Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Ua12/2/80 Pi Kappa Alpha, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about Pi Kappa Alpha and its forerunner fraternity Lambda Sigma Epsilon.

Ua19/16/2 Softball Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases and game statistics for WKU softball team in 2023.

Ua35/3 Memoranda, Wku Provost

WKU Administration Documents

2023 memoranda issued by the WKU Provost to faculty & staff via email.

• Provost's Message
• First Gen Initiative Success
• Congratulations to Our University Distinguished Professor & University Faculty Award Recipients
• Associate Provost for Research & Graduate Education Transition
• October 13th Guest Speaker James Lang

Ua19/16/2 Soccer Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases and game statistics for WKU soccer team in 2023.

A Multi-Year Study Of Engineering Self-Efficacy In The Us: Exploring Gender Differences In A Small Engineering Program. International Journal Of Gender, Lillian C. Jeznach, Maija A. Benitz, Selby M. Conrad

Engineering, Computing & Construction Management Faculty Publications

This study presents the baseline results of an ongoing study at a small liberal arts university in the US and explores the gender differences in engineering selfefficacy, preparedness, and engagement in undergraduate engineering students. Data from the first timepoint of the survey was used to identify factors such as high school grade point average (GPA), math preparedness, high school mentoring, and college extracurricular involvement, and their correlations with engineering selfefficacy, as measured by the Longitudinal Assessment of Engineering Self-Efficacy (LAESE) scale. Investigation of LAESE subscales revealed that students (regardless of gender) who entered college having previously studied calculus reported greater …

A Qualitative Study On The Effect Of Misattributed Parentage Experiences, Jodi Klugman-Rabb

Collected Faculty Scholarship

Identity formation is a lifelong process, significantly influenced by factors involving social groups such as family, culture, and life events. Identity confusion can result from Misattributed Parentage Experiences (MPE), when people learn they are not biologically related to a parent(s) who raised them as such, possibly triggering genealogical bewilderment, the state when uncertain knowledge of biological parents, or lack thereof, leads to maladjustment, confusion, and uncertainty (Leighton, 2012) in identity. The present study is a qualitative analysis of the effect genealogical bewilderment has on identity formation and crises for MPE adults in the United States between 2012 and 2022. Using …

Social Media Use And Awareness Of Privacy Concerns, Lola Baldwin, Jared Gores, Jp Kilbride

Concordia Journal of Communication Research

The usage of social media in our society is prevalent in our daily lives. Although social media usage is at an all time high, the tools and technologies that provide security and protection can be compromised. Users of social media platforms should be made aware of the risks and pitfalls of these applications. Our study identified that users of social media platforms are generally aware of insecurities within the platforms. The researchers determined that the frequency of posting does not cause risks for privacy concerns. Although the users had general awareness and concern, they were heightened after additional information was …

It Turned Into A Bioblitz: Urban Data Collection For Building Scientific Literacy And Environmental Connection, Kelly O'Donnell, Lisa Brundage

Publications and Research

In 2013, Macaulay Honors College redesigned its required science curriculum to focus on scientific literacy skills rather than content. Central to this shift was inclusion of a data collection event, a BioBlitz, to provide students with the basis for their own semester-long research projects. Students are teamed with naturalists in an urban green space to find as many species as they can in 24 h and to contribute to a global biodiversity database via the app iNaturalist. We have learned two important lessons: (1) developing an interdisciplinary curriculum with a high degree of experiential learning is more successful when both …

Mental Health In Sports Media, Samuel Ridgley

Communication & Media Studies | Senior Theses

This paper looks at the increasingly popular conversation surrounding mental health in sports. It provides a glimpse into how common the struggle of mental health can be for many high-level athletes while also examining the narrative and expectations that society and the media have created. The paper also provides examples of prominent athletes from a variety of different sports and delves into their personal mental health experiences in the eyes of the media. The goal of this paper is to show the progression and change of how the media portrays mental health amongst athletes in today’s ever-changing world.

