Predicting Dyadic Congruence in Retirement Plans Among Middle Aged Couples: Examining the roles of Marital Quality, Education, and Expected Reliance on Social Security

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Benjamin Malczyk and Dr. Jeremy Yorgason, School of Family Life Purpose 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 […]

Everybody’s Talkin’ at Me: Analyzing the Effect of Multi-Source Television News Content on Civic Learning

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David Lassen and Dr. Christopher Karpowitz, Political Science Main Text Consumers of media during the past ten years have seen a dramatic shift in the way information is presented to the American public. With technical innovations associated with the Internet and the cultural adaptations that have accompanied them, modern American media has become increasingly interactive. […]

Dendrochronology of the Loafer Mountain Avalanche Path, Wasatch Mountains, Utah

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Andrew Keske and Dr. Matthew Bekker, Geography Main Text Avalanches are natural hazards that occur almost every year and are very destructive. They are the cause of death to many skiers and snow sports enthusiasts every year. They destroy buildings and other structures that are found in their path. Little information on how often they […]

The Use of Antimicrobial Textiles in Heath Care

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Mary Kent and Dr. Catherine Burnham, School of Family Life Antimicrobial textiles are on the cutting edge of fiber nanotechnology and are a new concept in the textile industry. Antimicrobial textiles are fabrics covered in a unique silver finish that helps to prevent infection. Research has repeatedly shown their effectiveness to prohibit growth of microorganisms, […]

Infants’ Intermodal Perception of Canine (Canis familairis) Facial Expressions and Vocalizations

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Jacob Jones and Dr. Ross Flom, Department of Psychology Several studies have shown that in the first months of life, infants discriminate faces and speech sounds under a diverse range of conditions. These results suggest that infants’ capacity to discriminate faces and speech sounds changes over the course of development: Younger, but not older, infants […]

Empathy In Autism

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Oliver Johnston and Dr. Mikle South, Psychology Autism is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder with primary deficits in social communication. The purpose for this research was to investigate whether difficulties with empathy – the ability to feel what others feel – might contribute to the core social difficulties. This paper outlines the process used over the […]

The Effects of Sleep on Academic Achievement in Adolescents: A Quantile Regression Analysis

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Brent Jensen and Dr. Eric Eide, Economics Department Education is a growing area of study in the area of economics and it is often difficult to find objective answers to the questions and problems that educators and policy makers face each day. For my research, I used economic theory to try and determine if there […]

Effects of Chronic Alcohol Intoxication on the Dopaminergic Reward Pathway

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Brian Hoyt and Dr. Scott Steffensen, Psychology Department Overview of Project My research project studied the effects of chronic alcohol intoxication on the brain’s pleasure center (the mesocorticolimbic system). I worked with JungJae Park (M.S. in neuroscience) and three other undergraduate students. Because rats dislike the taste of alcohol, we injected the alcohol directly into […]

“We Don’t Need No Education” Aid: The Effects of Education-Specific Foreign Aid on School Enrollment in Low-Income Countries

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Dustin Homer and Dr. Daniel Nielson, Political Science Abstract We use AidData to assess the effectiveness of education aid. Focusing on the subset of the world’s poorest nations, we empirically evaluate the effects of educational foreign aid on primary school enrollment rates over the period 1975-2005. While past literature suggests that aid has had positive […]

Implications of the Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

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Alyssa Brown and Dr. Jenet Erickson Main Text The Convention on the Rights of the Child is a United Nations treaty declaring the government’s duty to protect children and to provide for their material and immaterial needs, essentially seeking to protect children’s rights. On a worldwide scale this treaty has been greeted with open arms […]