The individual differences of bilingual readers when using phonological information in word identification

Two theories have been proposed to explain how readers access the mental lexicon through written words: phonological mediation theory suggests that the sound of words activates the meaning of words; direct access theory suggests that the orthographic representation of words activates the meaning. Prior work has demonstrated that readers rely on phonological mediation in both alphabetic languages (e.g., English), and in less phonologically predictable logographic languages (e.g., Chinese); however, little research has investigated the relationship between bilingual readers’ phonological activation in both languages. Therefore, the current study assessed bilingual readers’ reliance on the phonological route for both English and Chinese reading. We hypothesized that readers who show a strong reliance on the phonological route in one language will show a similarly strong reliance on it in their other language. Replicating prior work, our study showed that in both Chinese and English tasks, readers made slower and less accurate judgments on homophone distractors. However, we did not observe a significant correlation between individual’s reliance on phonological routes in different languages.Psychology & Educatio

Quantifying and Analyzing Plastic in Seabird Nests in the North Sea

Plastics in the environment are of increasing concern for many organisms including seabirds. In this study, I examined the nests of four seabird species – northern gannets, black-legged kittiwakes, great cormorants, and gulls (herring and lesser black-backed gulls) – on two small islands in the North Sea. I quantified the proportion of plastic in each nest following methods described by Thompson et al. (2020), and compared the types and colors of plastics in their nests to those found in the environment. I examined the proportion of nests of each species that contained plastic, and found that northern gannets (98%) and great cormorants (95%) were both more likely to include plastic in their nests than kittiwakes (44%) and gulls (28%). I also found that the average amount of plastic in nests differed across species (northern gannets 36%, great cormorants 9%, black-legged kittiwakes 2%, gulls 1%). These differences in proportions of nests containing plastic and average amount of plastic in nests are likely due to differences in materials used in nests and whether a species reuses nests each year. In comparing plastics in the environment to that in nests, I found that fibrous plastic, in particular dolly rope, a type of sacrificial chafing material used in commercial bottom trawling fishing, was highly preferred by all the studied seabird species. Orange dolly rope was also favored over other colors of dolly rope. Chemical testing of dolly rope pieces found that it was polyethylene, which is consistent with previous reports for the North Sea, and mechanical testing of dolly rope strands highlighted the dangers of entanglement posed by the material. There is a strong preference for orange dolly rope by nesting birds that may be due to morphological similarities to natural nesting material and an ease in locating the brightly colored material in the water. While seabird deaths by entanglement alone are not likely to lead to a population decrease, these deaths are often slow and painful and should be prevented if only for humanitarian reasons. I explore different methods of mitigating deaths by entanglement and reducing plastics in the marine environment, as well as ways in which plastic monitoring in seabird nests can provide information regarding the levels and types of pollution in the marine environment.Geolog

New Constraints on the Timing of Deformation in the Maberly Shear Zone in the Grenville Province of Southern Ontario

I present new U-Th/Pb monazite dates for the development of the Maberly Shear Zone (also known as the Sharbot Lake Shear Zone) in the Grenville Province of Southern Ontario, Canada. This shear zone is of regional tectonic significance as a major boundary within the Central Metasedimentary Belt; it juxtaposes the Sharbot Lake Terrane to the west against the Frontenac Terrane to the east. My sample is a granitic gneiss with well-developed foliation and lineation parallel to the regional fabric in the Maberly Shear Zone. I report dates based on in-situ electron microprobe analysis of monazite grains, and compositional domains within these grains, conducted at the UMass Geosciences Electron Microprobe/Scanning Electron Microscope Facility. Dated monazite grains occur both within garnets and in the deformed matrix of the schist, and range in size from tens to hundreds of microns in scale; grains are relatively round and equant, although a few show unusual shapes. I dated domains in ten monazite grains, many of which show multiple domains that I defined based on domain geometries and variations in Y and Th content. I present twenty-six dates that range from 1222 ± 2.6 to 1145 ± 6.5 Ma (all errors reported here at 1 sigma). High-Y cores of monazite grains yield dates whose mean is 1206 ± 3.5 Ma, and lower-Y inner regions of grains yield mean dates of 1190 ± 4.4 Ma. Inner mantles yield a mean date of 1182 ± 3.4 Ma; outer mantles yield a mean date of 1172 ± 4.0 Ma. Some grains show geometric rims, not distinguished by unusually high Y content as is common in similar rocks; and mean rim dates are 1163 ± 4.2 Ma. All of these dates are in excellent agreement with predictions based on field mapping in the region and dates yielded by U-Pb analysis of zircon from neighboring granitoids (Corfu and Easton, 1997; Davidson and van Breemen, 2000). I interpret these dates as a record of shearing and high-grade metamorphism of metasediments in the Maberly Shear zone starting before and continuing through the later phases of the Shawinigan Orogeny.Geolog

