Overview

With a broad range of offerings in biological, cognitive, developmental and social psychology, the Psychology AOC at New College combines the academic rigor and research emphasis you would expect from one of the nation’s top liberal arts colleges with a personalized approach that is designed to help our students learn and succeed. In fact, according to alumnae/i survey data, more than 90 percent of New College psychology students who apply to graduate school are accepted into master’s and Ph.D. programs, and many attend the nation’s top graduate institutions.

Perhaps the best feature of our Psychology program, though, is the way in which it helps sharpen your research, writing and analytic skills while building toward a capstone project (thesis) where, while working with your faculty advisor, you will examine in depth an area of special interest to you. In the past, our students have explored theories and data pertaining to such a wide range of topics as:

• How sensory processes impact people’s perception of art.
• How educational choices are made for children in pre-K, K-12, and students in college.
• How conservation and zoological choices are developed for animals in the wild and captivity.
• How factors like race, gender, competition and cooperation affect interpersonal relationships.

For additional examples of the broad range of research pursued by our students, visit our Senior Thesis page.

Additional benefits of the program include the opportunity to:

• Study marine mammals and lemurs.
• Participate in a year-long senior seminar class to help prepare for your thesis project.
• Use statistics and methods in all courses, not just in the stats and methods classes themselves.
• Develop lab skills that are critical to graduate school and career success, including the use of advanced software in data analysis (e.g., CLAN, Avisoft SASLAB, SuperLab, SPSS, SAS andLIWC).
• Study the newest developments in the field – our faculty members do not teach strictly from textbooks but instead explore the latest articles and changes in the field with their students.

Why are our graduates so successful? Because at New College, all of the classes in our Psychology program — from introductory courses to senior seminars and ultimately the senior thesis — are designed to be building blocks, helping you develop the skills needed to conduct advanced library and empirical research within the field. You also work closely with faculty who really get to know you, not just as a name in a class but as a person, which means they can write excellent letters of recommendation and direct you to graduate school programs and career paths that are the right fit for you. As a result, our graduates report that they enter graduate school and the workplace ready to excel and with hands-on research experience that far exceeds that of their peers from other institutions.

While the career paths taken by our graduates are as varied as the individuals themselves, popular fields include academic research and teaching, animal training and conservation, clinical and counseling psychology, social work, education at both the K-12 and college levels, medicine and law.

Curriculum

Students studying Psychology at New College are required to complete eight specific courses within the discipline, as well as at least two advanced-level courses in psychology and the psychology senior seminar. A senior thesis is also required.

Required courses:

• Introductory Psychology
• Statistics
• Research Methods

Four of the following five courses must be taken:

• Developmental Psychology
• Biological Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Personality

A laboratory course in one of the following areas:

• Cognitive, Development, and Social Psychology
• Animal Behavior
• Sensation and Perception

(Laboratories in the Natural Sciences Division are offered in conjunction with Neurobiology, Neuroanatomy, and Brain, Behavior, and Evolution)

2 Advanced Psychology Electives: Psychology Senior Seminar

Other Recommended Courses:
In order to provide breadth and perspective, Psychology students are also encouraged to take courses in other disciplines that will complement their areas of interest. Recommended courses include those from the general areas of philosophy, mathematics, computer science, biology, physics, anthropology, sociology, political science and religion.

For detailed requirements, check out our General Catalog and the Psychology Academic Learning Compact.

Here’s a list of recent course offerings in Psychology, arranged by subfields:

General Interest
Introductory Psychology Seminars
An Introductory Psychology modular seminar is a foundation course. Each course serves as a prerequisite for more advanced psychology courses. All of the courses will introduce students to the basic methods employed in psychology. Students will collect and analyze data, write reports in American Psychological Association format, and give oral presentations. First year students have priority for these seminars.

Introductory Psychology Seminar: Animal Thinking and Communication
Animals learn, remember, reason, and communicate. For example, honeybees dance to indicate the location of food sources. Clark’s nutcrackers remember thousands of locations in which they stored nuts. In this course we will explore the methods and results from studies of animal cognition with specific emphasis on communication.

Introductory Psychology Seminar: Behavior in Social Context
Social Psychology deals with the ways in which individuals think about, feel and act in social situations. This course will provide a basic introduction to theories and methods in the field, and applications in the real world. An important objective of this course is to help students develop critical and integrated modes of thinking about theories and empirical research in Social Psychology.

Introductory Psychology Seminar: Memory Development
Can a 2 ½-year-old toddler accurately recall details about a trip taken to Disney World when she was 2 years old? Probably. Can a 6-month-old baby remember what he learned when he was 2 months old about operating a mobile? Probably, or at least under certain circumstances. Can a 5-year-old child remember three items out of seven after a 15 second delay? Probably not. This course will introduce students to findings like these, investigating the development of memory during infancy and childhood. We will examine a variety of methods used to measure memory skills (e.g., how do you test memory of a 6-month-old?), explore explanations for different memory skills at various points in development (e.g., why does that 5-year-old forget something after 15 seconds, but that 6-month-old baby can remember something from 4 months ago?), and compare children’s memories to those of adults (e.g., how much can you remember of a trip taken 6 months ago?).

