Second Annual UNC-Pembroke Undergraduate Research and Creativity Forum

CONTENTS Speaker Biographies ..........................................................................i Department of Biology ......................................................................1 Department of Chemistry & Physics ....................................................4 Department of Economics, Finance & Decision Sciences .........................9 Department of English, Theater, & Language......................................10 Department of History.....................................................................11 Esther G. Maynor Honor’s College .....................................................11 Department of Mass Communication .................................................12 Department of Psychology & Counseling ............................................13 Department of Sociology .................................................................19 *Poster #’s refer to display location. Plenary Speaker—Dr. Richard Harris Myths About the Media: Evil Mind Control or Good Clean Fun? Richard Jackson Harris is Professor of Psychology at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, where he has taught since 1974. He has also held Fulbright teaching fellowships in Brazil and Uruguay and most recently was a visiting scholar in New Zealand. He is a graduate of the College of Wooster (B.A.) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (M.A., Ph.D.). As part of the Cognitive and Human Factors Psychology program, Dr. Harris' research examines issues involving language and cognition, primarily in the areas of psycholinguistics and mass communication. While some of his research has a strong applied component, other work is clearly basic research. In addition to empirical research, Dr. Harris is the author of two textbooks in multiple editions and the editor of several books of readings. Most notably, he has authored the best-selling textbook A Cognitive Psychology of Mass Communication. Dr. Harris has 100 published research articles on a variety of topics, included memory, language, psycholinguistics, deceptive advertising, bilingualism, video games, the psychology of organ donation, and effects of watching movies. He also leads occasional community workshops on critical viewing, media literacy, and managing television in the home. Dr. Harris is married to Caprice Becker, Director of Medical Services at Mosaic. They have three children, Clint (born 1989) and Natalie and Grady (twins born in 1991). Some of his hobbies are travel, reading, hiking, theater, genealogy, and stamp collecting. Although born and raised in suburban Pittsburgh PA, Dr. Harris has come to love the smaller college-town life of Manhattan, KS.