Follow

• 

  Does Democracy in the Home Create Democracy in the Nation?

  Aimee Farnsworth and Valerie Hudson

  While the rise of liberal democracy has usually been linked to the growth of capitalism and the rise of the bourgeoisie, a fairly new theory claims that democracy in the state began with democracy in the home (Hajnal1982; Hartman 2004). That is, as the relationship between husband and wife became more equal, a mini-democracy was created in the home which promoted liberal democracy on a larger scale, first in the community, and then the nation. Those promoting democracy might therefore find it beneficial to first, or at least concurrently, promote equality between husband and wife. Increased equality between spouses will not only allow families to flourish, but communities and nations as well. This project is a preliminary examination of the supposed causal relationship between democracy in the home and democracy in the nation.

• 

  The Realty of Inequality

  Aimee Farnsworth and Valerie Hudson

  Although women’s property and inheritance rights are recognized in international law, women in many countries still lack the ability to own or inherit property, either by law or by the trumping of law in practice. The increasing number of women as heads of household who are in critical need of land and property for economic security is a particular concern in the developing world, and a major factor for the progress of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (United Nations 2009). Even where laws are present, the rift between property rights and actual ownership is immense. Discrepancies between statutory and customary law as well as a multitude of diverse socio-cultural practices serve to confound women’s access to property in many regions of the world (Deere & Leon 2001). Because gender issues traverse virtually all aspects of culture, researchers have found that, among other things, property plays a central role concerning women’s vulnerability to HIV and AIDS as well as domestic violence (Gable et al. 2007, 136). For example, the loss of property upon divorce or widowhood may force a woman with HIV into unsanitary living conditions, which can undermine her health significantly. In some cases, women with no property or job prospects may resort to sex work to support themselves, increasing their risk of contracting and spreading HIV. Unequal property rights can also weaken a married woman’s bargaining power within her relationship, increasing her risk of HIV infection because she cannot negotiate safer sex (Gable et al. 2007, 136). Because property ownership is directly related to women’s bargaining power within the household and community, the need to explore gendered access to property within cultural and social systems is imperative (Patel 2007). As a cross-national survey of women’s property rights has never been performed, this project has the potential to make a very important contribution to the fields of gender studies and international development.

• 

  Effects of Breadwinner Status on Marital Satisfaction: How Income Disparity Between Spousal Partners Affects Happiness

  Matthew Field, Allison Wolfe, Eric Davis, and Nicole Park

  Previous research shows mixed results when it comes to the effect of the breadwinning status on marital satisfaction. Our purpose is to examine whether who has the higher income in a marriage, the man or the woman, has an effect on the reported marital satisfaction of the couple. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (2000) we examined this question. We found that who the breadwinner is has no effect on marital satisfaction. These results are encouraging for women who aspire to high-status, high-paying careers. Our findings indicate that women should not hold back from these aspirations on account of a concern for jeopardizing their chances of marital satisfaction.

• 

  Self Indulgence...Competition for the Relational Dollar

  Jeff Finch, Keshia Lai, and Ivan Beutler

  Little is known about the development and the possible malleable nature of adolescent money and relational aspirations. This research examines the patterns and tradeoffs observed between money aspirations of youth from two disparate communities: Alaska—Prince William Sound, Utah—Wasatch Front

• 

  Gender Differences: The Impact of Hours Worked on Marital Satisfaction

  Patrick Frost, Arturo Morales, Jackie Freeman, and Anna Nelson

  As work hours increase, marital satisfaction decreases. For married females, we hypothesize that when work hours increase over 40 hours per week, marital satisfaction decreases. We further hypothesize that as work hours increase over 60 hours per week for married males, marital satisfaction decreases.

• 

  Differential Effects of the Discrete Options Multiple Choice Test Format on Test Takers Assesment and Scores

  Ryan Funk, Tamarin Hooper, Emily Hadlock, and JeLyn Whicker

  Multiple-choice tests have not sufficiently evolved to counter test-wise individuals. By offering the discrete-option multiple-choice format (DOMC) as an alternative to the traditional format, educators can counter “extra-test” competency. That is, the DOMC format may be fairer. The new format may encourage more thorough study of assigned material. The DOMC format only displays one answer option on the screen at a time. In this case, “29” was the first randomly selected option. Test taker identifies option as correct or incorrect. Not all options appear.

• 

  Moral Conceptions and Parent-Adolescent Congruence: What does it mean to be a moral person?

  Ryan J. Funk and Sam Hardy

  In recent years scholars have argued for the importance of greater understanding naturalistic conceptions of moral maturity (Walker & Pitts, 1998). However, given the limited work done thus far in this area, we still know very little about how these conceptions of morality develop. Further, most prior studies of lay conceptions of morality have involved adults (e.g., Smith, Smith, & Christopher, 2007; Walker & Pitts, 1998). Thus, the purpose of the present study was to explore the relationship between adolescent’s conceptions of morality and how it relates to their parents’.

