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  12-Month-olds’ Discrimination of Monkey Faces: Evidence for Perceptual Narrowing?

  Jacob C. Jones, Scott Stevens, Melissa Wright, and Amanda Phillippi

  It is well known from birth that faces are salient, preferred over other stimuli, and are readily discriminated. It has also been shown that over the course of development infants’ proclivity for face discrimination is influenced by their social environment. Pascalis, deHann, andNelson (2002), for example, demonstrate that 6-month-olds are able to discriminate various monkey faces as well as human faces whereas 9-month-olds can only discriminate different human faces. Importantly, however, if 6-month-olds receive 1-2 minutes per day of familiarization with photographs of monkey faces three months later the now 9-month-olds can still discriminate unfamiliar and familiar monkey faces. Like face perception, infants’ discrimination of speech also varies as a function of experience and exposure. Four-to 6-month-olds discriminate speech sounds in their native and non-native languages; however, by10-to12-months of age infants can only discriminate speech sounds common to their native language.

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  Male Dating Initiation at BYU

  Lara A. Jubber, Jessica Hansen, Tamara Fackrell, and Thomas B. Holman

  Through qualitative dating analysis, we interviewed 12 males from BYU and found several patterns regarding dating initiation. First, there was perceived male responsibility to initiate the date. Second, there were expectations that females should be straightforward with their interest. Third, males expressed concern about their readiness for marriage and the pressures for marriage. Fourth, dating is viewed as a game with rules that vary depending on the participant.

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  Female Dating Initiation at BYU

  Lara Jubber, Tamara Fackrell, Jessica Hansen, and Thomas B. Holman

  Through qualitative dating analysis, we interviewed 12 females from BYU and found several patterns regarding dating initiation. First, there was perceived male responsibility to initiate the date. Second, there was confusion that results in how a female should let a male know of their interest in him. Third, ambiguity resulted because the communication in dating initiation is not straight forward. Fourth, dating is viewed as a game with rules that vary depending on the participant.

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  Distancing and Hostility as Mediators of Parental Depression and Child Depression

  Ashley Kerns, Curtis Pearson, Jessica Hawkins, and William Dickerson

  Purpose: To identify parenting behaviors through which parental depression affects children’s depression Background: Parental depression increases the risk for depression in children (Turner, 2008; Goodman & Gotlib, 2002). Depressed parents are likely to use coercion (Bor & Sanders, 2004)& have decreased social involvement (Dix & Meunier, 2009). When depressed, men are more likely to exhibit irritability and women are more likely to withdraw. Such parental behaviors increase children’s risk (Elgar et.al, 2007) Hypotheses: 1) Mother’s distancing behavior during an observational task will mediate the relationship between mother’s depression and child’s depression 2) Father’s hostile behavior during an observational task will mediate the relationship between father’s depression and child’s depression.

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  Consistency of temperament of in group-housed infant rhesus monkeys (Macacamulatta) during the first months of life

  Joshua W. Kirton, Daniel Blocker, Kfir Orgad, and James D. Higley

  While a wide number of studies have assessed temperament as a predictor of future personality or behavior, few studies have assessed its interindividual stability over the first few months of life in nonhuman primates. This laboratory study examined temperament in group-housed infant rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) assessing interindividual consistency from the second through fifth months of life using objective behavioral measures. Stability of temperament was measured by correlating (Pearson Product-Moment tests) individual differences in the frequency of 25 behaviors over months 2-5 of life in 88 mother-reared subjects. Two 5-minute sessions were recorded for subjects each week and the mean for each month was the dependent variable. Results: Eleven behaviors exhibited a statistically significant consistency across at least three of the four months measured, with a significant positive r-value between .204 and .601. Statistically significant consistency was found for maternally-oriented behaviors of contact cling, mutual ventral, approach by infant, and leave by infant. This maternally-oriented trait may reflect maternal treatment, as well as temperament because receive groom by mother, and restrain by mother were also consistent across months. Consistency was found for the behaviors characteristic of activity including locomotion, environmental exploration, and inactivity. Consistency was also found in socialize with others, and anxiety-like self-directed behavior. This study suggests that objective measurements of temperament in infant rhesus monkeys are consistent across time and possibly situation.

