Amber C. Christ, Earlham College
Explanation Based Decision-Making and Expert Testimony: How Jurors Make Decisions.
The theory of explanation based decision-making states that when given a list of evidence, an individual will create
a story to make a decision about the evidence and will be more likely to recognize statements that support his
or her decision. With this theory in mind, the present study examined the effects of expert testimony on
juror decision-making.
Christine Fawcett, Miami University-Oxford
Play and Literacy: a study of common
underlying cognitive processes in children
I studied the relationship between two aspects of play (measured with pretense tasks) and literacy in preschool
children. I looked at phonological awareness’ relationship to comprehension of gestures; as well as story
narration skills’ relationship to understanding the mental component of pretense.
Rebecca Foltz and Twila Strasinger, Northern Kentucky University
Social Facilitation of Food Foraging in Pigeons: Activating Ecologically Relevant Behavior in a Laboratory Setting
Contrary to Zajonc's social facilitation theory, hungry pigeons key-peck less, not more, in the presence of a conspecific
relative to conspecific-absence controls. The inhibition results from elicitation of social appeasement and defensive
behaviors (begging and blocking the food tray) during signals of impending food.
Virginia Kelly, College of Mount St. Joseph
The Effects of Criminal Record and Gender on Hiring
This study explores the effects of criminal record and gender on hiring. This study employed a two (criminal
record: parking ticket or assault) by two (gender: male or female) design. These variables were tested by
survey report by Introduction to Psychology students.
Nathan Lee, Northern Kentucky University
The other-race-effect: The influence of prior life experience with African Americans on picture recognition
memory of African American and Caucasian faces in Caucasian men and women participants
The other-race-effect refers to the finding that recognition memory is better for faces of one's own race relative
to a different race. In contrast to prior research, I found that the bias is actually augmented, rather than
attenuated, by prior interaction with individuals of the other race.
Heather Re, College of Mount St. Joseph
Differences in Motivation, Academic Delay of Gratification, and Academic Achievement Between Traditional and
Nontraditional Undergraduate Students.
The purpose of this study is to determine the differences in motivation, academic delay of gratification, and academic
achievement between traditional and nontraditional students. I hypothesized that nontraditional undergraduates
would display higher motivation levels, more academic delay of gratification, and would achieve a higher GPA than
traditional students.
Charles R. Seger, Northern Kentucky University, David Silvera, University of Tromso; and Douglas Krull, Northern
Kentucky University
Look at That Enhancement! Within and Between Trait Self-Enhancement Biases.
Previous research has shown the strength of self-enhancement biases. However, most of this research has ignored
within-trait self-enhancement biases. This study replicated previous findings regarding between-trait self-enhancement
biases, and evidence was found for within-trait biases, especially for ambiguous traits. Implications are
discussed.
Jennifer A. Slezak, Earlham College.
The Role of the Visuo-Spatial Sketch Pad in Mental Arithmetic
The present study investigated the role of the visuo-spatial sketch pad subsystem of working memory in performing
mental arithmetic. Participants mentally summed strings of two-digit numbers while performing a primarily
visual or a primarily spatial task. The data give support for the involvement of the visuo-spatial sketch
pad in mental arithmetic. Additionally, mean scores from the visual and the spatial conditions differed significantly,
indicating that perhaps the visuo-spatial sketch pad is composed of two separate systems.
Allen Thomas, Northern Kentucky University
Attitudes of Students and Faculty Regarding Publication of Instructor Evaluations
This study compares attitudes of college students and instructors about publishing instructor/course evaluations
on the internet and/or in a campus circular. Instructors opposed publication and students favored publication
for precisely the same reason: To identify difficult courses and avoid them.
Deborah Uchtman, College of Mount St. Joseph
Role of Type of Reprimand and Gender in Perceptions of Managers
The purpose of this study was to examine the role of type of reprimand and gender in the perception of managers.
Specifically, to determine whether people perceive disciplinary action taken by female managers as being more aggressive
than disciplinary action taken by male managers.
Sarah Vogel and Susan Trauth, Northern Kentucky University
Attitudes of College Students about Teaching Evolutionary Theory
We will report undergraduate students' views on whether creationism and evolution explanations should be
taught with equal time in college courses, whether it is immoral to teach evolution, and whether careers in the
bio-behavioral sciences would be closed to students who are not well schooled in evolutionary theory.