Journal of Undergraduate Research

Spencer Liebel and Dr. Michael Larson, Department of Psychology The goal of this project was to clarify the additive role that negative affect plays in the capacity for individuals with moderate-to-severe (M/S) traumatic brain injury (TBI) to acquire new learning. Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability in the United States, […]

Elizabeth Hoose and Dr. Jeffrey Reber, Department of Psychology Little research has been done on prejudice against people of faith. Several studies indicate that fundamental or evangelical Christians face the effects of prejudice especially in educational settings (Ressler & Hodge, 2006). In particular, two surveys of Christian social workers inquiring about their professional experience in […]

Brooke Daniels-Brown and Dr. Jared Warren, Department of Psychology The purpose of the project was to examine youth self-efficacy as it relates to youth symptoms and treatment outcomes in a community mental health setting. From analyzing the collected data, results suggest that youth self-efficacy may act as a moderator and potential mediator in youth mental […]

Gwen Coulson and Dr. Scott Braithwaite, Department of Psychology With the advent of the internet the availability, anonymity, and affordability of pornography has substantially increased (Cooper, 1998). Furthermore, content analyses have revealed that various types of pornographic material frequently present sex as casually occurring between acquaintances (Brosius, Weaver, & Staab, 1993) and often portray sexual […]

Paul Chamberlain and Dr. Mikle South, Department of Psychology My project was designed to study how autistic children respond to uncertainty and if they respond differently than typically developing children. Psychologists have differentiated between two different types of fear- phasic fear and sustained fear. Phasic fear is fear to a specific threat. For example, if […]

Benjamin Carter and Dr. Scott Steffensen, Department of Psychology Introduction This study explored the effects of light stimulation on the baseline levels of dopamine (DA) in the Nucleus Accumbens (NAc). DA is a neurotransmitter used in neuronal communication in the central nervous system (CNS) and is the primary signal molecule of the NAc. The high […]

Frank Bright and Dr. Jeffrey Reber, Department of Psychology The purpose of my study was to see if there was any connection between a professor’s openness about his or her faith and the view formed of that professor by his or her students. One recent study (Reber & Slife, In Press) has shown that new […]

Jennifer Mabey and Dr. Scott Steffensen, Department of Psychology The aim of my ORCA grant was to better under the addictive pathway of ethanol (EtOH) in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the brain. The VTA contains several neuron types that release different neurotransmitters, but the type I experimented with was γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), which […]

Daniel Bjornn and Dr. Michael Larson, Department of Psychology Conflict adaptation is a neurological process that reflects the adjustment of performance on tasks when conflict is detected on previous trials. Conflict in this instance refers to the simultaneous activation of multiple response options. When conflict is detected, such as on an incongruent trial on Stroop […]