2000 McNair Program Abstracts

Young Latino Queer Men in San Francisco: Three Perspectives
of AIDS Prevention/Intervention Services and Needs
Paul Perales
Mentor: Rafael Diaz, Ph.D.University of California

Using qualitative data, both participant observation and in-depth interviews, the present study seeks to describe what the perceived needs for AIDS prevention/intervention are for young Latino queer men in San Francisco, CA. Qualitative data also seeks to determine whether or not these perceived needs differ amongst three groups which are: young Latino queer men who participate in an AIDS prevention/intervention program, young Latino queer men who do not participate in any such group, and service providers. The study also seeks to provide a description of what life is like as a young Latino queer man in the city of San Francisco in hopes of assisting AIDS prevention/intervention agencies better serve this population.(Research Year: 1998)

Understanding Student's Proof Schemes
Mike Sinde
Mentors: Mary K. Porter, Ph. D.Saint Mary's College, David Housman, Ph.D.
Goshen College

The understanding, development, and appreciation of proofs are an important part of an undergraduate mathematician's repertoire. In order to measure a student's understanding, development, and appreciation of a proof, one must first identify his or her proof scheme. A proof scheme is a framework for the set of processes used by an individual to remove or create doubts about the truth of a conjecture. In this study, eleven St. Mary's College students were asked to develop proofs to seven conjectures in order to classify their proof schemes into one of six categories.(Research Year: 1999)

Visual Working Memory Capacity
Neil Torbert
Mentors: Edward Wasserman, Ph.D. Mike Young, Ph.D. University of Iowa

In the working memory literature, the capacity of verbal WM has received considerable attention. However, no similar body of research can be identified that addresses the capacity of visual WM. Studies dealing specifically with visual WM have tended to obscure that capacity by either using letters as stimuli (which are readily verbalized) or not requiring a verbal load task to eliminate contributions from verbal WM. Participants were tested with arrays of up to 8 colored squares arranged circularly. Preliminary data suggests that humans remember three squares over a short retention interval, which is consistent with previous research using similar methods. (Research Year: 1999)