Research
Research in the Department of Psychology
Faculty members are active in experimental, clinical, and applied research investigations through work in laboratories and in other settings on-campus and within the community. Participating faculty are listed below by title, area, and 2023-2024 notices.
| Faculty Member | Area of Study | Special Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
Heloisa Alves, PhD |
Cognitive psychology. Psychophysiological and neuropsychological assessment of human performance. The effects of different factors, such as physical activity and rewards, on cognition and behavior. | Faculty Advisor for Psi Chi and the Psychology Club |
| Brian J. Ayotte, PhD | The role of interpersonal relationships and individual characteristics on health and functioning during emerging and older adulthood |
President of Faculty Senate; Accepting Students for Fall 2025 |
| R. Thomas Boone, PhD | Nonverbal communication, cooperation, trustworthiness, social development, and emotions | |
| Donna Demanarig, PhD | Research involves decolonization of mental health approaches and interventions especially for the AAPI community. Developing an approach to teaching psychology courses that is decolonizing, accessible, anti-racist, equitable, and sustainable. Continued development of the cross-racial/ethnic solidarity framework. | Vice-President of the Asian American Psychological Association |
| Melanie DuBard, PhD, BCBA-D | Functional behavior assessment, treatment integrity, school consultation, assessment and treatment of severe behavior | Oversees ABA Program |
| Mahzad Hojjat, PhD | Friendship, Mate selection, betrayal, resilience, and forgiveness in romantic relationships and friendships | Department Chairperson; Accepting Students for Fall 2025 |
| Mary Kayyal, PhD |
The nature and development of emotion categories across cultures and languages, judgments of facial expressions across cultures, the relation of disgust to judgments of immortality |
Accepting Students for Fall 2025 |
| Trina Kershaw, PhD | Skill learning and transfer, problem solving, creativity, transfer in educational settings, individual differences | Accepting Students for Fall 2025 |
| Raina Lamade, PhD |
Clinical Psychology, concentration in Forensic Psychology. Practice Specialties: Psychological and forensic assessment; evaluation of criminal offenders; treatment of trauma; assessment and treatment of military and veteran populations. Research Specialties: Risk assessment of sexual and violent offenders; treatment program development |
Accepting Students for Fall 2025 |
| Robin Locke-Arkerson, PhD | Study of emotional development to elucidate the emotional processing and biological correlates of atypical emotional behavior | Director of the Research MA Program; Accepting Students for Fall 2025 |
| Ted Powers, PhD | Self-criticism and perfectionism, motivation and goal progress, brief therapies, group dynamics and group therapies | Director of the Clinical MA Program |
| Andrew Revell, PhD | Cognition and mental health in aging; identifying the nature of declines associated with dementia; healthy development | Director of the Aging and Health Minor |
| Elizabeth Richardson, PhD | Health psychology: Improving understanding of youth health-risk behaviors (obesity, substance use, self-injury) and developing innovative treatments | Accepting Students for Fall 2025 |
| Anna Schierberl Scherr, PhD | Clinical Psychology, health behavior change; enhancing treatment outcomes for eating disorders and obesity, clinical supervision | Accepting Students for Fall 2025 |
| Amy Shapiro, PhD | Cognitive psychology, learning in complex domains (e.g., psychology with educational hypermedia.), learning technology, memory errors, research ethics, and epistemology in the age of "alternative facts.” | Director of the Honors College |
| Nicholas Zambrotta, PhD | Political psychology and political polarization, morality, sport & exercise psychology, psychology of peak performance, behavioral health, structural equation modeling. | Coordinator of the Research Methods Collaborative |