Intertemporal Choice And Delayed Gratification,
2017
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Intertemporal Choice And Delayed Gratification, Jeffrey R. Stevens
Jeffrey Stevens Publications
A parasitoid wasp has deposited half of her eggs in a host. She now faces the choice between depositing her remaining eggs in the same host or searching for another. Continuing to deposit in the current host provides the immediate payoff of completing her reproductive duties, allowing her to move on to other activities such as foraging or searching for another mate. Searching for another host, in contrast, delays the payoffs of reproducing until a suitable host is found. This wasp faces an intertemporal choice—that is, a choice between options that involve payoffs available at different times (Read, 2004; Stevens, …
Collective Memory And History: An Examination Of Perceptions Of Accuracy And Preference For Biased “History” Passages,
2017
Claremont McKenna College
Collective Memory And History: An Examination Of Perceptions Of Accuracy And Preference For Biased “History” Passages, Stephanie Doi
CMC Senior Theses
Collective memory is a socially shared representation of the past. History, contrastingly, strives to be an unbiased, objective, and critical account of the past. Many researchers have argued that the so-called “history” found in school textbooks and curriculums align more with collective memory; however, many individuals do not know of the pervasiveness of collective memory in supposed “history” texts. To examine perceptions of accuracy and preference of American “history” textbook passages, individuals from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (n= 404) participated in an online study where they were randomly assigned to read one passage that was either negatively biased, neutral, or positively …
The Effects Of Pornography On Gay, Bisexual, And Queer Men's Body Image: An Experimental Study,
2017
Minnesota State University, Mankato
The Effects Of Pornography On Gay, Bisexual, And Queer Men's Body Image: An Experimental Study, Neil Gleason
All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects
Because gay male pornography often depicts idealized images of male bodies and is widely consumed by gay men, recent studies have investigated the relationship between gay men's pornography consumption and body image. However, the limited research on the subject has reported conflicting results and has only utilized correlational and qualitative methodologies. This is this first known experimental study to investigate the impact of pornography on gay, bisexual, and queer men's body image. Eighty-seven gay, bisexual, and queer men were assigned to watch either an "amateur" pornographic video, "professional" pornographic video, or a nature video, and then completed several body image …
The Reflection And Reification Of Racialized Language In Popular Media,
2017
University of Kentucky
The Reflection And Reification Of Racialized Language In Popular Media, Kelly E. Wright
Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics
This work highlights specific lexical items that have become racialized in specific contextual applications and tests how these words are cognitively processed. This work presents the results of a visual world (Huettig et al 2011) eye-tracking study designed to determine the perception and application of racialized (Coates 2011) adjectives. To objectively select the racialized adjectives used, I developed a corpus comprised of popular media sources, designed specifically to suit my research question. I collected publications from digital media sources such as Sports Illustrated, USA Today, and Fortune by scraping articles featuring specific search terms from their websites. This experiment seeks …
Processing Of Spatial Information In Social And Non-Social Stimuli By Opioid-Exposed And Non-Exposed Newborns,
2017
University of Kentucky
Processing Of Spatial Information In Social And Non-Social Stimuli By Opioid-Exposed And Non-Exposed Newborns, Alyson J. Hock
Theses and Dissertations--Psychology
The ability to process information from faces is important for effective social functioning. Adults are experts at this function. It has been suggested that the encoding of configural spatial relations among facial features (e.g., the distance between the eyes) contributes to this expertise. I investigated the developmental origin of face processing expertise by studying typically developing newborns’ sensitivity to the distance between the eyes and between the nose and the mouth in face stimuli. Further, I investigated whether prenatal opioid exposure is associated with neonates’ processing of spatial information in social and non-social stimuli. Infants with prenatal opioid-exposure are at …
Female Superiority In Social Cognition: Can Pretend Play Help The Boys Catch Up?,
2017
Scripps College
Female Superiority In Social Cognition: Can Pretend Play Help The Boys Catch Up?, Maria Weiss
Scripps Senior Theses
The effect of pretend play on 150 (~ 75 girls; 75 boys; M=3 yro) preschool children’s social cognition will be assessed through a semester long intervention study. Research has reported a trend of female superiority in empathy and ToM and a likelihood of young girls to engage in pretend play more frequently and to a higher degree than young boys. Previous research has also found a relationship between play and social cognition, as through the act of imagination, one is able to thoroughly take on the perspectives of someone other than the self. This study attempts to show a …
