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Articles 4891 - 4920 of 8231

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Phonological And Semantic Influence Of L1 And L2 In L3 Acquisition, Silia Dutson, Dr. Wendy Baker Aug 2013

Phonological And Semantic Influence Of L1 And L2 In L3 Acquisition, Silia Dutson, Dr. Wendy Baker

Journal of Undergraduate Research

As an international student it’s easy to see the importance of language learning and how it can be a means to create and take advantage of opportunities. The learning of a second language is so important that there is an extensive field of research dedicated to improving the learning methods of a second language. Research has allowed the development of resources and a better understanding of how languages are learned.

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A Time For Museums: A Study Of Supporters At The Museum Of Peoples And Cultures, Heidi Kartchner, Dr. Julie Hartley Aug 2013

A Time For Museums: A Study Of Supporters At The Museum Of Peoples And Cultures, Heidi Kartchner, Dr. Julie Hartley

Journal of Undergraduate Research

During the months of May and June 2008 I conducted a research study at BYU’s Museum of Peoples and Cultures (MPC) in Provo, Utah. My intent was to research the MPC’s supporters, looking specifically at their leisure habits and patterns of cultural consumption and how that plays into their museum visiting habits.

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Memory-Texts And The Interdiscursive Construction Of Identity Among The Khmer Diaspora, Brandon Bales, Dr. Janies Nuckolls Aug 2013

Memory-Texts And The Interdiscursive Construction Of Identity Among The Khmer Diaspora, Brandon Bales, Dr. Janies Nuckolls

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Displaced people present a problem for ethnographic research in that they generally lack stable socio-cultural contexts on which researchers rely for making empirical observations. This study shows how people produce memory-texts as a way of recontextualizing themselves in new or unstable social situations and establishes memory-texts as the empirical material necessary to produce analysis on displaced people. The discursive production of memory-texts is an activity displaced people engage in to recontextualize and stabilize themselves in shifting or new environments. Memory-texts are composed of the interface between defining moments in people’s lives and recent experiences and cultural frameworks. As an interdiscursive …

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Development Of A Measure For Child Psychotherapy Process And Outcome Research, Tyler Sasser, Dr. Jared Warren Aug 2013

Development Of A Measure For Child Psychotherapy Process And Outcome Research, Tyler Sasser, Dr. Jared Warren

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The latest research has shown that 1 in 5 children meet criteria for a mental disorder and 1 in 10 children experience significant impairment in the family, school, and community due to a mental disorder (Huang et al., 2005). Unfortunately, only about one quarter of these children needing mental health services receive care (Ringel & Sturm, 2001). Although only a small portion of impaired children receive care, substantial progress has been made in developing effective treatments for this population. However, there are many unresolved issues surrounding child and adolescent psychotherapy.

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Tracking Off-Site Recreational Therapy Activities, Maya Inoue, Dr. Gary Burlingame Aug 2013

Tracking Off-Site Recreational Therapy Activities, Maya Inoue, Dr. Gary Burlingame

Journal of Undergraduate Research

At the beginning of this research experience, my research group and I sought to find evidence that off-site recreational therapy was effective in increasing a patient’s perceived freedom and self-efficacy. This research idea came in response to the diminishing financial support at the Utah State Mental Hospital (USM) from state legislatures who request empirical evidence that off-campus trips truly contribute significantly to full patient recovery. However, when we began to research this topic, we soon found that there were very few cases that sought evidence-based practice (EBP) in the field of recreational therapy.

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Body Weight And Self-Control In Pigeons, Daniel Watkins, Dr. Harold Miller Aug 2013

Body Weight And Self-Control In Pigeons, Daniel Watkins, Dr. Harold Miller

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Recent approaches have interpreted self-control in terms of temporal factors. Most recent models posit that self-control amounts to a choice between a smaller reward that is available sooner and a larger reward that is available later. The model is applicable to both humans and nonhumans. Additionally, the model characterizes the relation between reward value and delay to reward in terms of a hyperbolic discounting function (Green and Myerson, 2004). Figure 1 (adapted from Domjan, 2006) depicts this relation in terms of a small reward available sooner than a large reward. Both curves in the figures are of the form:

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Cocaine’S Effects On Inhibitory Gaba Neurons In The Midbrain, Seth Taylor, Dr. Scott Steffensen Aug 2013

