http://hdl.handle.net/1813/5430 2013-05-25T19:48:32Z http://hdl.handle.net/1813/33212 Title: The Origin and Evolution of "Prep" and its Socioeconomic Relevance Authors: Lingala, Anu Abstract: Preppy, Ivy League, WASPy, Country Club—all are used synonymously as terms for the classic collegiate look of the early to mid-twentieth century American menswear that has since been popularized, commercialized, and hyped to excess. In 2010, the Japanese cult preppy style bible Take Ivy was printed in English for the first time. The iconic book documenting fashion at American Ivy League universities was originally published in 1965, and sparked a craze for casual Americana in the authors’ homeland of Japan. Studying fashion at an Ivy League school at the time of the book’s 2010 re-issue inevitably piqued my interest in the associated preppy phenomenon, and I began to look into “prep” in America. I found that its definition seems to remain consistent regardless of who is recounting it: conventionally clean-cut, yet just a bit lazy. “A list of articles in the Preppie wardrobe would be tedious, but the following are some of the more familiar items: LL Bean boots, Top-Sider moccasins, tasseled loafers; pure wool socks, black silk socks, no socks; baggy chinos, baggy brick red…trousers, baggy Brooks Brothers trousers, baggy boxer underpants; shirts of blue, pink, yellow, or striped Oxford, sometimes buttoned down, some made for a collar pin, usually from Brooks or J. Press…jackets of tweed, corduroy, poplin, seersucker with padless shoulders, a loose fit around the waist…a shapeless beige raincoat bleached by years of use and irresistant to rain” (Aldrich, 1996: 16) But beyond its unwavering characterization as a clothing descriptor, “prep” becomes blurry. The existing literature discussing preppy style tends to glaze over its actual origins and complex evolutionary history. Different sources attribute the beginnings of “prep” to institutes ranging from preparatory schools, Ivy League universities, and White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) society, and each declares the “golden age” of preppy fashion as a different decade spanning 1890-1970. In the recent Preppy: Cultivating Ivy Style, Jeffery Banks and Doria de la Chapelle wistfully describe “the windswept and privileged style known as preppy” as having “origins rooted in the grounds of the elite Ivy League universities of the 1920s, where young, WASPy, and wealthy gentlemen invented a relaxed new way for collegians to dress” (2011: 3). However, in her book discussing WASP style, A Privileged Life, Susanna Salk claims that it was born in the 1950s among the preparatory schools of the Northeast (2007: 106). The authoritative American Fashion Menswear alternatively contends that Brooks Brothers was the original proponent of preppy style during the years 1896-1930, along with the privileged elite college students attending Ivy League Universities who helped establish the most current trends in menswear. (Bryan, 2009: 83). These excerpts provide just a sampling of the confusing and contradictory arguments regarding the development of “prep.” Thus, the aim of this paper is twofold. First, I seek to clarify and substantiate the origins of prep style, its relationship with American collegiate culture and the national class structure, and its evolution as a fashion subculture. A great deal of writing analyzes the correlation between upper class society and northeastern universities, and some material also exists on the basis and popularity of preppy fashions in collegiate culture. However, the connection bridging these interactions is rarely discussed in the existing literature, or is only mentioned on a superficial level, with no apparent evidentiary support. Through a review of literature and historical materials, I will delve into the complex symbiotic relationship between these three aspects of American society (prep style, collegiate culture, and the upper class) as it developed throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Next, I strive to attain a clear understanding of the cultural and socioeconomic significance of preppy fashion at that time in history, its function as an essential arbiter of class for the American aristocracy. I will consider the modern relevance of this historically critical relationship by looking at the development of contemporary fashion marketing and commercialization, ethnographic observation of the modern university climate, and interviews with current college students. Through my research, I determine that the declining value of this style as an indicator of class in our society is a consequence of the dilution of “prep” fashion by mass media and merchandising in the fashion industry. However, I find that, while not as precise of a gauge as it once was, prep style remains relevant as a means of providing insight regarding the wearer’s socioeconomic status and aspirations. 