Psychology Department

For her ongoing contributions to the philosophical foundations of psychology, Jill Morawski, Wilbur Fisk Osborne Professor and professor of psychology, is the recipient of two distinguished awards. Morawski was most recently honored with the American Psychological Association Division 24 Award for Distinguished Theoretical and Philosophical Contributions to Psychology. The award was presented at the annual meeting of the APA, at which Professor Morawski delivered an invited address, “Chasing Psychology’s Objects: The Quest for Ontological Certainty.” It is the division's highest award and recognizes one of its members each year for lifetime scholarly achievement. Morawski also received the American Psychological Foundation’s 2017 Joseph B.…

Suicide and Resilience: Finding the Words was the topic of the 2018 Shasha Seminar, held Sept. 14-15 on campus. Endowed by James Shasha '50, P'82, the Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns supports lifelong learning and encourages participants to expand their knowledge and perspectives on significant issues. The educational forum provides Wesleyan alumni, parents, and friends with an opportunity to explore issues of global concern in a small seminar environment, The seminar was codirected by Karl Scheibe, professor of psychology, emeritus, and Jennifer D’Andrea, director of Wesleyan’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), the seminar, held Sept. 14-15, (Photos by Olivia Drake, Rebecca Goldfarb…

Wesleyan professors Lisa Dierker and Jennifer Rose were recently awarded a $2.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to extend and disseminate their research on passion-driven statistics. The grant begins in the fall of 2018 and extends through 2023. Recognizing the rapidly increasing importance of data-oriented skills in the modern workforce, passion-driven statistics was developed as a novel approach to make statistics and quantitative methods courses more accessible and engaging, particularly for traditionally marginalized students. It moves away from canned exercises, toward more applied, real-world, project-based learning experiences. ”An empowering curriculum needs to rise to many challenges,” Dierker…

In this issue of The Wesleyan Connection, we speak with Assistant Professor of Psychology Alexis May ’05, who joined the Department of Psychology this fall. May will be among the speakers at the Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns on Sept. 14–15. Q: Welcome (back) to Wesleyan, Professor May! You earned your BA from Wesleyan in psychology and neuroscience and behavior in 2005. Please tell us about your journey since then. A: After gaining substantial clinical research experience in the psychology department as a project coordinator for [Walter Crowell University Professor of Social Sciences, Emerita] Ruth Striegel Weismann, I was sure of my…

Kyungmi Kim, assistant professor of psychology, is the coauthor of a paper published in the Psychonomic Bulletin and Review on Aug. 8. Jenne Johnson '18 and Danielle Rothschild '19 also contributed to the article. The paper is titled "Merely presenting one’s own name along with target items is insufficient to produce a memory advantage for the items: A critical role of relational processing." Many studies have shown that information processed in relation to our “self” vs. someone else has an advantage in memory, termed the self-reference effect (SRE). Early studies of the SRE used tasks in which participants made explicit…

This year’s Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns, "Suicide and Resilience: Finding the Words,” will be held Sept. 14–15. It will begin with opening remarks by Leslie Shasha ’82, PhD, in Memorial Chapel at 4 p.m., followed by the keynote address by author and suicide loss survivor Eric Marcus on “Resilience in the Aftermath of Suicide.” The Shasha Seminar, an annual educational forum for Wesleyan alumni, parents, and friends, explores issues of global concern in a small seminar environment. Endowed by James Shasha '50, P'82, the Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns supports lifelong learning and encourages participants to expand their knowledge…

In this recurring feature in The Wesleyan Connection, we highlight some of the latest news stories about Wesleyan and our alumni. Recent Wesleyan News The New York Times: Defending Conservatism, and Seeking Converts President Michael Roth '78 reviews Roger Scruton's new book on Conservatism, which he writes provides an "enlightening" background on a variety of important conservative thinkers, but stoops to scapegoating Muslims to "rally the troops." 2. Hartford Courant: First Group of Students Graduates from Wesleyan's Prison Education Program The first-ever Wesleyan Center for Prison Education Program graduation ceremonies, held in partnership with Middlesex Community College at York and Cheshire correctional institutions on…

Wesleyan faculty frequently publish articles based on their scholarship in The Conversation US, a nonprofit news organization with the tagline, “Academic rigor, journalistic flair.” In a new article, Mike Robinson, assistant professor of psychology, writes that brain science explains how gambling games hook players, including casual ones. Robinson also is assistant professor of neuroscience and behavior, assistant professor of integrative sciences. Designed to deceive: How gambling distorts reality and hooks your brain To call gambling a “game of chance” evokes fun, random luck, and a sense of collective engagement. These playful connotations may be part of why almost 80 percent of American…

This summer, three Wesleyan students are helping local children prepare for a successful transition into kindergarten. Through the five-week Kindergarten Kickstart program, Cara Bendich ’19, Amy Breitfeller ’19, and Emma Distler ’19 are working with area youth at four locations to improve their school readiness skills through the research-based, high-impact, low-cost innovative and nurturing preschool program. Associate Professor of Psychology Anna Shusterman and three of her students first launched Kindergarten Kickstart in summer 2012. For the summer 2018 session, students are hosting the Kickstart program at Middletown’s Bright and Early Children's Learning Center, Town and Country Early Learning Center, and the Middlesex…

Mike Robinson, assistant professor of psychology, neuroscience and behavior, and integrative sciences, is the recipient of a $100,000 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The grant will be awarded over two years, starting on July 1, and will support a study titled "Dissecting Cortical Contributions to Risky Decision-Making." Robinson and his research students will use optogenetics in rats to inhibit parts of the brain's prefrontal cortex during the decision-making process. "The aim would be to see how we make decisions when faced with risk," Robinson explained. "Are certain areas of the prefrontal cortex involved in tracking the outcomes of previous choices…

Drug and behavioral addictions like gambling are characterized by an intense and focused pursuit of a single reward above other healthier endeavors. Pursuit of the addictive reward is often compulsively sought despite adverse consequences. In a newly published study, Mike Robinson, assistant professor of psychology, neuroscience and behavior, and integrative sciences explored how our decisions can become narrowly focused onto one particular choice. He and his research team used laser light (optogenetics) to activate the central portion of the brain's amygdala (CeA), an area normally known for its role in generating responses to drug-related and fearful stimuli. The study, titled "Optogenetic…

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Morawski Honored for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology Research

Shasha Seminar Explores Suicide, Resilience through Film, Narrative, Community, Research

Dierker, Rose Win $2.8M NSF Award for Innovative Approach to Teaching Statistics

New Assistant Professor May ’05 Researches Suicide Risk and Prevention

Kim, Johnson ’18, Rothschild ’19, Coauthor Study on Self-Related Memory Advantage

Shasha Seminar 2018: Suicide and Resilience: Finding the Words

Wesleyan in the News

Robinson in The Conversation: How Gambling Distorts Reality and Hooks Your Brain

Wesleyan Students Help Area Kids Get a Kickstart on Kindergarten

Robinson Lab Awarded Grant from National Institute on Drug Abuse

Robinson Lab Coauthors Study on Compulsive, Drug Addiction Behaviors

Students Share Research at Psychology Poster Session