21978 research outputs found
Sort by
Exploring the Interrelations Between Spiritual Intelligence, Time Perspective, Mindfulness, and Behavioral Addiction
Get PDFBehavioral addictions adversely affect much of the U.S. population. Behavioral therapy programs and other forms of rehabilitation show inconsistent results; individual factors behind addiction may inform more effective treatment. Past studies have demonstrated success incorporating spirituality and mindfulness practices into rehabilitation treatment; additionally, those in active addiction demonstrate low future time perspective levels, suggesting that future time perspective may be a relevant factor to consider. In the current study, we examine individual differences in future time perspective, mindfulness, and spiritual intelligence –the human capacity to ask questions about the meaning of life and their relationship with the world around them– and their associations with behavioral addiction in a representative sample of adults in the U.S. The final sample (N=145) reported relatively low levels of behavioral addiction. Behavioral addiction had a significant positive correlation with spiritual intelligence (r(105) = 0.262, p = 0.006) and a significant negative correlation with mindfulness (r(112) = -0.279, p = 0.003), but did not correlate with future time perspective (p = 0.507). The interaction between future time perspective and spiritual intelligence was not significant (p = 0.931), although both were independent significant predictors of behavioral addiction (p = 0.01 and p = 0.042, respectively). The interaction between future time perspective and mindfulness was significant (p = 0.004); those with higher levels of mindfulness showed a more negative association between future time perspective and behavioral addiction compared to those with lower levels of mindfulness. Current findings can inform the development of psycho-spiritual interventions that utilize<span class="NormalTextRun SCXW168083196 BCX0" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit
Thought Control & Memory: Examining the predictive capacity of the Thought Control Ability Questionnaire in Suppression Induced Forgetting
Get PDFMemory suppression has been extensively studied to understand how we regulate unwanted memories. In clinical populations such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression, deficits in the ability to suppress unwanted memories appear more pronounced than in “healthy” populations. This ability is often measured using the Think/No-Think paradigm (TNT), which examines how individuals suppress and control memory retrieval. The Thought Control Ability Questionnaire (TCAQ) is a self-report measure used across clinical and research settings to measure the perceived ability to control unwanted or intrusive thoughts and is often administered within studies examining suppression. Limited evidence exists regarding the predictive capacity of TCAQ scores in experimental contexts, such as TNT. This study aimed to further evaluate the extent to which the TCAQ can predict these outcomes across five data sets, including four studies measuring suppression induced forgetting (SIF), and an additional study measuring intrusion proportions. Correlational analyses were done across all studies to assess the relationship between TCAQ scores and suppression ability, as well as intrusion proportions, with a linear mixed-effects model (LME) applied to studies 1-3. Results indicated that no significant relationship exists between TCAQ scores and SIF across multiple measures- identification, gist, details correct, cued recall, and recognition accuracy. Additionally, no relationship was observed between TCAQ scores and intrusion proportion. This suggests that self reports of thought control ability may not capture the mechanisms underlying memory suppression. Further research is needed to specify what contributes to these shortcomings and explore potential routes for development of a new measurethat can more accurately depict the cognitive mechanisms involved in memory suppression.