2013-04-12T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1813/28903 Title: Associations Between Child Care Subsidies and Family Well-Being Authors: Healy, Olivia 2012-05-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1813/28902 Title: The Effect of Iron Deficiency on Worker Productivity: Evidence from a Field Experiment in India Authors: Rhee, John Yohan 2012-05-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1813/28720 Title: Verbalizer vs. Visualizer Viewing Text and Image: An Eye Tracking Study Authors: Licero, Jordan Abstract: As the number of Internet users rapidly increases, the importance of understanding how individuals view an interface display is becoming increasingly important. In this study, eye-tracking software is utilized to examine the differences of cognitive style (Verbalizes and Visualizers) on search time and memory while viewing text and image stimuli of two different layouts. In addition, this study aims to test Nielsen’s (2006) F-pattern theory for both Verbalizers and Visualizers. Results showed that there was no difference between Verbalizers and Visualizers in terms of search task time or memory regardless of text vs. image or grid vs. block. Results also confirmed Nielsen’s (2006) F-pattern theory by indicating that Verbalizers and Visualizers both spend the majority of time in the F-shaped zone of text stimuli located near the top left corner of the visual display. 2012-04-26T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1813/23118 Title: Learning Lucid Dreaming and its Effect on Depression in Undergraduates Authors: Taitz, Isaac Abstract: The present study tested two hypotheses: 1) that lucid dreaming could be effectively taught through an online intervention, and 2) that lucid dreaming can alleviate depression as mediated by LOC. Surveys consisting of (lucid) dream frequency and recall scales (Schredl and Erlacher, 2004; Doll, Gitter, and Holzinger, 2009), Rotter's LOC scale (1966), and the most recent Beck Depression Index (BDI-II) were completed by college students. The experimental group was instructed to keep dream diaries throughout the whole study. Two weeks after the preliminary survey they were presented with a lucid dreaming intervention,which instructed them to practice reality checks throughout the day in order to attain lucidity at night. Lucid dreaming frequency was found to be directly correlated with depression (p less then 0.001).Implications for therapy and suggestions for further research are suggested. 2011-05-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1813/23116 Title: Children's Perceptions of Mechanical Knowledge as a Function of Gender Authors: Schneider, Lauren Abstract: This study examined children's perceptions of the mechanical knowledge of others as a function of gender. Children ages 3-8 watched videos of male and female informants fixing toys in one of two conditions: either the boy and the girl both succeeded at fixing the toys, or the girl succeeded and the boy failed. The children then answered questions about the informants' abilities to fix other toys. An omnibus ANOVA failed to yield any significant effects of the sex of the informant, though there was a significant effect of condition across age groups and a significant effect of age in the Sally Fixer condition. There is some evidence that nonconformity with gender stereotypes influences children's opinions on informants' play abilities. Further research is needed on the development of children's gender stereotypes, given that children do express gender biases in other contexts. 2011-05-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1813/23117 Title: Changing caregiving quality for neurodevelopmentally at-risk infants: Executive function and behavior outcomes Authors: Sellers, Kristin Abstract: Neurodevelopmental impairment in infancy is an established risk factor for poor cognitive and behavior outcomes later in life. However, environmental factors such as high quality caregiving could be protective against these biological risks. Longitudinal data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being was used to assess the relationship between difficult temperament and risk for neurodevelopmental impairment in infancy and outcome behavior problems and executive function five years later. Quality of caregiving these children received at both ages was measured. Change in caregiving quality was tested as a moderator in difficult temperament predicting behavior problems, and risk for neurodevelopmental impairment predicting executive function. It was hypothesized that increases in the quality of caregiving would result in (a) fewer problem behaviors based on initial measures of difficult temperament, and (b) better than expected executive function outcomes based on initial risk for neurodevelopmental impairment. Difficult temperament was found to predict problem behaviors 5 years later. Similarly, risk for neurodevelopmental impairment in infancy was found to predict lower executive functioning 5 years later. Findings from this study could guide the development of effective interventions for children displaying neurodevelopmental impairment shortly after birth. 