The Effects Of Biometric Border Systems On Trans Travelers, Madison Binder

2023 Undergraduate Awards

The Canada-United States border is the longest land border in the world, stretching more than five thousand miles. The narrative of the Canada-United States border as the “longest undefended border in the world” was reliant on racist images of Canada as a white state. Following the attack on September 11, 2001, this narrative was disrupted and the border became the site of a massive security reconstruction project. Not in the physical sense, but in the scale of funds allocated and technology implemented to control and monitor the flow of movement across the border. Canada’s 2001 budget allocated $1.2 billion towards …

Mapping Gothicism In Hiv/Aids Art, And The Importance Of Art In Understanding Queer Cultural Trauma: Canadian Perspectives, Riley Buist

2023 Undergraduate Awards

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Canada continues to be a defining moment in queer trauma and cultural production. Since the 1990s, queer academics and theorists have become increasingly interested in how queer people navigate and negotiate trauma. With the establishment of Queer Studies and Gothic Studies, the two fields have been considered complementary both historically and contemporarily. Queer academics and theorists have discovered that queer cultural production continuously evokes gothic themes, tropes, and atmospheres to understand cultural trauma. Previous research primarily focuses on literature, and my research seeks to expand the field into visual mediums. My research is interested in understanding …

Leading From Between: Finding Meaning As A Third-Space Librarian, Heather Campbell

Western Libraries Publications

No abstract provided.

The Feminist First-Year Seminar: Using Critical Pedagogy To Design A Mandatory Information Literacy Course, Heather Campbell

Western Libraries Publications

No abstract provided.

Library Curriculum As Epistemic Justice: Decolonizing Library Instruction Programs, Heather Campbell, Dan Sich

Western Libraries Publications

Information literacy scholars and leaders are calling for the decolonization of library instruction, knowing that our work helps to maintain colonial systems. While there is no checklist or road map to program decolonization, academic libraries and instruction teams must start the work anyway. This article shares the story of curriculum decolonization at Western Libraries, so far, including the decolonization ‘cycle’ we followed and our resulting six learning outcomes. Grounded in epistemic justice, our new curriculum prioritizes living beings over information, and uses a broad, inclusive definition of knowledge throughout. Librarians at Western University acknowledge that the first step in decolonization …

Rhythmically Modulating Neural Entrainment During Exposure To Regularities Influences Statistical Learning, Laura J. Batterink, Jerrica Mulgrew, Aaron Gibbings

Psychology Publications

The ability to discover regularities in the environment, such as syllable patterns in speech, is known as statistical learning. Previous studies have shown that statistical learning is accompanied by neural entrainment, in which neural activity temporally aligns with repeating patterns over time. However, it is unclear whether these rhythmic neural dynamics play a functional role in statistical learning, or whether they largely reflect the downstream consequences of learning, such as the enhanced perception of learned words in speech. To better understand this issue, we manipulated participants’ neural entrainment during statistical learning using continuous rhythmic visual stimulation. Participants were exposed to …

Characterizing And Predicting Canadian Adolescents’ Internalizing Symptoms In The First Year Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Haley E. Green, Andrew R. Daoust, Matthew R. J. Vandermeer, Pan Liu, Kasey Stanton, Kate L. Harkness, Elizabeth P. Hayden

Psychology Publications

To date, most longitudinal studies of adolescents’ internalizing symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic include few time points, limiting knowledge about the long-term course of adolescents’ mental health during the pandemic. Moreover, examining intraindividual variability in symptoms, which may have important implications for adolescents’ adjustment beyond mean or “typical” symptoms, requires multiple time points. We examined the course of internalizing symptoms in 271 Ontario adolescents (mean n = 193 across time points) during the first year of the pandemic (March 2020–April 2021) via mixed-effect location scale models, drawing upon established internalizing symptom risk factors as predictors of mean trends and intraindividual …

Context And Coherence, By Una Stojnic, Robert Stainton, Arthur Sullivan

Philosophy Publications

No abstract provided.

