Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Extending The Fuzzy-Trace Theory Informed Model Of Guilty Plea Decision Making: Accounting For Factual Guilt And Innocence, Rebecca K. Helm, Tina M. Zottoli

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Objective: Understanding how sentence differentials influence plea decision making is vital to identifying when plea offers might lead to convictions that conflict with normative goals (e.g., avoiding wrongful conviction). We clarify previous findings by introducing and testing predictions of a Fuzzy-Trace Theory informed model relating plea discount to plea acceptance in mock guilty defendants and extend the work to mock innocent defendants.

Hypotheses: We expected plea rates in guilty defendants to increase with increases in plea discount but to change more steeply when a change in plea discount created a categorically distinct change in sentence (vs. a less meaningful reduction). …

Community Engagement Newsletter, April 2026, University Of Northern Iowa. Office Of Community Engagement.

Community Engagement Newsletter

Contents:

--- UNI's Day of Service - April 8, 2026
--- Service-Learning and Engaged Department Institutes
--- Student Funding
--- Certified Nonprofit Professional Credential
--- UNI Engaged Podcast

How Can Librarians In Developing Countries Apply Evidence-Based Information Practices To Enhance Library Services In The Digital Era? A Scoping Review, Jackline Estomihi Kiwelu, Martha Lyaka, Patrick Ngulube

Libraries

This scoping review maps existing literature on how librarians in developing countries apply evidence-based information practice (EBIP), identifying key themes and evidence gaps for future research. The review followed Arksey and O’Malley’s five-stage framework and applied the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020 checklist alongside the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme for appraising study quality. From 6,693 records retrieved, ten studies met the inclusion criteria. The mapped studies suggest that librarians apply EBIP in diverse professional activities such as collection development, advocacy, reference services, information literacy instruction, decision-making, evaluation, monitoring performance, and enhancing service quality. Evidence-based approaches were …

Partisanship And Patriotism: How Political Parties Influence Citizen Perceptions Of American Symbols And National Unity, Carl Picerno

Political Science Undergraduate Theses

Over the past decade, there has been an increase in political polarization across the United States. National symbols such as the American flag, the national anthem, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the military have become disputed markers of unity and identity. This study explores the following research question: How does political party affiliation influence Americans’ perceptions of key symbols of American pride and patriotism, and further, what do these perceptions reveal about national unity and political polarization? This study examines the following hypotheses more specifically: first, Republicans are more likely to associate national symbols with unity and patriotism and therefore …

Remembering In The North: How The Civil Rights Movement Is Told Through Monuments, Courtney Wight

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

This thesis, titled “Remembering in the North: How the Civil Rights Movement is Told Through Monuments,” examines how the Civil Rights Movement is remembered in the North through public monuments. The Civil Rights Movement in the North has not received the same level of recognition compared to the South in public memory, yet the stories and activists in the North deserve the same acknowledgement. The cities of Newark, NJ, and Albany, NY, act as case studies to illustrate how the racism and discrimination, which prompted the Civil Rights Movement, were present in the North during the movement. Both cities, like …

The Sentience Of The Horse And The Philosophy Of Natural Horsemanship: Implications For Hrd Leadership, Rob E. Carpenter

Human Resource Development Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper advances a biologically grounded philosophy of leadership through the lens of Natural Horsemanship. It reframes leadership as an embodied, sentient process rather than a purely cognitive or behavioral construct. Drawing from neuroscience, affective biology, sociology, and human resource development (HRD), it proposes that the horse–human relationship provides a living model for relational intelligence. The horse’s exquisite attunement to human emotion— mediated through limbic regulation and bio-behavioral synchrony—reveals that influence arises not from authority but from coherence. Leadership, like horsemanship, is a reciprocal act of co-regulation in which trust, safety, and communication are revealed through physiology before language. By …

Essays On Family Economics, Culture, Inequality, And Growth, Rouzhi Liang

Economics Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of essays on how family resource allocation and cultural values shape innovation, inequality, and long-run economic development. Across the chapters, I combine quantitative modeling and empirical analysis to understand the determinants of inequality and long-run growth.

