Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Reconstructing Prehistoric Human/Plant Relationships At Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico Through A Microfossil Analysis Of Dental Calculus, Daniel James King

Theses and Dissertations

As part of a multinational project and with the help of other professionals, I gathered and analyzed 110 samples of dental calculus (fossilized plaque) from human remains discovered at Paquimé and the Convento site in the Casas Grandes River valley to identify various microfossils still present in the silica matrix. Once identified, I used the results to reconstruct human/plant relationships present during the Viejo (700-1250 CE) and Medio (1250-1450 CE) periods in and around Paquimé. My data suggest that maize was used throughout both time periods, supplemented by wild plants, and possible marine resources. Further, evidence for cultural food modification …

Cortical Thickness And Voxel-Based Morphometry Of Classic Motor Regions Of Interest In Autism Spectrum Disorder, Tyler Cole Duffield

Theses and Dissertations

Prior research has suggested that any cortical volume (CV) abnormalities in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) need to be further explored by examination of the two determinants of CV, that being cortical thickness (CT) and pial surface area (PSA; Murphy, Beecham, Craig, & Ecker, 2011). The current study suggests that the two determinants of CV should be explored even in the presence of null CV findings, if structure-function analyses are significant (i.e., bi-lateral precentral gyrus and neuropsychological motor test) as demonstrated in the current sample (see Duffield et al., 2013). The only significant anatomic finding was reduced CT in the left …

Associations Among Respite Care, Uplifts, Stress, And Marital Quality Of Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder And Down Syndrome, Jamie Kaye Easler

Theses and Dissertations

This study compared the relationships among respite care, uplifts, stress, and marital quality across two different groups of caregivers' 102 heterosexual married couples with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 111 heterosexual married couples with children with Down syndrome (DS). This study also investigated if the effect of respite care on stress and marital quality varied as a function of the amount of uplifts these caregivers experienced. Participants completed self-report surveys. Three two-group Actor Partner Interdependence Models were estimated to calculate the direct, indirect, and partner-effects among these variables. Respite care was not related to stress for either groups …

Rethinking Vocabulary Size Tests: Frequency Versus Item Difficulty, Brett James Hashimoto

Theses and Dissertations

For decades, vocabulary size tests have been built upon the idea that if a test-taker knows enough words at a given level of frequency based on a list from corpus, they will also know other words of that approximate frequency as well as all words that are more frequent. However, many vocabulary size tests are based on corpora that are as out-of-date as 70 years old and that may be ill-suited for these tests. Based on these potentially problematic areas, the following research questions were asked. First, to what degree would a vocabulary size test based on a large, contemporary …

That's Disgusting: The Role Of Disgust In Nonprofit Marketing Campaigns, Tyler N. King

Theses and Dissertations

Nonprofit organizations face a unique challenge in communicating their messages in a marketing saturated world. The author of this research studied how nonprofit organizations used fear, disgust and empathy in their marketing campaigns to see if the use of these emotions would have an effect on six different factors. The results of this study showed how the use of distress can be used to amplify the feelings people have when they see images that contain both fear and disgust.

We're Friends Right? Dialogical Strategy Effects In Csr Facebook Posts On Perceived Organizational Trust And Authenticity, Casey J. Mcdonald

Theses and Dissertations

A study examining the effects of public relations' dialogical communication strategies on stakeholder's perceptions of trust and authenticity of organizations was conducted. The experiment was tested on organizational Facebook posts broadcasting a corporate social responsibility message. While "Human Voice" had no affect on perceived trustworthiness or authenticity, Dialogical Loop was found to significantly effect stakeholder perceptions of authenticity, but not trustworthiness. Due to the presence Dialogical Loop in the form of replies to user comments, users perceived the organization as less authentic. Ruminations about possible implications for public relations theory and practice on social media as well as recommendations for …

Cost-Effectiveness Of Psychotherapy And Dementia: A Comparison By Treatment Modality And Healthcare Provider, Megan Ruth Story

Theses and Dissertations

Dementia is a chronic disorder that affects approximately 40 million individuals throughout the globe. This study provides a preliminary description of psychotherapeutic treatment for the management of dementia. This study compares treatment outcomes by both modality (individual, family, and mixed) and provider type. Results found that therapy is a low-cost treatment, however, it is not being often used for people with dementia, or their family members. Participants (n=327) include individuals with ages ranging from 46-95(M=70.52, SD=12.16). Females made up 57.5% (n=188), while males made up 42.5% (n=139) of the sample. Descriptive statistics found that the number of sessions ranged from …

