The Role of Drawing in Young Children's Memory Reports
Kimberly Cuevas
Randolph-Macon Woman's College
Faculty Sponsor: Beth Schwartz-Kenney, PhD

To examine the effects of drawing on children's memory reports, forty-two 3- to 4-year-old children witnessed a unique storytelling session. After both a 3-month and 1-year delay, participants were randomly assigned to a draw condition, in which they were asked to draw and tell about the event, or a verbal condition. To examine the relationship between accuracy of reports and children's drawing abilities and verbal skills, the DAP and PPVT were administered. Based on past research, we hypothesized that drawing would aid young children's memory reports. Using MANCOVAs, children's responses to free recall, direct recall, and photo-recognition questions were analyzed at both the 3-month and 1-year delay. Results indicate that after a 3-month delay, children's performance during the direct-recall session was facilitated by drawing. After a 1-year delay, children in the draw condition provided significantly fewer units of incorrect information when compared to those in the verbal condition. In addition, there were no significant differences between children in either interview condition during the direct-recall and photo-recognition portions of the memory interview after a 1-year delay. These findings suggest that, depending on delay and question type, drawing may facilitate young children's ability to report accurate information about a memorable event.

The "Mozart Effect" on Cognitive and Spatial Task Performance, Revisited
Matisha Montgomery
University of Central Oklahoma
Faculty Sponsor: Kathleen M. Donovan, PhD

This study investigated the true effects of classical music on cognitive and spatial task performance. Contradictory findings and lack of replication are replete in the literature. The original study reporting a "Mozart effect" by Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky (1993) found that classical music did improve spatial task performance. Although their results have not been replicated successfully, many believe that the so-called "Mozart effect" does exist. In fact, this "effect" has been greatly commercialized. Students enrolled at the University of Central Oklahoma were exposed to 4 listening conditions and 4 test orders. After each condition, a test packet was administered. Participants took longer and made more errors after the classical listening condition than after any other condition. Implications are that the "Mozart effect" was a spurious methodological finding, and results do not support previous findings that the "Mozart effect" exists.

The Effect of Social Desirability on the Self Report of Prejudice, Discrimination, Tolerance, and Empathy
Jaime Gonzalez
California State University, San Bernardino
Faculty Sponsor: Michael R. Lewin, PhD

The influence of a social desirability bias on the accurate measurement of prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and empathy was demonstrated via correlational analyses, t test, and paired t-test comparisons. A sample of 498 upper division students were given questionnaires containing the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability scale, McConahay's Modern and Old-Fashioned Racism scales, and scales used to measure tolerance and empathy. Overall, results suggest that social desirability has an attenuating effect on the self-report of racist attitudes and behaviors. More specifically, results indicate that this reporting bias not only affects the report of racist attitudes, but also non - race-specific attitudes such as tolerance and empathy. Additionally, results suggest that social desirability may not discriminate between covert and overt types of racism as measured by McConahay's scales. Results are discussed in relation to the accurate assessment of racial attitudes.