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  Performance-Monitoring and Evaluative Control in High Functioning Autism

  Erin Krauskopf, A. Clawson, O. Johnston, and M. J. Crowley

  1. Understanding the neurobiology of how children with ASD make mistakes has implications for understanding biological causes and informing intervention strategies 2. This study aimed to determine how response monitoring (i.e., learning from mistakes) differs between those with ASD and controls

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  Abuse History and Therapy Participation Among Men and Women in Methadone Maintenance Treatment

  Alexandria Kunzler, Sasha Mondragon, Amy Welsh, and Scott Baldwin

  The differences between men (N = 26) and women’s (N = 27) self-reports of abuse and recorded therapy participation were examined among clients in a methadone maintenance treatment program. Results indicate that women report significantly more abuse. We found no significant difference in therapy participation between men and women.

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  Identities among Immigrants in Utah County

  Nicole Lakip, Kathryn Staples, Bryce Ayoso, and Amber Masters

  Immigration has been a controversial topic in the United States since the first immigrants voyaged to the Americas. Throughout the United States’ history, there have been heated debates on what is acceptable as immigration and what is not. Identity is a big factor that comes into play when analyzing the lives of immigrants. How do immigrants form their identities? Is identity changeable? Does where you live affect your identity? While there have been many studies on immigration, there are very few studies that focus on the construct of the identities of these immigrants. Many variables can be attributed to the formation of an identity. What variables actually help individuals construct their identity? We explore whether or not other peoples’ views of the participants actually affect their identity. With so many other factors of where an immigrant can construct their cultural identification. Our questions include: how do immigrants identify themselves? What factors affect how immigrants identify themselves? What factors are most important? Because we draw our data from working immigrants living in Utah County, our research will serve as a pilot study for future research on identity among immigrants in the U.S.

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  The Power of the “Magic Moment”: The Long-term Effects of Marital Expectations on Child Health and Relational Outcomes

  Jeffrey K. Larsen, Jeffrey K. Larsen, and Brian J. Willoughby

  Nonmarital childbearing has become increasingly common among couples in the United States. Recent research has shown that these unwed parents and their children are more likely to experience negative personal and familial outcomes compared to those families in which the parents are married. These negative outcomes include lower levels of financial stability, inconsistent paternal involvement, more behavioral problems in children, relationship instability, lower amounts of positive parenting practices, and lower levels of relationship satisfaction (Bronte- Tinkew, & Horowitz, 2009; Castillo, 2009; Huang, & Lee, 2008; McLanahan & Garfinkel, 2000; Osborne, Manning, & Smock, 2007; Osborne & McLanahan, 2007). Scholars have noted that the time shortly after the birth of a child designates a time period when both parents are generally extremely positive about their future together and hope to marry, with one study finding that almost 80% of unmarried parents indicating a better than a 50/50 chance of marrying the child’s other parent in the future (McLanahan et al., 2003). This “magic moment” shortly after the birth of a child may be a time period when some individuals begin to formulate long-term relational and family plans with their partner and may be a pivotal time to examine attitudes and expectations that are predictive of the future course of individuals, couples and families. Attitudes about marriage have been found to influence other general aspects of relational outcomes. For example, positive general attitudes toward marriage predict relationship status after one year among unmarried couples (Carlson, McLanahan, & England, 2004). Hohmann-Marriott (2009) found that couples are less likely to marry if they perceive the father’s care giving role as unimportant after the birth of a child. Taken together, family formation attitudes and expectations found shortly after the expansion of the family system may be an important predictor of future individual and relational behavior. This study utilizes the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study (McLanahan et al., 2003) to investigate how marital expectation during that “magic moment” shortly after the birth of a child may influence child and parenting outcomes longitudinally.

