Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Mars Desert Research Station - Erau Crew 160 Expedition, Lycourgos Manolopoulos, Ashley Hollis-Bussey, Hiroki Sugimoto, Cassandra Vella, John Herman, Marc Carofano

Student Works

The Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) is a research program which is owned and operated by the Mars Society. The MDRS is located in Hanksville, Utah which hosts simulations that are typically two weeks long for professional scientists and engineers as well as college students of all levels, in training for human operations specifically on Mars. This space analog facility is in isolation, allowing for rigorous field studies regarding research that represents a true mission as if the crew members are conducting a real expedition on Mars. Participants are assigned specific roles and tasks that are typically aligned with their …

The Rest Of The Story: A Nepalese Village Remind That There Often Is A Different Reality Behind The Romantic Narrative, Abukar Adan

Colby Magazine

The rural excursion was part of my semester abroad in the IHP: Human Rights Program, which is intended to give us insight into the rhetoric and reality of human rights through an interdisciplinary, issues-based approach. Over the course of four months, we travel to New York City, Nepal, Jordan, and Chile and learn from a diverse set of individuals and institutions, from academics to indigenous activists, grassroots movements to international aid organizations. Through our visit to this tight-knit village in the hills of the Kathmandu Valley, we were given the opportunity to hear people’s personal narratives.

Inferring Task Based On Eye Movements: The Living Classifier, Jordan E. Marshall, Mallory Richert, Mark Mills, Michael D. Dodd

UCARE Research Products

Several studies, including Yarbus (1967), have found that various task instructions for viewing images influence visual behavior. This holds true for both experimenter driven and participant driven tasks. Research has also shown that classifier technology is capable of determining the task that was being performed based on the individual’s eye movements. Typically classifier technology is designed to perform tasks humans are known to be cable of performing. However, little research has been done on the human ability, or lack thereof, to determine task based on eye movements.

Purpose: To determine to what extent humans are able to classify task performed …

Individual Variation In Fathers’ Testosterone Reactivity To Infant Distress Predicts Parenting Behaviors With Their 1-Year-Old Infants, Patty X. Kuo, Ekjyot K. Saini, Elizabeth Thomason, Oliver C. Schultheiss, Richard Gonzalez, Brenda L. Volling

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Positive father involvement is associated with positive child outcomes. There is great variation in fathers’ involvement and fathering behaviors, and men’s testosterone (T) has been proposed as a potential biological contributor to paternal involvement. Previous studies investigating testosterone changes in response to father-infant interactions or exposure to infant cues are unclear as to whether individual variation in T is predictive of fathering behavior. We show that individual variation in fathers’ T reactivity to their infants during a challenging laboratory paradigm (Strange Situation) uniquely predicted fathers’ positive parenting behaviors during a subsequent father-infant interaction, in addition to other psychosocial determinants of …

The Memory Professor: With A $600,000 Grant, Jennifer Coane Continues To Probe What We Remember And Why, Jenny Chen

Colby Magazine

Assistant Professor of Psychology Jennifer Coane is an expert in the science of memory, studying how we construct false memories, how memory changes as we age, and how to apply cognitive psychology to study techniques. In August 2015 she received a multiyear $600,000 grant from the James S. McDonnell Foundation for her work in understanding human cognition—a prestigious award the foundation typically gives to scientists at large research universities.

Visual Evidence From Above: Assessing The Value Of Earth Observation Satellites For Supporting Human Rights, Tanya Notley, Camellia B. Webb-Gannon

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Public access to data collected by remote sensing Earth Observation Satellites has, until recently, been very limited. Now, citizens and rights advocacy groups are increasingly utilising satellite-collected images to interrogate justice issues; to document, prevent and verify rights abuses; and to imagine and propose social change. Yet while other communication technologies have received substantial critical analysis regarding their value as tools of social justice, activism and resistance, satellites have received comparatively scant attention. This article examines the uses of satellite-collected images in human rights contexts including the opportunities, challenges and risks they pose. We conclude this examination by arguing that …

Using Questionnaires In Qualitative Human Geography, Pauline M. Mcguirk, Phillip O'Neill

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This chapter deals with questionnaires, an information-gathering technique used frequently in mixed-method research that draws on quantitative and qualitative data sources and analysis. We begin with a discussion of key issues in the design and conduct of questionnaires. We then explore the strengths and weaknesses for qualitative research of various question formats and questionnaire distribution and collection techniques, including online techniques. Finally, we consider some of the challenges of analyzing qualitative responses in questionnaires, and we close with a discussion of the limitations of using questionnaires in qualitative research.