Are Saviour Siblings A Special Case In Procreative Ethics?, Elizabeth Finneron-Burns, Caleb Althorpe

Political Science Publications

Children conceived in order to donate biological material to save the life of an already existing child are known as 'saviour siblings'. The primary reasons that have been offered against the practice are: (i) creating a saviour sibling has negative impacts on the created child and (ii) creating a saviour child represents a wrongful procreative motivation of the parents. In this paper we examine to what extent the creation of saviour siblings actually presents a special case in procreative ethics. Although we do not deny that there is a unique feature present in the saviour sibling case—namely, that the child …

Documenting Privacy Dark Patterns: How Social Networking Sites Influence Users’ Privacy Choices, Dominique Kelly, Jacquelyn Burkell

FIMS Publications

Dark patterns are user interface (UI) design strategies intended to influence users to make choices or perform actions that benefit online services. This study examines the dark patterns employed by social networking sites (SNSs) to influence users to make privacy-invasive choices. We documented the privacy dark patterns encountered in attempts to register an account, configure account settings, and log in and out for five SNSs popular among American teenagers (Discord, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat). Based on our observations, we present a typology consisting of three major types of privacy dark patterns (Obstruction, Obfuscation, and Pressure) and 10 subtypes. These …

Acting "As If": Critical Pedagogy, Empowerment, And Labor, Rafia Mirza, Karen P. Nicholson, Maura Seale

FIMS Publications

In this chapter, we explore the labor of information literacy and its devaluation in professional discourse, which lends appeal to critical library pedagogy as means to reclaim agency in the classroom. We consider how discourses of agency and empowerment in critical library pedagogy fail to account for positionality, power, and context, with the result that critical pedagogy tends to center individual (heroic) efforts rather than collective action. Critical pedagogy thus becomes a decontextualized and disempowering fiction, a practice of “acting as if” the classroom were a safe space. Reframing critical library pedagogy as labor undertaken in solidarity with other workers …

Between Here And There: Surveying The Global Work Of Diaspora, Migration, And Mobility-Engaged Museums, Simge Erdogan-O'Connor, Giada Ferrucci, Renée Macdiarmid, Julia Piccolo, Sascha Priewe, Sarah E.K. Smith

FIMS Publications

Diaspora, migration, and mobility-engaged museums are a growing sector amongst global cultural institutions. These museums play a significant role in shaping understandings of migration and representing diaspora identities, cultures, and experiences. Through their work, they also serve an increasingly diplomatic function in fostering mutual understanding amongst various groups and communities. At a time when migration is increasingly contested and politicized, the work of these institutions has never been more pressing. This report presents a global survey of the work of diaspora, migration, and mobility-engaged museums. Our study focused on understanding the sector, including the range and scope of institutions and …

A Failure To Communicate: Assessing The Low Rate Of Materials Challenge And Censorship Reporting Among Canadian Public Libraries, Mike Nyby, Heather Hill, Richard Ellis

FIMS Publications

Record levels of materials challenges have affected libraries in both Canada and the United States in recent years, (American Library Association, 2023c; Canadian Federation of Library Associations, 2015-2022), but despite the apparent swell in censorship efforts, the ALA estimates that 82-92% of challenges go unreported (Doyle 2017). This study aims to identify factors contributing to the low rate of challenge reporting through a participation survey distributed to over 500 Canadian public libraries. Results indicate low awareness reporting mechanisms is likely the largest obstacle to greater participation, but obstacles related to library policy, including delegation and challenge policy structure, also exist.

Power And Politics: The Case Of Urbanization And River Channel Change, Peter Ashmore

Geography & Environment Presentations

Gradual urbanization of a watershed in Toronto, Canada, over 60+ years resulted in major channel changes. The temporal and spatial extent of channel widening are predictable from new analysis tracking changes in total stream power along the river system as urban land cover extended across the watershed, and also produced very high energy large flood events responsible for major channel change. The analysis is a geomorphically-satisfying, quasi-experimental test of theory of river channel change. But it misses important elements of the full trajectory of change that are not physically predictable. Treating urbanization as a neutral physical variable of changing watershed …

Evaluating River Morphology Change With A Geomorphic Form Variation Approach, Corey Dawson, Peter Ashmore, Robert Corry

Geography & Environment Publications

Geomorphic river design strives for natural resilience by encouraging geomorphic form complexity and morphological processes linked to greater habitat diversity. Increasing availability of high-resolution topographic data and spatial feature mapping methods provide advantages for morphological analysis and river restoration planning. We propose and evaluate an approach to quantifying topographic variability of geomorphic form and pixel-level surface roughness resulting from channel planform geometry differences using spatially continuous variety computation applied to component metrics including flow direction, aspect and planform curvature. We define this as the geomorphic form variation (GFV) approach and found it scalable, repeatable and a multi-stage analytical metric for …