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  The New User: Revisiting the Digital Divide

  David S. Lassen and David Magleby

  Though many scholars and commentators are optimistic about the influence of the Internet on American political culture, some decry the presence of a “digital divide” wherein individuals of higher socioeconomic status have greater access to online political tools. I argue that this is an unnecessarily limited view of online political behavior and that analyses of online political engagement should go beyond questions of access to include considerations of individual preference. Using the results from a new survey of 2008 campaign donors, I find that differences between online and offline political participators are largely skill-and interest-based, not demographic. I also present a personal typology of Internet behavior and find significant skill and interest differences between different types of online participators. This suggests that future research on the extent of online political engagement should be broader than simple questions of access and should include classifications of personal preference as well.

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  LDS Pathways to Marriage: How does communication play a role in relationship progression?

  Kaitlin Lattin, Cherie Wilson, Todd Jensen, and Adam Frary

  The purpose of this study was to examine the role of communication in the relationship progression or regression between males and females at BYU along the pathway to marriage. For most Americans, mate selection follows a predictable process of acquaintance, build-up, and [commitment] leading to legal marriage (Levinger, 1983). This process is characterized by personal choice based on mutual physical attraction, growing interpersonal involvement, and interdependence, followed by commitment to marriage and actual marriage during the period of greatest relationship satisfaction (Cate & Lloyd, 1992). It was hypothesized that communication plays an essential role in the progression or regression of dating relationships.

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  A Case for Christian Communalism: Overcoming Individualism and Racial Segregation in an Ubuntu-Infused South African Catholic Parish

  Jordan R. Layton and Jeremy Grimshaw

  Geographic, linguistic, and economic divisions between ethnic groups linger from Apartheid; but recent concerns also include divisions within ethnic groups due to Western-influenced individualism and a decline in communal values known as ubuntu. Ubuntu is a spiritual concept; thus, Christianity seems to be the ideal context for its reinforcement. But most theorists would argue that the physical and figurative walls being constructed between and within ethnic groups could not be overcome through Christianity, which is itself considered to be individualistic “self-serving redemptionism”—the theoretical opposite of ubuntu. However,one East London Catholic parish creates an anomalous interracial community by promoting communal ubuntu values, and thus defies theoretical arguments of Christian individualism and the actual segregations and divisions prevalent in East London.

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  Decreasing Temperature Below Tt or Increasing Cholesterol Enhance Vesibcle-Bilayer Membrane Fusion

  David E. Lee, Reed A. Doxey, Kevin J. Tuttle, and Dixon J. Woodbury

  Lipid composition plays an important role in fusion of vesicles to membranes, an essential process for exocytosis. Lipid head group, tail structure, and sterol content all impact the complex phase behavior of membranes. To determine the effect of lipids on fusion, we utilized the nystatin/ergesterol (nys/erg) fusion assay and stimulated fusion with a salt (osmotic) gradient. With this assay, vesicles containing nys and erg fuse with a planar membrane producing characteristic spike increases in membrane conductance.Using PE/PC (7:3) membranes, we varied cholesterol from 0-40 mol% and observed significant increases in fusion rates. In one series of experiments, membranes were formed with 0 mol% cholesterol, repainted with 20 mol%, then repainted with 0 mol%. The 20 mol% cholesterol membrane showed a marked increase in fusion rates over both pre- and post- controls. Likewise, increased fusion rates were observed in DPPC/cholesterol (9:1) membranes upon lowering temperature below the phase transition (Tt). These data are consistent with a liquid disordered lipid phase suppressing vesicle fusion, and shows how membrane fusion can be affected by lipid behavior.

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  Who do you belong to?: Understanding a Monument through Local Conceptions of Belonging

  Sadie J. Lee and John Hawkins

  When major logging operations closed in the Kaibab National Forest in northern Arizona after pressure from environmental groups, many area residents lost their jobs. Plans for a coal mine on the Kaiparowits Plateau in southern Utah revived hopes for reliable employment, but establishing the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM) in 1996 by former US President Bill Clinton effectively shut down possibility of exploitative operations on the majority of the plateau. This caused widespread disapproval among conservative local government and populations. This controversial issue has been described extensively in relation to legal disputes over its formation and use. However, no research has addressed why local private citizens oppose the monument other than for political and economic reasons. Based on my research during summer 2009 in southern Utah, I conclude that locals also oppose the monument because it was created in socially unacceptable ways, namely without local knowledge or participation.

