Psychology Department

Transcription

1 WINTER 2014/SPRING 2015 Psychology Department Old NOTES FROM THE CHAIR James P. Bliss, Ph.D. Greetings to students, alumni, faculty, and friends of the ODU Psychology Department, As the school year draws to a close, the Psychology Department remains an exciting place to be. We continued to renovate office and laboratory spaces this year; the utility, comfort, and usability of our labs is at an all-time high. Psychology continues to be a popular draw for students across the region and nation, as reflected by the high number of students we serve. Whether teaching classes on campus or online, our instructors continue to provide a meaningful and rewarding educational experience. Undergraduate award winners Arushi Deshpande, Cynthia Nwarache, and Steven Case showcase the considerable talents of our students. In our master s program, students have gained valuable experience as departmental teaching and research assistants; this is often leveraged into subsequent employment and doctoral admission. Our doctoral students in Applied Experimental, Clinical, Human Factors and Industrial/Organizational Psychology continue to do cutting-edge research in their fields and compete well with other students around the world. Our faculty members continue to exude passion for their mission, earning awards for their pedagogy, research contributions, and collaborative projects. The future of the department is undeniably bright. Whether you are an alumnus, current student, or just curious about what we do, we invite you to visit us anytime in the Mills Godwin Building! Michael Greenspan Study Abroad Opportunity for Undergraduate Majors The Michael Greenspan Study Abroad Opportunity is a chance for an undergraduate psychology major to study abroad for one semester. Funding will be provided for one undergraduate student that meets the criteria to study abroad. A student was selected this spring semester, for study abroad in fall It is anticipated that the award may lead to future collaborative projects between Michael Greenspan and the Psychology Department. The first recipient of the Michael Greenspan Study Abroad opportunity is Steven Case. Steven Case is a junior in the undergraduate Psychology program. While in the military he spent time in Afghanistan and gained an appreciation of scholastic experiences in other countries. He is also studying art as he pursues his goal to become an art therapist. Mr. Case will be spending the fall semester of 2015 at Oxford Brookes University in the United Kingdom. The department is thrilled to be able to award him the first Michael Greenspan Travel Abroad Scholarship. Dr. Greenspan, the donor for the scholarship, earned an undergraduate degree (with honors) in Psychology from ODU in 1984, followed by his Ph.D. in Psychology from Michigan State University in He is currently Managing Partner of Board Effectiveness at Kiddy & Partners, LLP, in London. Microsoft Office Clip Art

2 PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT In the News and Around Campus: PAGE 2 ASSOCIATION FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES OBSERVER Former ODU masters graduate Tatyana Kholodkov, who is now President of the APS Student Caucus Executive Board, has an article published in the APS Observer Vol.28, No.1 January, Article: Off the Beaten Path, Nontraditional Careers for the Psychological Scientists The article discusses alternatives to the usual course of employment possibilities, as the more traditional avenues become increasingly limited. The full text is available at: PAST SPEAKING EVENTS PHILIP LANGLAIS Dr. Langlais recently spoke in February at the Perry Learning Commons on "U.S. and China: Efforts to Promote Scientific Integrity." Dr. Langlais additionally spoke to a "Preparing Future Faculty" event focused on ethical dilemmas in teaching. Congratulations to Phil for this exposure! IN THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION NEWS The APA News online March 3, 2015 posted an article about the fact that college students educated on their drinking practices, will only modify their activities temporarily. The article titled: Defining and Characterizing Differences in College Alcohol Intervention Efficacy: A Growth Mixture Modeling Application; written by James M. Henson, PhD, Old Dominion University; Matthew R. Pearson, PhD, University of New Mexico; Kate B. Carey, PhD, Brown University; The article is published in the Journal of consulting and Clinical Psychology, online, Mar. 2, To reference the full text from the APA Public Affairs Office use the link below: journals/releases/ccpa pdf

