University Honors

The majority of research in the field of Psychology has been conducted by American researchers, in American-based institutions, with participants who have largely come from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) backgrounds. This has severely limited thegeographical and cultural applicability of the results of our studies. This is particularly true formental health assessments, which are highly correlated with local cultural influences. Thepresent study was conducted in Kenya. Using African university students as participants, weused three surveys to determine the relationship between cultural, socioeconomic factors andlocal mental health. We focused on three main mental health variables: depression level, anxietylevel, and general mental health, as well as five cultural and socioeconomic factors: age, familyincome, perceived social support, gender, and ethnic (tribal) identity. Hypotheses included thefollowing: (1) A positive correlation between age and the three mental health variables, and apositive correlation between experience of inter-ethnic discrimination and these variables. (2) Anegative correlation between income level and the three mental health variables, and a negativecorrelation between perceived social support and these variables. (3) Higher levels of anxiety anddepression among females and ethnic minorities. The results of the study supported ourhypotheses regarding the experience of ethnic discrimination. Perceived social support wasnegatively associated with depression and general mental health, but not with anxiety. Membersof minority ethnic groups reported higher levels of anxiety, but not depression. No significantresults were found for age, gender, or household income level.

According to the book Social Emergency Medicine, about “70% of adults living in the U.S.are experiencing or are at risk of financial insecurity”, meaning most adults are not financiallyprepared for any unforeseen expenses. Financial stress has become a normal responsibilitythroughout life for most individuals, however, an increasing number of individuals have becomeso stressed due to their finances that it has impacted their well-being negatively. I study thepsychological effects on individuals when it comes to financial stress because I want to find outhow financial uncertainty affects individuals not only mentally but also physically. By studyingand finding potential causes, we can bring attention to this persisting issue and help thoseindividuals financially struggling. I use scholarly research papers and the General Social Survey,which is a website that collects high-quality data from adults throughout the U.S. of different areasand topics that impact our society, to find any known financial stressors and relationships ofincome and health. This project shows how different financial stressors can cause negativeconsequences to an individual’s well-being and how we can use these findings to potentiallyalleviate financial stress for many. In my findings, I have seen evidence that supports myhypothesis of the negative relationship between financial stress and overall health. Therelationships I found show, for example, a negative correlation in the amount of bad mental healthdays and opinion of family income & a positive correlation in satisfaction with financial situationand average real income.

Disabilities affect the lives of people worldwide in the present and in the past. Hearingimpairment is one rather common disability, yet it is largely misunderstood and stigmatized. InMexico, hearing-impaired persons are still denied many rights able-bodied people possess.Contemporary views of deafness in Mexico have tended to emphasize the biomedical model,which recognizes deafness as an impairment and something that requires fixing. To this end,oralism, hearing aids, and cochlear implants are standard. Framed within disability studies, thisresearch project is an effort to understand and challenge this ableist perspective that persists inMexico today through an interdisciplinary study of Deaf Mexican history. One of the main goalsfor this paper is to demonstrate that ableism and the biomedical model of disability derive from along history of Western, Christian thought which was imported to Mexico by the Spanish startingin the early 16th century during colonization. In the pages ahead, this paper explores influencesof Catholicism and Spanish colonial structures in perpetuating ableism and the biomedical modelof disability through close analysis of historical theological commentary and Indigenous,Spanish, and Mexican interpretations of deafness and disability.

In this study, we will be recording the significant impacts that social status andconsequently social mobility have on a person's mental health. Practicing social mobility is thegoal for every family to give the next generation a better starting point in life. Having financialstability along with financial support can do an awful lot for an individual's mental state.Existing research shows how difficult it is to be a minority in the US but fails to look deeper intowhy minorities continue to have high rates of untreated mental health issues while being on thelower end of the social ladder. The purpose of this study is to highlight the importance of socialmobility and mental health which can go hand in hand with one another. This is not always thecase but studies have shown that practicing social mobility has a positive impact on mentalhealth which in return allows you to live a psychologically healthier lifestyle.

A leading cause of autism known as Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is among the most prevalentcauses of hereditary intellectual impairment worldwide (Stone et al., 2023). One major symptomof FXS is abnormal sensory sensitivity which may lead to elevated anxiety and behavioralproblems as seen in transgenic mouse models and human patients. Studies have established thatFXS model mice exhibit innate hyperactivity and hypersensitivity especially when exposed tonovel environments, but the connection to abnormal behavioral patterns remains unclear(Crawley, 2007). Here, we examined adult male C57BL/6J Fmr1 KO mice and C-57 wildtype(WT) mice, in an open field test (OFT) and nest building test when challenged with aversiveauditory stimuli and without such stimuli. In the OFT, we assessed velocity, distance traveled,and duration spent in each respective area to analyze anxiety-like behaviors and hyperactivity.Results revealed genotypic effects such that KO mice spent significantly less time in thigmotaxisand significantly more time in area B compared to WT mice in the presence of the auditorystimulus. In the nest building test, WT mice scored significantly higher compared to KO withoutthe sound stimulus and introduction of the auditory stimulus resulted in a narrowing of the scoresbetween KO and WT mice. These findings have potential implications to human patients withFXS to prevent the emergence of behavioral issues by limiting or gradually exposing patients toknown environmental triggers and learning how to manage and treat such symptoms moreeffectively over the long term.

