Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Tiktok And Self-Diagnosing Mental Illnesses: Perceived Reliability Factors, Vulnerabilities, And Dangers, Micah Moulder

Undergraduate Honors Theses

TikTok’s popularity and ease of use with short-term consumption allow for greater access to online information. However, this information is not regulated nor fact-checked. Therefore, many users can acquire and spread the wrong messages, behaviors, and ideas surrounding mental illness. The purpose of this research was to examine the effects and factors of TikTok on self-diagnosing mental illnesses. A large literature was conducted to examine the effects of social media and the harms of self-diagnosing on users. Two studies were then developed and administered to determine the relationship between self-diagnosing and TikTok. Correlations, t-tests, and descriptive statistics were used to …

Rhetorical Demagoguery: An Exploration Of Trump’S And Hitler’S Rise To Power, Tanner Horne

Undergraduate Honors Theses

While many scholars have examined the rhetoric of President Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler individually, there is a void of scholarly work that highlights the similarities between the two leaders’ use of grandiloquent language to stoke the passions of their perspective nations. In the past one hundred years, rhetoric and propaganda have been employed to push political agendas that are divisive and dangerous. Trump’s incendiary vocabulary–“enemy of the people,” “vermin,” “retribution,” etc., employed frequently throughout his campaign and presidency, in many ways echoes Hitler's speeches and declarations. While their political strategies ultimately differed greatly, a close analysis of their speeches, …

Parental Instincts: The Neurological And Biological Factors Associated With Parenthood, Jared Reeder

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The following project involves a systematic review of the scientific literature on neural and biological changes of mothers and fathers in parenthood. Until very recently, little scientific research was devoted to studying how bearing children affects a man or woman’s long-term biology. Over the last twenty years, studies of neuroplastic changes in new mothers show specific neural mechanisms responsible for altering the behaviors of mothers during and after pregnancy. These changes in neuroplasticity alter behavior in such a way that led to mothers requiring less sleep and being more prone to hearing the cries of their children. In addition to …

The Impacts Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Various Aspects Of Child And Adolescent Lives: A Literature Review, Alissa Carpenter

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Coronavirus 19 or COVID-19 is a spherical, enveloped virus that causes a lower respiratory tract infection with symptoms including pneumonia, fever, and difficulty breathing (Ochani et al., 2021). This virus caused a global pandemic that infected millions of people and killed over a million people. The aim of this literature review is to examine how the social-distance mandates and quarantines affected various aspects of child and adolescent life and development. This review examines language and speech impairment, behavioral changes/challenges, academic performance, mental health (specifically depression and anxiety), child abuse and neglect, and student-athlete experiences. The results found that language and …

Neurobiology Of Ptsd In Adults And Children: The Impact Of Stress-Induced Brain Abnormalities Across The Lifespan, Catherine Clover

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the scholarly community, there is disagreement about the effects of PTSD or chronic stress on the brain of adults and children. Though PTSD or chronic stress are known to negatively affect neurobiological structures, specifically due to prolonged glucocorticoid excess, volumetric discrepancies between traumatized and control groups are not unanimously confirmed. This review sought to address the common understandings in academia of the effects of PTSD on the brains of adults and children. Literature on this topic indicated that, in adults, the hippocampus, cingulate gyrus, and prefrontal cortex bilaterally appeared to decrease in gray matter volume and the corpus callosum …

The Theory Of Mind Hypothesis Of Autism, Kendall Smith

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Present theory of mind research suggests that autistic individuals demonstrate deficits in theory of mind capabilities. A literature review was conducted to investigate the claim made by the theory of mind hypothesis of autism that theory of mind deficits are responsible for the social deficits present in autistic individuals. It was concluded that this hypothesis was prematurely accepted as an explanatory model for autism when it is better described as a symptom of autism. Alternative explanations for autistic social deficits such as executive function deficits and the theory of weak central coherence were analyzed. Implications and suggestions for future research …

A Critique Of Frederick Nietzsche's Philosophy On Law, God, And Morality, Rebekah Vaughn

