We found that not only did participants experiencing high self-uncertainty make fewer overall errors, but more interestingly, they demonstrated greater accuracy for self-relevant word-pairings than those low in uncertainty. This in turn affected reaction times pairing self-relevant vs. self-irrelevant words. This implies that uncertainty might not lead to cognitive load or distracted and heuristic processing. Instead, we suggest that uncertainty can create a motivated process with respect to self-relevant information, leading to more accurate judgments about the self, perhaps in an attempt to reduce uncertainty.

This study aims to address whether differences in spatial ability and memory will be found among those who have active lifestyles, inactive lifestyles, and those who play video games. Spatial ability was examined by having participants become familiarized and then tested on a 3-D computerized maze. Participants were tested on memory and spatial components when asked to recollect the spatial layout of the computerized map.

Speech is both auditory and visual. Both modalities can carry the same underlying (articulatory) information. This relationship serves cross-modal matching abilities in a variety of conditions, but to what extent is cross-modal matching ability mediated by abstract, cognitive processes, representations, and linguistic experience (e.g. lexicality or phonemic predictability)?

Historically, male violence has been viewed as a way to maintain power and control over a female partner within an intimate relationship while female violence has been viewed as a response to a male intimate partner’s attacks (Dobash & Dobash, 1979; Walker 1989). This community research project examines differences in attitudes and experiences related to violence among male and female domestic violence offenders. Individual interviews (N=13) were conducted to gain qualitative data specific to this topic. Participants included 5 men and 8 women enrolled in a 52-week batterer’s intervention program. The project findings will help guide a better understanding of family violence.

This project explored alcohol and other drug interventions that could be successfully implemented in our rural community, while also focusing on the special needs of foster and homeless youth. My goal was to focus on interventions for youth that are actively using alcohol and drugs, and to pay particular attention to interventions that focused on rural and indigenous youth. Interventions were screened using 6 key criteria. A total of 17 interventions met criteria to be included. Effective interventions were found to be school-based, peer-driven, built community within the school, and focused on developing positive coping skills among youth who participated.

For my master’s project, I laid the foundation for a kitchen program that will provide an organic, nutrient-rich meal to ResolutionCare patients once a week. The ResolutionCare Kitchen will be dependant upon grants, donations of resources, and volunteer effort. With my research and the support of the local community, staff at ResolutionCare can move forward with developing a pilot for the program in the summer of 2017. Activities of my project included: - exploring potential partners - researching food permit laws - researching ethical and nutritional     considerations of the palliative care patient

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between mental health stigma and help-seeking intentions and behaviors at a rural university and explore differences in patterns of help seeking by race/ethnicity. We hypothesize higher levels of mental health stigma will be related to lower levels of help-seeking. Multiple regression will be used to examine predictors of mental health help-seeking. We found that higher levels of stigma lead to a lower likelihood to seek help.

HSU OLLI holds classes all over Humboldt County. With a member population of people aged 50 and better, the accessibility issues and transportation problems getting to all the class sites is a huge concern for the program. This study looks into what exactly are the barriers for members and what transportation options are available in Humboldt County for this population.

Research collected from attendees of the RNC shows that White Americans who feel uncertain about their American identity and possess a bias toward viewing their country as “White” might be particularly likely to turn to a candidate who uses rhetoric which excludes ethnic minorities as a means of reducing their identity uncertainty. This work examines the moderating role of American identity uncertainty on the relationship between implicit bias and American identification. These results are important because they display the relationship between American identification and the extent of Americans’ implicit biases as moderated by the extent of their identity uncertainty.

This project involved work with Flying Changes, a local EAGL (or horse therapy) organization. EAGL is an experiential therapy shown to be a powerful modality in treating all sorts of trauma and emotional issues, especially with those who do not benefit from, or are resistant to, traditional talk therapy. I worked to develop grant application and fundraising strategies, build lasting relationships with collaborating partners and inform the organization on existing research and education opportunities. I hope to have assisted in receiving sustainable funding, and in building a sustainable organization, providing EAGL to populations in Humboldt County who could benefit from its power.