MacEwan Open Journals (MacEwan University)
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Associations between Dance Training and Memory Skills
No full textThere is strong evidence that both music training and physical exercise are associated with various cognitive abilities. Musicians tend to have superior auditory memories compared to non-musicians, and physical activity is associated with working memory. In dance, these two areas are combined, but very few studies have examined links between dance training and cognitive skills. Dancers are required to remember long complex patterns of body movements over time, an ability that is practiced in most trained dancers. This study examined the association between dance training and memory skills. University students with varying amounts of dance experience were recruited, and they completed measures of visual and auditory memory, general intelligence, and personality. Consistent with previous research, extracurricular physical activity was associated with our working memory measures. Music training was initially associated with auditory immediate memory, but this disappeared when controlling for IQ and the personality variable of openness. By contrast, duration of dance training was associated with visual memory but not auditory memory. These findings were what was expected due to dance’s heavy reliance on visuals; dance may benefit visual memory or people with better visual memories may be more likely to participate and stay in dance training. These results demonstrate that different classes of extracurricular activities are associated with different aspects of memory.
Discipline: Psychology (Honours)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kathleen Corrigal
Are We on the Same Page? Comparing the Perceptions of Professionals on Overall Sexual Violence Risk
No full textThe risk, need, and responsivity (RNR) model is currently the most evidence-supported model of treatment for offenders. Although there is ample research that focuses on the validation of the model, very few studies have examined how well professionals adhere to the principles of RNR. The current study investigated how professionals perceive sexual violence risk, what treatment dosages professionals recommend and how they quantify those dosages, if they can identify criminogenic needs and responsivity issues, and if individual attitudes of professionals influence risk perceptions. Additionally, the study examined if individual attitudes of professionals could have an influence on their perceptions of sexual violence risk. Twenty-nine members of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) completed an online survey where they read a mock referral form about an individual who had sexually offended and completed a series of questionnaires. The findings revealed that professionals were more likely to use their own discretion when making risk-related decisions, disagreed on treatment dosage, and were unable to consistently identify criminogenic needs and responsivity issues. These results suggest that professionals may not be adhering as closely to the principles of RNR as would be expected and highlight the need for validated guidelines to ensure sound practice.
Discipline: Psychology (Honours)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sandy Jun
The Dissection of A ‘Grisly Work of Art\u27
No full textThis essay analyzes and explores Tobe Hooper’s film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) from a philosophical lense. The film confronts us with the grisly reality of our own human condition; we are nothing but meat and flesh. Contrasting images and dialogue that unveil our vulnerabilities, Hooper places the ugly and grotesque on display, propelling us to see nothing but the hideousness of these vulnerabilities. Hooper’s film functions as a representation of the ugliness our capitalist society forces us to conceal. The pervasion of capitalism within society provides us the ability to commodify anything, including our own physicality. What Hooper demonstrates is that what is concealed through capitalist functions is ultimately revealed, exposing itself to be more terrifying and chaotic than what we formerly believed. Through an in-depth scene analysis, my essay discusses the “grisly work of art” Hooper’s horror film produces.
Discipline: Philosophy
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alain Beauclai
Tracing the Path of International Business Research
No full textPast studies have attempted to identify the domains of international business over specific periods of time. Most have used data sets for short time periods, providing a snapshot of the field for the period under review. This paper attempts to review the research in the area of international business for the past five decades, with the objective of understanding the path that research has taken over the last five decades in terms of research content, relevance, and methodology. This understanding supports proposal of a research agenda for the future, from the perspective of both content and methods in international business research.
Discipline: International Business
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Etayankara Muralidhara
Individual Differences in Electronic Media, Personality, and Dreams
No full textA variety of questionnaires such as the Game Engagement questionnaire (GEQ), the Creative Experiences Questionnaire (CEQ), and the Big Five Personality Inventory were administered to determine the relationship between dreaming about electronic media experiences and various individual difference variables. The association between individual difference variables of those who reported a dream of video game play was also explored. A type of fantasy proneness/thin boundary factor was expected for these gaming dreamers, as well as high scores on selected subscales of the Dream Intensity Inventory. It is thought that thin boundaries, which are more prevalent in high video game players, will be associated with Game Transfer into waking and dreaming reality. The content of dreams pertaining to games, social media, videos, or any other type of electronic media was compared in terms of self-ratings and judges’ ratings. The media dream reported was self-selected. Self-ratings of the dream were in terms of presence, dream type and emotions. Judges’ ratings were for threat simulation among others such as lucidity, and gaming content.