Adolescent Perceptions Of Dating Violence: A Qualitative Study,
2017
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Adolescent Perceptions Of Dating Violence: A Qualitative Study, Sarah Taylor, Carrie A. Calkins, Yan Ruth Xia, Rochelle L. Dalla
Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications
Scholars have identified dating violence as a public health issue among adolescents. Yet, minimal research has detailed adolescents’ perceptions of dating violence, specifically gender differences in perceptions. Research suggests that in order for dating violence prevention and intervention to be effective, services need to be delivered in a manner that is understood by adolescents. Therefore, this study used a qualitative phenomenology study to investigate adolescents’ perceptions of dating violence, including gender differences in adolescents’ perceptions. Thirty adolescents between the ages of 14 and 19 from a Midwest public high school participated in focus groups. Focus group participants were asked semistructured …
Recovery From Design,
2017
Virginia Commonwealth University
Recovery From Design, Cassandra J. Ellison
Theses and Dissertations
Through research, inquiry, and an evaluation of Recovery By Design, a ‘design therapy’ program that serves people with mental illness, substance use disorders, and developmental disabilities, it is my assertion that the practice of design has therapeutic potential and can aid in the process of recovery. To the novice, the practices of conception, shaping form, and praxis have empowering benefit especially when guided by Conditional and Transformation Design methods together with an emphasis on materiality and vernacular form.
The Effect Of Social Influence On Perception Of Tornado Warnings,
2017
Georgia Southern University
The Effect Of Social Influence On Perception Of Tornado Warnings, Jason A. Parker
College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations
Tornado activity annually results in many deaths throughout the U.S. As a result, the emergency alert system (including tornado warnings) has made considerable advancements throughout the past few decades. However, continued improvements could be made to warning content that aid to facilitate adaptive decision-making by increasing individuals’ motivation to respond. One method that could increase adaptive responses to warnings is by including the modality of descriptive social information within the warning. Research suggests that normative social influence acts as a powerful motivator for individuals to conform toward the witnessed or perceived behaviors of others. The current study examined the impact …
Cannabis Use Frequency And Mood On Creativity,
2017
Humboldt State University
Cannabis Use Frequency And Mood On Creativity, Caitlin Clark
Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects
This study examines the relationship between cannabis use (infrequent, moderate, and heavy use) and one’s mood (neutral, positive, and negative) on creativity. Folk ideas of creativity and the relationships between cannabis use and mood may not reflect the real relationship between these factors (e.g. regarding cannabis use, it is perceived to be linked with higher rates of creativity; regarding mood, negative states [i.e. tortured artist] are thought to fuel creativity). Although both cannabis use and mood have been found to influence creativity independently, the current study is unique in its aims to identify whether cannabis use and mood interact to …
Dual Task Testing Of The Adaptive Combination View In Spatial Reorientation,
2017
Georgia Southern University
Dual Task Testing Of The Adaptive Combination View In Spatial Reorientation, Donald G. Sullens
College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations
If an organism is trained to approach a location within an enclosure the organism will approach the correct location and it’s geometrically identical location within the environment upon removal of any features. This phenomenon has been turned spatial reorientation, and further studies on how, and to what, organisms reorient have conducted in the last several decades. In the reorientation literature, two theories have surfaced to fill the void left by the rejection of the initial reorientation theory, the Geometric Module theory. I attempt look to discern if the synonym judgement dual task will hinder reorientation in a similar or different …
Dissonance Reduction In Nonhuman Animals: Implications For Cognitive Dissonance Theory,
2017
The University of New South Wales
Dissonance Reduction In Nonhuman Animals: Implications For Cognitive Dissonance Theory, Cindy Harmon-Jones, Nick Haslam, Brock Bastian
Animal Sentience
We review the evidence for dissonance reduction in nonhuman animals and examine the alternative explanations for these effects. If nonhuman animals engage in dissonance reduction, this supports the original theory as proposed by Festinger (1957) over the revisions to the theory that focused on the self-concept. Evidence of animal sentience, including dissonance reduction, may be a source of cognitive dissonance.