Chapter 1 studies how parental fertility and bequest decisions affect children’s potential to become entrepreneurs when financial barriers exist. Motivated by evidence that high-income parents tend to have fewer children and leave larger bequests and allocate more resources per child, I develop an overlapping-generations model with endogenous fertility, bequests, and occupational choice, calibrated to U.S. data. The model shows that, when …

A Laboratory-Based Spectrometer Intercomparison For The Measurement Of Snow Spectra, Benjamin M. Roberts-Pierel, Christopher J. Crawford, Steven W. Brown, Raymond F. Kokaly, Kelly E. Gleason, Anne W. Nolin, Edward H. Bair, Brenton A. Wilder, Anton J. Surunis, S. Mckenzie K. Skiles, Multiple Additional Authors

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Seasonal snow is an integral component of global hydrological systems, global energy budget and Earth's climate. As an important part of many Earth systems, seasonal snow is also an essential source of water for many human populations and ecosystems around the world. As such, the measurement of seasonal snow and characterization of uncertainty in those measurements is crucial. To elucidate potential uncertainty attributable to commonly used field spectrometers (and to a lesser extent imaging spectrometers) and associated reference panels, this work presents results from an intercalibration experiment conducted synchronously with the NASA 2023 Snow Experiment (SnowEx) Albedo campaign near Fairbanks, …

Economic Security & Older Adults In Massachusetts: Infographic, Center For Social And Demographic Research On Aging, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

The Elder Index measures the income older adults need to meet their daily living costs while staying in their own homes. This fact sheet presents overview data of economic security of Older Adults in Massachusetts based on the 2025 Elder Index data.

Book Review - Soccer, Globalization, And Innovation, Sangchul Park

Global Sport Business Journal

This review examines Soccer, Globalization, and Innovation: The Beautiful Game in the 21st Century, an edited book that explores soccer as a key site where globalization and innovation intersect. This book conceptualizes innovation across multiple domains, including gameplay, sport business, and social and political initiatives. Simultaneously, this book emphasizes the interconnected and contested nature of global processes. Drawing on various actual cases, this book presents and highlights how power relations, stakeholder dynamics, and technological changes shape outcomes in global soccer. The current review evaluates the book’s conceptual framework, organization, and practical relevance. In doing so, this review notes the strengths …

Book Review - Olympic Outliers: Brisbane 2032 And The Future Of The Olympic Games, Robert Sroka

Global Sport Business Journal

This book review examines Olympic Outliers: Brisbane 2032 and the Future of the Olympic Games by Peter English, a multidisciplinary analysis of Brisbane's  appointment as host of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The book argues that Brisbane's selection as a mid-sized, regionally focused outlier host reflects a turning point in the Olympic Movement driven by IOC governance reform, shifting geopolitics, and a scarcity of competing megacity bids. Evaluated across four chapters addressing bidding history, legacy planning, media framing, and broader implications for future host selection, the book demonstrates considerable scholarly and practical value. Drawing on robust primary and secondary …

Law Library Strategy: Positioning For Sustainable Relevance, Gregory A. Smith, Christine I. Dulac, Amy A. Emerson, Sara Y. Gras

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Law libraries of all sorts face evolving environments, presenting both challenges and opportunities. In the face of uncertainty, law library leaders must develop strategy to define and implement a viable mission in the foreseeable future. In this presentation, panelists from four academic law libraries explore how libraries can better understand their competitive environment, stakeholder relationships, and strategic priorities in the face of budget and staffing constraints, technological change, and shifting user perceptions. The presentation highlights four analytical frameworks—competitor analysis, SWOT analysis, the Business Model Canvas, and stakeholder analysis—and illustrates how these can inform strategic decision-making within a law library context. …

Caroliniana Columns - Spring 2026, University Libraries--University Of South Carolina