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  Volunteer Experience at the Museum of Peoples and Cultures

  Sadie J. Lee and Paul Stavast

  As BYU’s “teaching” museum, the MPC provides a setting where BYU students can gain real museum experience. Under the mentorship of professional staff, museum class students and student employees are responsible for researching, developing, and installing exhibitions; processing and cataloging incoming and current collections; and organizing and cataloging excavation notes and other collection records. Beyond classes and employment, the MPC also provides an oft-overlooked educational experience for student volunteers. Under the supervision of student employees, volunteers provide assistance in creating and distributing educational materials, cataloging collections, organizing records, and other tasks necessary for the daily maintenance of museum operations. I hypothesize that this involved approach provides a unique learning experience that can help student volunteers develop useful skills and discover educational and professional opportunities within their areas of interest.

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  Parents Raising a Child with Type 1 Diabetes: Experiences and Recommendations for Services

  Joan Leishman, Ann Jubber, Colette Dalton, and Stacey Mork

  Twenty parents raising a child with type 1 diabetes participated in one hour focus groups. Parents identified challenges related to having a child with diabetes and possible recommendations for services to overcome those challenges.

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  Note-Taking Method Affects Immediate and Delayed Recall

  Keith Lowell, Meagen Jensen, and Erin D. Bigler

  Note-taking improves performance on tasks (Heggarty, 1997). Because of the frequent and varied use of notes, many studies have been done on the subject of note-taking. Most studies examine differences between note-taking methods. For example, a current focus is whether note-taking within a teacher-provided outline yields better test performance than free note-taking (Larson, 2009; Piolat, 2007). Other studies examine different note-taking methods used by individuals, i.e. shorthand, diagrams, or graphic organization. A literature review found no studies which have examined the separate effect of note-taking on visual or auditory performance. Because note-taking requires the student to look away from a presentation, note-taking could potentially lower visual recall. Contrastingly, visual presentation might distract from auditory intake. The following study examined the effect of note-taking on both auditory and visual recall, as well as a general effect of note-taking on recall.

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  Important Travelers in the Civil Rights Movement

  Mark D. Lowe, Sharon Jensen, Mark Fitu, and Susan Rugh

  For African Americans, much of the twentieth-century was a long and grueling battle for civil rights. Racial violence and inequality were everywhere, and traveling was no exception. After World War II, and continuing through the following decades, black travelers were often denied service at restaurants, bathrooms, motels, and even amusement parks and beaches. This made it hard for blacks, regardless of status, to travel and to enjoy may forms of recreation. However, these difficult travel experiences allowed many African Americans to make a difference in the fight for equality.

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  The Current State of the Alcaldia Indigena in Light of its Historical Precedents: The Case of Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán

  Jonathan Luke and John Hawkins

  The military governments of 1957-1986 abolished all forms of Maya self-government. With the signing of the Peace Accords in 1994, Mayan communities have resurrected the institution of the Alcaldia Indigena, drawing on cultural memory to reorganize it. The new manifestation builds on the Alcaldia’s former structure and seeks to connect internationally to the indigenous rights movement and gain official recognition as a local government body representing indigenous interests.

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  Drama, Drama, Drama

  Trace W. Lund, McKenzie Gibson, Megan Pixton, and Brandon Chandler

  Gender roles are set early in life (Condry & Ross, 1985). Boys are often encouraged in their rough-and-tumble play while girls are discouraged from it (Condry, 1985). Girls are treated as more fragile and are encouraged to act ladylike, including not inflicting physical harm upon others. Much of how we act in society, including aggression, is based on these social norms. The media is full of physically aggressive acts. School shootings, war, terrorism, assaults; the list goes on and on. Who do we imagine performing these tasks? Men or women? Research has shown it to be men (Zeichner, Parrott, & Frey, 2003). Are women equally as aggressive? Gossiping, back stabbing, and social rejection are all forms of aggression typically associated with women. Studies suggest that women are just as relationally aggressive as men are physically aggressive (Zeichner, Parrott, & Frey, 2003).