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Friedrich Nietzsche is the last of the modern philosophers. His philosophy has influenced fields such as literature, psychology, and ethics. Nietzsche’s philosophy on ethics is primarily what will be covered. Nietzsche wishes to sever the connection between western civilization and God. He sees that people may no longer believe in God, but they still follow Christian morality. Nietzsche argues for a new morality, one humanity will create themselves. His famous line “God is dead” is an expression of what humanity needs to do with God. Nietzsche then argues the Overman will take over humanity, leading towards a world with a …

Indicators Of Deception: Science Or Non-Science, Kristina Vasquez

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Deception detection is used by many law enforcement professionals who work in interviews and interrogations. The ability to detect deception or having knowledge on the signs of deception is very important in not only law enforcement, but in other careers and everyday life. The question remains: is deception detection a science or not a science? There are three areas where someone can learn how to detect deception and those are verbal communication, non-verbal communication, and paralanguage. The use of verbal communication looks at what the person is saying with their words. The use of non-verbal communication looks at what someone …

An Exploration Of Secular And Christian Political Thought, Elizabeth Bradley

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Through the evaluation and comparison of Machiavellian, Nietzschean, and Christian political thought, this thesis argues that Christian thinkers effectively meet the challenges posed to them by Modern philosophers. Modern philosophers reject the teaching that ethical principles have a transcendent origin in God and instead believe that morality is merely a matter of human convention. Christian philosophy was once dominant in influencing political thought. Modern thinkers such as Machiavelli and Nietzsche wrote with the express purpose of challenging and replacing Christian thought. The Christian political tradition promotes more noble qualities in leaders than the modern philosophies which proposed to challenge it. …

The Signing Brain: Its Function, Its Dysfunction, And Its Societal Role, Blaire Marie Pope

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper is an examination of the signing brain (that is, the internal neurological processes of individuals who use sign language as their main method of communication in their everyday lives) both before and after experiencing neurological trauma, presenting a synthesis of research from lesion studies as well as modern neuroimaging studies. It will be divided into three main sections, followed by a conclusion. The first of these sections will be an introduction to neurology in the most general sense; describing the salient aspects of the brain’s anatomy and pointing out where they relate to activities implicated in the use …

Screen Time Effects On Pediatrics, Lindsay Michelle Mccracken

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this research is to examine the positive and negative effects of technological screen use by children ages zero to eighteen. The literature reviewed for this research covered the following topics; screen time effects on children ages zero to five years, screen time effects on children ages six to twelve years, screen time effects on children ages thirteen to eighteen years, type of technology type, progression of technology, and purpose of technology. Most of the literature examined for this research involved the comparison of positive and negative effects of screen use over various time frames. No conclusions were …

Perfection: The Fatality Of Down Syndrome, Mallory Baucom

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Down syndrome is a condition that carries with it a negative stigma and many negative assumptions. The advancement of the medical community has begun to allow expectant parents to anticipate whether their child will have Down syndrome. However, in recent years mothers are using the results of prenatal tests as a deciding factor to decide if they will continue the pregnancy. The negative stigma associated with Down syndrome has transformed into a discrimination against people with Down syndrome. There are many influencing factors that affect the decision-making process of expectant mothers. The decision to terminate one’s pregnancy is not made …

Fake News: Agenda Setting And Gatekeeping In The Media, Chelsea Sydnor

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This piece will examine the ideas of agenda setting and gatekeeping theories, as well as how they affect modern media coverage. Agenda setting theory is the idea that the media sets the agenda by selecting the topics that it covers. Gatekeeping refers to the idea that too many events occur for the media to cover all of them, so it must therefore choose which ones to specifically cover. It will review multiple studies and events in which the theories have played a part in the outcome. Particularly, it will analyze how campaign coverage has been found to influence voters in …

Single Or Taken: The Effect Of Relationship Status, Gender, And Interaction With The Opposite Sex On Arousal And Spatial Ability, Kylie Mcgee

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this project is to examine the effect that relationship status, gender, and interaction with the opposite sex has on nervous system arousal and spatial ability. In the first experiment, 20 female participants were selected, 10 being in a committed relationship and 10 being single. Spatial ability and heart rate was measured for each participant before and after mixed-sex dyadic interactions. Results showed that a person’s relationship status does indeed have an effect on nervous system arousal after a mixed-sex dyadic interaction. In experiment two, 25 participants were studied, 13 participants were male and 12 were female. 7 …

