Stander Symposium abstract book - University of Dayton

POSTER SESSION 1
locomotion. In Experiment 2, participants viewed targets that were positioned directly in front of them and either walked forward while spatially
updating to where they believed the targets were located or matched the distance between them and the target by walking backward without
spatially updating. Experiment 3 decoupled the biomechanics of walking and the direction of spatial updating. Participants viewed targets positioned
directly in front of them and either walked forward without vision to the targets while spatially updating or walked backward from the
targets while spatially updating in a manner consistent with forward walking.
Do Autonomous Individuals Strive for Self-Positivity? A Test of the Universal Nature of
Self-Enhancement
Presenter(s): Bridget P Lynch
Advisor(s): Erin O’Mara
Psychology - Graduate Research
This research explores the relationship between self-enhancement motivation (i.e., the motive to have and maintain positive feelings about the
self) and autonomy (i.e., the motive to feel in charge of one’s own life). Extensive research has shown that all people are motivated to feel positively
about the self. However, a small set of studies have noted that people who feel in charge of their lives and decisions (i.e., high in autonomy)
do not appear to meet the need to feel good about the self in the same way as their peers. In Study 1, 150 participants completed a series of
self-report measures to assess recently identified self-enhancement strategies and levels of autonomy. Study 1 will identify which types of selfenhancement
are consistent with varying levels of autonomy. Using the results from Study 1, Study 2 will experimentally examine the relationship
between self-enhancement and levels of autonomy by manipulating the type of self-enhancement task that 150 participants will engage in. After
the manipulation participants’ well-being will be measured. Data from both studies will be analyzed using multiple regression. It is expected that
people will have greater psychological well-being when they self-enhance in a way consistent with their levels of autonomy. This research will
either provide support for the universality of self-enhancement by identifying the strategy autonomous individuals use to self-enhance or may
contradict the idea that everyone is motivated to meet the need to feel good about the self.
Evaluations of Aesthetics of Faces in Portraits and Photographs
Presenter(s): Adam Barnas, Daniel A Hurlburt, Kaitlin E Key
Advisor(s): Susan T Davis
Psychology - Independent Research
When viewing a painting, “a person has an aesthetic experience that consists of visual scrutiny of interesting pictorial features detected initially to
satisfy cognitive curiosity and to develop aesthetic appreciation of the display” (Locher et. al, 2006). The present study evaluates aesthetic preferences
for faces, specifically relating to those influenced by art. Portraits and photographs of faces are matched for variables such as gender, artistic
medium, ethnicity, face shape, facial hair, hair color, eye color, and facial position (full or profile) and then shown to participants, individually in
separate conditions and then simultaneously in another condition. Data will be collected using self-report ratings and an eye tracker, which is a
device that measures eye positions and movements while a participant is viewing the painting and/or photograph. Our hypothesis is that the faces
in portraits will be rated higher for pleasingness than faces in the photographs because of the greater aesthetic appreciation and consequent value
associated with art (Locher et al., 2006). Further, we expect that data from the eye tracker will be consistent with these ratings and will show that
eye scanning movements will focus on features of the portraits that determine the aesthetic value of the paintings and more time will be spent in
eye fixations on these features than in similar features of the photographs. This research has implications for marketing and product development,
as well as significance for our understanding of what makes art “art.”
Internet risk awareness as a mediator for the relationship between age and privacy
settings on Facebook
Presenter(s): Anna J Scott
Advisor(s): Melissa J Layman-Guadalupe, Carolyn R Phelps
Psychology - Honors Thesis
Facebook’s increasing popularity among college students has caused new issues regarding privacy on a website whose major aim is to foster
communication via personal information sharing. However, this is not consistent across all ages. In fact, research has shown that as a person’s age
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