Semantic fluency tasks involve recalling items from a given category (e.g., animals). It is well documented that these tasks produce heavy-tailed distributions of interresponse times (IRTs). Heavy-tailed distributions have been observed in a variety of contexts promoting efficient search. The current work investigates the role of categorical transitions within a single semantic category, multiple semantic categories, and non-semantic categories (e.g., letter categories). Counterintuitively, findings suggest the longer IRTs requisite for producing heavy-tails did not occur at the categorical transitions. Rather, the longest IRTs occurred immediately after switching categories. This work highlights similarities in foraging patterns across different domains from the physical and spatial to the cognitive and abstract.

This study looks to uncover the relationship between curiosity, specifically the factor of curiosity called stress tolerance, and the perception of groove, which is commonly operationalized as the pleasurable feeling of wanting to move with music. We hypothesized, based on prior research, that individuals with low stress tolerance would experience groove at lower rates in comparison to their highly stress-tolerant counterparts, and that the gap in groove ratings across groups would grow as rhythmic complexity increased. A sample of 190 participants were asked to rate three different audio clips varying in rhythmic complexity on how groovy they were. Participants then completed the Five-Dimensional Curiosity Scale Revised, which was used to measure stress tolerance. Participants were then split into two groups, consisting of individuals with high stress tolerance or low stress tolerance, before having their groove ratings across the different rhythmic complexities compared. This method did not produce any evidence that suggests stress tolerance and groove perception have a meaningful relationship. However, this lack of significance may lead us to a better understanding of the purpose of groove, and learnings from this study will be useful when pursuing further research on this topic.

The living world is replete with easily observed structural adaptations (e.g. teeth, claws, and stingers), but behavioral adaptations are no less impressive. Conspecific aggression can be defined as any harmful action directed by one animal at another of the same species. Because it is a potentially risky and costly behavior, aggression should be elicited only under optimal conditions. In honeybees, nestmate recognition is considered the driving factor determining whether colony guards will aggress against other honeybees attempting to gain entry to the colony. Models and empirical research support the conclusion that nestmate recognition should be favored over direct kin recognition. Thus, bees tend to use environmentally mediated cues associated with their colonies (e.g. colony odors) to recognize nestmates. The framework of nestmate recognition suggests that non-nestmates should always be aggressed against while nestmates should always be accepted. However, aggression towards nestmates and acceptance of non-nestmates are seen in a wide variety of eusocial insects, including honeybees. These are typically classified as rejection errors and acceptance errors, respectively. As such, they can be explained using signal detection theory and optimal acceptance threshold models, which postulate that recognition errors are inevitable if there is overlap in the cues used to distinguish “desirables” (fitness-enhancing) from “undesirables” (fitness-decrementing) conspecifics. In the context of social insects desirables are presumed to be nestmates and undesirables are presumed to be non-nestmates. I propose that honeybees may make more refined decisions concerning what conspecifics are desirable and undesirable, accounting for at least some of the phenomena previously reported as recognition errors. Some “errors” may be the result of guard bees responding to cues associated with threats and benefits beyond nestmate identity. I show that less threatening neighbors receive less aggression than highly threatening strangers. I show that well-fed colonies exhibit less aggression and that bees from well-fed colonies receive less aggression. I provide evidence that honeybees may decrease aggression towards nestmates and non-nestmate not involved in robbing while increasing aggression towards non-nestmate from a robber colony. Lastly, I show that pollen bearing foragers, regardless of nestmate identity, receive little to no aggression compared to non-pollen bearing foragers.

My thesis explores the role that implicit gender bias plays in the courtroom. From personal experience, I have seen the way that gender has been a factor in the courtroom as a result of both competing in and coaching Mock Trial. As a competitor, my gender was always a factor in that I was told that I couldn't do something because I am female. As a coach, I found myself reinforcing these ideas of gender because that was what I was taught, even though I didn't agree with them. I decided to explore the role of gender in the courtroom using Mock Trial as a framework to study how implicit gender biases is present. As a result of my research, I argue that implicit gender bias is present in the courtroom, and that these biases create barriers for female success. I have conducted research based on a variety of sources, beginning with looking at the role women have historically played in the courtroom to current issues facing women attorneys today. I have researched the role of implicit gender bias and studied how these biases impact women and hinder their success. I conducted research through distribution of the coach survey and analyzed the responses. From these finding I have concluded that implicit gender bias is a factor in the courtroom and that these biases tend to negatively affect women competitors. I conclude that that more research and studies need to be done to make individuals aware of how implicit gender bias functions in the courtroom and how coaches in Mock Trial may be contributing to the reinforcement of these biases.