Investigating the Effects of Glial Subtype-Specific Tau Expression in Drosophila melanogaster

Tauopathies are a diverse group of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by the aggregation of a microtubule-associated protein, tau. Recent studies have revealed that a subset of tauopathies can be classified by tau aggregation primarily in glial cells. Glial cells play a significant role in regulating overall nervous system health and disease conditions through a variety of functions unique to each glial subtype. However, detailed mechanisms by which tau toxicity manifests into disease states in specific glial subtypes are yet unknown. In this study, we utilized Drosophila melanogaster and its collaborative glial network to develop a glial tauopathy model that allows for subtype-specific tau overexpression. We investigated how tau expression, specifically in astrocyte-like glia (ALG) or cortical glia (CG), affects glial viability during development and hypothesized that human tau overexpression would yield glial cell subtype-specific toxicity with a more extensive impact in ALG than in CG. Results showed that while ALG-specific tau expression led to ALG cell count increase in young female flies, CG-specific tau expression led to extensive CG cell death in both sexes. Our study demonstrates that glial cell types respond differently to tau overexpression, highlighting the importance of evaluating each cell type individually in disease conditions.Neuroscience and Behavio

Indoctrination, Insulation, and Closed-Minded Belief: Easy as ABC

In this thesis I argue that indoctrination is closed-minded belief caused by epistemic insulation, where epistemic insulation is a belief that motivates closed-mindedness for any reason. I first consider and reject previous accounts of indoctrination which define it by intention, method, outcome, and content. I next consider Rinalli’s definition, which functions as the basis of my own definition, but claims that epistemic insulation motivates the pupil by appealing to their desire to be rational and moral. Finally, I present and defend my own account of indoctrination which differs from previous accounts by claiming that epistemic insulation can be motivated by reasons beyond a desire to be rational and moral.Philosoph

Can't Help but Help: Should We Praise Good Deeds that Result from Mental Illnesses?

We hesitate to blame kleptomaniacs for stealing. Should we be similarly hesitant to praise people for doing good deeds if their actions are motivated by similar compulsions? My thesis project considers how to evaluate good deeds that are caused by mental illness. Specifically, I will focus on Scrupulosity OCD. Scrupulosity is a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder in which rather than feeling the urge to do something like wash their hands, the patient has the compulsion to help other people. Mental illnesses like this can cause conflicting intuitions when it comes to assigning praise. For example, if someone donates 30% of their income to charity because they want to help other people, it seems like we should praise them strongly. But if we find out they have Scrupulosity OCD and felt compelled to make donations, we might want to avoid praising their compulsive behavior. My project seeks to resolve these conflicting intuitions. I will start by confirming that it is possible to perform good deeds as a result of mental illness, and I will then carefully dismiss the possibility that such deeds can warrant neither praise nor blame due to mentally ill people having ‘no choice.’ Next, I will explore one influential account of praiseworthiness in which, roughly, a person is praiseworthy if they do the right thing for the right reasons. From this account, we might expect Scrupulous people not to be praiseworthy, but I discovered the opposite result: it follows from this account that a good deed resulting from Scrupulosity OCD is actually more praiseworthy than one that is not compulsive. I do not consider this a desirable result. Accordingly, I propose a way to alter the account to return a more plausible result: compulsive and non-compulsive actions are, in some circumstances, equally praiseworthy. I will finally conclude that when good deeds caused by Scrupulosity OCD are as praiseworthy as non-compulsive good deeds, it is because the person’s good deeds and the compulsions that caused them are an accurate reflection of that person’s real (praiseworthy) values.Philosoph

The Formation of the Mount Holyoke Missionaries Collection: Race, Redemption, and the Early Archive

What is an archive? Is it a place? An object or objects organized into collections? A mentality? How have the creators of archives determined what should be archived, and what ideas about history have their decisions preserved? My research centers these questions in a study of the creation, over time, of the Mount Holyoke Missionaries Collection, with its holdings related to the missionary work of alumnae from 1841 to the present. In the early years of Mount Holyoke’s history as a Female Seminary, its founders and teachers sought to disseminate Protestant values and create an alumnae body of pious teachers, mothers, and in time, missionaries. Its early archive—represented in published works, financial records, and objects sent to Mount Holyoke from missionary fields—produced histories centered on Christian action and salvation blended with colonial discourses of race and civilization that venerated missionaries’ role in saving and civilizing non-Christian peoples. At the turn of the century, once Mount Holyoke had become a college and moved to adopt more rigorous academic standards and empirical research practices, both its historical consciousness and its archive shifted. Librarians, students, and teachers reinterpreted archives as vital for understanding the human race and bringing about societal improvement. While this approach was more empirical, it reflected the religious mindset of previous generations as well as the Social Darwinism of the day. The Missionaries Collection grew to include more documents reflective of missionaries’ everyday life, such as missionary publications and newspaper articles. In doing so, it reproduced racist discourses and continued to venerate Christianity as a sign of racial and social progress. This project contextualizes the archive as a historical phenomenon that has been constructed, reinterpreted, and redesigned over time. The Mount Holyoke Missionaries Collection is a prime example of an archival collection reflecting the distinct images of its creators’ and archivists’ historical consciousness over its nearly two centuries of existence.Histor

What Are the True Sizes of Retired A Stars?

