Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Public Relations Of Microtonal Music Through The Eyes And Ears Of Microtonalists, Tristan B. Young

Anthós

In this article, I attempted to answer the question of how microtonal musicians and music theorists view the general public's perception of microtonal music. To do this, I had three one-on-one interviews and one focus group with microtonal musicians, which were all audio recorded with consent from the participants. Patterns that emerged from their responses included blaming corporate and academic establishments for their conservatism in music theory, mentioning the different possible definitions one may make for microtonality based on geographic culture and so on, and bringing up the idea that people think that microtonality is less diverse than it actually …

Drag’S Impact On Drag Lives, José L. Oropeza Iii

Anthós

Drag’s Impact On Drag Lives

In light of recent political developments where Drag and Trans identities are being punished, why do people still participate in Drag? If there are repercussion to face for being a Drag Queen, then surely it must affect their lives for the better for them to continue the practice.

Through an autoethnographic approach to researching the Portland, OR Drag community, I collected transcripts of conversations with local Queens, took notes of community interactions, and put myself in Drag for the first time as a Queer man to better understand the Drag community and why they Drag. …

An Institutional And Policy Analysis Of Climate Adaptation In Dhaka, Bangladesh: An Examination Of Urban Heat Island Mitigation Strategies, Tamanna Binte Mesbah

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis examines the institutional capacity for Urban Heat Island (UHI) mitigation in Dhaka, Bangladesh, focusing on governance structures, institutional arrangements, and implementation effectiveness. An analytical framework is applied to assess the capacity of key urban institutions including Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK), Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), and the Department of Environment (DoE) across dimensions of leadership, resources, coordination, and learning capacity. The study also examines governance dynamics such as inter-agency coordination, knowledge exchange, and mobilization capacity as they relate to the planning and implementation of heat mitigation strategies. Through semi-structured expert interviews the research …

Impacts Of Spatial Intensity Policies On Jakarta Property Prices, Stevanus J. Manahampi, M. Halley Yudhistira

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

This study examines the effects of floor area ratio (FAR) and building coverage ratio (BCR) on property prices in Jakarta. Using a hdonic price mdel with data from property listings and a geographical information system (GIS) analysis, it explores how these regulations influence values across regions and property types, accounting for access to amenities and infrastructure. Results show FAR lowers prices in dense areas like Central Jakarta but raises them in less developed regions like East Jakarta. BCR effects are mixed, positive where infrastructure is strong but negative where it is weak, underscoring the need for context-specific urban planning.

Hubungan Pertumbuhan Ekonomi Dengan Inflasi Di 90 Kabupaten-Kota Indonesia, Samsul Arifin, Hermanto Siregar, Lukytawati Anggraeni, Yeti Lis Purnamadewi

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

This study aims to explain the relationship between economic growth and inflation in 90 Indonesian cities during the period 2018–2022 using the GMM estimator with Windmeijer - Sigmund robust standard errors. The author’s findings reveal that the two-way relationship between the two is that economic growth has a significant positif effect on inflation, while inflation has a negatif but insignificant effect. Through the results of this study, policymakers and stakeholders can consider priority objectives, namely achieving economic growth targets compared to inflation problems during the COVID-19 crisis and economic development during the future economic recovery.

Menilai Kembali Kapasitas Pajak Daerah: Mampukah Menggeser Sektor Terbelakang Menjadi Sektor Maju?, Oki Sakti Nugrahajati, Setyo Tri Wahyudi, Ahmad Ibnu Riza, Annisa Nurul Hakim

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

Tulungagung Regency’s Locally Generated Revenue (PAD) remains concentrated in three main types of taxes, while levies contribute less than optimally. This study aims to analyze the potential and performance of regional taxes and levies as instruments of fiscal independence in Tulungagung Regency using overlay analysis. The analysis shows that several taxes with low contributions have experienced significant growth, indicating policy space for expanding the revenue base. This finding implies that the overlay analysis approach can guide the determination of more precise and contextual fiscal strategies, as well as contribute to the development of a regional fiscal evaluation framework and the …