Master Athletes Are Extending The Limits Of Human Endurance, Romuald Lepers, Paul J. Stapley

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Theincreasedparticipationofmasterathletes(i.e.,>40yearsold)inenduranceandultra-enduranceevents(>6hduration)overthepastfewdecadeshasbeenaccompaniedbyanimprovementintheirperformancesatamuchfasterratethantheiryoungercounterparts.Agingdoeshoweverresultinadecreaseinoverallenduranceperformance.Suchage-relateddeclinesinperformancedependuponthemodesoflocomotion,eventduration,andgenderoftheparticipant.Forexample,smallerage-relateddeclinesincyclingperformancethaninrunningandswimminghavebeendocumented.Therelativestabilityofgenderdifferencesobservedacrosstheagessuggeststhattheage-relateddeclinesinphysiologicalfunctiondidnotdifferbetweenmalesandfemales.Amongthemainphysiologicaldeterminantsofenduranceperformance,themaximaloxygenconsumption(VO2max)appearstobetheparameterthatismostalteredbyage.ExerciseeconomyandtheexerciseintensityatwhichahighfractionofVO2maxcanbesustained(i.e.,lactatethreshold),seemtodeclinetoalesserextentwithadvancingage.Theabilitytomaintainahighexercise-trainingstimuluswithadvancingageisemergingasthesinglemostimportantmeansoflimitingtherateofdeclineinenduranceperformance.Byconstantlyextendingthelimitsof(ultra)-endurance,masterathletesthereforerepresentanimportantinsightintotheabilityofhumanstomaintainphysicalperformanceandphysiologicalfunctionwithadvancingage.

Modeling And Identification Of A Realistic Spiking Neural Network And Musculoskeletal Model Of The Human Arm, And An Application To The Stretch Reflex, Manish Sreenivasa, Ko Ayusawa, Yoshihiko Nakamura

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

This study develops a multi-level neuromuscular model consisting of topological pools of spiking motor, sensory and interneurons controlling a bi-muscular model of the human arm. The spiking output of motor neuron pools were used to drive muscle actions and skeletal movement via neuromuscular junctions. Feedback information from muscle spindles were relayed via monosynaptic excitatory and disynaptic inhibitory connections, to simulate spinal afferent pathways. Subject-specific model parameters were identified from human experiments by using inverse dynamics computations and optimization methods. The identified neuromuscular model was used to simulate the biceps stretch reflex and the results were compared to an independent dataset. …

Broaden Research On The Human Dimensions Of Climate Change, Noel Castree

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Human actions are causing global environmental changes that, in turn, have significant human impacts and demand human responses. The magnitude of change, impact and response will only increase in the decades to come. For too long science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects have dominated research into how people are altering the atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere. We now urgently need to understand, and seek to alter, human behaviour so that our planet remains a liveable one for all people.

Acute And Chronic Effects Of Cannabinoids On Human Cognition-A Systematic Review, Samantha J. Broyd, Hendrika H. Van Hell, Camilla Beale, Murat Yucel, Nadia Solowij

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Cannabis use has been associated with impaired cognition during acute intoxication as well as in the unintoxicated state in long-term users. However, the evidence has been mixed and contested, and no systematic reviews of the literature on neuropsychological task-based measures of cognition have been conducted in an attempt to synthesize the findings. We systematically review the empirical research published in the past decade (from January 2004 to February 2015) on acute and chronic effects of cannabis and cannabinoids and on persistence or recovery after abstinence. We summarize the findings into the major categories of the cognitive domains investigated, considering sample …

The Spatiotemporal Hemodynamic Response Function For Depth-Dependent Functional Imaging Of Human Cortex, Alexander M. Puckett, K M. Aquino, Peter Robinson, Michael Breakspear, Mark M. Schira

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The gray matter of human cortex is characterized by depth-dependent differences in neuronal activity and connections (Shipp, 2007) as well as in the associated vasculature (Duvernoy et al., 1981). The resolution limit of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measurements is now below a millimeter, promising the non-invasive measurement of these properties in awake and behaving humans (Muckli et al., 2015; Olman et al., 2012; Ress et al., 2007). To advance this endeavor, we present a detailed spatiotemporal hemodynamic response function (HRF) reconstructed through the use of high-resolution, submillimeter fMRI. We decomposed the HRF into directions tangential and perpendicular to the …

Working Sandwich Generation Women Utilize Strategies Within And Between Roles To Achieve Role Balance, Kiah Evans, J. L. Millsteed, Janet E. Richmond Phd, Marita Falkmer, Torbjorn Falkmer, Sonya Girdler

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Increasingly, women simultaneously balance the roles of mother, parental carer and worker. However, individual role balance strategies among these working 'sandwich' generation women have not been thoroughly explored. Eighteen women combining these three roles were interviewed about their individual role balance strategies. Findings were identified through the framework analysis technique, underpinned by the Model of Juggling Occupations. Achieving and maintaining role balance was explained as a complex process accomplished through a range of strategies. Findings revealed the women used six within-role balance strategies: living with integrity, being the best you can, doing what you love, loving what you do, remembering …

The Influence Of The Sex Of And Prior Relationship Between The Perpetrator And Victim On Perceptions Of Stalking: A Qualitative Analysis, Jeff Bath, Adrian J. Scott

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The sex of and prior relationship between the perpetrator and victim have been shown to influence perceptions of stalking. To explore the ways in which shared assumptions around these factors interact to shape perceptions of stalking, this study analyses the deliberations of mock juries as they attempt to reach a unanimous verdict on a hypothetical stalking case summary. Twelve mock juries comprising between five and six ‘jurors’ (n = 64) were presented with one of three versions of a case summary (stranger, acquaintance, and ex-partner) describing a man stalking a woman or a woman stalking a man. Thematic analysis shows …