Reed Digital Collections (Reed College)
Not a member yet
8045 research outputs found
Sort by
Snailseed Pondweed
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/621a133d-0022-46cc-8be3-aebb154290f8/thumb/128.jpgOne family’s experience of each other sensation water age fish seclusion spiders inside flies nighttime solitude daytime outsid
Autoregressive Time Series Modeling: A Comparative Analysis of Parameter Estimation and State Prediction Methods
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/e74a9a4d-1c26-4708-82b2-7a1c25999e1d/thumb/128.jpgThis thesis investigates the performance of two distinct parameter estimation and state prediction methods with stationary autoregressive time series models of the first order. Test data sets are simulated in R with a chosen parameter, and then two methods – the Yule-Walker estimation and the maximum likelihood estimation – are employed to estimate the parameter and predict future states. Residual analyses and mean squared errors are used to evaluate the performance of the methods. Results indicate better performance in the maximum likelihood estimation for all values of the parameter
Session Typing and Checking Using State Minimization
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/2200627e-11c2-41ad-a29c-d977c4f5cb20/thumb/128.jpgConcurrency is of great use in the world of computing. It enables fast speed gain by taking advantage of multi-core processing. Distributed communication between pro- grams is also what enables modern web programs and telecommunications. Session types are a way of capturing and abstracting this concurrent multi-process communication for analysis. This allows us to propose a type system that checks and restrictions the sort of concurrent communication our programs do. Here we present a method of checking these session types as well as a language designed to support and take advantage of them, allowing us to program concurrent processes transparently
The Effects of Public Transportation Infrastructure on Income Inequality
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/2dba29ea-65f2-4d50-b99a-c751241c9acd/thumb/128.jpgThis study examines the relationship between public transportation infrastructure and income inequality in the United States. Despite increasing levels of investments in transit infrastructure, there remain transit ridership inequities for low-SES and minority groups. Thus, the question of whether these investments are making proper steps toward increasing transit equity remains unanswered. My analysis will mainly be focused on public transportation presence and expansions in ten American cities and how they a↵ect income inequality and related factors such as travel time to work, personal income and housing prices. I employ OLS regression models to investigate the impact of public transit expansions on these outcomes with data from IPUMS and the US Census Bureau. My findings suggest that public transportation expansions are associated with higher housing prices but have mixed e↵ects on income inequality due to concerns of reverse causality and confounding factors. I also discuss potential limitations and directions for future research, such as the importance of considering transit equity and the racial divide in transit ridership. Overall, this research contributes to the ongoing discourse on the role of public transportation in shaping social and ridership equity
What Royals Fear: Magic and Political Scandal in Early Modern Europe
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/13198451-e9dc-49ec-befd-b989ba6e269e/thumb/128.jpgThis paper examines the effect and purpose of magic, especially witchcraft, on three political scandals in Early Modern Europe. The magic involved in these political scandals enters the picture during the legal process and consist of accusations made towards people already implicated in the scandal. I argue that the presence of magic accusations during political scandals is representative of particular fears, felt by those who had something to lose from the scandal. Because all of the examples center around the monarchy, I also draw connections among three different monarchs, from two different countries, and the fears they had in common. Each scandal I look at involves fears particular to the political, religious, and cultural moment when they took place, but fears of treason, conspiracy, and assassination are common among them all. Studying magic in these scandals reveals the politics at play, and provides insights into the mindset of those involved, or at least reinforces other observations of those patterns of thought and belief
Big Trouble, Little Forest: Differential Responses of Sugar Pine (Pinus lambertiana) and Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) to Ecological Restoration in SW Oregon
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/31fdbfdb-cac0-4ae2-bc9a-edb4794a3993/thumb/128.jpgHistorically, dry forests in the western United States have experienced and adapted to a regular pattern of fire on the landscape, also known as a ‘fire regime’. However, fire suppression policies that emerged in response to the 1910 fires in the American West led to a change in forest structure and more severe fires due to the accumulation of flammable understory fuels. The changes in fire conditions brought about by fire suppression have been further amplified by the emerging effects of anthropogenic climate change, which together has led to a higher incidence of severe wildfires in recent years. In 2013, the Ashland Forest Resiliency Project (AFRP) was formed through a partnership between non-profit, government agencies, and private landowners to restore historical structure and function and reduce growing fire hazards in the forested watershed surrounding the City of Ashland Forest. These objectives are achieved through prescribed burning and mechanical thinning, which is intended to grant forest trees increased resilience to climate change. This thesis aims to assess the effectiveness of the forest management practices in achieving this objective of greater forest resilience by assessing the annual growth patterns of large, old trees (legacy trees) of two key native forest tree species, Douglas-Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and Sugar Pine (Pinus lambertiana). Furthermore, this thesis also assesses how access to water has changed with the implementation of these management practices through stable-isotope biogeochemical analysis of wood tissue. I report that the two species assessed display differential responses to forest management but show evidence of favorable response compared to unmanaged controls. Specifically, I found Sugar Pine trees exhibit a positive growth response to treatments, while Douglas-Fir did not respond with increased growth but instead responded by increasing drought resilience. These findings indicate that studying the ecophysiological responses to management, in addition to radial growth, can grant us a more nuanced view of forest health, and makes a strong case for an expansion of post-treatment effectiveness monitoring to better account for such variable responses across species