• 

  Marriage, Coparenting, & Family Work Over Time: A Latent Growth Curve Analysis

  Adam M. Galovan and Erin K. Holmes

  Using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 1024 couples), we examined the associations between parenting, similarity in parenting, and emotional intimacy. Mothers’ initial level of family work responsibility was the most significant predictor of emotional intimacy for both Fathers and Mothers. More traditional, adult-centered parenting beliefs were also associated with decreased emotional intimacy for Mothers. Similarity in family work and parenting beliefs showed stability overtime. In general, similarity in parenting and consensus in family work activities was not as significantly associated with emotional intimacy as the individual parenting constructs.

• 

  The Effect of Positive Affect on Memory

  Jenna Gardner, Jeremy Ashworth, Brittney Rasmussen, and Erin D. Bigler

  The majority of positive affect research has been studied in relation to mental flexibility and creative thinking, with a smaller emphasis in the area of memory recall. Studies have specifically looked at the influence of positive affect as it relates to the following: creative problem solving (e.g., Mikulincer, & Sheffi, 2000, Estrada, Young, & Isen, 1994; Greene & Noice, 1988; Isen, Johnson, Mertz, & Robinson, 1985), improves recall of neutral and positive information (Isen, Shalker, Clark, & Karp, 1978; Nasby & Yando, 1982; Teasdale & Fogarty, 1979), promotes mental flexibility (Carnevale & Isen, 1986; Estrada, Isen, & Young, 1997; Isen & Geva, 1987; Isen & Means, 1983; Isen, Nygren, & Ashby, 1988; Murray, Hirt, Sujan & Sujan, 1990), improves the speed of conscious perception (Kuhbandner, Hanslmayr, Maier, Pekrun, Spitzer, Pastötter, Bäuml, 2009), improves text processing and recall (Egidi, 2007), improved peripheral vision detail recall (Talarico, Berntsen, & Rubin, 2009), information retrieval (Ellis, Thomas, McFarland, & Lane, 1985), free recall (Hill, Van Boxtel, Ponds, Houx, & Jolles, 2005). There is very little research on the effects of a positive mood and delayed memory recall, and none that specifically looks at delayed verbal memory recall. We have designed our study to determine if a relationship between positive affect and memory recall exists, specifically related to delayed verbal memory recall.

• 

  Positive to Negative Affect, Forgiveness, and Relationship Quality in Married Couples

  Rebekah M. Gardner and James Harper

  Gottman (1999) proposes that a 5:1 ratio of positive to negative behaviors is related to relationship quality. Current study examines forgiveness as a mediating variable. Halchuck et al. (2010) found that couples who recovered from attachment insecurities reported significantly higher levels of forgiveness.

• 

  Do the insured make greater use of medical services?

  Gregg Girvan and Sven Wilson

  Conventional wisdom states if policy-makers set the goal of increasing the number of patients with health insurance, visits to the emergency room (ER) will decrease while visits to a usual source of care (USC), such as a general practitioner, will increase. In examining year 2007 of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, this study seeks to test this hypothesis by answering two questions: 1. Whether having insurance affects ER and USC utilization, and 2. Whether greater USC utilization affects ER utilization. The analysis accounts for endogeneity issues with insurance and USC utilization. In order to account for the discrete, non negative nature of the dependent variable as well as endogenous regressors, a Poisson regression within an instrumental variable framework is utilized. The results confirm the notion that, in general, the insured have lower ER utilization but higher USC utilization, but only USC utilization is statistically significant. Also, when considering the effect of USC visitation on ER visitation, ER visits increase, albeit slightly, with an increase in USC visits.

• 

  African Americans in Politics: What Factors Lead to the Election of African American Representatives

  Keith D. Gonzales and Sven Wilson

  African Americans have triumphed over a difficult history in the United States. They have had to overcome prejudices in education, the workforce, and politics. Today, we have an African American president and many African Americans hold office on every level of government. It seems to be a good time to evaluate the political environment for African Americans. Data from Congressional districts has been gathered and evaluated. The data has shown three significant factors affecting the chances of African Americans to be elected as a representative from any district. The results hint that there may still be work to be done in race relations in the United States.

• 

  Effects of Mood on Error Processing

  Alexander Gray and Michael J. Larson

  In mood-induced states, anxious participants were most attentive, happy and calm participants were intermediately attentive, and sad participants least attentive. This study investigates if participants in mood-induced states will demonstrate ERN amplitudes that correspond to the outcomes demonstrated in the above study in which greater attentiveness should correspond to larger ERN amplitudes and visa versa.

• 

  Antecedents of Paternal Involvement: Is It More Than Just Being There?

