Name: Robert Arkin, PhD
School: Ohio State University
Contact Information: (614) 292-2726, arkin.2@osu.edu

Sponsor’s Research Interests:
My Bob Arkin's research concerns contemporary issues in social motivation and emotion. Specific projects focus on attribution theory, self-presentation, self-handicapping/overachievement, and other topics concerning self and identity.

Recent research has focused specifically on a) self-doubt and b) personal security. Self-doubt is the experience of uncertainty about the self, which inspires coping strategies including self-handicapping and overachievement (and emotions such as shyness) and reflects a unique motive (i.e., loss aversion). Personal security research was inspired by the tragedy of 9/11. It concerns the way fear, loss aversion, caution, and related cognitive and behavioral tendencies play out in people’s personal lives (e.g., the tragedy of the Katrina hurricane; buying a car) and in global affairs (e.g., ways nations construe their competing interests).

He just co-edited a handbook entitled The Uncertain Self and is now co-authoring a new edition of a book entitled The Self.

Name: Leigh F. Bacher, PhD
School: SUNY at Oswego
Contact Information: Leigh.Bacher@oswego.edu

Sponsor’s Research Interests:
How do infants learn to control their bodies? How do they learn that their hands can be used for reaching, grasping and exploring objects? These are the primary questions that motivate my investigation of the factors underlying the emergence of motor skill in infancy. Factors included in our studies are visual attention, experience, sensory systems and dopamine system function. We approach this problem using multidisciplinary perspectives and experimental, time series-based methods. Currently, we are developing a new study of the transition to reaching. Although this work focuses on normative development, it may have implications for use in clinical settings. A related line of work with young adults explores temporal relationships between visual attention and dopamine system function.

Name: Shawn M. Bediako, PhD
School:University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Contact Information: bediako@umbc.edu

Sponsor’s Research Interests:
Is sickle cell disease (SCD) a “Black” disease? Does it matter if laypersons or health care providers think that it is? Do such perceptions influence health-related outcomes among SCD patients?

In the Laboratory for the Social & Psychological Study of Health, we explore social perceptions toward people with chronic illnesses and the ways in which implicit stereotypes influence attitudes towards particular patient populations. In addition, we also examine the impact of these perceptions on patients’ self-concept, psychological adjustment, and health care utilization.

The Lab integrates theoretical frameworks from community psychology, public health, and anthropology in order to better understand the ways in which gender, race, and class affect health care decisions, health behaviors, and health outcomes.

Name: Frank Bernieri, PhD
School: Oregon State University
Contact Information: Frank.Bernieri@oregonstate.edu

Sponsor’s Research Interests:
Have you ever wondered why waking up at 5:00 AM to workout/study sounds brilliant at 4:00 PM the night before, but crazy at 4:00 AM the morning of?  This change in preference is irrational (what is preferred at time A should be preferred at time B), but very common!  One cause of this behavior is temporal discounting: the idea that outcomes are perceived as less valuable, difficult, or costly the greater the delay to their occurrence.  In my Behavioral and Social Decisions Laboratory we explore the mechanisms of temporal discounting as well as its real-world significance, such as its role in substance abuse and contexts requiring social cooperation (e.g., voting, giving to charity, environmental conservationism).

Name: Anne Marie Brady, Ph.D,
School: St. Mary’s College of Maryland
Contact Information: ambrady@smcm.edu; (240) 895-4258

Sponsor’s Research Interests:
Relationships between brain and behavior can often be modeled in animals, particularly in rats. My research interests include the neurobiology of cognition, animal models of disease, and disruptions in neural development. Recent projects in my laboratory have used animal models of schizophrenia and drug addiction to investigate cognitive impairments, such as deficits in memory and executive function, that are seen in these human disorders. I am also interested in the links between schizophrenia and drug addiction, as a high proportion of schizophrenia patients suffer from substance abuse disorders. Other recent projects have examined sex differences in cognition, and the effects on brain and behavior of early developmental exposure to bisphenol-A (BPA), a common component of plastics and known endocrine disrupter.

Name: Brian Carpenter, PhD
School: Washington University in St. Louis (MO)
Contact Information: (314) 935-8212, bcarpenter@wustl.edu

Sponsor’s Research Interests:
You may have heard about the “aging of America,” as the Baby Boomers enter old age. The increasing numbers of older adults has brought new challenges to families and to the healthcare professions. In our Clinical Geropsychology lab we study older adults and their interactions with their family members and their healthcare professionals. Currently, our research focuses on three main areas:

1. How well adult children know their older parents, and how we can improve communication in families;
2. How older adults interact with their doctors, and how we can improve their communication; and
3. What it is like for older patients, family members, and healthcare professionals who work with them as older patients approach death.