Surviving the scorch: an ecological perspective on human mortality during heat-waves
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/de3797b5-d7a0-4a1f-b37f-1cc2a41e045f/thumb/128.jpgHumans are endotherms that generate and dissipate internal body heat in response to thermal variation within an environment to sustain a functional physiological state. Heat-related morbidities and mortalities present in human populations when an environmental or physiological barrier prohibits an individual from adequately adjusting their body temperature via autonomic processes or thermoregulatory behaviors. The theory of anthropogenic climate change supports observations that suggest that the frequency, intensity, and duration of environmental thermal stressors is increasing due to the warming effect of greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere. The incidence of heat-related morbidities and mortalities is likely to increase and exert a greater threat to human populations in the context of global change and a warming climate. This thesis is therefore motivated by the growing threat of human mortality during heat-waves, describes how thermal stressors are studied in human populations, and explores the predictors of human mortality during extreme heat. A systematic review of the published literature was performed to identify global trends in the identification of heat-waves and in the description of their intensities. Heat-waves identified in the systematic literature review were used to analyze 12 European heat-wave reports during the 2003 season to explore the relationship between meteorological variables and mortality rate. Meteorological variables were determined to be poor predictors of human mortality across the entire European continental landmass but associations between mortality rates and meteorological variables were evident when cities were ordered by latitude and according to the closest neighboring body of water. Predictors for future human mortality during heat-waves and in the context of climate change must consider the reality of humans as more than merely biological actors and they must be sensitive to a breadth of economic, ecological, political, social, and cultural identities
Stress-Mindset & Social Pain: Reducing Race-Based Bias
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/791930eb-e327-4f0c-b33f-9a97a2b3500f/thumb/128.jpgThe present research explores whether a manipulation of race-based bias in judgements of the social pain is possible, by way of changing a person’s stress- mindset. The study design drew from Study 1 of Deska et al. (2020) and the stress-mindset priming of Study 2 from Ben-Avi et al. (2018), as well as research on the hunchback heuristic — defined as the belief that attributes anger to low status groups and calm to high status groups — from Dr. Chuma Owuamalam.Participants completed a survey that manipulated stress-mindset into two conditions, Stress-is-Enhancing (SIE) or Stress-is-Debilitating (SID). Possessing a SIE mindset was not predicted to affect race-based bias in judgements of social pain, while a SID mindset was predicted to reduce the presence of bias. Endorsement of the hunchback heuristic was predicted to mediate the relationship between stress-mindset and judgements of social pain. In the study design, measures of stress-mindset and the hunchback heuristic are applied before participants completed a social pain judgement task.Ultimately, none of the predicted outcomes of the present research held up in analysis. One exception remained for Non-White, Conservative-leaning participants, who showed a reduction in the difference between judgements they made about White and Black Target Stimuli. Limitations and shortcomings in procedural design yield little confidence in the study results
The Psychology of UX: Assessing and Applying HCI Theory and Empathic Design Frameworks with Dykes on Bikes® Portland Oregon Chapter
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/c1126c44-99d3-4b9e-bf2c-8fde90c42b8a/thumb/128.jpgWeb interface complexity, in both amount of informational clutter and in extraneous navigation pathways, impacts the experience of the person using a website or app, whereas users perform tasks more easily on simpler webpages. This thesis investigated the impact of interface complexity with a usability testing paradigm that varied levels of website complexity. The Dykes on Bikes® Portland Oregon Chapter website was used as a case study, with one prototype modeled after the organization’s existing website to provide a baseline, a second “cluttered” version with increased visual clutter, and a third “clean” prototype with reduced complexity. I hypothesized that the prototype with the least interface complexity would be the easiest to navigate and provide more user satisfaction. Reed College students (N = 29) tested all three prototypes. Mouse click data as well as time spent completing tasks was collected in order to assess site usability. The clean prototype, as predicted, provided a significantly better user experience than the prototypes with more interface complexity. However, the prototype with the most interface complexity did not differ significantly in usability from the baseline prototype. Results imply that less interface complexity provides a better user experience, and a more concise and well-defined information architecture may specifically contribute to a more accessible experience for the user
Da Bin Lou: Understanding My Chinese American Identity (supplementary files)
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/d59faefa-9d2b-438a-8246-48fd1a3b8e00/thumb/128.jpgMy name is Sidney Fong. I am a third generation Chinese American woman trying to better define my cultural identity and explore my relationship with my cultural heritage living in the United States. I explore my cultural identity by first looking to Chinese and American cuisines that resonate with me. These cuisines are rooted in my family’s home cooking, and the different restaurants and grocery stores that define the social landscape of Sacramento, California, where I was born and raised. I used clay hand building methods to create lidded bowls and cups that were not only physically imbued with my identity through my finger impressions, but also all my thoughts and energy as I listened to Cheuk Kwan’s book Have You Eaten Yet?: Stories from Chinese Restaurants Around the World. He shares his exploration of Chinese restaurants located outside of China and the United States, which opened my eyes to the resiliency of these small restaurant owners who are ethnically Chinese but also proudly associate themselves with the country they live in. I used the medium of Da Bin Lou (hot pot) to engage my hand-built ceramic plate ware in an interactive installation with my friends. Da Bin Lou is a food medium that is rooted in my family gatherings at home during winter, but I have realized the ingredients and the soup base is dependent on each household’s preferences. The Da Bin Lou dinner and ceramic ware reflect on my family’s traditions and authentic Chinese influences, but most importantly represent my approach to further understanding my cultural identity