Discipline: Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jayne Gackenbach
 
Genetic Diversity of Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) in Lac la Biche, Alberta
No full textGenetic diversity is the variation between individuals that may confer an adaptive advantage. Ecosystem disturbances, whether anthropogenic or stochastic, often stress a population. Population management strategies are implemented to rectify ecological imbalances. Within Lac la Biche, Alberta, a fishery restoration program was implemented by Alberta Environment and Parks aimed at reducing the top predator, the double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus), and increasing the population of walleye (Sander vitreus) within the lake. These changes to the predator-prey dynamics may have caused a trophic cascade that would impact lower trophic levels, such as yellow perch (Perca flavescens). This study evaluated the impacts of the fishery management strategy on the genetic diversity of yellow perch within Lac la Biche in 2009 and 2010. Genetic diversity was examined by electrophoretic DNA fragment analysis of four nuclear microsatellite loci. The number of alleles, observed and expected heterozygosity, and an inbreeding coefficient were calculated to compare the diversity of yellow perch within Lac la Biche to other populations within North America. Each loci revealed a low observed heterozygosity compared to Hardy-Weinburg equilibrium and a high inbreeding coefficient. This quantifies the health of the population and evaluates the effectiveness of the Lac la Biche management strategy.
Discipline: Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Dr. David McFadye
Life Stress and Mental Health
No full textDepression is a common mental disorder and one of the main causes of disability worldwide. We want to increase mental health awareness through this project. The data set used is “Canadian Community Health Survey, 2012: Mental Health Component” which was found from Statistics Canada Nesstar and it was organized in January 23th 2014. The main objective of our project is to identify the main causes of depression among Canadians by using statistical methods such as factor analysis and logistic regression, etc. We hope to provide some strategic recommendations to overcome the mental health problem and reduce the incidence of tragedy.
Discipline: Statistics
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Wanhua S
Anti-Homosexual Campaigns in Cold War Canada
No full textThe Cold War was a time of civil right abuses and national insecurities in Canada. During the hunt for Communist internal subversive threats, hundreds of men and women working in civil service positions lost their jobs in the Anti-Homosexual Campaigns. During the 1950s and 1960s the Security Panel led by members of the RCMP "secretly" undertook the surveillance of suspected, alleged and admitted homosexuals in vulnerable sectors of the government. Homosexuality was criminalized and later medicalized by the RCMP which made homosexuals targets of Soviet blackmail threats due to the secret nature of their lifestyle. Cultural and national insecurities resulted in the push to strengthen and valorize prewar societal norms, such as heterosexuality and masculinity. The RCMP claimed moral justification for its actions. Homosexual civil servants were demoted or fired without a given reason due to denial of security clearance. The RCMP argued that homosexuals were people with "character weaknesses" unsuitable for jobs that gave them access to sensitive national information. Even today, archival research on the Anti-Homosexual Campaigns is censored through the Federal Government\u27s use of the Access to Information Act.
Discipline: History
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Carolee Polloc
French Enlightenment Pornography as an Attack on the Roman Catholic Church
No full textThis paper will explore how Eighteenth-Century French Enlightenment philosophes used literature and pornographic images as attacks on the Roman Catholic Church and as a way to promote their materialist philosophy.
Discipline: History
Faculty Mentor: Kelly Summer
Gender and Alcohol: An Exploration of the Gendered World of Public Drinking Establishments
No full textThis presentation will outline a proposed study of bars, pubs, and clubs which are characterized by high levels of alcohol consumption and the gender dynamics that exists within them. In particular, the ways these settings and alcohol culture seem to heighten adherence to hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity will be explored. This ethnography will be conducted by observing public drinking establishments as well as using data from semi-structured interviews with bar patrons in Central Edmonton, Alberta. Previous literature highlights the way social conditions regarding gender relations have influenced dynamics in public drinking establishments historically. In particular, women have always had less social permission to drink and participate in this culture than men. Current literature demonstrates that social pressures informed by gender are still influential of such spaces, often in a negative way. This study will focus on subjective experiences of drinking culture in order to understand the pressures, risks, and benefits that exist first-hand.
Discipline: Sociology (Honours)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Fiona Angu