Functional Brain Imaging In Survivors Of Critical Illness: A Prospective Feasibility Study And Exploration Of The Association Between Delirium And Brain Activation Patterns☆, James C. Jackson, Alessandro Morandi, Timothy D. Girard, Kristen Mirkle, Amy J. Graves, Jennifer L. Thompson, Ayumi K. Shintani, Max L. Gunther, Christopher J. Cannistraci, Baxter P. Rogers, John C. Gore, Hillary J. Warrington, Wesley Ely, Ramona O. Hopkins

Faculty Publications

Purpose

We undertook this pilot prospective cohort investigation to examine the feasibility of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) assessments in survivors of critical illness and to analyze potential associations between delirium and brain activation patterns observed during a working memory task (N-back) at hospital discharge and 3-month follow-up.

Materials and methods

At hospital discharge and 3 months later, fMRI assessed subjects' functional activity during an N-back task. Multiple linear regression was used to examine associations between duration of delirium and brain activity, and elastic net regression was used to assess the relationship between brain activation patterns at 3 months and …

Revisiting Financial Issues And Marriage, Jeffrey P. Dew

Faculty Publications

This chapter examines research pertaining to the association between financial issues and marriage. The majority of the research reviewed was published after 2008. These studies show that financial issues relate to marriage formation, marital quality, and marital stability (i.e., divorce). Specifically, financial stability is associated with a greater likelihood of marriage. Further, behaviors that financial practitioners would label “sound financial management” are positively associated with marital quality and stability. For example, longitudinal studies found that consumer debt was positively associated with divorce whereas financial assets were negatively associated with divorce. Studies have also found that financial arguments create worse relationship …

Your Face: The Window To Your Love Life, Jason B. Whiting

Faculty Publications

I was sitting in church one day as a newly-married man and noticed a nice-looking woman on the piano bench up front. She was staring my direction and caught my eye. She had an intense look that startled me. She gave a coy smile. I was surprised and alert – but I didn’t recognize her and was getting uncomfortable. I glanced at my wife beside me, who didn’t notice what was going down. I looked back at the woman and she laughed, and then winked. I felt extremely awkward and started to sweat. I glanced around again to see if …

Comparing Library Wayfinding Among Novices And Experts, Holt Zaugg, Curtis Child, Dalton Bennett, Jace Brown, Melissa Alcaraz, Alexander Allred, Nathaniel Andrus, Drew Babcock, Maria Barriga, Madison Brown, Lindsey Bulloch, Todd Corbett, Michelle Curtin, Victoria Giossi, Samantha Hawkins, Sergio Hernandez, Kayia Jacobs, Jette Jones, David Kessler, Samuel Lee, Sara Mackay, Amy Marshall, Dallin Maxfield, Cory Mcfarland, Brennen Miller, Maia Roberson, Kristy Rogers, Devin Stoker, Manase Tonga, Abby Twitchell, Tinesha Zandamela

Faculty Publications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate similar and different wayfinding strategies used by novice and expert patrons at an academic library.

Design/methodology/approach – The study employed a usability study approach. In total, 12 people, places, or things were identified as important for students to be able to locate within an academic library. Students from one of three groups (high school, freshmen, and seniors) were randomly assigned a scenario requiring them to find the indicated person, place, or thing. Student researchers video recorded participants and took field notes during the wayfinding activity and conducted an interview about …

Improving Access To Special Collections By Automating Descriptive Metadata Creation, Jeremy Myntti, Anna Neatrour, Betsey Welland, Jessica Breiman

Faculty Publications

Covering today

Background information about Special Collections and Digital Library Services

Overview of ways we are processing data:

• Extracting data from finding aids for item level description in digital collections
• Extracting and Analyzing Names/Subjects in EAD
• EAD to MARC record transform through MARCEdit
• Techniques for working with legacy data

The Fight About Nothing: Three Ways Couples Can Get Out Of Useless Battles, Jason B. Whiting

Faculty Publications

Tyler left the office early feeling nauseated. He hit the bed, and a couple hours later his wife Bethany walked in, surprised to find him there. “What are you doing?” she blurted. Tyler grimaced. “I’m sick. Is that ok?”

