Saving the Maya Civilization – Ancient and Living

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Landon John Hansen and Dr. Donald Forsyth, Archaeology One of the most significant finds of Mayan archaeology in recent years has been the elaborate stucco frieze discovered in the Central Acropolis of the ancient Mayan city, El Mirador. The frieze is significant not only because of its remarkable preservation and beautiful artistic representations, but also […]

Effects of Mood on Error Processing

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Alexander Gray and Dr. Michael Larson, Psychology Department Main Text This study will help us to better understand the neurophysiological correlates of error processing–the cognitive function of detecting mistakes. Also, this study will help clarify the potential generation process of this neurophysiological correlate, specifically called the error-related negativity (ERN). The ERN is a scalp-recorded, negative […]

Moral Conceptions and Parent-Adolescent Congruence: What Does it Mean to be a Moral Person?

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Ryan James Funk and Dr. Sam Hardy, Psychology Department When I began working with Dr. Sam Hardy, I started in a simple data entry position. I would spend ten hours a week entering responses to survey questions into a computer program. As I spent more and more time in Sam’s lab doing data entry, I […]

Defining and Measuring Infant Habituation

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Denise Free and Dr. Ross Flom, Department of Psychology Although we arguably know very little about the actual process of infant habituation, in assessing infant conditioning, controlled habituation is the procedure used most often. It may be that how infants habituate could vary as a function of their age. In addition a perceived “inability” at […]

Maternal Education and Child Nutritional Status in Africa: Mediating Mechanisms

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Kiira Fox and Dr. Renata Forste, Sociology Main Text While previous research indicates child stunting rates have decreased in the aggregate over the last few decades, malnutrition continues to account for over half of annual child deaths and the stunting of 226 million (Neumann et al.). As national inequality persists, even increasing in certain areas, […]

The Security of Women’s Property Rights: A Cross-national Survey

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Aimee Farnsworth and Dr. Valerie Hudson, Political Science Main Text The main goal of this research was to complete a cross-national survey of women’s property rights in law and in practice. Surprisingly, such a global survey has never before been undertaken. This is a large gap in the existing knowledge base. My goal in this […]

Market Defending Medicine: When Physicians and Midwives Compete for Patients

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Angelyn Fairchild and Dr. Joseph Price, Economics Department Purpose Patients trust that their medical provider will help them receive the best care possible even when this may involve referring them to another provider. However, transferring patients to other providers represents a transfer of income between the health care providers, thus creating a strong profit incentive […]

Effects of Acute Ethanol on GABA Neuron Synaptic Responses

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Kyle Ellefsen and Dr. Scott Steffensen, Psychology The nucleus accumbens is a midbrain structure which is thought to influence pleasure and reward. The physiology of this area is also thought to be altered in a state of addiction, including alcoholism. The nucleus accumbens receives most of its dopaminergic input from another midbrain structure, the ventral […]

Two and a Half Men in a World of Warcraft: Sexual and Violent Media’s Influence on Relationship Outcomes

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KayLee Dunn and Dr. Dean Busby, School of Family Life The purpose of this study was to discover whether viewing higher levels of sexual and violent television and video games, negatively influences relationship quality with a significant romantic partner. Additionally we addressed the mediating effects of pornography behaviors and attitudes and individual characteristics to this […]

An Evaluation of the Clinical Use of Phenytoin for Preventing Early Post-Traumatic Seizures in Traumatic Brain Injury Patients

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Sierra Debenham and Dr. Erin Bigler, Psychology Main Text I evaluated the Montreal General Hospital’s use of the anti-seizure medication phenytoin in all traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients admitted to the hospital over the course of 2 years. I then evaluated the information to evaluate how effective the phenytoin treatment was in preventing early TBI. […]