University South Caroliniana Society Newsletter - Columns

Fall Events Recap ... p.2

Letter from the President ... p. 4

Report from the Director/Letter from the Dean of Libraries ... p. 5

Echoes of Independence: 250 Years of Revolution and Memorialization ... p. 6

Primary Sources: Authors Rely on SCL Holdings for Their Research ... p. 14

A Dream Deferred: The Art and Activism of Edwin Augustus Harleston by M. Akua McDaniel ... p. 14

The Conise Guide to South Carolina State Government by Vincent Sheheen ... p. 15

South Carolina Scalawags by Hyman Rubin III ... p. 16

Mother Emanuel: Two Centuries of Race, Resistance, and Forgiveness …

Essays Of Culture Economics: The Economic Consequences Of Cultural Change, Javier Gonzalez

Economics Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation contributes to the field of Cultural Economics by exploring the relationship between cultural transmission and economic outcomes. Across three distinct essays, this research investigates how mass media narratives shape economic preferences and labor decisions, and conversely, how economic fundamentals drive the evolution of cultural markers like language.   The first two chapters focus on the cultural and economic impact of television in Latin America, utilizing a novel dataset of telenovelas aired between 1960 and 2024. Chapter 1 extends the analysis of media influence to labor economics, studying the effect of televised female empowerment on female labor market outcomes. By …

A Comparative Analysis Of State Legislation Prohibiting Gender-Affirming Care For Missouri Minors: A Policy Review, Hayley Lange, Benjamin Grin, Kaitlyn Crosby

Missouri Policy Journal

The Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act is a law enacted in August 2023 that banned gender-affirming medical care for individuals under 18 in Missouri. It states that any medical provider who provides medical gender-affirming care to a minor will have their professional medical license revoked. The purpose of this policy review is to evaluate and compare the content of the Missouri SAFE Act with similar legislation enacted in other states to provide an evaluative model.        

This policy assessment used a modified assessment tool that was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The assessment included a …

Fear, Parties, And The 2024 General Election: A Review Of Exit Poll Information From Missouri Voters, Jacob H. Tengelsen, Bronson P. Herrera

Missouri Policy Journal

Increased emotions mark current elections. Particularly, election-related anxiety has risen over the years, causing health and social concerns. Despite studying the risks of election-related fear, researchers have yet to delve into the existing partisan contrasts. We hypothesize that there will be a partisan difference in levels of fear in the 2024 election. We rely on exit poll data collected by the Northwest Center of Policy and Civic Engagement. We find more increased levels of fear among Democrats about the election of Donald Trump than we do among Republicans about the prospect of a Kamala Harris presidency. We reflect on the …

Editor’S Introduction, Joseph A. Cernik

Missouri Policy Journal

No abstract provided.

Next-Generation Democratic Cyber Statecraft - Balancing The Signal: Shutdown Shocks And Democratic Digital Governance, Scott M. Di Panni

School of Public Policy Capstones

This paper develops Next-Generation Democratic Cyber Statecraft (NG-DCS), a unified strategic doctrine for democratic governments to contest the cognitive domain against authoritarian adversaries. Drawing on twenty-six years of cross-national panel data (1999–2024) spanning 213 countries, game-theoretic modeling, and qualitative case analysis, the paper establishes three interconnected empirical and theoretical foundations. First, cross-national OLS regression across 160+ countries demonstrates that regime type is the dominant structural determinant of internet freedom (R²=0.615, β=2.513, p< 0.001), explaining more than twice the variance attributable to per-capita wealth (R²=0.268). Democratic governance, not economic development, produces open digital environments. Second, a two-way fixed effects (TWFE) difference-in-differences study exploiting government-ordered internet shutdowns as discrete policy interventions finds that digital restrictions causally degrade V-Dem governance quality by 0.21–0.38 standard deviations (p< 0.001 across all specifications). Treatment effects are immediate (β=−0.302 at k=0) and persist through five post-treatment years (β=−0.246 at k=+5), indicating structural rather than transitory governance damage. Parallel trends validation (p=0.352) and Callaway–Sant’Anna heterogeneity-robust estimation (ATT=−0.230, SE=0.077) support causal identification. Instrumental variable triangulation (2SLS β=−0.949, p=0.005) confirms that simultaneity was attenuating, not inflating, the primary estimates. Third, formal game-theoretic analysis reveals that the current U.S.–adversary equilibrium is (Restrain, Escalate)—the risk-dominant but Pareto-inferior outcome of a Stag Hunt structure. China, Russia, North Korea, and Venezuela each occupy structurally distinct positions (Stackelberg commitment, asymmetric two-level, autarky, and reactive trigger, respectively), requiring differentiated doctrinal responses rather than a uniform strategic playbook. Generative AI and algorithmic governance are shown to accelerate cognitive vulnerability by collapsing influence operation costs and exploiting engagement-optimized platform architectures that systematically degrade deliberative capacity in democratic populations.