Dampak Kebijakan Hilirisasi Nikel: Kuasi-Eksperimen Di Sulawesi, Siddiq Robbani, Uka Wikarya

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

Studi ini menganalisis dampak kebijakan larangan ekspor bijih nikel (2014–2016) dan pembangunan smelter (2009–2021) terhadap PDRB per kapita dan konsumsi rumah tangga per kapita menggunakan data panel seimbang dari 81 kabupaten/kota di Sulawesi periode 2006–2021. Dampak kausal dan efek spillover dianalisis menggunakan metode Difference-in-Difference (DiD) dan Spatial Durbin Model (SDM). Hasil penelitian menunjukkan kebijakan larangan ekspor tidak berdampak pada kedua variabel. Pembangunan smelter justru berdampak negatif terhadap PDRB per kapita, tetapi menghasilkan efek spillover positif pada PDRBperkapita daerah tetangga dan efek spillover negatif terhadap konsumsi rumah tangga per kapita di daerah non-smelter.

A Third Way: An Unlikely Professional Portfolio, Sami C. Pack-Toner

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Examining The Relation Between Cognitive Reflection And Directional Reasoning In The Context Of Political Affiliation, Ian Dargitz

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

The intent of the study was to examine contributing factors to political bias, in particular the role of cognitive reflection. I hypothesized that in an explicitly partisan context, cognitive reflection would be predictive of greater bias.

Participants completed the cognitive reflection test (CRT). They then read a prompt claiming that people with either conservative or liberal beliefs tended to score higher on the CRT, using either explicitly partisan (e.g., "Medicare for All") or relatively neutral language (e.g., "low-cost health insurance.") After reading this prompt, they were asked whether they believe the CRT is a valid measure of reflective ability. Participants …

The Effect Of Social Buffering And Gender On Cortisol Response In Emerging Adults, Ashley G. Molchany

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

Abstract

Cortisol, the primary stress hormone in the body, is released in times of challenge, including challenges faced throughout the transition to college. The experience of acute stress can be assessed through cortisol measures. The present study involved a 60-minute lab assessment for first-year students to analyze their physiological response to stress. Previous research has illustrated factors which impact cortisol responses, two of which are social support and gender. In the current study, participants (n = 71) were assigned to work either by themselves (Student Alone Condition) or in a peer triad group (Peer Triad Condition). Additionally, participants identified …

Dual Language Learner Status In Relation To Cortisol For Children In Head Start Preschool, Keala Bratsch

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

Early childhood education (ECE) has well documented school readiness benefits, especially for children facing economic hardship. Yet preschool context poses challenges that are associated with elevated stress levels and potential long-term tax on physiological systems that respond to stress. The present study examined dual language learner (DLL) status in relation to levels of the stress hormone cortisol among low-income children attending Head Start Preschool programs. Participants included 207 children ages 3- 5 years who attended preschool in 2021-22 (60.9% attending a dual-language learning school, 39.1% attending an English-instruction-only preschool; all participants meeting the criteria for low-income), and their parents or …

Arts Enriched Head Start Preschool And School Readiness: Are Benefits Accentuated For Children Facing Greater Economic Hardship?, Isabella Capera

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

Children growing up in impoverished and low-income households face opportunity gaps that limit their school readiness (Blair & Raver, 2015). Head Start preschool, which serves families facing economic hardship, has been demonstrated to reduce these gaps and enhance school readiness. Further, multiple studies have suggested that arts enriched Head Start may offer particular benefits (e.g., Brown et al., 2010, 2018; Lobo & Winsler, 2008). Yet research to date is limited and has not examined whether the benefits of arts enriched preschool may be uniquely helpful for children facing the greatest economic risk. The present study examines growth in school readiness …

Using Eye Tracking To Explore How Auditory-Visual Chunking Modulates Visual Search Strategies In Expert Musicians In The Presence Of Auditory Interference, Nicole Arco

