Many of the psychology faculty members at the University of
Wisconsin–Stevens Point are actively involved in many different
research projects in various areas of psychology.
Clinical and Counseling Psychology:
Dr. John Baker [EMAIL] [BIO] [WEBSITE]
My research interests are in stress and coping, emotions, and anxiety disorders. My primary line of research examines for whom and under what circumstances emotional approach coping is differentially more effective than problem-focused coping. In early studies I found that individuals who are attentive and clear about their emotions are better off engaging in problem-focused coping, whereas individuals who are not attentive and clear about their emotions are better off engaging in emotional approach coping. I have also conducted research examining how one's partner or friend influences coping choice and success. Specifically, individuals with supportive friends are better off engaging in emotional approach coping, whereas individuals with unsupportive friends are better off engaging in problem-focused coping. Recent research of mine has also examined the role one's culture plays in coping choice and success. While my past studies have solely utilized college students, future studies will likely examine how couples cope with the transition to parenthood. I am also interested how one's partner can help or hinder the way an individual copes with emotional problems like anxiety or depression. I currently am examining gender differences in emotion, specifically what contextual factors account for any gender differences in emotion.
Dr. Amy Herstein Gervasio [EMAIL] [BIO] [WEBSITE]
My past research focused on two very different areas: a) different aspects of verbal behavior, including client and therapist conversation and verbal sexual harassment, and b) adjustment to brain injury and physical illness. Currently, in conjunction with Dr. C. Wendorf, I involve students in designing and conducting research on attitudes and motivation toward the psychology major. Students have been involved in all phases of research, from designing questionnaires to analyzing data. In addition, I have always been interested in psychology and the arts. I am beginning a new project on applying psychological principles to explain how emotions are conveyed in dance performances and would be interested in working with students with a background in dance.
Dr. Hamid Hekmat [EMAIL] [BIO] [WEBSITE]
My research explores how relaxation, imagery, and cognitive behavioral interventions facilitate pain coping. I am interested in how environmental factors, stress, personality, and emotional states of individuals influence their responsiveness to pain management. I am interested in pain and health related anxieties and like to explore how they affect human pain experiences.
Dr. Angela Lowery [EMAIL] [BIO] [WEBSITE]
My research interests include health psychology, medical decision-making, obesity, and psycho-oncology. My most recent work has involved creating and evaluating decision aids, which are designed to help patients make decisions about medical care. I would also be interested in helping students with research projects in their own areas of interest.
Dr. Jeana Magyar-Moe [EMAIL] [BIO] [WEBSITE]
My research interests are varied, but typically revolve around topics related to positive psychology (the scientific study of optimal human functioning), the scholarship of teaching and learning, and therapy process and outcome. Four research assistants (that can each commit to one full year or more of work with me) are invited to work with me each year on all aspects of research, from development of the research design, to data entry, to writing up posters and manuscripts, and finally co-presenting the work at various undergraduate and professional psychology conventions. Due to my varied interests, it is common to find my research assistants working on several studies at one time. My most recent work completed with the assistance of undergraduate research assistants include studies on voluntary and mandatory team-testing, the use clickers in the classroom, and evaluating emotional and psychological outcomes of service-learning. I am also in the process of collecting data on how therapists do therapy, creating a manual for teaching positive psychology to sixth graders, and have several more projects in the works. I am always open to new research ideas related to my areas of interest and invite such ideas from students who may be interested in joining my research team.
Cognitive and Biological Psychology:
Dr. Patrick Conley [EMAIL] [BIO] [WEBSITE]
My primary interest is in memory, though “memory” is a very broad topic. In the past, I have worked with computer models of memory and more traditional experiments concerning how we store and retrieve basic concepts, and how we “know” something is related to something else. I am currently interested in exploring a broader view of memory, and especially how modern technological advances (television, the internet, video games, iPods, etc.) affect memory processes (how we think) and representations (what we store). Assistants in my lab have done everything from running participants and creating stimuli to reviewing the literature, designing their own experiments, and computer modeling.
Dr. Jody Lewis [EMAIL] [BIO] [WEBSITE]
I conduct research on animal and human learning and cognition. Currently, I am working with one group of students studying the spatial cognition of laboratory mice. With another group of students, we are examining how making errors effects learning in humans. Students who work with me can be involved at all steps of the research process such as reading/discussing research papers, helping with research design, collecting and analyzing data, and presentation of the results at professional meetings and/or writing up the results.