Tabletop Role-Playing Games, Narrative, And Individual Development, Benjamin Luke Flournoy

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Excerpt from Introduction

In 1982, Bothered About Dungeons & Dragons (BADD) was created. BADD was a group consisted of parents, teachers, and clergy who were worried about the spiritual and mental development of children, who they saw were at risk of being corrupted by a single game—Dungeons & Dragons. The group campaigned again and again, warning fellow parents about the detrimental effect that this game could have on a child’s life. They believed Dungeons & Dragons had a kind of power over its players—a power that could create meaning and even take children to their eternal doom. This …

The Politics Of Gentrification In Charlotte, Nc: A New South City Meets The Urban Realities Of 21st Century Prosperity., David Cole

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Excerpt from Introduction

In the Fall of 2017, Amazon Inc. opened an unprecedented nationwide bidding competition.[1] The huge online retailer was seeking a home for its second headquarters, dubbed “HQ2,” which could potentially include 50,000 high-paying jobs and billions of dollars of investment into a local economy.[2] The company completed a request for proposal (RFP) that detailed the baseline amenities that cities applying for the headquarters must have. This included Interstate access, a metropolitan population of over 1 million, an international airport, and the presence of a research university.[3]

Crash And Burnout: The Sophomore Slump In College Athletics, Jessica Ferguson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study analyzed and compared the severity of performance slumps of collegiate student-athletes in general and across academic years. The factors examined with performance slumps included athlete burnout, academic burnout, relationship satisfaction, and grade point averages. The first hypothesis was that reduced accomplishment scores from the athlete burnout questionnaire would indicate the severity of performance slumps. The results did not support the hypothesis. The second hypothesis was that the severity of performance slumps would positively correlate with academic burnout and negatively correlate with relationship satisfaction. The results supported this hypothesis. The third hypothesis was that student-athletes who experienced a performance …

Hope Is A 4-Legged Word: How Service Dogs Can Help Veterans Suffering From Combat-Related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Holly Katherine Robinson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

As the rate of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) continues to increase among our veterans returning from the War on Terror, the need for alternative treatment options is becoming more critical. One such alternative is the use of psychiatric service dogs specially trained to assist those living with PTSD. However, little empirical research has been conducted to support the legitimacy of this treatment option. This present study sought to explore the benefits that could be gained from the use of a service dog to treat PTSD by exploring relevant literature. The training the dogs receive as well as the possible problems …

The Interaction Of Cyberaggression And Self-Efficacy Within The Virtual World And The Real World, Matt Autrey

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The present study seeks to analyze the impact of cyberaggression and positive feedback from an anonymous videogame player on one’s self-efficacy and performance both inside and outside of the videogame. The internet provides a unique way for individuals to interact, and the online disinhibition effect can lead users to engage in out of character behaviors once online. This shift in behavior can be an influencing factor for cyberbullying or isolated instances of cyberaggression. Negative feedback can lower one’s self-efficacy, and a lower self-efficacy can lead to a worse performance on the activity. It was hypothesized that mean comments from an …

Alzheimer’S Disease: More Than Just Memory Loss: An Awareness Of The Disease And An Active Plan Of Coping Strategies And Caregiving, Michelle Lynn Evans

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease which leads to progressive mental deterioration that can occur in middle or old age. During the disease’s progression, various biochemical functions of the brain cells go astray and eventually lead to memory loss. What a lot of people do not always realize is the fact this disease goes beyond just losing memory. From my own observation as well as research studies, it has been noted that AD patients can experience sleep disruption, sundowning, speech decline, apraxia, agnosia, and behavioral changes such as depression and combativeness. As more of these signs and symptoms …

A Feuding House: An Examination Of The Causes And Effects Of The Decline Of Bipartisanship In The United States Congress, Aaron Jackson Horner

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Excerpt from Introduction

In October of 2016, a Gallup poll reported that Congress had an approval rating of 18%.[1] Compared to the President’s approval rating, Congress is seen as ineffective and too bipartisan for many Americans. While there has always been a natural tension between the opposing parties, it has magnified within recent years. Within Congress itself, many members are seeing their political opposition even more unfavorably today than their counterparts did two decades ago. Carol Doherty of the Pew Research Center claims that it is the “intensity of negativity that’s increased.”[2] The 2008 election marked a new …