To study these topics we use a combination of surveys and videotaping of actual conversations among older adults, their family members, and their healthcare professionals. The goal of our work is to improve the quality of life for older adults and their families.

Name: Nancy Collins, PhD
School: Univ. of California, Santa Barbara
Contact Information: ncollins@psych.ucsb.edu

Sponsor’s Research Interests:
Dr. Collins’ research and theoretical interests lie at the interface of close relationships, social cognition, and psychophysiology. Her current research activities are focused on the relationship between physiological indices, relationship processes, and health outcomes. She is particularly interested in the psychosocial predictors of health and well-being, with special emphasis on the psychological and biological mechanisms through which relationships affect health outcomes. In addition to these substantive interests, her research program includes the application of innovative statistical techniques for exploring basic processes in social psychology, and the use of multiple methodologies including experimental studies, observational studies of dyadic interaction, daily diary methods, immersive virtual environments, neuroendocrine (cortisol) assessments, and longitudinal field research.

Name: Cathy. D.  Emery, Ph.D.
Organizations: General Electric Company
Consumer & Industrial, Appliances
Louisville, KY
Contact Information: Cathy.Emery@ge.com

Sponsor’s Research Interests:
This is a research opportunity in an applied setting that focuses on consumer experience in the product development and design of kitchen appliances. In this environment you will have an opportunity to work in a cross-functional team environment on research projects. Those projects focus on addressing the needs of consumers for near and far-term product development. In my lab, research is focused on understanding consumer behavior as relates to normalized behavior, usability and perceived quality of our products. I work closely with our industrial design, engineering, and marketing organization in addressing research requirements at the conceptual and engineering development phase. I am particularly interested in the role of emotion in product design evaluation and the modeling of consumer sensibility for design elements.

Secondly, with the company’s initiative on clean technology development and deployment, research on consumer behavior toward energy efficient appliances and smart grid technology or sustainability will be a focus.

Name: Jennifer Gonder, Ph.D.
School: Farmingdale State College (NY)
Contact Information: gonderj@farmingdale.edu

Sponsor’s Research Interests:
Have you ever had a negative customer service experience? What did you do about it…complain, tell your friends, switch to another service provider? How could the company have kept you satisfied? In today’s competitive market environment, customer satisfaction is the key to organizational success. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to avoid failures in service. My research investigates the factors that influence customer satisfaction and loyalty, the consequences of negative service experiences, and how organizations can rectify failures in service. This investigation also attempts to differentiate the effectiveness of various modes of customer contact such as in-person, phone, or electronic communication. My program of research is largely scenario based and data are typically collected through surveys and/or interviews.

Name: Almut Hupbach, Ph.D.
School: Lehigh University (PA)
Contact Information: (610)758-6762, hupbach@lehigh.edu

Sponsor’s Research Interests:
Memory largely defines our identity, yet, research in the past decades has revealed how remarkably malleable our memory is. How do we keep a stable core of knowledge/memory, while updating parts of it simultaneously? Research in my lab focuses on how new information gets incorporated into what we already know. Are there developmental differences in the updating process and in the kind of information that is considered for incorporation? How is knowledge abstracted from specific inputs? What role does sleep play in memory updating and abstraction? We study these questions in a variety of age groups (from infancy to adulthood) and paradigms (spatial orientation, episodic memory, artificial grammar learning).

Name: Shelia M. Kennison, PhD
School: Oklahoma State University
Contact Information: shelia.kennison@okstate.edu

Sponsor’s Research Interests:
My research focuses aims to understand the cognitive processes involved in language learning and language use (e.g., reading, speaking, etc.). For example, one line of research investigates how gender stereotype information is used during language comprehension. Some words, such as doctor and carpenter, are used to refer to males more often than females. Other words, such as nurse and typist, are used to refer to females more often than males. It has been shown that processing difficulty arises when readers must interpret words associated with strong gender stereotypes with a pronoun whose gender is the opposite of the stereotype (e.g., The doctor arrived. She examined the patient.). Students wishing to study languages other than English are strongly encouraged to apply.

Name: Deborah Laible, PhD
School: Lehigh University (PA)
Contact Information: (610) 758-5914, del205@lehigh.edu

Sponsor’s Research Interests:
My research focuses on trying to comprehend how children construct an understanding of themselves, others, and relationships. Although there are likely multiple influences that shape children's social and self understanding, my research focuses on relational influences. Right from the start children find themselves in intense emotional relationships that provide them with a rich natural laboratory in which they learn about themselves and others. My program of research has focused on trying to understand how aspects of these close relationships, including both broad relational qualities (such as attachment security) and more specific relational process (such as mother-child discourse) relate to children’s emotional understanding moral development (including empathy, internalization of values, and prosocial behavior), self understanding, and representations of relationships.