Cocaine’S Effects On Inhibitory Gaba Neurons In The Midbrain, Seth Taylor, Dr. Scott Steffensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Cocaine abuse is a serious societal problem. The 2006 Monitoring the Future survey of students showed that 2.5% of high school seniors had used cocaine in the past month, 5.7% in the last year, and 8.5% at least once in their lifetime. According to the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 5.5 million Americans has used cocaine in the last year, twice as many as the number of people suffering from schizophrenia. Researchers have been working diligently to discover the means by which cocaine acts on the brain to cause such dependence. Treatments for addiction have improved as …

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The Behavioral Response Of The Boxelder Bug With Respect To Suspect Semiochemicals, Jared Steven Nielsen, Dr. Gary M. Booth Aug 2013

The Behavioral Response Of The Boxelder Bug With Respect To Suspect Semiochemicals, Jared Steven Nielsen, Dr. Gary M. Booth

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The boxelder bug, Boisea trivattatus, is a common structural and agricultural insect pest found throughout North America. Unfortunately, current pest management methods are not effective for controlling boxelder bug populations. If discovered and developed attractants would provide an effective and environmentally responsible solution to boxelder bug management.

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Haitian Immigrants In Santiago, Dominican Republic, Jesse S. Morgan, Dr. John P. Hawkins Aug 2013

Haitian Immigrants In Santiago, Dominican Republic, Jesse S. Morgan, Dr. John P. Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I was awarded an ORCA grant in order to carry out ethnographic research in the Dominican Republic (DR.). ORCA’s support made it possible for me to spend four months in Santiago, the second largest city, during winter semester. I had originally intended that my fieldwork would focus on the cultural theme of the tigre, or tiger (a charismatic showoff type in Dominican society). However, the reality warp between my elaborate Provobased scheming and the practicalities of living and doing ethnography in a large unfamiliar Caribbean city encouraged me to shift my focus and walk through open cultural doors instead of …

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A Study Of Japanese And American Couples: Attitudes And Expectations About Marriage, Naoki Miyakawa, Dr. Thomas B. Holman Aug 2013

A Study Of Japanese And American Couples: Attitudes And Expectations About Marriage, Naoki Miyakawa, Dr. Thomas B. Holman

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of my research was to (1) translate the RELATE (acronym for RELATionship Evaluation) into Japanese thus developing a comprehensive survey instrument for assessing marital patterns in Japan, (2) pilot test the instrument with a sample of Japanese couples and (3) analyze the data collected with appropriate statistical procedures for the purpose of revising the instrument and beginning to understand the similarities and differences between the courtship and marital attitudes and expectations of Japanese and American young adults. The results I obtained while in Japan this summer were compared to the results obtained through the American research (Larson & …

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Fathers’ Role From A Ukrainian Perspective, Sara C. Lambert, Dr. David C. Dollahite Aug 2013

Fathers’ Role From A Ukrainian Perspective, Sara C. Lambert, Dr. David C. Dollahite

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Dear Dad, It’s been twenty years since we last hugged, talked, or even had a brotherly shot of vodka. The pain I experienced growing up rings out from my heart as I recall the time we never had together. You worked hard to give us a life and free us from the bondage our people have lived in for many years. You are my father. Why don’t I remember the good times gone by?

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Summary Of Hungarian Apocalypse Analysis, Arle R. Lommel, Dr. John Robertson Aug 2013

Summary Of Hungarian Apocalypse Analysis, Arle R. Lommel, Dr. John Robertson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The fifteenth century was an important time in the development of the Hungarian nation and the Hungarian language. Despite a war with both the Turks and the Austrians, Hungarian culture was undergoing a flowering in the independent principality of Transylvania. This was linked largely to the introduction of printing from Germany. For the first time Hungarian texts could be disseminated widely to a populace that had never seen vernacular literature before. Particularly important in this blossoming was the publication of biblical translations, translations that the Reformers thought would put God into the hands of the people and take away Rome’s …

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Like Father, Like God: A Study Of Mate Selection Among Young Mormon Couples, April Mitchell, Kelly Welker, Amy Whisenant, Dr. Thomas B. Holman Aug 2013

