The Psi Chi Hospitality Suite will be located in Room 417 of the hotel and will be open on Friday, April 13 from 8:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. and on Saturday, April 14 from 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2007

Psi Chi Symposium: "Calling All Psi Chi Members: Strengthening Your Psi Chi Chapter"
9:10–10:10 a.m., Hospitality Center
Chair: Pamela Ansburg, Metropolitan State College of Denver (CO)

Social Events. Jackie Barton, Metropolitan State College of Denver
Fundraising. Kristina McDougal, Utah State University
Transitioning Officers. Kathryn Guess, Metropolitan State College of Denver

This session will present ideas from three seasoned Psi Chi chapter officers on how to strengthen your local Psi Chi chapter. Special emphasis will be placed on social, fundraising, and leadership activities in the chapter.


Psi Chi Question & Answer Session: "Calling All Psi Chi Faculty Advisors: Strengthening Your Local Chapter"
10:20–11:20 a.m., Hospitality Center
Presenter: Melanie Domenech Rodríguez, Utah State University (Psi Chi Rocky Mountain Regional Vice-President)

Faculty are seldom lacking proper involvement in service activities, often called “thankless tasks.” Becoming the local Psi Chi chapter faculty advisor can seem like one in a seemingly endless stream of service activities. However, leading a healthy, active Psi Chi chapter can have many benefits to faculty advisors, including an improved tenure and promotion application.


Psi Chi Faculty Advisor Appreciation Lunch
11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m., Sheraton Denver Tech Center Hotel Restaurant

This lunch recognizes the valuable contributions of Psi Chi chapter faculty advisors. If you would like to attend, please email Dr. Melanie Domenech Rodríguez at mdr88@cc.usu.edu by April 9, 2007.


Psi Chi Symposium: "Myth Busters: The Academic Edition"
1:00–2:00 p.m., Hospitality Center
Chair: Pamela Ansburg, Metropolitan State College of Denver (CO)
Participants: Mark Basham and Rona McColl, Regis University (CO)

Myth #1: Your professors all got straight A’s in college. Come learn about common misconceptions that undergraduate and graduate students hold about the field and the people in psychology, and whether you should hang on to them or let them be debunked.


Psi Chi Roundtable: "Staying Awake for the Punch Line: On Surviving and Making the Most of Your Didactic Classes"
2:10–3:10 p.m., Hospitality Center
Chair: Melanie Domenech Rodríguez, Utah State University
Participants: W. Douglass Woody, University of Northern Colorado; Britton Mace, Southern Utah University; and Karla Gingerich, Colorado State University

Sometimes classes feel like an interruption to a perfectly wonderful college career. In this roundtable, master teachers will share their insights into how to make the most of your didactic classes, whether they are enthralling or painful.


Psi Chi Poster Session
4:30–5:30 p.m., Event Center 3/4
Chair: Melanie Domenech Rodríguez, Utah State University

View this session's participant's here.


Psi Chi Awards Ceremony & Social Hour
6:00–8:00 p.m., Hospitality Center

Awards for the Psi Chi Rocky Mountain Regional Research Award winners will be presented during this session. These papers are dispersed throughout the RMPA program in topical sessions (as listed below), but awards will be given out during this session.

Behavioral Consequences Following AAV Mediated Hippocampal Eaac1 Knockdown. Katie M. Coombs, Montana State University; Mike Kavanaugh & Dave Poulsen, COBRE Center for Structural and Functional Neurosciences; and A. Michael Babcock, Montana State University
Saturday, April 14, 10:20 a.m., Conference Room 5/6 (Physiological Psychology Oral Paper Session)

The present study investigates memory deficits produced by blocking the glutamate transporter EAAC1. Rats were tested in a delayed matching-to-place watermaze task to examine spatial memory. Rats that were intrahippocampally injected with an EAAC1 antisense mRNA sequence exhibited shorter latencies to locate the target platform relative to controls.

Development of the Latina Breast Cancer Screening Scale. Patricia Gonzalez, Matt Jaramillo, Lyndsie Lee, Monica Rosales, and Phillip Tatum, Colorado State University
Saturday, April 14, 9:55 a.m., Conference Room 9 (Community Psychology 2 Oral Paper Session)

The goal of this study was to develop the Latina Breast Cancer Screening Scale (LBCS) to measure the cultural health beliefs that influence screening behaviors among Latinas.  Confirmatory factor analyses helped reduce the scale by identifying those items that best tapped into the latent constructs of interest.

Is There Really Such a Thing as Looking Guilty? Skyler Staats and Jeff Elison, Southern Utah University
Saturday, April 14, 8:30 a.m., Conference Room 5/6 (Social Oral Paper Session)

This study examined whether there are distinct facial displays for shame and guilt. Undergraduates (n = 101) ewed silent video images of actors retelling stories of shame-free guilt and guilt-free shame situations.  Chi-square and binomial tests revealed that participants chose several emotion labels (above chance) to describe the facial expressions.

Seductive Detail Effects on Neighboring Items. Daniel E. Florez, Colorado State University–Pueblo; and Marc V. Richard & Benjamin A. Clegg, Colorado State University
Saturday, April 14, 1:00 p.m., Conference Room 5/6 (Cognitive Psychology Oral Paper Session)

Seductive detail effects on neighboring items were examined. Participants viewed facts individually before free-recall. Traditional seductive detail effects were not observed; however, recall of the item preceding the seductive detail decreased significantly. Implications of a sequential presentation format are discussed.

