purcc 2012 - University of the Pacific

Poster Session Abstracts
coefficient was negative), and could not be
shown to have an effect on inflation. Discussion
will emphasize theoretical causes of inflation and
unemployment in the context of the current
macroeconomy and how they can or cannot be
explained by the Phillips curve.
Perceptions of Sex Trafficking: Asian
Women and Massage Parlors
Theresa and Monica Cortez-Guardado
Faculty Mentor: Gesine Gerhard
This paper examines the way in which sex
trafficking is viewed in America. Sex trafficking
is typically seen as a one dimensional issue that
prescribes to an abolitionist viewpoint only. This
viewpoint defines sex trafficking as an industry
which is always a forced profession with
unwilling victims. However, sex trafficking is
actually an industry that includes women who
work as sex workers because it is an
economically viable option for gainful
employment. This fact is often forgotten though
with the many ways in which the abolitionist
viewpoint has been promoted and encouraged in
U.S. society. U.S. legislation has been influenced
by this viewpoint as well as modern-day media
which tends to focus on young girls being
pimped out. In particular western perceptions of
Asian women have made it so they are always
perceived to be the ones sexually exploited.
Essentially, the abolitionist viewpoint of sex
trafficking and its prevalence throughout history,
in U.S. legislation and in media sources
contributes to the sexualization and victimization
of women, particularly Asian women, in
American society. In order to discover American
perceptions of sex trafficking and Asian women,
both will be contextualized historically and these
perceptions will be connected to our micro-study
of Sacramento area massage parlors as an
example of the more ambiguous nature of sex
trafficking. Overall, sex trafficking proves to be
an ambiguous issue as it is not always clear who
is a victim, but it is clear that there are prevalent
Western perceptions of Asian women as sexual
objects.
Social Facilitation Effects on
Memorization Task in University
Students
Marisol Aguilera, Diana Lujano, Anthony
Sandoval-Junio, Lyndsi Mark
Faculty Mentor: Gary Howells,
Rocci Jackson (Graduate student)
Social facilitation is the process in which task
performance is inhibited or facilitated by the
presence of others (Zajonc, 1965). It is
traditionally hypothesized that the presence of an
audience will cause a person to perform better on
a task that is previously mastered. However,
when participants were asked to perform a kick
drill in front of an audience, results showed that
there was no significant difference of the effects
of an audience on the performance (Bell and
Yee, 2001). However some research has shown
that even the presence of virtual humans on a
computer screen has the same effects as humans
for social facilitation. Performance was
facilitated with the presence of a virtual human
with a simple task such as a maze (Park and
Catrambone, 2007). Newman and Dickenstein
(1976) have shown that social facilitation
produces higher performance scores as the
complexity of puzzle building increased. The
present study will observe audience effects on
participants trying to complete a complex maze.
In this experiment, each individual will be given
30 seconds to solve and memorize a complex
maze. The participants are going to be randomly
assigned to one of three conditions:
memorization and completion of the maze alone,
memorization alone and completion of the maze
in front of an audience, and both memorization
and completion of the maze in front of an
audience. We hypothesize that participants will
be facilitated in learning the maze and task
performance while in the presence of others.
Results from studies on social facilitation can
aide in many different relevant aspects, such as
finding the ideal setting for students to study, the
best way for athletes to train, and the most
efficient method for professionals in any field to
perform their job.
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