MacEwan Open Journals (MacEwan University)
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Speech and language effects on the perception of mixed emotion in children
No full textMixed emotions often comprise opposing basic emotions such as happiness and sadness. Previous research on mixed emotion in children studied basic common emotions such as happy vs. sad. The current project extends this work by examining happy vs. disgust mixed emotions conveyed in the content and vocal expression of spoken sentences. Empathy is thought to play a vital role in children\u27s perception and experience of mixed emotions, as older children with a higher degree of empathy will recognize mixed emotions more successfully than their younger counterparts. Age-related change in the perception of mixed emotions of children ages 3-12 years will be examined. In addition, individual differences in empathy will be analyzed to determine if empathy moderates children\u27s perception and experience of mixed emotions.
Children will listen to various sentences of conflicting emotions created by opposing sentence content and vocal expression and rate the spoken sentences along a continuum of engaging emoticons that show various intensities of the target emotions. A theory-of-mind task will be administered to assess empathy, and its relationship with emotion ratings will be examined. It is hypothesized that older children will have more success in recognizing mixed emotions than younger children by demonstrating more moderate ratings on the continuous scales. The findings will help shed light on the social and emotional skills that enable children to be successful in communication and relationships with others.
Department: Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Tara Vongpaisa
Does Feeling Heard Improve the Experience Worldview Conflict?
No full textWe commonly encounter conflicting attitudes and opinions. Past research finds that engaging in such worldview conflict elicits temporarily lowered mood and psychological well-being (Brandt et al., 2019). Understanding how to mitigate these consequences of worldview conflict may help improve well-being. In close relationships feeling heard in a conflict can increase well-being (Gordon et al., 2013; Reis et al., 2017). We aim to extend these findings to the study of worldview conflict. Participants will complete series of open-ended and closed-ended questions to recall and describe a recent political discussion. We will focus on their recollection of the following: how the discussion went, whether they felt any of a range of specified emotions during and after the discussion, how they perceived the other, and whether they felt heard by the other. We expect to find a negative correlation between feeling heard and negative emotions, such as other-condemning emotions and agitation. On the other hand, we expect to find a positive correlation between feeling heard and contentment. We do not expect to find an association between feeling heard and feelings of dejection or excitement. The results of this study could help guide future research on how to alleviate the most difficult reactions to worldview conflict.
Department: Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Craig Blat
Parental Intervention Non-Adherence Mediated by Misinformation About Applied Behavioural Analysis
No full textWine production is dependent on ethanol, but also on optimal glycerol concentrations, both of which are produced by S. cerevisiae fermentation. Wine characteristics like sweetness levels are influenced by glycerol concentrations. Additionally, elevated glycerol levels can be an indication of abnormal blood sugar levels. In both situations, close observations of glycerol levels are essential. One proposed method of measuring glycerol concentrations is through enzymatic oxidation with a glycerol biosensor. Alditol oxidase (AldO) is a recently discovered carbohydrate oxidase in S. coelicolor. Despite specificity for longer-chained polyols, studies have proposed that AldO can be used as a glycerol oxidase. Using random point mutations, an AldO mutant was isolated and had increased specificity for glycerol. These results suggest that potential for AldO with glycerol biosensor development. This project aimed to produce a glycerol specific alditol oxidase to be used as a biosensor. A synthetic alditol oxidase (AldOG) gene was used to produce AldOG via cloning methods. The method will also be utilized in conjunction with Dr. Samuel Mugo’s work in biosensor construction. Finally, the resulting cloning techniques optimized for AldOG will be used in a future laboratory for a 300-level Biochemistry course currently under development by Dr. Bernstein.
Department: Psychology
Faculty Mentors: Dr. Russ Powell and Miranda Macaule
Beyond Bullets: How Ukrainian Families are Being Impacted by the Russian Invasion of 2022
No full textThis research topic will explore the detrimental effects that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has had on families beginning on February 24th, 2022. Following the violent attacks by Russian troops, the citizens of targeted Ukrainian cities have started to evacuate and seek refuge in the western parts of the country and neighbouring countries. The sudden displacement of millions of people has put an intense strain on families. Sociologically, this war will impair how families will be able to function for generations which will have a severe impact on familial dynamics and interactions. The war can be analyzed utilizing a conflict perspective, as it has been manufactured to benefit Russians and inflict long-term traumatic effects on Ukrainian citizens.