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Experts show performance advantages during visual search due to their extensive experience with domain-specific stimuli. Experts form memory representations for meaningful visual patterns, called chunks, that group together multiple domain-specific features into larger patterns. The ability of experts to form chunks could allow them to more precisely encode a search template, which could facilitate visual search performance. In the domain of music reading, expert musicians might form chunks that are multimodal (i.e., using visual and auditory modalities). The current studies addressed the possibility that chunks are multimodal by extending a previous cross-modal visual search task to manipulate the presence of …

Audiovisual Motion Onset Asynchrony As Expectation Violation: Effects On Memory And Liking In Media Contexts, Sijia Song

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This research presents the first systematic investigation of motion-onset asynchrony (MOA) as a form of audiovisual temporal incongruency grounded in contemporary spatial audio and extended reality (xR) systems. MOA—the delay between the onset of visual and auditory motion—was manipulated at three levels (0 s, 1.1 s, 3 s) to test its effects on cognitive (memory) and affective (liking) outcomes during short 2D animated video viewing. Guided by inverted-U models of expectation violation, it was hypothesized that moderate MOA would be associated with the highest memory performance and liking ratings and that liking would mediate MOA’s effects on memory. Across two …

Providers' Perceptions Of Barriers And Facilitators To Implementing Non-Pharmacological Treatment For Adults With Chronic Pain: A Meta-Synthesis, Mikhaela Mcfarlin

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Background. Chronic pain is a public health concern impacting approximately 20% of adults in the U.S. Nonpharmacological interventions are considered first-line treatments for patients with chronic pain, yet nonpharmacological interventions remain significantly underutilized. While previous research has explored barriers from the patient’s perspective, limited attention has been paid to providers’ experiences implementing these treatments. This qualitative meta-synthesis aimed to examine provider-perceived barriers and facilitators to implementing nonpharmacolgical treatments for adults with chronic pain. Methods. Independent reviewers conducted systematic searches across PubMed, PsycInfo, CINAHL, and ProQuest Dissertations using relevant (e.g., “mental health provider”, “nonpharmacological”) and applied inclusion criteria to …

Perceived Autonomy To Exercise Rights: Race And Ethnicity And Citizenship In Consent Searches, Srishti Katuri

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Consent searches—police searches conducted with an individual’s permission—constitute the majority of warrantless searches in the United States. Although these encounters are legally described as voluntary, scholars have long questioned whether civilians truly feel free to refuse an officer’s request to conduct a search. The present study examined how race and ethnicity and citizenship status influence civilians’ consent decisions and perceived freedom to deny consent in a hypothetical police encounter. A community sample of 191 adults from New York State read a vignette in which a police officer requested to search their backpack. Then, participants reported their ideal and anticipated consent …

Relational Efficacy Beliefs In Supervision Of Master’S Level Counseling Trainees As Predictors Of Counseling Interests And Goals, Taylor Karnilaw

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Master's level counseling trainees have condensed training periods before making career-related decisions and are often placed in settings with high rates of burnout and turnover. Supervision has been shown to be a protective factor for burnout and has the potential to be a source of self-efficacy, which has been linked with career-related outcomes like occupational interests and goals (Lent et al., 2018; O’Connor et al., 2018). Moreover, within the context of close relationships, like supervision, efficacy beliefs are believed to be shaped by a network of beliefs, including relation-inferred self-efficacy, self-efficacy, and other-efficacy (Lent & Lopez, 2002). The current study …

The Moderating Effect Of Self-Efficacy On The Relationship Between Social Determinants Of Health And Alcohol Use In A Diverse Adult Sample, Cara L. Fresquez

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Heavy alcohol consumption is associated with a range of psychosocial problems and chronic conditions, resulting in approximately 140,000 preventable deaths each year. With these potential consequences in mind, it is understandable that 46% of individuals who consume alcohol report attempting to reduce the quantity of alcohol they drink; however, very few enter formal treatment. Despite this, many people will decrease their heavy drinking over time, presumably due to individual and environmental factors, particularly self-efficacy and protective social determinants of health (SDoH). This study aimed to answer the research question “How is SDoH adversity related to the likelihood of reporting reduced …