2011-05-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1813/23114 Title: Political Ideology and Support for Universal Health Care: The Roles of Thinking Styles and Executive Functioning in the Judgments of Older Adults Authors: Neustadter, Eli Abstract: In contemporary American politics, Democrats and Republicans have become increasingly polarized along ideological lines. This division is especially apparent in the debates surrounding the possibility of universal health care given the passage of the new health care reform bill this past year. Converging evidence from historical and psychological accounts of ideology suggest that differences in thinking styles are associated with ideological differences. Given their importance as a unique political cohort, as well as known age differences in information processing styles and executive functioning, older adults (N=86) completed self report measures and a verbal fluency task to elucidate the relationship between information processing styles, executive function, political ideology and support for universal health care over the period when the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was debated and then passed. We found that older adults' political beliefs formed cohesive ideologies along a liberal/conservative spectrum. Ideology significantly accounted for differences in party support for increased government funded healthcare, whereas understanding of the health care bill had no effect on participant support of the bill. We also found that preferences for rational thinking styles and maintained executive functioning were associated with liberal ideology in older adults. Moreover, rational processing and executive function were uniquely correlated with support for universal health care in addition to party affiliation. These results are discussed within the context of Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory in addition to general psychological and sociological accounts of political beliefs in older adults. 2011-05-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1813/23115 Title: Gist for Risk: Link between Impulsivity and Fuzzy-Trace Theory Explanations of Adolescent Risk Behavior Authors: Romer, Adrienne Abstract: Adolescence is characterized by a steep increase in risk taking behaviors. Research indicates that individual differences in impulsivity are highly correlated with adolescent risk taking (Verdejo-Garcia, Lawrence, and Clark, 2008). Fuzzy-Trace Theory, a dual-process theory, proposes that differences in decision-relevant information processing predict decision outcomes (Reyna and Brainerd, 1995). Gist-based reasoning relies on qualitative information processing that emphasizes the abstract meaning of decision alternatives (e.g., avoid risk), whereas verbatim-based reasoning represents a form of quantitative, literal information processing (e.g., the specific risk of getting pregnant). Research suggests that gist processing is risk preventing, whereas verbatim processing is risk promoting (Mills, Reyna, and Estrada, 2008). The present study examines whether positively-valenced gist processing of decision-relevant information (e.g., approach risk) can account for the information processing of highly impulsive adolescents. Participants were 929 (28% male) late-adolescent students (mean age 19.7 years) recruited from undergraduate classes at Cornell University. They were administered an online survey with self-report measures of gist and verbatim processing associated with sex- and alcohol-related risk behavior, self-report measures of different facets of impulsivity, a delay discounting task, and a measure of real-world risk taking behavior. Results show that positive gist and impulsivity measures are positively associated with sex- and alcohol-related risk behavior. Mediation analyses suggest that positive gist is a significant mediator between impulsivity and risk behavior. The results indicate that positive gist is an important correlate of adolescent risk behavior and a significant mediator of the association between impulsivity and risk taking. 2011-05-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1813/23113 Title: Looking to the Past to Develop the Future: Autobiographical Memory, Future Episodic Thought, and Self Concepts in Easterners and Westerners Authors: Gould, Tracy Abstract: The link between dialectical thinking, mental wellbeing, future episodic thought, and the self-concept was assessed between Caucasian (N = 80) and Asian (N = 57) cultural groups. In the first task, participants were asked to recall six autobiographical memories, three positive and three negative, in three different domains: family, school, and relationships with others. It was found that the emotional valence of the future episodic thought was dependent on both the valence of the memory as well as the domain, contrary to past research that illustrated that future episodic thought is globally more positive than autobiographical memories. Group differences emerged in the positivity of participants' self-concepts from past to present, while both Caucasians and Asians exhibited more positive statements in the future than the past or present. Dialectical thinking was also negatively correlated with more positive statements in the present self than the past self . Lastly, participants exhibited similar patterns in their graphical responses to patterns of change from past, to present, to future. Description: Item removed from eCommons on 2012-05-17 at the request of the Department of Human Development, College of Human Ecology. 2011-05-01T00:00:00Z