Shelia M. Kennison - US grants

Studies in language comprehension have shown that readers interpret sentences word by word, rapidly integrating the meaning of each new word with the preceding context. With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Shelia Kennison will investigate the factors influencing how quickly skilled readers can integrate the meaning of individuals words within sentences. The research will test the hypothesis that semantic integration is carried out more rapidly for some words than for others. In the research, participants will read sentences while their eye movements are recorded. Eye movement recording is the most precise technique for measuring the processing difficulty experienced during reading. With this methodology, it is possible to measure the initial processing of a word separately from any reprocessing that may occur. The research will identify the characteristics of words that are associated with early (versus late) semantic integration.

The research is important because it will broaden our knowledge of how readers coordinate multiple sources of information during comprehension, including syntactic, lexical, and semantic sources of information. The research will also add to our knowledge of the complex cognitive processing involved in perception, memory, and language. The broader impacts of the research include applications to the field of language disorders. By understanding how skilled, unimpaired readers integrate the meanings of words in sentences, researchers will be better able to identify individuals who carry out semantic processing abnormally. The research may also lead to a better understanding of the different ways language processing can be impaired and may contribute to the development of interventions designed to help impaired individuals increase their reading proficiency.

This action funds a project in Ethics Education in Science and Engineering, a cross-directorate activity. Existing approaches to teaching research ethics neglect the topic of moral psychology. Specifically, standard classes do not teach students why people act unethically nor provide students with useful strategies to increase the likelihood that they will act in accord with their own ethical commitments and/or the ethical codes of their professions. The goal of this project is to develop a class, Ethics for Researchers: Helping Moral People Act Ethically, which will meet these needs. The class, which will be electronically delivered and can stand alone as a seminar or be added to the curriculum of traditional research ethics classes, exposes students to video clips containing re-enactments of published empirical studies that demonstrate why people act unethically. After a discussion of each case, individual students are guided through a two-part exercise. The first part, developing a Personal Inventory Report, helps them engage in reflection to determine what sorts of situations they might find ethically challenging. The students then develop a personal plan (Adaptive-Strategies Report) addressing what strategies to use to increase the likelihood of behaving ethically in challenging situations (that is, the situations they arrived at while developing the Personal Inventory Report). The products of this exercise, the Personal Inventory Report and the Adaptive-Strategies Report, can be used throughout the student's career, especially when in a new professional situations.

The broader impact of this project is potentially far-reaching. First, if the newly conceived ethics class proves to be efficacious, the course can be readily adapted for other professionals outside science and engineering, including law, medicine, education, and business. Second, although the decision-model being used has been applied to other areas (e.g., teaching reasoning), it has never been applied to ethics education. Thus, this course not only advances the teaching of research ethics, but it may advance other areas of ethics, e.g., normative ethical theory. Third, the investigators intend to teach the class in numerous settings and to share the results at professional meetings and in journals. At OSU, the course is being made available to all members of the university community, hence Native-Americans and other under-represented groups will benefit. Since the course is delivered electronically, it can easily be made available to those at other universities and research facilities. Therefore, there are no geographic and temporal limitations to the administration of this course.

The goal of this program is to provide undergraduate students with an in-depth, hands-on research experience focused on the biological basis of behavior. Students will be trained students in the application of the scientific method to develop hypotheses, design and conduct research studies involving either animal or human subjects. Students are also trained in the responsible conduct of research. Students are mentored by full-time, Ph.D.-level faculty members who are tenured/tenure-track faculty with strong programs of research.

Intellectual Merit.

The research conducted by students with their mentors advance understanding of the biological basis of behavior in animals and humans. With regular and frequent contact with mentors, students learn all aspects of the research process, including hypothesis formulation,integration and analysis of scientific literature, research design, data collection, data analysis, and the presentation of research findings. Students also attend seminars focused on statistics, research methods, and preparing for the graduate school application process. To maximize exposure to multiple areas of research, they attend seminars in which faculty mentors present data from recent research. Students also attend a weekly seminar in the responsible conduct of research in which they learn about the history of research ethics, contemporary ethical regulations, as well as data management and authorship practices. Students also discuss case scenarios in which ethical dilemmas are presented. During the 8 weeks, students are housed together in a University dormitory and complete a team-building activity at the start of the program. The REU experience culminates with a one-day public symposium in which students present their work in a poster and in a brief oral presentation. Students and mentors also present research results at regional and/or national conferences and submit research reports for publication in peer-reviewed academic journals.

Broader Impacts.

By increasing students' understanding of the biological basis of behavior, the PIs anticipate stimulating interest in careers in science and behavioral research. It has been found that a large percentage of the former REU students have gone on to pursue graduate degrees. Because these REU student cohorts include a high percentage of students from underrepresented groups, the PIs anticipate that this REU Site program is serving to increase the diversity among individuals working in scientific research careers.

The average citizen is often unaware of common strategies to protect themselves from cybersecurity threats. Consequently, large numbers of computer users are vulnerable to lapses in security from actions such as choosing weak passwords, clicking on phishing links, opening attachments from unknown senders, ignoring security warnings on devices, and falling victim to social engineering or identity theft. Although there have been many studies on training and educating people on cybersecurity best practices, the fact that these vulnerabilities are still being exploited imply that current training is not effective for all users. The objective of this project is to effectively educate the average user about common cybersecurity threats so that they are not vulnerable to these types of attacks. The project will create new education modules that are personalized to each user, building on the fact that different users have different personalities and may react to threats in different ways. The result could be more cybersecurity-aware citizens, which could reduce the number of "easy" hacks and cyber thefts.

It has already been shown that different models are needed to effectively educate individuals with different personality traits and learning behaviors. There is no "one-size-fits-all" model. The researchers' aims are to 1) increase cybersecurity compliance with schema matching messages, and 2) develop and evaluate the effectiveness of cybersecurity education modules. The researchers have shown that individual differences in personality traits can be used to predict cybersecurity perceptions and practices. The research will classify personalities through analysis of the language of social media. Personalized cybersecurity education modules will then be developed and evaluated. Users' personalities will be assigned based on the "True Colors" Personality Categories, which are based on the Myers-Briggs personality categories, and the Big Five Personality traits. This personalized education module approach could be applied in other areas such as management, teaching, and safety training. Moreover, users will become more security-aware which could lead to a reduction in cybersecurity breaches.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.