Punishment, Fast And Slow: Five Experiments On Behavioral Economics In The Mass Incarceration Context, Nathaniel M. Schutten

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

As many jurisdictions across the United States seek to reduce their prison populations, a pressing question is whether the public will support the reforms necessary to do so. Public openness to reform likely varies across policy areas, with the path of least public resistance occurring where attitudes are the most malleable and loosely held. A major challenge, however, is that traditional methods for measuring public opinion are poorly suited to identifying which policy areas are characterized by such weakly held views.

This dissertation develops a novel behavioral economics framework for identifying these areas. I theorize that when public opinion is …

The Instruments Of Chinese Economic Statecraft, Wilson Han

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The global economic order is undergoing a profound transformation as China increasingly leverages its vast commercial resources not merely for market expansion, but as strategic instruments to reshape global governance and secure its national interests. Moving beyond traditional analyses that rely on aggregate macroeconomic indicators, this dissertation investigates the targeted, highly asymmetrical mechanisms of Beijing’s economic statecraft. It systematically examines three specific instruments – institutional, financial, and trade – through which China projects structural power and constructs an alternative economic order.

The first empirical study explores China’s institutional statecraft by analyzing its bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement …

New Game Start: Playing With Power, Community And Change In Video Gaming Culture, Jonathan D. Muller

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Video gaming culture has long been a site associated with norms and values of whiteness, masculinity, and neoliberalism, with games, players, and developers all reinforcing these. Recently though, gaming culture has been directly involved with social movements and forms of resistance that are contrary to these norms and values. The typical gamer is no longer a white man, and gaming culture is now acknowledged to include race and gender dynamics that are close to that of the broader population. These communal shifts have both challenged and reinforced existing power structures. This research addresses these shifts and struggles by analyzing how …

Mass Homicides And Mass Shootings: Comparisons, Trends, And Unpacking Further, Stefana E. Lotempio

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Mass shootings have garnered more public attention in recent years, in large part due to their increase in both frequency and lethality. Despite public concern, policy and prevention efforts have remained limited and have not yet resulted in a decrease in these events. Understanding mass shootings as a subset of mass murder will help identify how mass shootings are unique from other mass murders, which will help to identify more effective prevention tactics. Additionally, exploring mass shooting trends in the context of homicide trends and other crime trends will illuminate patterns that can be used to inform policy and prevention …

Weighing The Costs: Understanding How Eating Disorder History And Motivation For Use Impacts Experience On A Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist And Interest In Future Use, Kimberly M. Gauert

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) medications have become popular tools due to their effectiveness regarding weight loss and chronic disease management. The drastic increase in demand for these medications has led to widespread availability and an increase in “off-label” use for cosmetic purposes. Although GLP-1 RA medications have the potential to positively impact overall health and wellbeing, there is also concern regarding potential misuse of these medications by those with a history of eating disorder behaviors. However, few studies to date have examined the relationship between a history of eating disorder pathology, reason for GLP-1 RA use, and current …

Emotional Factors Influencing Adaptive Memory: An Examination Of The Role Of Valence In The Survival Processing Effect, Dailyn Q. Clark

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Encoding information (e.g., words) in terms of their survival value produces enhanced recall relative to encoding the same information in terms of its value to other schematically similar situations (Nairne et al., 2007). In the survival memory paradigm, a scenario focused on imagining being stranded in the grasslands of a foreign land is followed by the rating of individual words (e.g., orange, mountain) as to their relevance to that scenario (Nairne et al., 2007). Using an incidental test of memory, it is often revealed that memory for those words is higher than for those same words encoded under non-survival, control …

The Effect Of A Functionally Indicated Choice-Based Antecedent Intervention On Academic And Behavioral Outcomes For Students In A Public School, Alyssa M. Rodriguez