Withdrawing To A Virtual World: Associations Between Subtypes Of Withdrawal, Media Use, And Maladjustment In Emerging Adults, Larry J. Nelson, Sarah M. Coyne, Emily Howard, Brandon N. Clifford

Faculty Publications

An approach-avoidance model of social withdrawal (Asendorpf, 1990) identifies 3 types of social withdrawal including shyness, unsociability, and avoidance. Each appears to be uniquely associated with varying indicators of maladjustment in emerging adulthood (Nelson, 2013) but little, if any, work has been done to see how they might be linked to media use in the third decade of life. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine longitudinally the links between subtypes of social withdrawal, connective media (e.g., e-mail, social networking) and problematic (forms of media such as violent video games that, when used in high amounts, have been …

Metadata Managed: How To Clean Data That Is Up To No Good., Jeremy Myntti, Anna Neatrour

Faculty Publications

Metadata Problems

• Size of collections –Close to 300 collections, over 2 million items.
• Age of collections – started digitizing in 2000
• Inconsistent training
• Variety of collections means different conventions used for collections from:
• Internal
• external
• Campus Partners

Mentoring Environment Grant Final Report (2014-2015), Quinn Mecham

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The academic objectives of this proposal were largely met, including the collection of a global database on Islamist political parties, which has informed scholarship published in the last two years and which will be published in the coming years. Extensive bibliographies of Islamist parties in more than 20 countries around the world were developed. Coded data collection on Islamist movement behavior, including protest and violence, was collected for 9 countries in the Arab world that were convulsed by political change during the Arab uprisings of 2011-­‐12. Much of the material developed during this grant period will also be used in …

El "Juego" De Los Voladores: Adaptación Indígena Y Vida Festiva En La Nueva España, Matthew J.K. Hill

Faculty Publications

El rito conocido como “los Voladores” existe hoy en día como testimonio a la tenacidad de los grupos indígenas en adaptar sus antiguas prácticas al nuevo orden sociopolítico impuesto por los españoles. Aunque parte del significado y las prácticas asociadas con este rito prehispánico se haya perdido, el hecho de que la práctica haya sobrevivido en lo más mínimo todavía resulta sorprendente. Dada la tendencia de los españoles por erradicar o modificar el pasado pre-Conquista, ¿cómo podía un rito de tal visibilidad como los Voladores permanecer más o menos intacto hasta hoy? En contestación a ese interrogatorio se examinarán algunos …

The Relationship Between Dispositional Mindfulness Characteristics And Anxiety In High Functioning Adults Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Max Emanuel Maisel

Theses and Dissertations

Adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience elevated levels of anxiety and worry compared to neurotypical people. However, there is a dearth of extant research on effective interventions for comorbid anxiety and worry in this population. Mindfulness, which is often defined as paying attention to the present moment in a nonjudgmental manner, has been shown to be a propitious treatment for anxiety, worry, and other psychological ailments in neurotypical people. However, in a relatively new area of study, evidence has been growing which suggests mindfulness can also be effective in helping people with ASD cope with anxiety and worry. The …

Una Guerra Contra La Mujer: Chicana Feminism And Vietnam War Protest, Arica Roberts

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

Chicana women, especially those in the East Los Angeles chapter, began this autonomous feminist consciousness to challenge sexual oppression within cultural nationalism as they resigned from the Brown Berets, created their own organization, Las Adelitas, continued antiwar efforts with the National Chicano Moratorium Committee and fought for the social, economic, and political liberation and equality of the whole Raza.

"Do You Kiss Your Mother With That Mouth?": Profanity In Popular Pg-13 Movies, Jason Eldredge, Stephen M. Trotter, Kirt Haynie, Melissa Littlefield

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Exposure to profanity in the media is a concern shared by many. Profanity is often portrayed as humorous and/or innocent. A content analysis of popular PG-13 movies from the 1990s to the present shows the use of profanity is regularly portrayed as having no consequence. The overall amount of profanity in PG-13 movies has decreased since the 1990s.

Excuse Me! How Rationalizing Weakens Relationships, Jason B. Whiting

Faculty Publications

In a marriage seminar I conducted, a wife mentioned her husband’s frustrating habit of rationalizing when he apologized. She called this his “sorry, but” tendency, because he would admit he was wrong, but then give reasons why he did it. He would say, “Sorry, but I was stressed because of the kid’s screaming.” Or, “Sorry, but you really shouldn’t be that upset.”

Women's Autonomy And Hypertension, Benjamin J. Fife

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Based on a nationally representative sample of women in the Dominican Republic, I examine how the amount of autonomy predicts the development of hypertension. Using logistic regression techniques for a sample of 4,869 women, I find that in the presence of demographic controls autonomy does not significantly predict the diagnosis of hypertension. In the case of women in the Dominican Republic, older age, higher weight, lower wealth, urban living and distance to a healthcare facility are better predictors of hypertension.