Name: Gary W. Lewandowski Jr., PhD
School: Monmouth University (NJ)
Contact Information: glewando@monmouth.edu

Sponsor’s Research Interests:
My research examines the social psychology of romantic relationships with a focus on the confluence of the self and relationships. Within this broad area, a majority of my work examines self-expansion, a motivation to enhance the self’s capabilities through the accumulation of knowledge, experience, identity and other resources, largely through relationships. Thus, my research program examines self-expansion processes in several facets of relationships: attraction, relationship initiation, relationship maintenance, infidelity, and break-up. Recent work focuses on how learning about someone’s personality influences perceptions of their physical attractiveness. Other recent work focuses on the experience of personal growth and positive outcomes following relationship dissolution, including strategies to promote positive outcomes. Lastly, I also conduct research focused on optimizing students’ learning experiences.
http://bluehawk.monmouth.edu/~glewando/Gary_Lewandowski/Home.html

Name: Mei-Ching Lien, Ph.D.
School: Oregon State University
Contact Information: mei.lien@oregonstate.edu, (541) 737-1375

Sponsor’s Research Interests:
Dr. Lien’s research concerns how the human mind controls itself.  This line of work encompasses three primary research topics: attention capture, divided attention, and cognitive aging.  The research on attention capture examines to what degree salient stimuli have the power to capture attention against our will.  The research objectives on divided attention are to determine why it is hard to perform two tasks at once, why it is hard to switch between cognitive tasks. She is also interested in how cognitive control changes across the lifespan.  She studies these topics using both behavioral measures (e.g., response time) and electrophysiological measures (e.g., brain activity).  To learn more about Dr. Lien’s research, please visit her faculty webpage or her lab’s webpage.

Name: David P. Nalbone , PhD
School: Purdue University Calumet
Contact Information: (219) 989-2712, dnalbone@calumet.purdue.edu

Sponsor’s Research Interests:
The Sexual Psychophysiology and Affective Neuroscience (SPAN) Laboratory uses psychophysiological measures (EEG, ERP, temperature, plethysmography) and time series analyses (wavelet, math modeling, digital signal processing) to investigate questions concerning sexual functioning, sexual risk taking, and the effects of alcohol on each. Please visit www.span-lab.com for more information about the current research projects.

Name: Urvi J. Patel,  PhD
School: Christopher Newport University (VA)
Contact Information: urvi.patel@cnu.edu

Sponsor’s Research Interests:
It is well known that our two cerebral hemispheres process information differently. My research explores these differences by asking: under what circumstances do the hemispheres communicate with one another and when is it more efficient for a single hemisphere to work alone? In my lab, we combine stimulus matching tasks with physiological measures (e.g., GSR, EEG, heart rate) to explore how interhemispheric interaction varies as a function of stimulus format (e.g., words, numbers, faces), lexical ambiguity of the stimulus, and Stroop-like congruity effects. Using this approach, I am also exploring an upcoming line of research on how individual differences such as the emotional state of the observer and developmental changes across the lifespan impact hemispheric transfer.

Name: Nicole Prause, PhD
School: Idaho State University
Contact Information: nprause@isu.edu, (208) 282-4077

Sponsor’s Research Interests:
Decision-making that leads to risky sexual behaviors is challenging to study. The actual risk behaviors cannot be directly observed. Decision making also is usually impacted by states of alcohol intoxication or sexual arousal. We uses psychophysiological measures (EEG, ERP, temperature, plethysmography) and time series analyses (wavelet, math modeling, digital signal processing) to investigate questions concerning sexual functioning, sexual risk taking, and the effects of alcohol on each. Studies are primarily conducted with adults at higher risk for HIV transmission. The website (www.span-lab.com) also contains more information about current research projects, other students, and staff.

Name: Heather J. Smith, Ph.D.
School: Sonoma State University (CA)
Contact Information: heather.smith@sonoma.edu

Sponsor’s Research Interests:
We investigate how people change their definitions of fairness and their reactions to disadvantage or conflict when they identify themselves as members of different groups. For example, an individual’s willingness to accept an ingroup authority’s decision increases if the individual perceives the decision-maker as treating them fairly, but an individual’s willingness to accept an outgroup authority’s decision increases if they receive favorable outcomes. I am particularly interested in the factors that will motivate victims and observers to challenge injustice. In one experiment, we found that witnesses of injustice felt better if they wrote about an important personal value, but they did not challenge the injustice – the next question is why. A list of current research projects is available at: http://www.sonoma.edu/users/s/smithh/lab/pages/labproj.html.