162 Trade
Liberalization: An In-Depth Analysis of the United States’ and The European Union’s Proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
166 The
Cognitive Effects of Overhearing Different Types of Conversations Rosa Vessal, Sara Jensen, Alison Lebenbaum
Anna Troha
Faculty Advisor: Veronica Galvan Department of Psychological Sciences
Faculty Advisor: Craig Barkacs School of Business Administration
In today’s society, cell phones are an inescapable means of communication. This study examines the differences between different types of conversation as well as different levels of stimulation and their effect on attention and memory. Participants overheard either a one-sided cell-phone or two-sided ‘typical’ conversation. These conversations were either interesting or boring. The participants are then administered a list of words and are asked to recognize which ones they heard in the conversation. Participants who overheard a one-sided conversation performed better on the recognition task. There are no significant differences between interesting and boring conversations on the recognition task. These results suggest that cell phone conversations are more distracting than typical conversations. Cell phone conversations may be more disturbing in school and work environments, causing adverse repercussions in these settings.
The research to be presented here is centrally focused on the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the United States and the European Union announced earlier this year by President Obama in his State of the Union Address. Specifically, this research focuses on a financial and statistical analysis of potential job growth, potential growth in Gross Domestic Product, and the potential for increased competitiveness within both regions. Additionally, a compilation of publication research, interviews with professors, and historical benefits and conflicts resulting from trade liberalization will be included in the agreement’s potential benefits. The TTIP, while not yet in effect, serves to substantially increase jobs, GDP, and competitiveness for both the Unites States and the European Union. The future of its approval lies with the ever increasingly complicated politics and governmental structure of the aforementioned regions.
164 Free Your
168
Mind — Unlocking Your Inner Creativity
Whose Demands Matter More? Bridget Vuona
Jessica Urbano, Kathleen McGuire, Stephanie Harrison, Alyssa Black, William Dow, Adam Krebs, Philipp Storch
Faculty Advisor: Casey Dominguez Department of Political Science and International Relations
Faculty Advisor: Frank Jacobitz Department of Engineering
My question is: “At any given time in history, do political parties in the United States intentionally adhere to the demands of certain voter blocs represented by their respective interest groups over/ more than they do to the demands of other groups that make up that party’s coalition?” I will search for evidence of this trend in the two parties over time by identifying the policies the party promotes, and how that relates to the major voter blocs that make up the party. Then, I will determine if there is a positive relationship between the Independent Variable, the power that a certain group has in either party, and the Dependent Variable, the policies that party supports favored by those groups. This question is important because it provides information on how party’s decide which issue fights they will pick, as well as how the party’s “goodies” get distributed among its constituents.
As engineering students, we often hear it is important to be creative, yet most engineers do not think of themselves as particularly creative. Since the engineering process demands creativity, we looked into how creativity can be improved, and how exactly it is used in the engineering design process. We surveyed ENGR 102 (Introduction to Engineering Design) students to determine how they view themselves and how important they think creativity is in relation to engineering. We then conducted research to see what creativity means to different people, how one can improve creativity according to various trials, and how creative processes have been used in past engineering projects. When asked about what characteristics best describe a creative person, students most frequently responded with “thinks outside the box,” “innovative,” “open minded,” “intelligent,” and “imaginative.” Students also believe that group creativity can be enhanced by “different backgrounds,” “working together,” “sharing ideas,” and “brainstorming.”
170 National
Influences on Gender Inequality
Kara Waters Faculty Advisor: Casey Dominguez Department of Political Science and International Relations
This project will seek to explore the effect that several independent variables, namely religiosity, percentage of women in the national legislature, Gross Domestic Product, and percentage of women doctors in a country will have on a country’s level of gender inequality. The project will be divided into two sections. First, the literature review will provide scholarly information about the relationship between each of these variables and my dependent variable. The second portion of this paper will consist of a research design that will include information about my underlying question, theory, and hypothesis that will be drawn from evidence found in the literature review. As I am speculating that religion will have the strongest effect on a country’s level of gender inequality, a good share of the literature will explore this relationship. However, information regarding the alternative independent variables will not be neglected.
84 U n d e r g r a d u at e R e s e a r ch C o n f e r e n c e
/ Second Session Poster Presentations
u n i v e r s i t y o f s a n d i e g O
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