Dr. Robert Nemeth [EMAIL] [BIO] [WEBSITE]
For the last few years, my research interests have focused on two areas: memory and psychology and law. My psychology and law work centers around the effects of evidence on jurors’ decisions (e.g., how do grisly images of death affect jurors’ likelihood of convicting a defendant). My memory research focuses on why we tend to remember things that are unusual. Students can get involved in my research at various levels, from entry-level work (data entry, photocopying, reading research articles, running subjects) to more advanced-level work (developing experimental materials, analyzing data, developing research ideas, writing and presenting research results at psychology conferences).
Dr. Mark Plonsky [EMAIL] [BIO] [WEBSITE]
I am willing to sponsor projects that fall within my areas of interest. I am an experimental biopsychologist interested in animal learning and behavior (especially canines and primates), psychoactive drugs, and educational technology. You can learn more about my interests by examining my online vita and a list of web pages that I maintain.
Dr. Thomas Rowe [EMAIL] [BIO] [WEBSITE]
Dr. Padmahnaban Sudevan [EMAIL] [BIO] [WEBSITE]
My research interests are in the areas of human attention and memory and I am especially concerned with cognitive and neural mechanisms that underlie attentional states and processes. My primary research focus is on task preparation – task priming and task switching. The central concern in these studies is the nature of task preparation in simple, speeded laboratory tasks. We study how subjects prepare to perform specific tasks and how subjects switch between tasks. I collaborate with Dr. Jack Holmes, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, and we usually involve two to three students in the Cognition Laboratory each year. A second recent interest is in cognitive aspects of visual search – we are exploring how non-visual properties of numbers such as magnitude and parity influence speed of visual search. This research is in collaboration with Dr Patrick Conley, Assistant Professor of Psychology, and again, students are involved in this work. Students participate fully in the life of the lab, attending weekly lab meetings and working with us in reading papers, designing experiments, collecting data from subjects and analyzing and interpreting them.
Social and Developmental Psychology:
Dr. Debbie Palmer [EMAIL] [BIO] [WEBSITE]
My work focuses on parent-child relationships across adolescence and young adulthood in diverse contexts and situations, ranging from academic activities and the management of type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent). The pediatric health research examining type 1 diabetes management is conducted as a member of the ADAPT (Adolescents with Diabetes and Parents Together) research team based at the University of Utah. I have most recently been exploring parental involvement in their college-aged students’ academic lives as it pertains to the scholarship of teaching and learning. The theoretical foundation of all of my research is the Social-Contextual Model that emphasizes the interdependent nature of development across the lifespan. I regularly supervise undergraduate students for course credit, and sometimes even during summers. When I involve undergraduate students in my research they participate in all phases, which range from the mundane (e.g., photocopying, data entry) to the more exciting (e.g., planning studies, interacting with participants). My students have earned co-authorship credit in poster and paper presentations at regional and national conferences, and have always received financial support in order to be able to travel to these meetings. Students who are interested in joining my research group are always welcome to contact me, though it should be noted I typically cannot supervise any more than 3 students in a term and often positions are fill well in advance. I have supervised students for multiple semesters, as well as for just a single semester.
Dr. Justin Rueb [EMAIL] [BIO] [WEBSITE]
My research interests are very broad and somewhat eclectic, having done research in aviation psychology, sports psychology, human factors, cognitive psychology, leadership, teams, sexual harassment, character development, positive psychology, and other areas. This variety stems from a statement that B. F. Skinner made concerning serendipity. When something occurs that interests you, follow it; it will be more informative than the original line of thought. Accordingly, I am willing to take on any line of research that may excite the student. Currently, students are conducting lines of research in self-disclosure and personality traits, leadership, character development, sexual harassment, gratitude, and sports psychology.
Dr. Erica Weisgram [EMAIL] [BIO] [WEBSITE]
My research focuses broadly on gender development in children, adolescents, and
young adults. My recent work has explored how gender and gender-related factors
(e.g., stereotypes) affect individuals’ occupational and academic interests.
This academic year, I plan to continue this line of research as well as
investigate the cognitive construction of gender stereotypes,
masculinity/femininity in romantic relationships, and other topics of student
interest related to gender development. Undergraduate research assistants will
participate in weekly lab meetings and contribute to the design of the study,
data collection and analysis, and presentation or publication of the work.
Dr. Craig Wendorf [EMAIL] [BIO] [WEBSITE]
My research centers on a general theme: identifying people's concerns about what is fair, just, and proper. To date, projects on this topic have involved examining people’s opinions towards appropriate treatment of suspects in crimes (esp. terrorist activities) and students perceptions of fair (and unfair) instructor behaviors in the classroom (and their willingness to pass their judgments along as rumors or gossip). Additionally, I tend to collaborate with other faculty (e.g., Dr. Gervasio) with students examining students motivation toward and beliefs about psychology. Students have been involved in all aspects of research, from the design of the study through the analysis of results. Projects are generally targeted for presentation at professional conferences.