Like Father, Like God: A Study Of Mate Selection Among Young Mormon Couples, April Mitchell, Kelly Welker, Amy Whisenant, Dr. Thomas B. Holman

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In the social sciences, qualitative research methods have recently become widely used due to the difficulty of measuring social, phenomena quantitatively. Thus, our analyses were qualitative, following the grounded theory method as articulated by Strauss and Corbin (1990). The steps in this theory dictate that the researcher first forms a preliminary hypothesis, then allows the emerging data to either nullify or ratify the hypothesis. If the data does not support the hypothesis, the hypothesis must be changed. We found that the flexibility of this method allowed us to conduct our research with a mind open to various interpretations of the …

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Stich On Charity And Truth, David A. Jensen, Dr. K. Codell Carter Aug 2013

Stich On Charity And Truth, David A. Jensen, Dr. K. Codell Carter

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Stephen Stich argues in the Fragmentation of Reason for a pragmatic account of cognition; that is, our processes of how we acquire knowledge should be evaluated, he maintains, not on how well they produce true beliefs, but on how well they produce beliefs relevant to some pragmatic value (survival, happiness, and so forth). To put forth his pragmatic account, Stich first must debunk at least two mainstays of epistemology: charity and truth.

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Using Dendrochronology To Identify An Unknown Earthquake, Douglas Metcalf, Dr. Matthew Bekker Aug 2013

Using Dendrochronology To Identify An Unknown Earthquake, Douglas Metcalf, Dr. Matthew Bekker

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Geologists use various dating techniques to determine the ages of geologic phenomena. Dendrochronology- the analysis of annual growth-rings in trees- is one of these methods (Stoffel and Bollschwieler, 2008). Unlike other dating procedures, it can determine the exact years in which various events occurred. Such events include earthquakes, which produce distinct responses in tree-ring growth patterns (Jacoby, 1997).

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The Unreflecting Narcissus, Benjamin Huff, Dr. Scott Sprenger Aug 2013

The Unreflecting Narcissus, Benjamin Huff, Dr. Scott Sprenger

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Andre Gide’s La Symphonie Pastorale (in English, The Pastoral Symphony) portrays a pastor who mistakes the love of a woman for the love of God and believes he is serving God while he serves mostly just himself. Even his avowed love for Gertrude, a blind orphan girl he takes in, turns out to be mostly self-serving. Because the pastor’s self-love appears as love for Gertrude, some readers have compared the pastor to Narcissus and Gertrude to Narcissus’ entrancing image in the pool. Further steeping a scene already drenched in irony, I argue that while the pastor loves Gertrude as …

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A Summary Of Research Done On Aboriginal Marriage Systems, Rachelle Holloway, Dr. David Crandall Aug 2013

A Summary Of Research Done On Aboriginal Marriage Systems, Rachelle Holloway, Dr. David Crandall

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The results of receiving this grant was research conducted in Victoria, Australia concerning the marriage systems of Australian Aboriginals. The research was originally intended to be conducted in areas predominantly populated by less Westernized Aboriginals, but there were problems in obtaining this ideal.

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Orca Grant Final Report, Alisha Walbrecht Aug 2013

Orca Grant Final Report, Alisha Walbrecht

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Metaphors are a very important aspect of language, particularly of the English language. Lakoff and Johnson opened linguists to the study of metaphors by pointing out that English speakers use metaphors throughout their speech. For example, Lakoff and Johnson say that the phrase “spending time” is evidence of the metaphor “time is money,” which allows speakers to use money terms with time terms. According to Lakoff and Johnson, these metaphors permeate almost every aspect of English speech.

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Syntax And English Language Acquisition, Malena Weitze, Dr. Deryle Lonsdale Aug 2013

Syntax And English Language Acquisition, Malena Weitze, Dr. Deryle Lonsdale

Journal of Undergraduate Research

An oral testing method, Elicited imitation (EI), has provided helpful insight into the process of language acquisition and language assessment over the past 40 years. EI is an oral test in which the subject hears a sentence, forms a cognitive representation, and then produces a sentence according to that representation (Bley-Vroman & Chaudron 1994, 245). The theory behind EI is that, controlling for utterance length, people can only reproduce an utterance if they understand its syntax (sentence structure). Although there is controversy concerning the use of EI—asserting that it is not the most precise language acquisition assessment tool—currently prevalent methods …