Introductory Psychology Seminar: The Sensory World of Animals
Animals sense worlds that are very different from our own. For example, honeybees detect polarized light and homing pigeons navigate using the earth’s magnetic field. Whales hear very low frequencies that may allow them to hear other whales an ocean away. Bottlenose dolphins recognize objects by reflected sound. Students will be introduced to the behavioral and physiological evidence that provides a glimpse of the other worlds of animals.

Introductory Psychology Seminar: Social Influence
We are frequently confronted with requests from others, including those to buy the newest gadgets, support political candidates, or make charitable donations. How do these requestors convince us to say “yes”? How can we convince others to say “yes” to our requests? How can we protect ourselves from unscrupulous requestors? This module length introductory course will address these questions by examining common strategies of social influence. We will learn about these strategies by reading and discussing primary and secondary literature on these topics and gaining hands-on experience with psychological research.

Introduction to Statistics
This course will introduce students to applied statistics in the behavioral and social sciences. The course will employ a conceptual approach to using descriptive and inferential statistics. Topics will include frequency distributions, central tendency and variability, probability, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, inferences about means, analysis of variance, correlation, regression, power, and chi-square analysis. Students will be introduced to computer programs for statistical analyses.

Advanced Statistics
This course will cover advanced topics in applied statistics for the social and behavioral sciences. We will begin with in-depth considerations of analysis of variance and multiple regression. Additional topics may include structural equation modeling, factor analysis, and meta-analysis. Students will gain hands-on experience with conducting each analysis in relevant computer programs.

Research Methods in Psychology
This course will survey the range of research methods available to psychologists. Students will become familiar with each phase of the research process through readings, lectures, class discussions, field observations, surveys, interviews, and laboratory measurement. The advantages and limitations of each method will be emphasized. In addition, students will practice using appropriate statistical analyses to interpret data.

Psychology Senior Seminar
All students who plan to graduate with an area of concentration in psychology must enroll in the Psychology Senior Seminar Tutorial. Students will meet weekly to discuss various aspects of the thesis process, including the literature review, hypothesis generation, research design, and data analysis.

Biological Psychology

Biological Psychology
This course introduces the student to the biological bases of behavior and mind. We will address physiological, evolutionary, and ecological explanations for various psychological phenomena. Topics will include neural transmission, nervous system organization, lateralization and language, sensory processes, movement, biological rhythms, thirst and hunger, sexual behavior, emotional behavior, learning and memory, psychopathology, personality, and consciousness.

Animal Learning
This course considers the mechanisms and processes of learning. We will discuss the basic issues in traditional learning theory including habituation, sensitization, classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning, and discrimination learning.

Animal Behavior Processes Laboratory
In this advanced laboratory seminar students will participate in studies of animal learning, cognition, and sensory processes. Students will design experiments, analyze data, and write reports. Although credit for only one module is offered, we will meet one day a week throughout the term to discuss relevant literature and experimental design. Species to be studied will include honeybees and manatees.

Sensation and Perception
This course explores the sensory and perceptual processes involved in determining the properties of physical stimuli. Initially, we will discuss psychophysics, the study of the relationship between psychological phenomena and physical events. We will continue with reviews of vision and audition. A specific emphasis will be placed on applications of psychological and biological knowledge to perceptual analysis of two-dimensional visual images and music.

Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive Psychology
Neisser (1967) defined cognitive psychology as the study of the processes by which sensory input is transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered, and used. This course will focus on the models and experiments that address these cognitive processes. A major goal of the course is to help students develop their abilities to read and understand cognitive experiments and to use experimental data to support hypotheses.

Comparative Cognition
Animals learn, remember, solve problems, communicate, and deceive. They engage in complex interactions with their social and nonsocial environment. In order to engage in these activities, animals must form mental representations. This course will provide an overview of research investigating how animals process information and represent their world. We will discuss evidence derived from both laboratory experimentation and naturalistic field observations.

Advanced Seminar in Experimental Psychology: Dolphin Behavior, Cognition, and Communication
In this seminar we will read and discuss journal articles by leading authors studying dolphin behavior, cognition, and communication. We will also apply some of our knowledge to on-going studies of dolphins.

Laboratory in Comparative Cognition
The focus of this course is to improve students’ skills in methods typically used to answer questions generated by comparative psychologists. Students will gain this knowledge through readings, discussions, planning sessions, materials preparation, data collection and production of A.P.A. lab reports. Data collection will occur with people and other species.