Associative memory refers to a form of memory in which separate pieces of information arelinked together into a cohesive memory through binding processes. The long-term memoryversion of our QuadMax associative task demonstrated that memory performance decreased asthe number of items to-be-remembered together increased from two to three to four words, aswould be expected if demand on binding processes also increased with associative load.However, an alternative interpretation is that memory worsens at higher associative loads due toincreased demands on short-term associative memory processes which may exceed the amountof information that can be held in mind at once (short-term memory capacity), as there is moreinformation to hold in mind when encoding and retrieving sets of four versus two words. Thecurrent study aimed to disentangle these processes by developing a short-term associativememory variation of the QuadMax task. Thirty-five young adults studied pairs, triplets, andquadruplets of words and were immediately tested on novel, repeated, or recombined word sets.Results revealed that there was no statistically significant effect of set size on accurate memoryfor repeated sets (hits) relative to inaccurate memory for novel (recognition memory score) orrecombined (associative memory score) sets. The lack of statistical significance supports thenotion that short-term associative memory does not contribute to memory deficits found in long-term associative memory tasks, even at increased associative loads that may exceed short-termmemory capacity.

Nematodes are mostly microscopic, wormlike creatures that can be found in almost all soilhabitats around the world; one handful of soil could contain thousands of nematodes. Tomato cropplants are among the main victims of plant-parasitic nematodes and infections may destroy over20% of all crop yield that given year. Current nematode pesticides can contaminate soil, water,and other vegetation, as well as leave toxic residues in our food. Additionally, they can be harmfulto many other organisms that are part of the same ecosystem, such as mammals, birds, fish, andmany beneficial insects. Wild relatives of our tomato plants have naturally evolved varying levelsof resistance in the presence of higher nematode pressure, typically observed in warmer and drierenvironments, such as Central and South America. In this study, we aim to determine the specificphysical traits and underlying genomic loci contributing to nematode resistance. Utilizingnematode staining, we can observe these parasites, alongside host root architectures, under themicroscope, enabling us to evaluate critical stages of nematode life cycles and mechanisms of hostinvasions. Further, genomic sequencing equips us with the means to explore the geneticcomponents influencing nematode resistance. Given the global prominence of tomatoes as one ofthe most-consumed vegetables, the outcomes of this research hold considerable promise forenhancing crop performance and production. By augmenting the resilience of tomatoes, andpotentially other essential food crops, against nematodes, we can contribute to securing foodsupplies and promoting agricultural sustainability worldwide.

Fragile X syndrome is the most common inherited contributor to intellectual disability and autismspectrum disorder. Fragile X syndrome is caused by the mutation of the Fmr1 gene, which iscrucial for producing the Fragile X Messenger Ribonucleoprotein 1 protein (FMRP) and isinvolved in proper synaptic development and function. Some of the phenotypic effects of thismutation include increased repetitive behavior, anxiety, social communication deficits, andcognitive decline. Based on the current literature, Fmr1 knockout mouse models have shown anenhanced N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) receptor activity, contributing to thesymptoms we see in Fragile X syndrome, such as anxiety and increased repetitive behavior. N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors play a crucial role in glutamate binding and neuronal excitability.When glutamate binds to the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor, it will open the ion channel, whichreleases more excitatory neurotransmitters and increases neuronal excitability. This cascade maycontribute to the anxiety and cognitive deficit phenotypes we observe. Memantine is anuncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor inhibitor that reduces the N-methyl-D-aspartatereceptor activity. By reducing the elevated N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor activity, a therapeuticeffect may be seen due to the reduction in the cellular excitability and neurotransmitters, whichwould rescue the abnormal behavioral phenotypes caused by Fragile X syndrome.

Learning new skills and information can be one of the most time-consuming actions toengage in. Students can be considered the biggest contributor to this. It is very vital for schoolsto ensure that students are receiving the right tools to successfully motivate and further theirstudies. This study has been designed to measure the effects of technology that students are beingexposed to within K-12 level classrooms and whether it affects the student’s willingness toparticipate and ability to learn topics being taught in their respective grade level. The method ofresearch consisted of six interviews with teachers who are first-hand observing the effectstechnology exposure has had on their students and whether improvements or disadvantages arebeing experienced by these students. The teachers who were interviewed are from a variety ofschools within the Inland Empire of California to better understand the effects of technologyintegration across all content areas and analyze how educators are contributing to a student’sability to learn new curriculum. These interviews consist of personal experiences from teacherswhere successes and setbacks have been observed, analyzing different types of technology usedin their classrooms, and whether they feel they received sufficient training to guide their'scholars' to success. Readers of this study will be able to better comprehend the benefits and anyeffects take-home laptops, tablets, uses for online websites and further tech has had on thestudents of today.

This creative project, a full-length playscript, follows Mira, a young woman who hasstruggled with addiction and abuse at her lowest: in jail, awaiting a trial for the murder of herboyfriend and drug trafficking. We follow her story as her lawyer, Pierce, asks her questionsabout why Mira made certain decisions and how she got to this point. Throughout the story, welearn about her past with addiction, how she was trying to get back on the right path, how she feltsmothered by her mom, and ultimately ended up back with her ex in order to maintain some tieto the past. Themes of addiction, abuse, fear of change, family, and allyship are at the core of thispiece as it delves into the cyclical nature of abuse and how generational trauma maintains thiscycle. We learn that there is more to people than victimhood, that accepting love can help upheal and move forward, and that change, is necessary but looks different to everyone. Thisproject culminated into a table read and a filmed interview about the process.