Student Presenter(s): Marissa Karasz, Ryan Arroyo, Devin Delvalle
Faculty Mentor: Melissa Huey
Department: Behavioral Sciences
School/College: College of Arts and Sciences, New York City

Mood and stress play a large role in our everyday lives. They strongly impact memory, as well as our ability to problem solve. In one study, it was found that higher levels of stress throughout a person's lifetime led to overall higher levels of memory compensation. (Garret, Grady & Hasher, 2010) Another study found that people who are experiencing negative mood generally have lower levels of task capacity. (Pupillo, Phillips & Schnitzspahn, 2020) The research found here, if used effectively, could help people increase their productivity at work, in school, or in their everyday lives. The purpose of the proposed study is to measure people's baseline rates of mood and stress and the effect that this has in terms of (a) memory and (b) problem solving ability. Surveys will be administered to students at NYIT throughout the Spring 2021 semester. Participants will answer approximately 50 questions and results will be analyzed statistically through SPSS. We hypothesize that students who have the highest levels of stress will have the highest levels of memory and problem-solving ability. We also hypothesize that students with the lowest levels of mood will have the lowest levels of memory and problem-solving ability.