3 PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT PAGE 3 CAREER VIDEO LINKS Doctoral Student Rachel Callan discusses Industrial/Organizational Psychology: Doctoral Student Alex Proaps discusses Human Factors Psychology: Ian Reagan, Ph.D. Coming together, sharing together, working together, succeeding together. Author Unknown PERSONNEL TESTING COUNCIL OF METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON (PTCMW) Earlier in the semester, several of our students went to Washington, D.C. to participate in an I/O Grad Student Consulting Competition sponsored by the Personnel Testing Council of Metropolitan Washington (PTCMW). Not only was it a great experience for them, our students really represented the Department and the I/O program well. Students competed in multiuniversity teams assigned by PTCMW, and we are happy to report that the first and sec- ond place teams were led by ODU students, Mike Litano and Rebecca Garden. Both teams won a cash prize. Based on their strong performance, all the I/O students who participated have been invited to attend a PTCMW net- working event in November.

4 PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT PAGE 4 RESEARCH KRISTIN HERON, PH.D. Dr. Heron s research interests are broadly in clinical health psychology, with a specific focus on health behaviors (for example: healthy eating, physical activity) and psychosocial functioning. Her research frequently uses mobile technology, such as smartphones, to allow people to report on their current or recent contextual, physical, social, cognitive, behavioral, and/or affective states. In the summer 2015, Dr. Heron and her graduate students will begin work on a web-based study aimed at surveying health behaviors and experiences in college undergraduate students in the Hampton Roads area. The goal of this study is to get a better idea of the types of behaviors and experiences students have, with the hope that this information can be used to create more effective health-related programs for young adults OMEGLAB NEWS Over the past academic year, a team of undergraduate students (John De Los Reyes, Shelia Manning, Shanon Sabo and Arushi Deshpande) has been working closely with Dr. Miguel Padilla to develop a measure of psychological aggression. The project received great interest at the 2015 Old Dominion University s Undergraduate Research Symposium and it is yet to be presented at the Virginia Honors College conference and the L. Starling Reid Undergraduate Psychology Conference at University of Virginia. The path to greatness is along with others. Baltasar Gracián, Spanish Priest APPLIED COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE LABORATORY Dr. Yamani and his lab students: Arianna, Nicole, and Chris Applied Cognitive Performance Laboratory, directed by Dr. Yusuke Yamani, is exploring how people divide attention over the large areas of the visual field at once. Many real-world tasks require attention to important information from different sources such as driving in a city or detecting a product defect on a computer monitor. We are currently studying the mechanisms of visual attention in the context of normal aging (How does the ability to divide attention change with advancing age?) and display designing (Where should visual information be located to guide operators' speedy decision making?). Applying an analytic technique used in the studies above, the lab is focusing on quantifying patterns of human-automation interaction in speeded tasks.

5 PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT Human Factors TRAVELS TO LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL by Molly Liechty PAGE 5 On March 24, several students from the Human Factors program traveled to a local high school in Richmond to speak to AP psychology students about the field of Human Factors. The program opened with a brief overview about the field given by Molly Liechty. Following the presentation, the students broke up into small groups to watch several demonstrations of the research conducted from the various HF labs. Levi Warvel demonstrated some of the work done in Dr. Mark Scerbo s lab with a low fidelity laparoscopic simulator for students to try. James Corcoran was able to bring a tactor belt and demonstrate some of the work he does in Dr. Brill s lab. There was even a demo from the Applied Decision Making Lab. Students were able to interact with the equipment, ask questions, and gain hands on experience with the work that we do at Old Dominion University. The school appreciated our efforts and has even invited us back in the future. Several people helped to support the effort including Alex Proaps, Dr. Brill, Dr. Scerbo, and Dr. Bliss. We hope that by reaching out to high schools in the area we can make people more aware of what the field of Human Factors is and the many ways in which it can help our communities. Below is a picture of Mr. Mark Faglioni (AP psych teacher) trying out the medical simulator with Levi Warvel and James Corcoran.