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Semantic Change In Supreme Context: Semantics In The Privacy Line And Originalist Interpretation, Adam Prestidge, Dr. William Eggington Aug 2013

Semantic Change In Supreme Context: Semantics In The Privacy Line And Originalist Interpretation, Adam Prestidge, Dr. William Eggington

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In a nation governed by laws, change in the meaning of the words that compose those laws can have an unexpected impact. When I began to research this topic, I noticed that in certain Supreme Court cases, the word liberty was central to the discussion of the rights in question, and was used in some surprising ways. In the 2003 Supreme Court case, Lawrence v. Texas, liberty was described as something that guaranteed “the full right to engage in private conduct without government intervention.” After this statement piqued my interest, I noticed that Planned Parenthood of Southeastern PA v. Casey …

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Local Ordinances That Promote Physical Activity A Survey Of Municipal Policies In Utah, Trenton Robertson, Dr. Shuanna K. Burbidge Aug 2013

Local Ordinances That Promote Physical Activity A Survey Of Municipal Policies In Utah, Trenton Robertson, Dr. Shuanna K. Burbidge

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Utah Department of Health revisited a study published in 2003 in the American Journal of Public Health because they desire to understand how Utah cities are using local laws to encourage or discourage physical activity of residents. Since 2003 only Hawaii has conducted a similar study. We have had the chance and opportunity to refine and perfect methods previously used to research and analyze issues that many other states may use in the next decade.

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Does Technical Assistance Decrease Corruption In Developing Countries?, Anna Whittaker, Dr. Dan Nielson Aug 2013

Does Technical Assistance Decrease Corruption In Developing Countries?, Anna Whittaker, Dr. Dan Nielson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Although bilateral and multilateral aid donors have given away hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign aid, it is still unclear whether providing loans and launching major development projects in poor countries can really cause economic growth, helping these countries to provide for their own needs. Technical assistance is a unique type of foreign aid: instead of giving low income countries money to spend on development projects, donors provide their own experts to consult with governments, plan future development projects, or supervise the completion of current projects. Instead of providing physical resources for projects, donors give of their knowledge and …

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United States Involvement With The Hmong People During The Vietnam War In Laos, P. Mike Rattanasengchanh Aug 2013

United States Involvement With The Hmong People During The Vietnam War In Laos, P. Mike Rattanasengchanh

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of the project was an attempt to answer several questions about the United States involvement with the Hmong people during the Vietnam War in Laos.

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Evaluating Biodiversity Trends For Improved Implementation Of Global Environmental Policy, Tyler Greathouse, Dr. Gary Bryner Aug 2013

Evaluating Biodiversity Trends For Improved Implementation Of Global Environmental Policy, Tyler Greathouse, Dr. Gary Bryner

Journal of Undergraduate Research

There have been numerous international and national attempts to formulate environmental policies that would effectively curb the potentially debilitating decrease in biological diversity; however, many of these policies have failed to meet their goals. The most recent attempt to conserve biodiversity on the international stage was the 2002 agreement at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Agreeing parties pledged to slow biodiversity loss in their own respective countries by 2010. However, follow up studies showed that the 2010 targets will not be met.

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Numerical Processing In Infants: Differentiating Between Small And Large Groups Of Number, Clark Van Den Berghe, Dr. Chris Porter, Dr. Ross Flom Aug 2013

Numerical Processing In Infants: Differentiating Between Small And Large Groups Of Number, Clark Van Den Berghe, Dr. Chris Porter, Dr. Ross Flom

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Without even realizing it, our brain is constantly taking in information from our external environment. While some things take conscious effort, others happen with little or no thought. Vision is an enormous input, and our brain processes what it sees in order for us to do many of our daily activities. One of the things that we process constantly is the number of objects in our field of view. This is the same for both infants and adults, since we both have to navigate the world we live in. The purpose of my research project was to examine more deeply …

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Religiosity And Election Partisanship In Presidential Races: The Case Of New Jersey, Tyler M. Ransom, Dr. Richard Butler Aug 2013

Religiosity And Election Partisanship In Presidential Races: The Case Of New Jersey, Tyler M. Ransom, Dr. Richard Butler

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Research has shown that voters show partisanship—propensity to vote along party lines—in Presidential elections. My project explores whether a person’s religiosity, as measured by affiliation variables, has an impact on partisanship and vote choice. My coauthors and I develop a religious partisanship index (RPI) that gauges the relative importance of religion between Democrats and Republicans in Presidential elections from 1980 to 2000. We find that, in every election of the 1980s, religion increased Republican partisanship, but since President Clinton (the elections of 1992, 1996 and 2000), religion increased partisanship among Democratic voters.

