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Group-Individual Probability Confusion: Implications for Suspect Prioritization in Criminal Investigations
No full textAbstract
Purpose
Suspect prioritization is a critical function in criminal investigations suffering from information overload. As this effort involves probability ranking, it is important to avoid confusing group and individual selection probabilities, an ecological fallacy related to Kahneman and Tversky's hit-and-run taxicab color exercise.
Design
We studied this tendency using an experimental survey administered to 1017 university students. The survey involved both individual- and group-level probability questions, presented in randomized order. Participants completed the Subjective Numeracy Scale to assess whether accuracy correlated with SNS self-assessment.
Findings
Subjects averaged 39 % correct responses across scenarios on the individual-level probability question, only half their accuracy on the group-level probability questions (74 %). Interestingly, subjects who did not select the correct response to individual-level questions almost always chose the corresponding group-level answer.
Practical implications
Probability confusion can distort suspect prioritization, an important task in criminal investigations involving information overload. It may also contribute to algorithmic discrimination in the criminal justice system. Our analysis suggests why some people answer incorrectly to the Kahneman and Tversky taxicab exercise.
Originality
This is a novel study. While previous research has explored ecological fallacies, cognitive biases, and common probability errors, this is the first analysis to directly examine group-individual probability confusion
Same Paradox, Two Immigrant Groups: The Experiences and Challenges of Second and Third Generation Hispanic and Muslim Students in the U.S. Higher Education System
No full textNo abstract prepared.Counseling, Leadership, Adult Education, and School Psycholog
Introducing Item-Specific Formatting to Scales of Criminal Justice Attitudes: Evidence from a National Experiment
No full textSound measurement is crucial for scientific advancement. Public opinion research suggests agree/disagree (A/D) questions, commonly used in criminology, are susceptible to response order effects and acquiescence bias, and increased cognitive burden and confusion. Previous criminological research on Americans’ seeming openness to both punitive and rehabilitative policies (i.e. pragmatism) has demonstrated the problematic nature of positively worded A/D questions. Still, the proposed solution of including negatively worded A/D questions can cause poor internal scale consistency. Using a split-ballot experiment, we compared an alternative to A/D formatting—item-specific (IS) questions—to assess the reliability and construct validity and to test hypotheses about American pragmatism. Two extant A/D scales demonstrated weak psychometric properties, while all assessed IS scales were psychometrically strong. Consistent with past research, we found evidence that the pragmatism thesis is a methodological artifact. Efforts to reduce acquiescence bias via IS formatting rendered results more supportive of attribution theory.Criminal Justice and Criminolog
In the Grooves: Record Stores as Community Spaces in Central Texas
No full textNo abstract prepared.Histor
Advancing open data practices: Insights from an inaugural open datathon
No full textOur first annual Open Datathon fostered interdisciplinary collaboration, equipping participants with open data skills to address real-world challenges. Through workshops, hands-on activities, and team building, participants created impactful digital projects. Despite challenges in skill diversity and team formation, we successfully provided support through pre-event sessions and networking activities. This poster shares key outcomes and offers actionable strategies for other institutions to host similar events, emphasizing the role of open data in driving innovation and community engagement.University Librarie
Development of a Transgenic System for Overexpressing tRNA-Derived Small RNAs to Enhance Resistance in Plants
No full textPlants exhibit a wide range of defense responses, including resistance (R) protein-mediated mechanisms that detect pathogens internally and often trigger programmed cell death—known as the hypersensitive response (HR)—to limit pathogen spread. Our recent findings highlight the significance of small RNAs derived from tRNAs, termed tRNA fragments (tRFs), as important molecules in the transcriptional reprogramming associated with defense responses. To enable more effective delivery of these tRFs, I established two transgenic systems utilizing distinct promoters: (i) an estradiol-inducible XVE promoter and (ii) a constitutively active U6 promoter. Currently, transgenic systems specifically optimized for tRF expression are not available, which constrain the ability to further investigate their functional roles in planta.
The effectiveness of these systems was evaluated through transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana and stable transformation in Arabidopsis. Interestingly, the U6 promoter—widely used for guide RNA expression in CRISPR/Cas9 systems via RNA polymerase III—triggered HR when tRF31Asp2 and others, collectively termed as ‘patro-tRFs (pathogen-responsive tRFs)’, were transiently overexpressed. Transgenic Arabidopsis lines expressing these patro-tRFs also showed elevated expression of the defense gene PR1 and increased resistance to avirulent Pseudomonas syringae. Although visible HR was not observed in these lines, ion-leakage assays indicated that a low level of HR was occurring. Northern blot analysis also confirmed increased expression of tRF31Asp2 compared to wild-type plants, although the increase was modest.