6 Learning Outside the Classroom by Konstantin Cigularov Our graduate students have been busy learning outside the classroom through various faculty- and studentinitiated research projects. I have personally found teaching through research to be a useful approach in imparting valuable knowledge and developing key skills and attitudes. Here are a couple of recent examples: In Fall 2014 semester, six I/O psychology doctoral students (Valerie Streets, Benjamin Bass, Nathan Bjornberg, Enrique Cabrera-Caban, Rebecca Garden, and Benjamin Kaufman), who were enrolled in my Occupational Health Psychology graduate seminar, became involved in an applied research project as part of the course. More specifically, they conducted a needs assessment of the well-being of employees working for a local outpatient physical therapy company (The Therapy Network), with seven offices across Hampton Roads. The needs assessment was conducted in two distinct phases interviews and survey. First, the doctoral students had an opportunity to individually interview 13 employees holding a variety of different job titles. The rich, qualitative data derived from the interviews combined with review of the most recent occupational health literature provided the basis for designing and administering an organization-wide survey. Workplace features that were a) reoccurring themes in employee interviews, and b) consistent with past research were assessed in the survey, including variables such as work engagement, burnout, and occupational pain. The I/O psychology research team delivered a detailed technical report to the client organization and presented the survey and interview results along with a set of recommendations for improvements of quality of work life to the executive board members. The client was very pleased with the student work and expressed interest in further collaboration as evidenced in the following quotes: Konstantin, I thought your students were well prepared and had a good grasp of the information. (Robert Maroon, Managing Member and Co-Owner, The Therapy Network, February 20, 2015) Konstantin, I was very satisfied with the student work, adherence to timelines, and your input and guidance as we worked through the project. Your general outcomes recommendations are worth considering. (Leigh Lazos, Managing Administrator, The Therapy Network, February 23, 2015) This semester (Spring 2015), I am teaching another advanced doctoral course that I am passionate about Human Resource Development. This time I lined up two practicum research projects. Two of the five I/O psychology doctoral students enrolled in the course (Dante Myers and Enrique Cabrera-Caban) are engaged in a research project to assist ODU Advising and Transfer Programs in identifying and better understanding the challenges and training needs of ODU transfer students. Benjamin Bass, Michael Armstrong, and Rebecca Garden are in the process of conducting a city-wide training needs assessment study targeting over Virginia Beach employees in partnership with City of Virginia Beach Human Resources Department. Both projects are currently in progress and our talented I/O psychology doctoral students are actively applying theory to practice. Impressive. Thanks so much for all you re doing! We are so excited about this project and its future strategic implications. (MaryJo Burchard, HR Learning and Development Analyst, City of Virginia Beach, March 17, 2015)

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8 Graduates AWARDS Gabrielle M. D Lima in October received the Sentara "Key Contributor Award" which included a monetary award. Dr. Konstantin Cigularov received the Shining Star Recognition! award from the Division of Student Engagement and Enrollment Services.

9 Around the department in Photos: Dr. Konstantin Cigularov and his lab students. I/O Faculty & Students

10 Former Faculty Corner: Please use the next page to keep in touch with the Psychology Department. We look forward to hearing from you!

11 Psychology Alumni News Name: Graduation Date: Degree/Major: Maiden Name: Address: City: State: Zip Code: Employer: Position/Title: Your News: THANK YOU for your continuing interest in the Psychology Department. Your contributions to the Psychology Department go to support research and teaching activities. The Psychology Department has several funds for student awards, scholarships and general purposes. These include: Alan L. Chaikin Psychology Honors Thesis Award is given to the undergraduate student with the most outstanding honors thesis. Elizabeth C. Guy Outstanding Psychology Student Award is given to the graduating senior with the most outstanding service to the department and academic accomplishments. David L. Pancoast Memorial Dissertation Prize is given to the clinical Ph.D. student with the most outstanding dissertation. Your contribution can support any of these awards or the General Gift Fund that is used where the need is greatest: YOUR GIFT: $25 $50 $100 other $ GIFT DESIGNATION: Psychology General Gift Fund Guy Outstanding Psychology Student Award Chaikin Psychology Honors Thesis Award Pancoast Memorial Dissertation Prize Please make checks payable to OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY.