PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT

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1 PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT Old Dominion University Fall 2015 NOTES FROM THE CHAIR To all students, faculty, alumni, and other interested folks, Thank you for your interest in the Psychology Department at ODU! With the new school year, the department has introduced a number of initiatives and has brought new faculty and staff on board. The following are a few of the most notable changes: Two of our faculty, Dr. Cathy Lau-Barraco and Dr. Richard Landers, earned tenure and were promoted to Associate Professor Drs. Jeremiah and Mary Still are joining our department. There are articles concerning both of them in this issue Ms. Danyel Cuffee joins the department as our new Advising Assistant and Electronic Database Specialist Check us out on Facebook ODUPSYCHOLOGY Danyel Cuffee Site Administrator The department has transitioned to a new web presence, located here: The department has also initiated a new page on Facebook Like us! One of our undergraduate students, Mr. Stephen Case, is currently studying psychology at Oxford-Leeds (UK) as part of a scholarship -funded study abroad exchange. Along with these changes, the department has continued its renovation of various research spaces and has worked to continue collaborations with other departments and faculty across the university. Our conventional and online undergraduate program, master s program in Applied Experimental Psychology, and doctoral programs in Applied Psychological Sciences, Clinical, Human Factors, and Industrial/ Organizational Psychology are continue to attract top-notch students and offer a diverse set of opportunities unmatched in the region. I hope you enjoy this issue of the newsletter and invite you to come by for a visit. In This Issue Dr. Lou Janda to retire in December. For Fall 2015 the Psychology Department Welcomes Dr. Jeremiah Still and Dr. Mary Still

2 Meet our new faculty members... Jeremiah Still, Ph.D. and Dr. Jeremiah Still has a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and research interests at the intersection of HCI and Cognitive psychology. He points out that we now live in an era of ubiquitous computing. Technology surrounds us and requires us to continually complete complex interactions with computational devices in everyday life. To maintain acceptance of this recent pace of exponential technological growth we must design systems that naturally take advantage of our strengths. Cognitive theories and applied Human Factors research act as a valuable resource for the development of better system interactions as they highlight our strengths and weakness. Dr. Still s Psychology of Design (PoD) lab, attempts to discover why some designs make our lives better, while others make our lives more difficult. His lab is investigating three lines of research: human-centered cybersecurity, intuitive design, and predicting attentional selection within interfaces. Occasionally, these research lines intersect. For example, he is applying his knowledge of intuitive design to the authentication process (i.e., logging into a system using a secret to prove your identity). High login failure rates and low policy compliance rates are reflective of poor usability. Instead of viewing the users as the inevitable weak point in the authentication process, he proposes that security related interfaces should be designed to exploit users natural cognitive abilities. For instance, interface designers could employ a recognition based secret instead of the conventional recall approach. The PoD lab is currently developing some prototypes that will, hopefully, improve our login experiences and translate into more secure systems.

3 Mary Still, Ph.D. Dr. Mary Still is a cognitive psychologist with broad interests in language and implicit memory. Much of her language research is aimed at modeling word recognition processes. To do this, she typically manipulates letter order or identity (e.g., LBRU, BTUR, RULB) and observes the effect on word recognition (e.g., BLUR). In an applied branch of this research, Dr. Still examines textmessage abbreviation processing. TBH, abbreviations often look like nonsensical letter strings, but they do carry meaning for many people. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether or not they carry the same richness as real words. Her experiments have generally revealed that even if the meaning of an abbreviation is known, emotional responses to the abbreviation are attenuated. Her hope is that these findings can be used to improve written communication. In addition to her language research, Dr. Still has a relatively new research line that translates basic familiarity research to applied settings (e.g., websites and other interfaces). Her goals are to identify features that support familiarity and to examine the delineation between familiarity and intuition....for Fall 2015

4 UNDERGRADUATES GET INVOLVED IN RESEARCH NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY By Kelsey Ellis For students seeking to enrich their undergraduate experience or to apply to graduate school, getting involved in research is the way to go. The Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (URAP) in Industrial/ Organizational (I/O) Psychology is the brainchild of Dr. Debra Major, who saw a need to introduce students to research early in their undergraduate careers. According to Dr. Major, The competition for graduate school admission can be tough. By getting involved in research early, students have the opportunity to stand out. The I/O URAP is designed to: Immerse students in research through exposure to I/O psychology Increase students research knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy Provide opportunities for students to develop and to conduct research Offer multi-source mentoring from faculty, graduate students, and peers Provide a realistic preview of graduate school Encourage and equip students to prepare for graduate school applications The URAP application process is rigorous. To be selected, apprentices must have a minimum GPA of 3.25, good oral and written communication skills, and a reference from a faculty member. Apprentices must also first successfully complete Introduction to Psychology and participate in a panel interview process. Selected apprentices have the opportunity to work with one of four labs: Dr. Debra Major s Career Development Lab, Dr. Richard Landers Technology in Training Lab, Dr. Konstantin Cigularov s Safety Management Applied Research Team, or Dr. Xiaoxiao Hu s Workplace Affect and Relations Lab. After interviewing and being matched with a faculty advisor, each undergraduate research apprentice (URA) is paired with a graduate student mentor. During the semester-long program, URAs participate in weekly seminars led by I/O faculty members, attend lab meetings, and work closely with the faculty and graduate student mentors. As an undergraduate student who went through the URAP process, I would say that the program was a very positive experience! I was assigned to Dr. Major s lab with Mike Litano as my graduate student mentor. I had the opportunity to learn about the other labs and what they were researching through our weekly program meetings. During weekly seminars I learned about what research is, the skills needed for research, as well as the materials needed for graduate school. I also met with Mike every week. He answered my questions and helped me prepare for weekly assignments. At the end of the semester, all URAs gave a presentation on their research interests, their URAP experience, the research they participated in, and their long-term goals. By the end of the program I had a current curriculum vita (CV), an aspirational CV, a mock personal statement for a potential graduate school, and an action plan to help me succeed in my undergraduate experience. The program has received rave reviews from other former URAs. In a post-program evaluation one URA wrote, I am so much better prepared for not only graduate studies, but for the rest of my undergraduate studies because of this program. Another URA wrote, I really liked the ability to communicate and interact with my mentor, as he provided me with lots of information and shared his personal experiences with me in a way that was extremely helpful. Since the program, apprentices have gone on to join other research labs on campus, successfully competed for National Science Foundation funded assistantships, collaborate on conference presentations and publications, and some are now enrolled in Master s programs as well as Ph.D. programs in psychology. Originally funded by the Honors College, the I/O URAP will continue in Spring 2016 with joint support from the Honors College, the Psychology Department, the College of Science, and the Office of Research. As one of only two undergraduate research apprentice programs still in operation campus-wide, the I/O URAP continues to aid in the development of aspiring undergraduate researchers.

5 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS RISE TO THE CHALLENGE WITH NSF FUNDING By Rachel Green Maybe you ve noticed the Project RISE logo around campus or have seen Dr. Major on the jumbotron wearing her Project RISE t-shirt during an ODU football game. Project RISE - Research Investigating STEM Embeddedness is funded by the National Science Foundation and headed by principal investigator, Dr. Debra Major. RISE is aimed at understanding the factors that keep students in their science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) majors and encourage them to enter the STEM workforce. This project of national importance involves several graduate students, and, recently, undergraduate students. In conjunction with the NSF research grant, Dr. Major was awarded a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) grant, which funds undergraduate researchers and supports their professional development. Undergraduate research assistants (URAs), like myself, are involved in all aspects of RISE. Typical tasks include updating social media platforms, attending grant meetings and taking minutes, assisting with participant interviews, transcribing interviews, and coding qualitative data. In addition, there are many opportunities for URAs to self-direct their involvement and gain experience in any area of the project they find particularly interesting or beneficial to their growth. One such experience is disseminating research findings. Last year, URAs Jeremy Barsell and Austin Hearne, as well as myself, gave an oral presentation at the ODU Undergraduate Research Symposium titled STEM Seniors: Lessons Learned from Students Approaching Graduation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. In addition, we worked together on a poster presented at the 2015 Association for Psychological Science (APS) convention. The REU has also supported travel to conferences aligned with our research interests and future goals. Austin Hearne attended the 2015 Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology (SIOP) conference in Philadelphia after being accepted to the I/O Master s program at Minnesota State University. He said of his experience, It gave me a running start with the other first year students because I already know all the second years who work on all the consulting projects and internships. It contributed to my goals by providing me the chance to network early. I also attended SIOP, where I met and networked with graduate students and faculty at graduate schools to which I plan to apply. This was extremely valuable because I saw current research firsthand and personally met the researchers. Jeremy attended APS in New York to present our poster as well as network and attend presentations in his field of interest, health psychology. Jeremy, who is now pursuing a PhD in health psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University, said The conference allowed me to meet other like-minded researchers. I was able to attend several discussions and panels, which were incredibly informative. This year, I am co-author on a RISE submission to SIOP 2016 titled, Addressing the STEM Gender Gap: Recommendations from Students Approaching Graduation. Valerie Streets, a doctoral student and RISE project manager, Dr. Major, and Kayla Pomeranz, a summer intern from UVA, are co-authors on this submission. The relationships I formed through Project RISE have been the most valuable part of my experience. I received advice from Dr. Major about graduate school and have refined my research interests. Hearing about the graduate students experiences, such as defending a thesis and taking qualifying exams, has given me a realistic preview of graduate school. By assisting graduate students with their RISE assignments, such as data analysis, I ve gained extra experience. Jeremy echoed this sentiment, saying Besides the actual research experience, being a part of Project RISE allowed me to interact with Dr. Major and her graduate students, who were all incredibly important in my professional development. They were all more than happy to help with the entire process of applying to graduate school, from answering my questions to coaching me with interview tips. RISE has been my most impactful experience in my undergraduate career. We took on a new URA, Kelsey Ellis, to help us this year, and I hope that she experiences the same benefits that Jeremy, Austin, and I have.

6 Provost s Conversations Fall 2015 Spring 2016 The emphasis will be idea sharing among the various fields of instruction at the University in relation to Teaching and Learning concepts. Dr. Jim Bliss was moderator on September 10th when Doctor s Michelle Kelley, Richard Landers, and Debra Major, along with senior lecturer Suzanne Morrow presented approaches demonstrated to boost scholarly learning. They also discussed the balance concerning being an instructor, career obligations, and development. Bliss Major Landers Morrow Kelley Reference:

7 DR. LOUIS H. JANDA RETIRES AFTER 42 YEARS This fall semester marks the end of a long and wonderful teaching career here at Old Dominion University for Louis Janda, Ph.D. Dr. Louis Janda received a B.S. in Psychology from Colorado State University in 1969, an M.A. in Psychology from Arizona State University in 1971, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Arizona State University in Dr. Janda received his Licensure as a Clinical Psychologist from the State Board of Medicine in Prior to joining Old Dominion University Dr. Janda served as a Psychology Intern at the Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Janda joined Old Dominion as an Assistant Professor of Psychology in 1973 and achieved the rank of Associate Professor in During Dr. Janda s tenure he has served as Graduate Program Director for the Master s Program; Director of Clinical Training for the Virginia Consortium for Professional Psychology; Director of Undergraduate Specialty in Clinical Psychology; Chair of the Honors Program in Psychology; and Chair of Admissions and Financial Aid Committee at the Virginia Consortium for Professional Psychology. During his 42 years at Old Dominion University, Dr. Janda has been a mentor and committee chair to countless masters and doctoral students for their thesis and dissertations. Throughout his research career, Dr. Janda has published numerous journal articles covering Psychological Testing and Abnormal Psychology; along with other articles relating to the topics of guilt, sex anxiety, obesity, personal adjustment and social constraints to name a few. Dr. Janda has written approximately 9 books, and co-authored 10 books along with 3 software related publications.

8 Old Dominion University Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Student Chapter New officers for the school year: President: Amanda Ashdown Vice President: Shelby Long Secretary: Samantha Zybak PR: Nicole Karpinsky Treasurer: James Corcoran Webmaster: Chris Morley This year, our chapter will be involved in many new and exciting events. Our main goal this semester is to disseminate information to the student population at ODU with the hopes of gaining more undergraduate members. We plan to host a monthly meeting on the first Wednesday of every month, as well as host a brown bag meeting on the third Wednesday of every month. The brown bag meetings will be webinars, peer presentations, guest speakers, or workshops. We have started off the school year strong! Before the school year began, we redecorated the HFES bulletin board in MGB and participated in the Student Involvement Fair, where we had around ten undergraduates interested in joining our organization. We have also spoke to several undergraduate Introduction to Psychology classes and organization to tell them more about human factors and our organization.

9 We also hosted our first meeting (September 2 nd ) and our Fall Social at Cogan s North (September 4 th ), both with a great turn out! Most of the outreach activities we have planned this fall are centered on National Ergonomics Month (NEM), an HFES-designated event spanning the month of October. The goal of NEM is to promote the science, application, and profession of human factors/ergonomics (HF/E) through teaching, learning, networking, service, and fun! In the month of October, we will be hosting two events, a Halloween event and a bad design contest. The Halloween event, scheduled to take place during the week of October 21st, will focus on safety, educational HF/E trivia games, and fun. We will be making and decorating reflective totes to give to children, painting pumpkins, and distributing information on how to stay safe when going out Halloween night. We will also be distributing information about HF/E overall through flyers and videos. The bad design contest will begin October 1 st, and the deadline will be November 14 th. Contest participants will be instructed to find a bad design in their daily life on campus, take a picture of it, and write a paragraph about why the design is bad and how it could be improved. This contest will hopefully help people become more aware of how HF/E can affect aspects of everyday life. One faculty member and the officers of the HFES Student Chapter will judge the submissions and pick winners. First prize will be a $50 Amazon gift card, and second prize will be a $25 Amazon gift card. To help spread awareness about National Ergonomics Month and the events, we will be writing a special edition of our HFES Student Chapter Newsletter to be distributed to the university and community. Finally, we will be posting about both events in our university s Student Announcements, which are ed to all students, faculty, and staff, and by speaking to and distributing flyers in undergraduate psychology classes. Later in the semester for fundraising, we will set up tables inside and outside of buildings during exam periods to sell donuts, mugs, school supplies, and to hand out free HFES logo pens, flyers, and rubber HFES logo bracelets. Additionally, we plan to revamp our HFES student chapter website and HFES social media pages.

10 Welcome Danyel Cuffee Ms. Danyel Cuffee joined the department this past May as the Undergraduate Advising Assistant to Jennifer Younkin and Suzanne Morrow. Danyel worked as a student worker while earning her Bachelor s of Science in Biology, and afterwards as an ODU employee at the ODU Tri-Cities Center in Portsmouth; along with being a pharmacy technician. Danyel along with her normal duties in the undergraduate office, has undertaken the creation and maintenance of the new Psychology Department Facebook page. Danyel has a passion for traveling, and naturally appreciates the flora and fauna wherever her journeys may take her. She also loves reading, and collecting books on philosophy, mystic, and religious studies. With her love of traveling, specifically to Latin America; Danyel desires to one day be certified to teach English and Conservation in Central or South America. She also hopes to take part in Wildlife rescues and conservation efforts in those countries as well. Do you remember? Photo Corner Who remembers Dr s. Don Davis, Robert McIntyre, Terry Dickinson, and Albert Glickman Flashback Graduation from the past A rare photo with four alumni Psychology graduate students walking in Commencement. Front: Valerie Morganson with Dr. Debra Major. Middle: Amber Nalu, Ian Reagan with Dr. James Bliss Last: Elizabeth Canzone with Dr. Mark Scerbo Some might recognize Dr. Janis Sanchez behind Mark. Valerie received her degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Amber, Ian, and Elizabeth received theirs in Human Factors. Dr. Davis, Dr. Mikulka, and Lyse G. Wells

11 Photos around the Department Dante Myers, Valerie Streets, Dr. Debra Major, Katelyn Reynoldson, and Mike Litano First year I/O student Katelyn Reynoldson taking a break outside of the OCNPS Building. Back Row: Phillip Dillulio, Sarah Brown, Monica Scott, and Ben Kaufman Front Row: Kent Vensland, Dr. Konstantin Cigularov, Ben Bass, and Enrique Cabrera-Caban Dr. Kelley caught this great photo of Dr. Robin Lewis at a recent conference. Back row: Kelsey Ellis, Brittney Taylor, Ralitsa Maduro, James Paulson, Jennika Jenkins, Megan Johnson Front row - Tiren Parker, Laurin Roberts, Jessica Block Dr. Scerbo s Lab from left to right: Rebecca Kennedy, Levi Warvel, Brandon Fluegel, Mark Scerbo, Amanda Ashdown, and Sam Zybak

