolescents spend a large amount of time on social media sites. This is notable, as adolescence is a crucial time for body image development. Additionally, recent findings suggest that using image-oriented social media sites, such as Facebook and Instagram, is associated with more body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. Among previous studies, certain social media motivations have been found to have an association with poor body satisfaction and well-being in adolescents. To our knowledge, no studies have directly examined the association between social media motivations and eating disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, and anxiety and depression symptoms in adolescents. The current study …

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Comorbidity Burden And Covid-19 Vaccination Intention: Application Of The Health Belief Model, Michael Raymond May 2022

Comorbidity Burden And Covid-19 Vaccination Intention: Application Of The Health Belief Model, Michael Raymond

Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted many aspects of American’s lives causing over 79 million cases and over 950,000 deaths. Existing research shows severity of COVID-19 infection may be linked to number of underlying health conditions, known as comorbidities. The objective of this study was to determine if comorbidity burden was associated with intention to vaccinate against COVID-19. This relationship was looked at through the Health Belief Model (HBM) and its mediating variables of perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers. Our sample was compromised of 350 individuals recruited from an online platform who were not already vaccinated against COVID-19. …

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Effects Of Waterborne Benzo[A]Pyrene Embryonic Exposure On Development, Behavior, Reproduction, And Mitochondrial Bioenergetics In Zebrafish, Megha Patel May 2022

Effects Of Waterborne Benzo[A]Pyrene Embryonic Exposure On Development, Behavior, Reproduction, And Mitochondrial Bioenergetics In Zebrafish, Megha Patel

Honors Theses

Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) that is a known carcinogen leading to adverse effects in the development of both humans and animals. BaP is also continuously present in the environment leading to regular exposure via inhalation or ingestion. Because organisms’ early life stages can be more susceptible to contaminant exposure, our focus was on BaP’s adverse impacts on survival, length, weight, behavior, bioenergetic state, and fecundity following developmental exposures. To study BaP’s impacts, zebrafish (Danio rerio) were used as a model organism. BaP is a ligand for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR in humans; Ahr in …

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Addressing Common Mental Health Issues Prevalent Among Honors College Students, Steven Pham Aug 2017

Addressing Common Mental Health Issues Prevalent Among Honors College Students, Steven Pham

Honors Theses

The prevalence and severity of mental health disorders on college campuses has been increasing nationwide. This review aims to address some of the prevalent mental health issues that continuously plague college students today. Recent trends in college student mental health are analyzed as well as literature regarding common disorders including depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. A comparison of honors and non-honors students is provided to contribute to an otherwise lacking area of research surrounding honors student populations. Effective practices and policies for colleges and universities to incorporate into their counseling services are also considered, with viable goals centering on the …

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Using Focus Groups To Identify Ways To Reduce Infant Mortality In Kalamazoo, Leah Dries Apr 2016

Using Focus Groups To Identify Ways To Reduce Infant Mortality In Kalamazoo, Leah Dries

Honors Theses

Study goals were to explore maternal perceptions of possible ways to reduce infant mortality in Kalamazoo County, with specific regards to the infant mortality rates of non-Hispanic African American babies versus non-Hispanic Caucasian babies. Two focus groups were conducted of voluntary, anonymous, participants from the YWCA domestic violence shelter and clients of home visiting services provided by the Kalamazoo County Department of Health and Community Services. The focus groups were guided allowing women to voice their opinions about ways to prevent infant mortality in Kalamazoo. Women were also asked to respond to the goals created by a community planning committee …

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Activity Choice And Extinction Intervention For Escape Maintained Behavior, Ali M. Markowitz Apr 2012

Activity Choice And Extinction Intervention For Escape Maintained Behavior, Ali M. Markowitz

Honors Theses

Tantrums and non-compliant problem behaviors challenge children diagnosed with autism’s progress in early childhood special education classrooms by interfering with the child’s learning opportunities. Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder causing abnormal or impaired development in social interactions and communication (DSM-IV, 1994). This paper looks at a single case on a preschool aged child diagnosed with autism exhibiting tantrums and problem behaviors. These tantrums and non-compliant problem behaviors included kicking, scratching, screaming, hitting, flopping on to the floor or eloping (leaving the table, chair or work area). One study conducted showed that activity choice intervention decreases the occurrence of problem …

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Using Led Lights As Prompts To Teach Receptive Identification To Preschool Children With Autism, Allison Pavlicek Dec 2010

Using Led Lights As Prompts To Teach Receptive Identification To Preschool Children With Autism, Allison Pavlicek

Honors Theses

The purpose of the study "Using LED Lights as Prompts to Teach Receptive Identification to Preschool Children with Autism" is to implement a different prompting procedure than traditional least-to-most prompting procedures in teaching. One prompting procedure commonly used in discrete trial training classrooms involves least-to-most prompting in the form of gestural and physical prompts to guide children to make correct responses during teaching procedures. To specifically teach receptive identification skills, an apparatus with LED lights was used as a prompting device to vary light intensities on stimuli that the child will choose from. This alternate method of prompting may enable …

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