In contrast to the U6 system, the XVE promoter did not trigger the expected HR upon transient expression, suggesting that RNA polymerase II-driven systems may be inadequate for expressing tRFs in plants. While both transgenic systems marginally enhanced disease resistance, underscoring the potential of tRF-based strategies for developing resistance traits in crop plants, these findings also highlight the need to further develop and optimize overexpression systems for tRFs to achieve more robust immune responses.Biolog
Alliance of researchers in aging partnering with the community to support healthy aging in Central Texas
No full textThe Alliance of Researchers in Aging (ARIA), founded in 2019, supports networking opportunities and interdisciplinary research in aging at TXST, including research on cognition, cognitive decline and dementia, mental health, caregiving, and physical, social, and spiritual well-being.
ARIA is especially committed to research aimed at enhancing well-being in the later stages of life and applying research to help older adults in Central Texas and beyond through educational opportunities and partnerships with community stakeholders.PsychologyFamily and Consumer Science
Death of a Father: An Invitation to End-of-Life Education, Platica to Learn and Grow
No full textEnd-of-life discussions continue to be stigmatized across many communities, leaving individuals and families emotionally and practically unprepared for the realities of death. This dissertation explores the significance of engaging in open dialogue about dying and grief by reflecting on the life and death of my father. The study introduces the Circular Model of Critical Self-Reflection and the Anatomy of Virtues and Self-Framework (AVS); AVS draws from Erikson’s psychosocial developmental stages and associated virtues to examine how personal loss can foster community learning, resilience, and legacy-building.
The work uses an exercise of Critical Self-Reflection and the learning process through plática as its methodology. The research analyzes journal entries, reflective narratives, and personal memories using the Anatomy of Story, critical self-reflection, and thematic coding. Data was organized into three central themes: Community, Family, and Legacy, each interpreted through Erikson’s virtues. This methodological approach ensured thoroughness while capturing the emotional and pedagogical depth of lived experiences.
Findings reveal that personal stories about end-of-life experiences can be powerful tools for plática. They show how grief changes across family generations, how communal support systems offer strength, and how education within the family helps explain death. The study concludes that embracing end-of-life discussions through a virtue-based framework furthers deeper intergenerational conversation, reduces fear, and promotes intentional living. By reframing death as a shared human experience rather than a taboo, this work encourages a cultural shift in how communities approach loss with empathy, transparency, and education.Counseling, Leadership, Adult Education, and School Psycholog
Math Apps and their Relationship to Student Motivation and Mathematical Identity
No full textDespite the increasing prevalence of mathematics learning application use in K–12 schools, there is limited research on non-achievement related outcomes of mathematics learning applications, or math apps. Because elementary students are a common population that utilizes math apps, and mathematical identity and motivation are acknowledged as important factors of students’ success and well-being, this qualitative multiple case study examined the relationship among third graders’ use of math apps and their mathematical identity and motivation. Five third-grade students were purposefully selected as contrasting case studies from a technology-rich classroom on the basis of their varied mathematical identities and motivation. Over the course of a semester, the participants were interviewed twice (start and end of the semester), given weekly surveys, and field notes were collected during weekly observations documenting the activities, engagement, and interactions of the five case study participants.
Drawing on Cribbs et al. (2015) framework of math identity as consisting of students’ views of mathematics, views of self, and views of others’ recognition, data was analyzed for these three components of math identity. Drawing from self-determination theory, I analyzed motivation using the constructs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and the interest task value from expectancy-value theory’s subjective task values. In addition to using a priori codes drawing from theories of identity formation and motivation, I used thematic analysis to create descriptive subcodes and capture nuances in students’ experiences and views. Math app data was also analyzed to understand participants’ engagement and proficiency with various math apps throughout the duration of the study.
On the basis of the analyses and findings presented in Chapter 4, I have reached the following conclusions: (a) Math apps are related to students’ mathematics identities and appear to have a particular influence on students’ views of what mathematics is as evidenced by students’ reported experience and my observations; (b) Students’ values and experiences of the motivation components of autonomy, competence, relatedness, and interest varied; (c) Students were, in general, motivated by non-mathematical features of math apps and the classroom context in which math apps were used, but the relationship between math apps and motivation played out in different ways for different students; (d) Student engagement with math apps varied by student, by app, and across the semester; and (e) The construct of congruence emerged as a potential explanatory construct in the cross-case analysis that proved helpful explaining why participants responded positively, negatively, or minimally to a semester of math app use.Mathematic
The fentanyl education, support training and awareness (FESTA) program supports Hays County, Texas: Year 1
No full textNo abstract prepared.Social WorkPsycholog