A Common-Fate Analysis Of Pornography Acceptance, Use, And Sexual Satisfaction Among Heterosexual Married Couples, Cameron C. Brown, Jason S. Carroll, Jeremy B. Yorgason, Dean M. Busby, Brian J. Willoughby, Jeffrey H. Larson

Faculty Publications

Using matched, heterosexual couple data from the Relationship Evaluation Questionnaire (RELATE; n = 326 couples), an adapted common-fate approach was used to examine both common and unique attributes of husbands’ and wives’ acceptance of pornography and sexual satisfaction as well as husbands’ and wives’ pornography use. It was expected that spouses’ unique as well as shared variance of pornography acceptance would be significantly associated with husbands’ and wives’ levels of personal pornography use and that these use patterns would be significantly associated with husbands’ and wives’ unique as well as shared variance of sexual satisfaction. It was also expected that …

Is It Ever Ok To Lie To Your Lover?, Jason B. Whiting

Faculty Publications

The healthiest relationships have a high degree of trust. However, it is surprisingly easy to be deceptive in an intimate relationship. Research has shown that about 10% of interactions between intimates contain deceptive elements, like exaggerations, excuses, or other lies. Not surprisingly, these have a distancing effect. But are all deceptions damaging? Isn’t it kind to protect each other from painful truths? It may depend on the motive.

The Perception Of Children In Chile: Burden Or Joy?, Christine W. Black, Renata Forste

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Globally, family values and behaviors have been shifting. This can be seen through a decrease in the universality of marriage, increased individualism, higher prevalence of divorce, older age at marriage and low birthrates with an increase in planned and controlled fertility. In Latin America, and specifically in Chile, these types of changes have been the most drastic. Data come from the ISSP where about 1,500 Chilean participants were asked a series of questions regarding family and gender attitudes as well as multiple demographic questions. This study looked at how these attitudes contributed to the perceived burden or joy of children. …

Do All Blacks & African Americans Have The Same Outcome?, Amelia F. Belchior

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Do blacks and African Americans have the same outcome in terms of self-esteem, GPA, and SEC? Those who are aware of black history and understand the civil rights movement have higher self-esteem. Those blacks who accept their skin color and apply the self-fulling prophesy of what black is know to be, they have higher self-esteem as well. Black immigrants are more likely to accept their skin color and not associate blackness with living in the ghetto, being good at playing sports and dancing; they are more likely to have have self-esteem than native born African-Americans.

Why Do Lovers Lie To Each Other?, Jason B. Whiting

Faculty Publications

Mel was a foreman for a big box store, where he oversaw shipping and unloading. He was a husky blonde who was addicted to Juicy Fruit gum. He told me in therapy that he had a “little gaming issue.” He didn’t want his wife to know, because he felt like she wouldn’t understand or would give him grief. Our conversation began with me asking him what, exactly, he was referring to. He explained:

Economic Pressure, Individual And Family Processes, And Children’S Reticence In Romanian Families, Susanne Olsen Roper, Jennifer George, Larry J. Nelson, Jeremy B. Yorgason, Franklin O. Poulsen

Faculty Publications

Using Conger’s family stress model as a theoretical framework, a series of mediated associations among economic hardship, perceived economic pressure, parental depression, marital conflict, psychologically controlling parenting, and children’s reticent behaviors in Romanian families were studied. The sample consisted of 121 Romanian mothers and fathers of 4–5-year-old children. Children’s kindergarten teachers living in urban and rural locations evaluated child reticence. Findings generally support the family stress model. Structural equation modeling showed that after controlling for living in a rural location, economic pressure was indirectly linked with marital conflict through depression. Depression was indirectly related to psychological control through marital conflict, …

Anxiety In College Students: Implications From The Ccmh Database, Payton Jones, G. Tyler Lefevor

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

In 2013, an unprecedented 12.4% of college students were diagnosed or received treatment for an anxiety disorder. Using the Collegiate Center for Mental Health (CCMH) database, which includes data from over 140 university counseling centers, we analyzed covariates of anxiety concerns and the implications of these findings. We found that academic and financial concerns correlate highly with anxiety in college students, suggesting that the recent increase in college student anxiety may mirror the increases seen in the cost and importance of university education over the last few decades.

Explaining Demographic Differences In Marital Quality: The Role Of Mental And Physical Health, Kara Henderson, Jessica Harris, Spencer Young, Spencer James

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

A vast body of literature has measured the demographic differences in marital quality. According to literature on marriage, the poorly educated, females, racial ethnic minorities, and premarital cohabitors report less marital satisfaction. The main focus and goal of our study is to link the various demographic differences with poor marital quality. Much of the research on marital quality has found a link between physical health and marital outcomes. The current research neglects the other factors of mental and physical health are related to marital satisfaction and conflict. We want to observe how mental and physical health may serve as mediators …