Clarifying Concepts In Cognitive Dissonance Theory,
2017
The University of New South Wales
Clarifying Concepts In Cognitive Dissonance Theory, Eddie Harmon-Jones
Animal Sentience
This commentary on Zentall’s target article focuses primarily on clarifying some postulates and variables in cognitive dissonance theory. I discuss the adaptive motivational functions of dissonance arousal and dissonance reduction, and attempt to clarify some past dissonance experiments and to tease apart a dissonance theory and contrast explanation of effort-justification-type effects. The evidence and arguments reviewed here support the explanatory power of cognitive dissonance theory in a wide variety of circumstances in human and nonhuman animals, but they depend on first defining concepts such as “cognitions” quite broadly, as Festinger did when he originally proposed the theory.
What Does It Feel Like To Be An Electroreceptive Fish?,
2017
University of Regensburg, Zoological Institute
What Does It Feel Like To Be An Electroreceptive Fish?, Leo Bernd Kramer
Animal Sentience
The weakly electric knifefish Eigenmannia emits an electric organ discharge (EOD) of constant frequency and sinusoidal waveform that varies with sex and age. Eigenmannia discriminates among these except when stimulated at the same frequency as its own EOD frequency. In that case, it needs to perform a Jamming Avoidance Response (frequency shift) which results in a beating mixed signal. By a sophisticated analysis of the amplitude and phase modulations of the beat signal, Eigenmannia derives the frequency difference, its sign, and the waveform of the stimulus, hence the signaller’s identity. The human ear is not capable of an equivalent waveform …
The Potential For Sentience In Fishes,
2017
Penn State University
The Potential For Sentience In Fishes, Jay R. Stauffer Jr.
Animal Sentience
Balcombe’s book is filled with information on the biology, behavior, and life history of fishes. I do not agree with all his premises. I am still somewhat perplexed about the discussion of whether fish feel pain; I am not sure whether the distinction between nociception and pain makes any difference. Overall, however, his treatment of the principles of both natural and sexual selection is comprehensive and accurate, and has greatly increased my knowledge and awareness of the biology, ethology, and potential for sentience in fishes. In summary, this work has exposed me to new ideas about how to examine fishes …
Shoring Up The Precautionary Bar,
2017
WellBeing International
Shoring Up The Precautionary Bar, Jon Mallatt
Animal Sentience
I offer four ways to reinforce Birch’s precautionary principle so it can be used effectively and practically in deciding which animals to cover by legislation for humane treatment: (1) add one more credible indicator of sentience to the BAR rule; (2) use phylogenetic classification, not the outdated Linnaean classification, to test which animal clades have sentience; (3) disentangle the pain of suffering from sentience; and (4) reconsider the sentient status of decapods and insects to remove potential inconsistencies in the proposed framework.
What Harmful Practices? The Material Scope Of Animal Protection Legislation,
2017
University of Minho
What Harmful Practices? The Material Scope Of Animal Protection Legislation, Eze Paez
Animal Sentience
Jonathan Birch proposes a criterion for the subjective scope of animal protection legislation. He says nothing about its material scope: which harmful practices it should regulate. I argue, first, that most moral views would agree that the worst forms of animal exploitation should be legally forbidden, even if there will inevitably be disagreement about some cases of animal experimentation. I also argue that, when feasible, there should be legal provisions to help wild animals.
Chicken Of The Sea,
2017
Independent Scientist and Author
Chicken Of The Sea, Jonathan Balcombe
Animal Sentience
Marino summarizes research showing that chickens perform cognitively and emotionally at a higher level than previously assumed. Here, I describe capacities of teleost fishes that parallel those of chickens, including the ability to recognize human faces, perspective-taking, and referential communication. Research on chickens and on fishes reveals an emerging trend in cognitive ethology: abilities once thought limited to a scant few highly intelligent non-humans may actually occur broadly across taxa.
Anecdotes Can Be Evidence Too,
2017
Australian National University
Anecdotes Can Be Evidence Too, Heather Browning
Animal Sentience
Birch’s criterion for the precautionary principle imposes a high evidential standard that many cases will fail to meet. Reliable, relevant anecdotal evidence suggestive of animal sentience should also to fall within the scope of the precautionary principle. This would minimize potential suffering (as happened in the case cephalopods) while further evidence is gathered.
Animal Pain And The Social Role Of Science,
2017
University of Colorado at Boulder
Animal Pain And The Social Role Of Science, Leslie Irvine
Animal Sentience
Assuming that all animals are sentient would mean ending their use in most scientific research. This does not necessarily imply an unscientific or anti-scientific stance. Examining the social role of science reveals its considerable investment in preserving the status quo, including the continued use of animal subjects. From this perspective, the use of animal subjects is a custom that science could move beyond, rather than a methodological requirement that it must defend.