12 Highlighting Student Presentations and Papers from Dr. Michelle Kelley s Lab: Student Posters at APA Kurtz, E. D. (2015, August). Effects of parental alcoholism and trauma exposure on depressive symptoms. American Psychological Association, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Robbins, A. T., Hollis, B. F., Milletich, R. J., Veprinsky, A., Kelley, M. L., & Snell, A. K. (2015, August). Barriers to mental health are among active duty Navy members. American Psychological Association, Toronto, Canada. Undergraduate, graduate student publications--recent publications with Grad student authors.: Milletich, Hollis, Veprinsky, are AE students; Robbins and Kurtz are clinical doctoral students in the VCPCP; White, Haislip, Patterson, are ODU Undergradutes Kelley, M. L., Lawrence, H. R., Milletich, R. J., Hollis, B. F., & Henson, J. M. (2015). Modeling risk for child abuse and harsh parenting in families with depressed and substance-abusing parents. Child Abuse & Neglect, 43, Kelley, M. L., Brancu, M., Robbins, A., D Lima, G. M., Strauss, J. L., Curry, J. F., Fairbank, J. A., VA Mid-Atlantic MIRECC Women Veterans Workgroup, VA Mid-Atlantic MIRECC Registry Workgroup, & Runnals, J. (2015). Drug abuse symptoms and childhood-, military- and postmilitary trauma expo sure among women and men veterans. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 152, Kelley, M. L., Stambaugh, L., Milletich, R. J., Veprinsky, A, & Snell, A. K. (2015). Number of deployments, relationship satisfaction and perpetration of partner violence among U.S. Navy mem bers. Journal of Family Psychology, 29, Kelley, M. L., Hollis, B. F., Milletich, R. J., Henson, J. M., Cooke, C. G., & Kurtz, E. D. (in press). Childcare Involvement, Satisfaction with One s Partner as a Parent, and Dyadic Satisfaction among Fathers with Substance Use Disorders and their Nonsubstance-abusing Partners. Fathering Kelley, M. L., White, T. D. Milletich, R. J., Hollis, B. F., Haislip, B. N., Heidt, E. J., Patterson, C, & Henson, J. M. Youth Emotional Reactivity, Interparental Conflict, Parent Hostility, and Worrying among Children with substance-abusing parents among Children with Substance-Abusing Parents Co-authors at a symposium selected for continuing education credit. Kelley, M. L., Veprinsky, A., Milletich, R. J., Hollis, B. F., Robbins, A. T., & Snell, A. K. (2015, August). Mental health and alcohol use among Navy members: What's love got to do with it? In M. L. Kelley & J. C. Flanagan (co-chairs), Mental Health, Alcohol Use, and Relationship Satisfaction among Military Mem bers and Veterans, American Psychological Association, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Convened symposi um, will serve as co-chair and presenter. (continuing education workshop)

13 AWARDS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: Dr. Robin Lewis was elected fellow in Division 44 of APA (Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues); and also became Director of Clinical Training for the Virginia Consortium effective July 1. Alumni Dr. Abby Braitman is now a Research Associate in the Department of Psychology. In addition, Dr. Braitman received a early career travel grant to attend the American Psychological to present her poster session during the Division 50 social hour. Also, her poster was selected for the G. Alan Marlatt Award Early Career Posters Award, APA Division 50. Rachel E. Green-Old Dominion University Undergraduate Student Travel award ($500), American Psychological Association, Toronto, Canada to present work: Green, R. E., Milletich, R. J., & Kelley, M. L. (2015, August). Acceptability of peer violence among youth who reside with substanceabusing parents. American Psychological Association, Toronto, Canada. Tyler D. White Old Dominion University Undergraduate Student Travel award ($500), American Psychological Association, Toronto, Canada to present: White, T. D., Hollis, B. F., Milletich, R. J., Davis, C. A., Haislip B. N., Kurtz, E. D., Heidt, E. J., Cooke, C. G. Henson, J. M., Lawrence, H. R., Tockstad, M., & Kelley, M. L. (2015, August). Parental hostility and child anxiety in children who reside with a substance-abusing parent. American Psychological Association, Toronto, Canada. Nicole Karpinsky Human Factors Ph.D. student was featured on the website of her undergraduate college Westminster College. Full story can be viewed at: release.cfm?id=8426. Recent Ph.D. graduate Tyler Mason of the Applied Experimental Ph.D. program received a NIH T32 postdoc fellowship (Midwest Regional Postdoctoral Training Grant) in Fargo, ND. Dr. Chris Brill and his collaborators from the U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory (USAARL; Ft. Rucker, AL) have just been awarded new funding for their proposal entitled, Multisensory Solutions to Degraded Visual Environments. The research builds on their current effort examining how visual, auditory, and tactile displays can be used to communicate life-saving information to pilots. The new project will explore countermeasures for pilot disorientation resulting from flying in degraded visual environments, such as brownout conditions from a helicopter hovering over the desert. Developing new countermeasures for spatial disorientation will significantly reduce the current mishap rate, saving lives and preventing the loss of multi-million dollar aircraft. CARMA Schedule: Fall 2015 October 9, 11:45-2:30 and November 6, 11:45-2:30. Spring 2016 January 29, 11:45-1:15, February 26, 11:45-2:30, and April 8, 11:45-2:30.

14 Psychology Alumni News News can be mailed to: Old Dominion University, Psychology Department MGB 250, Norfolk, VA Name: Address: Graduation Date: City: State: Degree/Major: Zip Code: Maiden Name: Employer: Position/Title: Your News: You can also your news to for the next newsletter; just write Newsletter in the subject line.

15 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 Chaikin Psychology Honors Thesis Award Guy Outstanding Psychology Student Award Pancoast Memorial Dissertation Prize Please make checks payable to OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY. Contact Us Psychology Department Old Dominion University MGB 250 Norfolk, VA (757) pkinard@odu.edu Visit us on the web at Visit us on Facebook at