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An Issue Of Blood: The Practice Of Secluding Women During Menstruation And Post-Pardum, Rebekah Wightman, Dr. Valerie Hudson Aug 2013

An Issue Of Blood: The Practice Of Secluding Women During Menstruation And Post-Pardum, Rebekah Wightman, Dr. Valerie Hudson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Menstruation is a taboo subject in even the most familiar cultures. Talking menstruation in general is often full of uncomfortable giggles and whispers, but in other not so familiar cultures, menstruation is handled very differently. Seclusion typically means that menstruating women or those who have just given birth must not engage in public activities for the duration of their menses or post-pardum period. For some societies, menstrual huts are created as a place for women to reside outside the village during menstruation. Typically, the women are not allowed to leave the menstrual hut during this period of time and strict …

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Tracking Rt: Data-Driven Evidence As To The Efficacy Of Off-Site Recreation Therapy At The Utah State Hospital, Sean Woodland, Maya Inoue, Dr. Gary Burlingame Aug 2013

Tracking Rt: Data-Driven Evidence As To The Efficacy Of Off-Site Recreation Therapy At The Utah State Hospital, Sean Woodland, Maya Inoue, Dr. Gary Burlingame

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Recreation Therapy Program at the Utah State Hospital (USH) remains one of the least-noticed disciplines that the hospital has to offer. The program has the goal of improving the overall quality of life of the patient, focusing on the areas of community integration, skill development, and lifelong leisure. An important part of being able to accomplish these goals is via off-campus activities, ranging from camping and sporting events to visiting theaters and museums. However, in recent years the program has felt pressure from state legislatures and hospital administration to limit these off-campus interventions, mainly due to budget concerns, which …

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Different Developmental Outcomes Following Lab Rearing By Biological Or Adoptive Mothers: Maternal Influence On Behavioral And Physiological Responses To Separation Stress In Rhesus Macaques (Macacamulatta), Andrea Sorenson, Dr. James D. Higley Aug 2013

Different Developmental Outcomes Following Lab Rearing By Biological Or Adoptive Mothers: Maternal Influence On Behavioral And Physiological Responses To Separation Stress In Rhesus Macaques (Macacamulatta), Andrea Sorenson, Dr. James D. Higley

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Initially this project was looking at the effects that multiple short term separations of a mother rhesus macaque from their infant would have on their relationship. More specifically, looking at adoption pairs (an infant raised by a non biological mother) to see if the relationship between the mother and the infant changed differently than the relationship of a mother and their biological infant. The focus of this analysis was looking at the mother/infant pair’s cortisol levels, which are a measure of the body’s physiological response to stress. The hope was to determine whether mother infant pairs with similar cortisol levels, …

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Different Developmental Outcomes Following Lab Rearing By Biological Or Adoptive Mothers: Maternal Influence On Behavioral And Physiological Responses To Separation Stress In Rhesus Macaques (Macaca Mulatta), Whitney Maxwell, Dr. Dee Higley Aug 2013

Different Developmental Outcomes Following Lab Rearing By Biological Or Adoptive Mothers: Maternal Influence On Behavioral And Physiological Responses To Separation Stress In Rhesus Macaques (Macaca Mulatta), Whitney Maxwell, Dr. Dee Higley

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Under stressful conditions the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis increases in both humans and animals leading to an increase in production of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). Maternal separation in nonhuman primates during infancy elicits behaviors characteristic of anxiety, such as withdrawal and nervous behavior and a substantial increase in ACTH (Higley and Linnoila 1997; Barr, Newman et al. 2004). Individual differences in anxiety in turn influence ACTH output, similar to what is seen in human children (Gunnar and Quevedo 2007). Infants response to separation physiologically and behaviorally is substantial and represents a significant stressor in the life of a young …

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