  Heidi Harris, Nathan Jorgensen, Jessica Francis, and Stacia Svedi

  Our primary research question focuses on what predicts higher levels of father involvement. Previous research has only touched on the variables that influence a father's involvement and very few assess father involvement using a multiple factor definition of involvement and fewer still assess multiple predictors of involvement in one model. Using the Lamb-Pleck model (1987) father involvement was measured (see Marsiglio, Amato, Day, & Lamb, 2000; Hawkins et al., 2002) in three aspects: accessibility, engagement, and responsibility). In the current study, items measuring responsibility did not factor together in a way that allowed for further analysis and this element was dropped. Five predictors of involvement were assessed in our model in an effort to ascertain which contributes to each element of paternal involvement. These predictors are: father individual well-being (depression) (Radloff, 1977), partner relationship (commitment/ sacrifice) (Stanley & Markman, 1992), father identity (Lee et al., 2002), and level of differentiation (both emotional cutoff and emotional reactivity) (Skowron & Friedlander, 1998).

• 

  Making it: A Comparison of Hispanic and Asian Immigrants' Annual Income

  Ben Harrison, Deborah Erickson, Ham Mitala, and Lauren vanderHorst

  Research indicates that the number of immigrants in U.S. in 2006 was 37.5 million. The purpose of this study was to examine if Asian or Hispanic immigrants had a higher income and the factors that influence these differences. To gain a foundation on the subject the researches reviewed literature completed on Asian and Hispanic immigrants to the U.S. They discovered that Asians are considered the model minority by the American public. The researchers then looked at the New Immigrant Survey (NIS) from Princeton University done in 2003 and 2004. The variables explored are ethnicity, income, education, documentation, gender, and English fluency. A regression analysis and means comparison was used to analyze the data. Our findings support our hypothesis that Asian immigrants earn more annually than Hispanic immigrants.

• 

  Classical Music and Its Effects on Verbal and Nonverbal Memory Performance

  Clarence Holbrook, Emily Hadlock, Jentri Rasmussen, and Erin D. Bigler

  The purpose of this study was to test the effect that music has on memory. To date there have been several studies done that fail to agree on the question of whether music affects memory. The fairly well-known phenomenon called the Mozart effect found that spatial-temporal memory increased due to exposure to classical music. This research is intended to determine whether the Mozart effect in fact increases verbal and nonverbal memory, employing the Rey-Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) and the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (ROCFT).

• 

  Between Two Worlds: Relationships between hearing children and their Deaf parents

  Corinne Hoskin and John Hawkins

  Hearing children of Deaf parents (HCDPs) — a population rarely addressed by researchers — are surrounded by the Deaf culture of their parents and Hearing culture of their peers and mentors. The differences in language and culture that they experience produce a confusing and potentially disorienting world. HCDPs accept Deafness as an integral part of their identity, as illustrated through the relationships between parent and child.

• 

  Benefits and Applications of Journaling: Exploring the Lower Boundary for Effective Dosage in Non-clinical Populations

  Ryan Hunsaker and Patrick Steffen

  Written expressions of emotion have been shown to produce favorable outcomes in both spheres of physicalhealth and mentalhealth (Murray, 2009; Pennebaker, 2000). Although scientists have identified to some degree what the effects of journaling are, much less is known regarding exactly whenthis impact is most likely to occur (Pennebaker, 2000). Several studies have shown clinically significant benefits for brief journaling interventions (e.g., Greenberg, Wortman, & Stone, 1996; Burton and King, 2008), but the long-term benefits and the lowest dosages necessary for these benefits are debatable. The current study provides an opportunity to assay the therapeutic effects of a brief journaling intervention. The author proposes that a 15-minute journaling intervention will lead to significant health benefits, which will still be apparent after two weeks.

• 

  Parental Involvement Among Immigrants: Examining Group Differences of Latent Means Using Categorical Data

  Wade C. Jacobsen and Joseph Olsen

  Bourdieu’smodel of cultural and social reproduction suggests that parents of mainstream backgrounds possess higher levels of cultural and social capital, thus magnifying their level of participation in their children’s educations. Previous studies supporting this theory, have categorized parents of racial-ethnic minorities by pan-ethnic categories (Black, Asian, Hispanic, etc.). This study is one of the first to explore parental involvement levels of parents from different nationalities.

• 

  Don't deny it: Cultural patterns in coping with stress

  Bryan J. Jensen, Julianne Lunstad-Holt, Patrick Steffen, and Bruce Brown

  Stress is a part of everyday life. One important way that stress influences our health is by increasing blood pressure. Research has consistently reported that foreign‐born Mexicans have lower blood pressure than Caucasians 1. This surprises many, since foreign‐born Mexicans are typically more socioeconomically under advantaged 2. Numerous psychosocial factors such as social support and perceived control have been shown to moderate this socioeconomic status (SES)‐health gradient3, but surprisingly li1le work has been done examining how perceived stress and coping strategies influence this relationship. The current study seeks to examine how the psychological factors of perceived stress and coping influence foreign‐born Mexican Americans and Caucasians. It is hypothesized that: 1. If foreign‐born Mexican Americans have lower blood pressure, then they will perceive less stress. 2. Similarly, if foreign‐born Mexican Americans have lower blood pressure and less perceived stress, then they will also use more adaptive ways of coping.