2023-01 The Insurance Implications Of Government Student Loan Repayment Schemes, Martin Gervais, Qian Liu, Lance Lochner

Centre for Human Capital and Productivity. CHCP Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Dentate Gyrus Integrity Is Necessary For Behavioral Pattern Separation But Not Statistical Learning, Helena Shizhe Wang, R. Shayna Rosenbaum, Stevenson Baker, Claire Lauzon, Laura Batterink, Stefan Köhler

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Pattern separation, the creation of distinct representations of similar inputs, and statistical learning, the rapid extraction of regularities across multiple inputs, have both been linked to hippocampal processing. It has been proposed that there may be functional differentiation within the hippocampus, such that the trisynaptic pathway (entorhinal cortex > dentate gyrus > CA3 > CA1) supports pattern separation, whereas the monosynaptic pathway (entorhinal cortex > CA1) supports statistical learning. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the behavioral expression of these two processes in BL, an individual with highly selective bilateral lesions in the dentate gyrus that presumably disrupts the trisynaptic pathway. We tested pattern …

Motivated To Forgive? Partisan Scandals And Party Supporters, Amber Hye-Yon Lee, Allison Harell, Laura B. Stephenson, Daniel Rubenson, Peter Loewen

Publications

In this study, we investigate how partisan motivations shape voters’ reactions to a political scandal by drawing on a unique survey experiment fielded immediately after Justin Trudeau’s brownface/blackface scandal broke during the 2019 Canadian election. We thus explore motivated reasoning in real time in a competitive and highly partisan election context. Are voters more willing to forgive politicians for past behavior when their own party leader’s impropriety is cued? To what extent do personal interests, such as cross-pressures or electoral concerns, affect the motivation to forgive? Our findings show that partisan-motivated reasoning is overwhelmingly powerful, producing politically biased judgments of …

2023-1 The Macroeconomic Consequences Of Subsistence Self-Employment, Juan Herreno, Sergio Ocampo

Department of Economics Research Reports

We evaluate the aggregate effects of expansions of credit supply in environments where subsistence self-employment is prevalent. We extend a standard macro development model to include unemployment risk, which becomes a key driver of selection into self-employment. The model is consistent with the joint distribution of earnings and occupations, the reaction of wages to labor demand shocks, and the small effects of expansions in the supply of microloans on the earnings of the self-employed. We find that the elasticity of aggregate output to expansions in credit supply is proportional to the elasticity of individual earnings. This proportionality arises due to …

2023-2 Dynamic And Stochastic Rational Behavior, Nail Kashaev, Charles Gauthier, Victor H. Aguiar

Department of Economics Research Reports

We analyze consumer demand behavior using Dynamic Random Utility Model (DRUM). Under DRUM, a consumer draws a utility function from a stochastic utility process in each period and maximizes this utility subject to her budget constraint. DRUM allows unrestricted time correlation and cross-section heterogeneity in preferences. We fully characterize DRUM for a panel data of consumer choices and budgets. DRUM is linked to a finite mixture of deterministic behavior represented as the Kronecker product of static rationalizable behavior. We provide a generalization of the Weyl-Minkowski theorem that uses this link and enables conversion of the characterizations of the static Random …

2023-3 Dynamic Programming For Pure-Strategy Subgame Perfection In An Arbitrary Game, Peter Streufert

Department of Economics Research Reports

This paper uses value functions to characterize the pure-strategy subgame-perfect equilibria of an arbitrary, possibly infinite-horizon game. It specifies the game’s extensive form as a pentaform (Streufert 2023p, arXiv:2107.10801v4), which is a set of quintuples formalizing the abstract relationships between nodes, actions, players, and situations (situations generalize information sets). Because a pentaform is a set, this paper can explicitly partition the game form into piece forms, each of which starts at a (Selten) subroot and contains all subsequent nodes except those that follow a subsequent subroot. Then the set of subroots becomes the domain of a value function, and the …