Psychology

Ask an expert in any profession to share how he learned his job and you might not get a good answer. Ask a novice the same thing, and you could hear a detailed response. Jonathan Mahlandt, the seventh student to be featured in a series of E-net profiles on the inaugural class of Lumen Scholars, wants to know why this happens, the answers to which may one day help classroom teachers better educate young students.

Kimberly Duggins, a senior Honors Fellow and psychology major mentored by Amy Overman, psychology, has been selected to present her undergraduate research, "Behavioral and electrophysiological effects of schema activation on memory for crime information in older and younger adults, " to members of Congress in Washington, D.C., in April.

Mathew Gendle, an associate professor in the Department of Psychology, along with colleagues at Cornell University and the University of California-Santa Cruz, has co-authored a chapter in the forthcoming book Gender Differences in Prenatal Substance Exposure to be published by the American Psychological Association and released on Oct. 15, 2011, as part of the APA’s Decade of Behavior book series.

Chris Leupold, associate professor of psychology and Faculty Leadership Fellow, recently delivered two presentations at Association of Leadership Educators Annual Conference which was held July 11-13 in Denver, CO.

Caregivers can face special challenges when helping clients with emotional, behavioral and learning disabilities. Leigh Ann Stutts ’11 explores these challenges and exposes gaps in caregiver training – including the need to learn forgiveness – in a recent edition of the The Open Mind, the newsletter of the Durham, N.C., chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Amy Overman, assistant professor of psychology, has been appointed as a disciplinary editor for The American Journal of Undergraduate Research.

Meredith Allison, assistant professor of psychology, coauthored a book chapter with colleagues at the University of Victoria. The new interdisciplinary book on gestures was recently published by John Benjamins.

Meredith Allison, an assistant professor of psychology, presented two papers that were co-authored with former students and colleagues at the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition international conference in New York. Both papers were included in a symposium on alibi research.

Why do sports teams perform better in their own stadiums or arenas than they do on the road? New research by assistant professor L. Kimberly Epting and Kristen Riggs ’10 suggests that it may not be the overwhelming applause that gives athletes a “home field advantage,” so much as it is the taunts that can ding their opponent.