</div
Operant Conditioning to Measure Social Motivation in Female Prairie Voles
Get PDF
Prairie voles, due to their natural tendency to form strong pair bonds, serve as a valuable model for understanding the neurological foundations of social attachment. This study aimed to further explore the role of social motivation and reward through the use of an operant conditioning paradigm, where female prairie voles were trained to nose poke in order to gain access to different social stimuli, including their bonded partners. We first confirmed that voles understood the operant task by their ability to selectively nose poke to access a desired stimulus and adapt their port preference when the stimulus location was moved. We then used this task to determine how bonding status—whether initially sexually naive or paired prior to the task—affected the voles' motivation to interact with a social stimulus. Across phases of operant, voles demonstrated selective nose-poking behavior by showing a preference for opening the door with a social stimulus over an empty chamber. This preference persisted after undergoing a reversal phase, during which voles gradually relearned the reward identity behind each door. When assessing bond status, the experiment revealed sexually naive voles have a stronger preference to poke for a social stimulus than voles who were bonded before the task. This underscored how social motivation shifts during bonding, suggesting the reward value of a novel vole is high for naive individuals, while bonded voles may experience social satiation with their partners. Scoring behavior on the final day of the operant timeline revealed that focal voles engage in affiliative behaviors when poking for their partner, and investigative behaviors when poking for novels. Finally, we combined this operant task with neural imaging of the prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens, laying a framework for further data collection and analysis of the neural processes involved in social motivation. The findings from this study enhance our understanding of the neural and behavioral mechanisms underlying attachment and offer valuable insights for studying social behavior in broader contexts, including human social disorders. </p
Addressing the Tension Between Food Sovereignty and Globalization by Ecological Zone in Bolivia
Get PDFThrough the lasting impacts of colonization, the food-sovereignty framework promoting food justice, has been severely threatened. While Bolivia has taken unique steps to address this concern, globalization has been a tricky system to work with. However, diverse ecological zones present region-specific challenges and opportunities to implement food sovereignty amidst the neoliberal strategies of globalization. This thesis explores the globalization impacts of food sovereignty in the altiplano and lowlands through a comparative case study approach. Each region has cultural and historical similarities, however their ecological regions make their agricultural production and strategies distinct. For this reason, globalization manifests itself differently in each region, and thus, the study highlights the need for region-specific strategies to advance food sovereignty. I argue that each zone’s unique environmental conditions, cultural practices, and historical contexts highlight a need for local context-based approaches to food sovereignty in both the altiplano and the lowlands of Bolivia.
</p
Abolition Geographies and the Making of Liberatory Geographies in Aurora, Colorado
Get PDFThis undergraduate thesis explores how police violence is spatialized and why it matters,centering on the city of Aurora, Colorado as a case study. Aurora has a long history of racialviolence perpetrated by its police force, with high-profile incidents in recent years. Despitepromises for reform, police violence persists seemingly unchanged. Understanding thisspatialized state sanctioned violence through the theoretical framework of racial capitalism, theauthor explores how processes of difference and racialization connect to police violence as apiece of a larger carceral apparatus. In conversation with abolition geographies and Blackgeographic scholarship this case study demonstrates the realities for Black and brown bodies inAurora, a refusal of the naturalization of this violence. The thesis uses a multi-method analysisproducing the counter-cartographies of police violence and local resistance in Aurora,synthesizing traditional GIS mapping with photographs and artistic interpretations of space. Themapping is informed by participant interviews with local community members and activists whowant to see change for the sake of a better Aurora. The paper concludes by exploring how localcounter-imaginaries for space are contributing to place-making, freedom struggle, and the(re)imaging of policing. (Re)imagining the values and realities of our spaces towards a more justfuture and how community-based approaches can aid in the realization of this future.</p
How Room Decor Influences Women in a Simulated Computer Science Space
Get PDFThis study examined how different room decor would influence ambient belonging, feelings of efficacy, interest in the field, and performance on a math task. This was all done within the context of a simulated computer science space. The sample consisted of 232 currently enrolled female CU Boulder students. My findings revealed no significant relationships between room condition and belonging, interest, or efficacy. In contradiction to my findings, previous literature consistently indicates a relationship between these variables. The discrepancy could be caused by potential limitations in the design of this study. The null results could also indicate that minimal inclusivity attempts, like hanging up posters of women in a male-dominated space, are not enough to counteract such a deeply embedded societal stigma. </p
Regional Variation in Nitrate Content of Rock Glacier Outflow
Get PDF
As alpine ecosystems undergo widespread deglaciation, rock glaciers and periglacial features are becoming an increasingly critical water reservoir in headwater ecosystems. Thus, rock glacier outlet water chemistry has critical implications for ecosystem resiliency and downstream water quality under accelerating global change. These waters have been observed to contain extremely high nitrate concentrations, among the highest ever recorded in high elevation ecosystems. This has the potential to influence biogeochemical cycling in headwater systems. Despite these potentially significant impacts, sources of reactive nitrogen species in rock glacier outflow remain unknown. We compare concentrations and stable isotopes of nitrate in rock glacier outflow to surface water, groundwater, and snow samples. We examine variations in nitrate loading between the San Juan Mountains and the Front Range, as well as variation across regions globally. Nitrate concentrations in rock glacier outflow are highest in the Front Range but are consistent across regions once normalized to reference stream concentrations. We suggest phase change concentration as a possible mechanism behind elevated [NO3-] in rock glacier outflows. Potential nitrate sources include nitrification and atmospheric deposition of nitrates.