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The present study examined the effects of functionally indicated choice-based antecedent interventions on academic and behavioral outcomes for elementary general education students exhibiting elevated levels of off-task behavior during independent seat work. A replicated hybrid single-case design was used to compare two interventions: choice of task sequence (across-activity choice) and choice of peer (within-activity choice). Brief functional behavioral assessments (FBAs) informed hypothesized behavioral function and intervention match. Dependent variables included academic engagement (on-task behavior), with off-task behavior conceptualized as its inverse, as well as academic completion and accuracy; social validity was assessed from teachers and students. Results indicated support for …

Academic Satisfaction Of Graduate Students In Mental Health Professions: Mediating Roles Of Burnout And Engagement, Yu Ying Li

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Academic satisfaction for students is as critical to their retention and well-being as job satisfaction for working adults; however, it has received limited empirical attention particularly among graduate students in mental health-related programs. One of the barriers to mental health trainees’ satisfaction with their academic training is burnout. The current study evaluated the applicability of Study Demands-Resources (SD-R) framework (Lesener et al., 2020) to trainees. Specifically, this study examined the relations between study demands (i.e., perceived stress), study resources (i.e., supervisory alliance and social support), student burnout, student engagement, and academic satisfaction. It also tested if student burnout and engagement …

Systematic Literature Review: Elevating Black Voices Through Universal Social-Emotional Learning Interventions, Natasha J. Hogg

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This systematic literature review examined the outcomes of culturally responsive universal Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) interventions for Black students in K-12 school settings addressing mental health, racial trauma, and racial disparities. Following the PRISMA protocol, a comprehensive search was conducted across PsycINFO, EBSCO, and five academic journals by April 2025. Results yielded 11 peer-reviewed articles with 2,246 Black participants published between 1994 and 2024. Exclusion criteria included sole focus of Tier 2 or 3 interventions, lacking Black student populations, or lacking outcomes aggregated by race. Seven SEL interventions were identified with risk of bias assessed by a secondary reviewer. Thematic analysis …

Constructing The Political “Other”: Affective Polarization And Cross-Ideological Portrayals On Instagram, Amanda M. Novellin

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Instagram has frequently been characterized by users as a platform that permits the circulation of hostile and adversarial political content due to comparatively limited moderation practices. In January 2025, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced changes to content moderation policies on Facebook and Instagram, including the removal of third-party fact-checking mechanisms. These platform-level changes further reshaped the political information environment in which online discourse occurs. However, even prior to these policy changes, Instagram had established itself as a prominent space for highly polarized political expression across the ideological spectrum.

This thesis examines how political polarization in the United States is reflected …

Entropic Foundation Of Finance And Physics: Securities Price Dynamics And Quantum Theory, Mohammad Abedi

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

In many scientific and financial contexts, we must reason and make predictions under conditions of incomplete information. This dissertation develops Entropic Dynamics (ED) as a unified framework for deriving dynamical laws directly from principles of inference. Within this approach, probability distributions represent states of knowledge, and their evolution is determined through entropy maximization subject to relevant constraints. This leads to a novel concept of entropic time and a formulation of dynamics as an inferential process. In this talk, I will present how ED provides a common foundation across multiple domains. In physics, quantum dynamics for particles and scalar fields in …

Moderators Of Subjective Distress And State Body Image During Open And Blind Weighing, Danielle E. Peters

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Objective: Body image disturbances are central to eating disorder (ED) pathology and are often addressed through exposure-based methods, such as open weighing. Open weighing is recommended in evidence-based ED treatments, but many clinicians and patients prefer blind weighing. It may be that pre-treatment patient characteristics may influence how distressed they feel by open and blind weighing. As such, the present study aimed to 1) compare how open and blind weighing impact subjective distress and state body image, and 2) examine whether self-weighing tendencies, body avoidance, body checking, body checking-related beliefs, intolerance of uncertainty, and ED psychopathology moderate the relationship between …