Traditional Masculine Ideology And Transphobia: An Examination Of A Predictive Relationship, Nikola Jensen

Psychology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

This paper examines the role of traditional masculine ideology in the continued prevalence of transphobia.  Drawing on established research, it follows the development of traditional masculinity in critical social and emotional aspects of men’s lives and explores the predictive relationship between endorsement of traditional masculinity and transphobic attitudes.  It emphasizes solution-based psychological research in addressing and challenging this belief system, particularly gender-transformative programs for boys and young men, where supportive role models and healthy representations of masculinity are presented. Overall, it investigates both the consequences of traditional masculinity, including harmful expectations for men themselves and transphobia, as well as mitigation …

Wildfires, Smoke Pollution, And Household Purchasing Behaviors, Tamara Sheldon, Crystal Zhan

Faculty Publications

In this paper, we investigate households’ behavioral responses to wildfires in California to understand their mitigation and adaptation strategies. We combine daily household-level consumer purchase data from the NielsenIQ Consumer Panel with detailed wildfire incident and smoke exposure data from various sources. Our analysis reveals that wildfires reduce retail trips and overall spending, both in-store and online, likely due to evacuations. However, wildfire-driven smoke increases purchases of essential goods, indicating adaptive behavior. More experienced households tend to respond more cautiously, and we observe heterogeneity in responses based on income, age, and pre-existing health conditions. These findings highlight the complexity and …

A Word From The Writing Team (April 2026), Pam Walter, Mfa, Laura Deloretta, Phd

A Word From the Writing Team (Newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Does Age And Reading Activity Predict Children’S Engagement In Grandparent–Grandchild Zoom Sessions?, Breanne E. Dunn

Honors Thesis

As the digital world continues to advance, interactions that once took place in person are increasingly occurring online. Although a substantial body of research has documented the benefits of shared reading for children under six, far less is known about how these experiences and reading development unfolds in digital contexts. This study examines how structured book reading during video chat supports joint visual attention (JVA; sharing attention with another person on an object) between children (18 months to 6 years old) and their remote grandparents. The proportion of successful grandparent-initiated JVA bids throughout three different activity conditions, baseline (control), matching …

Watch Me Watch: Reaction Videos As A Social Form Of Online Video Engagement, Rodney Okyere, Carlos Augusto Bautista Isaza, Jaehoon Pyon, Ihudiya Finda Ogbonnaya-Ogburu, Shuo Niu, Sang Wong Lee

Computer Science

Reaction videos (RVs) are surging in popularity, emerging as a distinctive facet of participatory culture on modern social video-sharing platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch. This study aims to explore not only the motivations and engagement patterns of viewers towards RVs, but also the underlying nature of the virality and community-building phenomena that this sub-genre of video content fosters. We conducted 16 semi-structured interviews with individuals who identified as regular viewers of reaction videos to gain a deeper understanding of how they discover reaction videos (RQ1), the values that drive their motivations for viewing RVs (RQ2), and the ways …

Congressional Reform Project, Hanna Brant Ph.D.