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  Predicting Dyadic Congruence in Retirement Plans Among Middle-Aged Couples

  Benjamin R. Malczyk and Jeremy Yorgason

  Although there are many studies examining couple’s financial preparation for retirement, there are relatively few examining how couples expect to use their time in retirement. This does not undermine the importance of how coupes plan to use their time. Research has shown that leisure time usage was a bigger challenge than finances for retired couples (Henry, Milller, & Giarrusso, 2005).The current study extends previous research by having couples answer an open ended question about their retirement plans and seeing the congruency between planned leisure and time usage by husbands and wives. Specifically this study seeks to answer: 1. What do midlife couples plan to do when they retire? 2. Do wives and husbands have the same plans about how they will spend their leisure time? 3. What factors predict husband and wife congruence of retirement plans?

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  Spirituality and Error Processing

  Angelica M. Mamani, Patrick Steffen, and Michael Larson

  Hundreds of articles have been published in psychology journals investigating spirituality and its uses in therapy and as a coping mechanism. However little research has been done on the effect of spirituality and neurological processes. Inzlichtet. al. (2009) asserted that both belief in God and high religious zeal were correlated with smaller ERN amplitudes. However in Inzlicht’s study only those who were highly zealous spiritually and if the participants believed in God. Nothing about the components of spirituality were examined. In order to fully assess the components of spirituality the Spirituality Assessment Inventory (SAI) was administered and the various subscales analyzed. Error-Related Negativity/Post-error Positivity Error related negativity (ERN) is an event related potential (ERP) characterized by the increased negative amplitude 100 ms after an incorrect response. The ERN is believed to reflect error processing through the error monitoring of the anterior cingulatecortex. We suggest that individual components of spirituality will significantly correlate with the ERN more than the holistic belief in God.

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  Effect of Depression on Adolescent Alcohol Use

  Tawnya Mayo, Thomas Bibber, and Bert Burraston

  Adolescents who drink tend to continue to drink as adults. Research has pointed to depression as a factor in alcohol and substance abuse by adolescents (Deykin, Levy, and Wells, 1987). Yet, research is lacking in describing the specific effects of depression on adolescent alcohol use. Additionally religiosity has not been taken into account in past research. Other studies have specified gender as a moderating factor on the relationship between depression and substance abuse (Rohde, Lewinsohn, and Seeley, 1996).

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  Marital Satisfaction and the Transition to Fatherhood

  Brandon McDaniel, Sheila Lopez, and Erin K. Holmes

  The perceptions of marital satisfaction across the transition to fatherhood of 54 Brigham Young University (BYU) students were surveyed using an online questionnaire. It was hypothesized that (1) father’s expectations would not match the way tasks actually were divided, (2) fathers who felt that they were making a contribution to their family and felt that their wives appreciated that contribution would have higher marital quality, (3) fathers who were better able to communicate with their wives would be more satisfied with their marriage, (4) fathers who felt the support of their wives and others would better be able to adjust to work pressures and fatherhood, and (5) fathers whose expectations had been fulfilled or exceeded would better adjust to the transition. Fathers who rated higher marital satisfaction were compared to those with slightly lower satisfaction. Significant differences were found between fathers’ expected division of child care tasks and how tasks were actually divided. Communication and quality time with spouse were found to be the greatest determinates of marital satisfaction. The reasons for these results are discussed.

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  LDS Doctrine and Perfectionism

  Brittany Mealey, Jeffrey Bernhardt, Michael Davison, and Andrea Riggs

  Perfectionism has become a topic of widespread interest within the social sciences. Many of the studies testing and measuring perfectionism have been associated with constructs such as need achievement and level of aspiration. Though it has been found that there may be links between religiosity and perfectionism (Edgington et. al, 2008; Zohar et. al, 2005), only a small amount of studies have actually researched if and how perfectionism is affected by religiosity.