To find exoplanets, it is important to have accurate measurements for potential host stars to make it easier to tell when something changes that might indicate the presence of an exoplanet. A-type stars, which have up to about twice the mass of our Sun, rotate very fast, making it hard to see if an exoplanet's gravity is tugging on them. However, when these stars have aged and cooled into subgiants, they rotate slower, making it easier to spot planets around them. This project uses near-infrared data from Georgia State University’s Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) on Mount Wilson, CA, to accurately measure the radii of five retired A stars. Models make it possible to predict the stars’ luminosity, temperature, age, and mass from the radii measurements. The measurements of these five properties are then compared to the properties estimated by existing literature, which generally uses broad-band photometric data and derives the radius using a chart rather than measuring it directly. Hypothetically, there will be a systematic offset in the measured values as compared to the literature values. This comparison will help to refine the models and lead to more accurate measurements of retired A star radii — and lead to more exoplanet discoveries.Astronom

Gendered Dispensationalism: An Analysis of Evangelical Prophecy Fiction and Gender Roles in the Twentieth Century United States

This thesis explores the role of gender in American prophecy fiction from the period 1900-2000. Prophecy fiction, or novels that present an imagined end of the world informed by evangelical readings of the Bible, has been popular with an evangelical audience since the genre’s inception in the late nineteenth century. By choosing who achieves salvation and through what means, authors of prophecy fiction engage in cultural interventions, indicating to readers what elements of larger American culture should be accepted or rejected in order to achieve eternal life in Heaven. In this work I focus on how gender has been understood by prophecy fiction authors and how these understandings have evolved over the twentieth century. I analyze two influential works of prophecy fiction: Joseph Birckbeck Burroughs’ Titan, Son of Saturn: The Coming World Emperor (1905) and Timothy LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins’ Left Behind (1995), to understand how their historical context informs their positions on gender roles for men and women during their life on earth with the goal to achieve eternal life after death. I find these novels reflect that evangelical women have experienced a decrease in public facing leadership and religious autonomy in the 90 years between the two publishings.Religio

Breaking the Cycle: In search of progressive representations of masculinity in Elena Ferrante's L'amica geniale

A great part of the scholarship surrounding the novels of the mysterious Italian author Elena Ferrante, including her best-selling quadrilogy My Brilliant Friend (originally published in Italian as L’amica geniale between 2011 and 2014), focuses on her unique writing of the feminine experience, her ability to reveal less-considered aspects of maternity, female friendship, and love. Ferrante’s prioritization of the feminine experience is particularly significant considering that most of her writing is set in the traditional and patriarchal society of Naples. Thus, it is fitting that most literary criticism of her work analyzes the masculine experience and the actions of male characters almost exclusively in terms of how they impact the female protagonists. The aim of my thesis is to extend the field of Ferrante Studies by instead considering masculinity as its focal point in a comprehensive study of the masculine experience in L’amica geniale. I argue that even the dominating class in the patriarchal society of Naples, the men, are restricted to a certain model of behavior or self-identity and thus struggle equally or in some cases even more to liberate themselves from societal pressures. After noting an almost uniformly negative fate of the male characters in My Brilliant Friend this research aimed to discover whether male characters who broke this mold existed in the tetralogy, and, upon identifying them, to understand what made them different and how exactly they broke that cycle. Incorporating primary textual evidence from Ferrante’s quadrilogy as well as the research of numerous scholars from Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, this thesis demonstrates that, despite the relative uniformity of toxic masculinity in the books’ primary setting, and despite the many environmental and hereditary factors which trap the male characters in a seemingly unending cycle of violence, Ferrante has in fact created two male characters who succeed in liberating themselves from the weight of their cultural burdens. By identifying and analyzing these two male anomalies, this thesis identifies the small beacon of hope, the “blind spot” in Ferrante’s bleak portrayal of the male experience in southern Italy. Ferrante demonstrates that even in such a violent environment as the rione, a place generally resistant to change or individuality, there is always a way, and in fact more than one, to liberate oneself from one’s seemingly fixed destiny.Italia