</p
Phases of the 2D Ising Model on the Spectre Lattice
Get PDFThe Ising model has been a standard toy model for understanding phase transitions since its inception. As lattices have been created to describe ever-more exotic solids, understanding the thermodynamic properties of magnetic phases described by the Ising model remains an important task. We present the necessary background to construct a quasicrystalline lattice using the recently discovered Spectre aperiodic monotiles and perform an Ising model study on the resulting lattice. Importantly, our Monte Carlo simulations show that the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases on a bare Spectre lattice are identical with a transition temperature of kBTc/J=0.90±0.01. However, we can introduce frustration to distinguish between these two phases by adding an extra bond on the “neck” of the Spectres. We show that the ferromagnetic phase on this modified lattice has a critical point at kBTc/J=1.12±0.02, but the antiferromagnetic phase has a highly ramified ground state with no sharply peaked heat capacity and a large excess entropy that indicates there is no phase transition from the disordered paramagnetic phase.</p
Manufacture and Deployment of the Array for VLF Imaging of the D-Region (AVID)
Get PDFEarth’s ionosphere is a time-varying system influenced by changing levels of ionization from a variety of sources. Very Low Frequency (VLF) waves are one way of remotely sensing the D-region ionosphere, and significant advances have been made in VLF radio receiver design over the years. This thesis presents the steps taken to revamp the AWESOME receiver developed by Stanford in the early 2000’s. The construction of 15 VLF receivers and deployment of 11 of them for the Array for VLF Imaging of the D-region (AVID) enabled analysis of frequency responses of four unique signal processing cards present in each receiver. Finally, this thesis presents the results of two case studies, one focusing on VLF transmitter output power, the other focusing on tracking the spatiotemporal evolution of the D-region ionosphere’s response to the onset of the October 10-11 G4 geomagnetic storm.</p
Crime and Punishment? Exploring Non-Punitive Approaches to Justice for Campus Sexual Misconduct
Get PDFThis thesis provides an in-depth look at the routes available for pursuing justice for cases of sexual violence on college campuses. This includes a brief explanation of the evolution of Title IX and its use (or, in some cases, lack thereof) in prosecuting instances of sexual violence. Due to recent changes made by the Trump administration in the use of Title IX it becomes evident that alternative frameworks need to be explored in order to find justice in sexual violence cases.
However, this thesis is almost purely conceptual and rooted entirely in literature. Philosophical theories advocating indirectly for forms of restorative justice are used to provide a rooting for this modern theory in the classic literature of the ancient philosopher Aristotle and the German idealist, Hegel. Both speak about the necessity of education and legislation that allows for free and rational deliberation for virtuous action that benefits society.
A more detailed explanation of the various forms and uses of restorative justice follows these theoretical underpinnings. It highlights the fact that punitive measures (especially those pursued in the ever-stricter Title IX framework) often fall short of the ideal in terms of benefiting not only the people harmed by sexual violence but society as a whole. Combined with the classical theory, this paves the way for a preliminary proposal for a restorative justice-based framework that could be implemented on college campuses, given that future empirical research agrees with the findings of this literature-based review. </p
Data sources:
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage Open Research Online? Become a CORE Member to access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard! 👇