• 

  Demand for Terrorism: What factors make a country more vulnerable to attack?

  Timothy P. Jensen and Sven Wilson

  Factors used to explain terrorism range from economic inequality (Bailey, 2002) to religious fundamentalism and prejudice (Anderson & Taylor 2001). Taylor (1998) found that “Neither social background, educational opportunity or attainment seem to be particularly associated with terrorism.” In an econometric analysis of terrorism, Krueger and Maleckova (2003) found no causal relationship between poverty in individuals and their likelihood of becoming terrorists. They examined the supply of terrorism by looking at biographical information of individual terrorists, particularly in Palestine. They found that most terrorists had more education than other members of their home country and were in occupations of high social status. They also examined country-specific attributes that produce terrorists. Significant independent variables were log population, level of civil liberties, and proportion of population in five major religion categories. In significant independent variables tested were GDP per capita quartiles and the literacy rate. They found that a lack of civil liberties has a correlation with terrorist activities and that low income had no direct connection. While this and other research has focused on supply, I will examine what characteristics make a country more likely to be attacked.

• 

  Promontory Caves Revisited: Preliminary Analysis of Faunal Material from 42BO1 and 42BO2

  Lindsay Johansson and Joel Janetski

  Promontory Caves (42BO1 and 42BO2) are located on Promontory point and were excavated in 1930 and 1931 by Julian Steward from the University of Utah. The caves are the type site for Promontory Phase occupation in the Great Basin and the work being done currently concerning the caves is one aspect of a larger project by Jack Ives of the University of Alberta and Joel Janetski of Brigham Young University concerning the Promontory culture and its relationship to the Athapaskan migration. Based upon the presence of moccasins and ceramics recovered at the site, Steward (1937:87) concluded that Promontory cultures were neither Puebloan nor Shoshonean in origin. Recently, the upper levels of occupation at Promontory Caves have been dated to what is termed the Promontory phase of the Late Prehistoric, occurring from approximately AD 1300 to 1550 (Forsyth 1986:190; Janetski 1994:176). Here, I present preliminary data from my analysis of the faunal collection recovered by Steward. This is one portion of my thesis research, in which I will be comparing the faunal collections from various Late Prehistoric sites in the Eastern Great Basin.

• 

  Examining the Impacts of Habitat Fragmentation Along the Western Border of Yellowstone National Park

  Alex D. Johnson, Vania Hernandez, Janelle Sands, and Matthew Bekker

  Landscape Ecology combines the disciplines of geography and ecology to give a unique spatial approach, which allows extrapolation across scales Our area of study is located on the SW border of Yellowstone National Park and the adjacent National Forest. (Fig.1) Different land management practices between the National Park and National Forest, in particular, deforestation in the National Forest, can affect the ecosystem in the greater Yellowstone area. (Fig. 2)

• 

  Social Versus Memory Demands On Cognitive Set Shifting

  Oliver H. Johnston, S. White, A. Clawson, and E. Krauskopf

  Executive functions refer to brain processes needed for planning, flexibility, abstract thinking, and other everyday organizational tasks. There remains inconsistency in executive function (EF) studies in autism. A recent review of previous studies (Corbett et al., 2009) reports overall significant deficiencies in EF for autism groups, but it is uncertain how much of this may be due to the presence of ADHD symptoms in 30-50% of children diagnosed with autism (Yerys et al 2009). It has been shown that children with high-functioning autism perform the Wisconsin Card Sort, a test of set-shifting and perseveration, better when it is administered via computer than by a person (Ozonoff 1995). Ozonoff suggested this was due to social demands on cognition during the in person task that interfered with performance, rather than damaged executive functioning in set-shifting. We aimed to investigate this hypothesis by varying the amount of social input in the administration of the WCST, across three different conditions

• 

  EEG Responses of 5-Month-Old Infants to Static and Dynamic Face-Voice Synchrony

  Blake L. Jones, Sarah A. Ahlander, Joan M. Leishman, and M. Mangum

  IntroPrevious behavioral research with faces and voices demonstrates that at an early age infants notice, and prefer, synchrony between faces and voices 1, 2. However, little is known about how infants’ process information regarding face-voice synchronies neurophysiologically. Therefore, Study 1 examined infants’ electrophysiological responses during brief presentation of synchronous, as well as asynchronous, face/voice stimuli.