School of Arts & Sciences

This assignment was developed by SUNY Geneseo Professor Hanna Brant during the spring 2026 semester.

Learning Objectives

• Describe and analyze the legislative process of the United State’s Congress;
• Identify the internal and external factors that influence legislative behavior;
• Critically analyze arguments concerning the appropriate role and powers of the legislature;
• Interpret social science research on the behavior of legislators;
• Evaluate policy strategies for advancing a legislative agenda; and
• Collaborate and communicate with peers on contemporary legislative issues and challenges.

National Fund For Children In Kazakhstan: Vision And Purpose, Askhat Aimagambetov

Center for Social Development Research

This Perspective presents the address given by Askhat Aimagambetov, honorable member of the Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, on the occasion of “The National Fund for Children of Kazakhstan: Policy Innovation and Potential for Global Impacts,” an international symposium held at Maqsut Narikbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan, on October 30, 2025. The Center for Social Development is honored to publish his remarks.

Voting The Bums Out Or Echoes Of Weimar?: The Fdp, Greens, Afd, Left Party, And Bsw In The 2025 Bundestag Election, David F. Patton

Government and International Relations Faculty Publications

In all likelihood, Germany’s 2025 federal election has driven a final nail in the coffin of a party system marked by two traditional catch-all parties and several small parties. The FDP, Greens, AfD, Left Party, and BSW together received a record vote share. However, not all of them were electoral winners. Led by the AfD, smaller opposition parties on the ideological extremes surged, while hinge parties in government lost ground. A clear pole position offered an edge in a polarized and fragmented field. This article examines pre-election developments, manifestos, candidates, results, and outlooks of five parties that have emerged as …

Staging Technological Change: Media Ecology, Cultural Memory, And Fantasy Theme Analysis In The Tesla Cybertruck Unveiling, John Rodgers

Communication Theses

This thesis examines contemporary product launches as communicative events, arguing that they help shape how technological change is publicly interpreted and remembered. Drawing on media ecology and cultural memory, and using Fantasy Theme Analysis as the primary method, the study analyzes Tesla’s 2019 Cybertruck unveiling as a case of symbolic meaning-making at the moment of introduction and in its immediate circulation. The analysis identifies four dominant fantasy themes that organize the launch’s symbolic world and cohere into a rhetorical vision presenting Tesla as a disruptive actor introducing a resilient technology for an already arriving future. It then traces how that …

The Emigration Equation: A Study On Why Individuals Emigrate, Anielka S. Perez Brenes

Tenor of Our Times

Literature about migration often focuses on “refugee crises” or “immigration crises,” but the causes of these crises are those which take place in the origin country. The reasons, or push factors, of why individuals are emigrating from their home countries is the central question of this study. This cross-sectional research study focuses on seven of these potential causes in the year 2024 and spans one hundred and sixty five countries. These seven causes, or the independent variables, are: conflict, human rights, political rights, gross domestic product (GDP), civil liberties, unemployment, and education. This research study as a whole is statistically …

Adverse Childhood Experiences Effect On Resting State Eeg, Emily R. Stripling

SPARK Symposium Presentations

In this experiment, we processed the resting state EEG data. The data was split into 4 groups: a. Eyes closed with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES), b. Eyes open with ACES, c. Eyes closed without ACEs, d. Eyes open without ACEs. The goal is to determine whether those with ACEs have an elevated Alpha band during the eyes closed recording compared to those without ACEs

Flos Gari: Experiments With The Flower Of The Ancient Romans In A Modern Kitchen, Austin M. Pritchett

SPARK Symposium Presentations

This paper examines a condiment popular among the ancient Romans which might seem off-putting to modern people: the fermented fish sauce garum. A brief history of the garum as well as an analysis of its chemical composition are given, before the author describes his experiments with the sauce in his own kitchen, conducted in an attempt to determine its suitability for the modern palate.