Stimulant Use Among College Students Experiencing Financial Strain. Kristen S. Murray, Jeremy Sharp, and Lee Rosen, Colorado State University
Friday, April 13, 9:10 a.m., Conference Room 5/6 (Substance Use/Abuse Oral Paper Session)

Potential factors predicting stimulant use by undergraduates for concentration and study purposes was examined. 476 students completed a demographic questionnaire and reported current and lifetime use and exposure to recreational stimulant medication, along with their current financial and work situations. Financial problems appear to play a role in academic productivity and recreational stimulant use.

The Relationship Between Creativity and Nonclinical Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder in A Sample of College Undergraduate Students. Elizabeth M. Goetter, Regis University (CO)
Friday, April 13, 8:30 a.m., Conference Room 5/6 (Clinical Oral Paper Session)

The relationship between creativity and nonclinical symptoms of bipolar disorder was studied. One-hundred undergraduate students were administered a pencil and paper survey examining manic, hypomanic, depressive and creative tendencies. A positive correlation was found between hypomania and creativity, specifically unconventional thinking, openness to experience, and tolerance of ambiguous situations.


SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2007

Psi Chi Oral Paper Session
8:30–9:00 a.m., Hospitality Center
Chair: Melanie Domenech Rodríguez, Utah State University

The Effects of Therapeutic Massage on Replenishing Self-Regulatory Strength: A Pilot Study. Nicholas Cuccia, Sally Anne Haynes, Katie Hettinger, Christopher Aguilar, Agatha Nsamenang, Jean Hill, and Ian Williamson, New Mexico Highlands University

The effects of therapeutic massage on replenishing self-regulatory strength were examined. Nineteen participants performed an experiment that depleted self-regulatory strength, followed by a therapeutic massage or a filler task. The dependent measure was a timed anagram task. As predicted, the massage group spent more time trying to solve the anagrams.

Psi Chi Member’s Satisfaction and Involvement With Research. Kristina McDougal and Melanie Domenech Rodríguez, Utah State University

Psi Chi members are relatively dissatisfied with the research opportunities available through Psi Chi.  Psi Chi students and faculty advisors were surveyed to assess the extent and satisfaction of student involvement in research activities through Psi Chi, as well as knowledge of local, regional, and national resources to support research involvement.


Psi Chi Distinguished Lecture: "Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Model, Data, and Implications"
9:10–10:10 a.m., Event Center 2
Speaker: Steven C. Hayes, University of Nevada, Reno
Chair: Melanie Domenech Rodríguez, Utah State University

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, one of the so-called “third wave” CBT interventions, implicitly challenges the idea that we need to detect, dispute, and change negative cognitions. In this talk I will explain ACT and the new theory of cognition that underlies it. I will show how the data being generated suggest that it is the function of cognition (and private experience more general), not its form, frequency, or situational sensitivity, that best predicts psychopathology, an will present evidence that changes in these functions mediate successful treatment in ACT. If these conclusions are correct, a fundamental transformation may be underway in the very nature of treatment from a cognitive-behavioral model.


Psi Chi Conversation Hour With Distinguished Speaker Steven Hayes
10:20–11:20 a.m., Hospitality Center
Chair: Melanie Domenech Rodríguez, Utah State University
Participant: Steven C. Hayes, University of Nevada, Reno


Psi Chi Symposium: "How to Tackle the IRB"
1:00–2:00 p.m., Hospitality Center
Chair: Pamela Ansburg, Metropolitan State College of Denver (CO)
Participant: Aaron S. Richmond, University of Nevada, Reno

For students, the process of submitting a dissertation or thesis proposal to the local Institutional Review Board can be daunting and confusing. It also signals a level of research engagement that is exciting. There are four important issues to keep in mind as you prepare for your first submission: 1) your timeline; 2) the IRB process; 3) comon pitfalls; and 4) communication with the IRB and your advisor.


Psi Chi Symposium: "Effective Chapter Leadership: Tips From the Psi Chi National Leadership Conference"
2:10–3:10 p.m., Hospitality Center
Chair: Melanie Domenech Rodríguez, Utah State University
Participant: Virginia Andreoli Mathie, Psi Chi National Office (Psi Chi Executive Director)

Dr. Andreoli Mathie, Psi Chi Executive Director, will share ideas that were generated at the National Leadership Conference on effective leadership. She will include a brief summary about the process and outcomes of the NLC. This session focuses on practical tips for being an effective leader.


Psi Chi Symposium: "Riding the Research Rocket: How to Write Grants, Conduct Research, and Get Published"
3:20–4:20 p.m., Hospitality Center
Chair: Pamela Ansburg, Metropolitan State College of Denver (CO)
Participants: Aaron S. Richmond, University of Nevada, Reno, and Melanie Domenech Rodríguez, Utah State University

Participating in research is an integral part of any undergraduate or graduate career in psychology. Students often provide important support to faculty and advanced students on their research but seldom have the opportunity to carry out their own original ideas. In this symposium the presenters will discuss how to write grants, conduct research from beginning to end, and pursue publication.

 

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