As Ukrainian troops come together to defend their country against Russian forces, many consequences of war may occur, but this project will focus on the existence of intergenerational trauma, patriarchy, and migration. The family structures of both Ukraine and Russia will be significantly transformed because of the invasion, whether that be the extended families that exist between the two countries\u27 borders or the millions of displaced individuals and families that are forced to separate from their loved ones due to living within a war zone.
Department: Sociology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Michael Gulayet
Ukrainian Students\u27 Involvement in Russia\u27s War on Ukraine
No full textIn the context of world history, university students have played an essential role in advocating for change. Student activism as a phenomenon is seen throughout history, ranging from American student involvement against the Vietnam War, Tiananmen Square in China, Germany\u27s Velvet Revolution and Egypt\u27s Arab Springs. This presentation explores student involvement in Ukraine during Russia\u27s invasion by analyzing university students\u27 active roles, including supporting and supplying resources for refugees and soldiers, raising a cyber militia to fight Russian disinformation and international calls for action. This examination compares the theoretical background of why students mobilize and contrast theory to what we currently see in Ukraine. This analysis concludes by examining the impact and implications of students\u27 involvement in this conflict by measuring current societal and political change.
Department: Sociology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Michael Gulayet
Russian Propaganda and Moral panic: the Implications for North America
No full textThis presentation aims to explore Russian propaganda and how it relates to Stanley Cohen\u27s idea of Moral panic by examining the conspiracy theories of Biolabs in Ukraine. This will be done by exploring the Five Stages of a Moral Panic and contrasting them to tweets by well- known Twitter users. The goal of this presentation is to show how Russian propaganda is causing a moral panic in the united states and how in turn, that can cause a lack of institutional trust in the government. A secondary goal of this presentation is to both show the scope of Russian propaganda on Social Media sites and link propaganda to popular conspiracy theories such as Q-anon and Covid Conspiracies.
Department: Sociology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Michael Gulayet
Instagram and Politics Systematic Review
No full textInstagram is used by millions across the globe. We examine how researchers have used Instagram to study politics. In June 2021, we searched SCOPUS and Web of Science to identify 647 studies about Instagram and politics. Of these, 75 studies were deemed relevant studies in terms of being related to politics and containing original data (i.e., included a distinct methods and findings/results section). We find a surge in studies in 2018. We find that about half of the studies are based in European countries and about 23% are based in the United States. This finding is contrary to the study of other platforms and politics, which have documented that the United States is the focal point of research. About half of the studies focus on political elites, whereas only 26% are focused on citizens. Only 6% of studies use survey data, surveys tend to be the mechanism for social scientists to collect data about citizens. Instead, scholarship has focused on digital trace data to study this platform. This review allows us to see if the use of Instagram for politics has changed over time, cross-national differences in the study of Instagram and examine the different methods used to study Instagram. This systematic review helps identify the research gaps and is useful for launching future projects about Instagram and politics.
Department: Sociology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Shelley Bouliann
"Good" Mother Versus "Bad" Mother: How Societal Conceptions of Motherhood in Canada and Ukraine Impact a Mother\u27s Access to Opportunities
No full textNostalgic to my Childhood, Symbolic to Your Culture: Discussing the Intercultural Adaptation of Culturally Bound Fairy Tales
No full textThis essay explores fairy tales as culturally bound stories that serve as the means of preserving and passing on cultural values and collective identity. Under the guise of cultural preservation and teaching, fairy tales communicate cultural values, therefore keeping cultures ideologically stagnant; however, when appropriated fairy tales, the fairy tales cannot be fully appreciated for their cultural and ideological value. By first establishing fairy tales as communication symbols that inform cultural tradition and ideology, fairy tales are discussed for their role in moral education for children and in shaping children’s perceptions of culture. German fairy tales from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and the Brothers Grimm are examined for their association with the construction of German culture and the rise of German nationalism. Finally, fairy tales are discussed for their role in American culture, though as appropriated texts, are tokens of entertainment rather than culture
The Implementation of Guaranteed Basic Income in Canada
No full textThe Canadian welfare system has been in place for several decades, but it has not fully addressed social issues such as poverty and economic change. Guaranteed basic income (GBI) has emerged as a potential solution to existing social programs failing to have their desired impact, and there are many proposals for what a basic income should look like in Canada. These works are primarily focused on economic calculation and moral arguments, and implementation serves as a secondary concern to these primary imperatives. My presentation analyzes GBI through an implementation studies lens and creates a layout for the implementation of my own GBI proposal, with lessons taken from the Canadian basic income projects in Manitoba (1975-77) and Ontario (2016-18).
Department: Political Science
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Brendan Boy