Developmental Psychology

Developmental Psychology
This course will survey topics in social, personality, and cognitive development from infancy through adolescence. We will discuss major theoretical perspectives, methodologies, and both past and present research in the field. Projects in the course will include the opportunity to observe child behavior, and to assess a variety of real world issues of developmental psychology that have direct impact on children’s lives.

Cross-Cultural Perspectives in Child Development
This seminar will explore the issue of how culture impacts theories of developmental psychology. Much of developmental theory has been based on research with Euro-American samples, yet to what extent are these principles appropriately applied to other cultural groups? The goal of the class will be to examine how our perspectives and theories of development are shaped by culture, and to what extent those theories are limited to the cultural samples studied. We will discuss research on parental and cultural values as they bear on childrearing practices and developmental theory. We will explore research examples from a variety of cultures, from within the United States and from other countries.

Special Topics in Language Development
A 12-month-old hears someone say: FIMSOGFIMFIMTUP. How does s/he figure out which parts are words? Or if it’s a grammatical string? Through innate constraints? Through constructing grammatical strings in the patterns s/he hears in speech? How about VOTPELPELJIC? These examples were generated for an artificial language to which 12-month-olds were exposed. They learned the grammar! Studies like this one will be the focus of this seminar which will explore language processing and development through various theoretical perspectives and current debates in the field. Also included will be topics in language learning in special populations (e.g., hearing impaired, blind, etc.) and animal language learning. Students will also get experience using the CHILDES computerized transcription, analysis and database system via their own special projects.

Laboratory in Developmental Psychology
This course is designed to give students exposure to some of the research questions and methods used with infants, preschoolers, and young school-age children. Current research papers will serve as examples for discussion and critique. Students will develop skills with various aspects of developmental research from data collection, to data coding and analysis, to writing formal research reports.

Social Psychology

Social Psychology
This course will provide an introduction to theory and research in social psychology. We will focus on several core themes in the discipline, including the subjective construction of social reality, the shortcomings of social inference, the influence of social setting on individual and group behavior, and interpersonal and group processes. In short, we will explore how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.

Social Cognition
Many years ago, Kurt Lewin made the point that in order to understand social behavior, it is important to understand how people construe or think about their social environments. Social cognition refers to the set of processes by which people perceive, think about, and remember aspects of their social world. Specific processes include person perception, attitude formation, stereotyping, and prejudice. In this class, we will cover social cognitive topics by reading classic and contemporary primary literature rather than secondary sources.

Lab in Social Psychology
The primary goal of this semester-length lab course is to acquaint students with the wide range of methods and procedures used in social psychological research. This semester our research efforts will focus on questions related to conflict resolution and perceptions of justice.

Close Relationships
This advanced seminar will cover classic and contemporary research and theory on the psychology of close relationships. We will learn about these topics in several ways: by reading and discussing primary and secondary literature in these areas, by applying course topics to our own everyday lives, and importantly, by gaining hands-on experience with psychological research. We will learn about psychological research through class readings, discussions, and through participating in and conducting psychological research.

Psychology of Religion
This course covers theory and empirical research on the psychology of religion. We will learn about the psychology of religion by reading and discussing primary and secondary literature in this area, by completing several writing assignments, and, importantly, by gaining hands-on experience with the conduct of psychological research. Topics covered will include the foundations of religious belief, the interrelations between religion and emotion, and the complex associations between religiosity and physical and mental health.

Self and Identity
This advanced seminar will cover classic and contemporary research and theory on the psychology of self and identity. We will learn about these topics in several ways: by reading and discussing primary and secondary literature in these areas, by applying course topics to our own everyday lives, and importantly, by gaining hands-on experience with psychological research. We will learn about psychological research through class readings, discussions, and through participating in and conducting psychological research.

Stigma and Prejudice
This advanced seminar will cover classic and contemporary research and theory on the social psychology of stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination, and stigma. We will cover a broad range of related topics, including how to define and measure these phenomena, the motivations that underlie them, their material and psychological consequences, the acquisition and functions of prejudices and stereotypes, and the reduction of prejudices and stereotypes. We will learn about these topics by reading and discussing primary and secondary literature in these areas, by writing papers that apply course topics to our social world, and by gaining hands-on experience with psychological research.

Lab in Social and Personality Psychology
This class will provide students with knowledge of and experience with the methods used by social and personality psychologists to gain scientific understanding of psychological phenomena. In addition to regular class meetings, students will get hands-on experience with all phases of the research process including conducting literature searches and reviews, designing studies, collecting and analyzing data, and preparing reports of findings. Limited to Psychology AOCs.

Impression Management
This advanced seminar will cover classic and contemporary research and theory on impression management (or self-presentation) from a social psychological perspective. We will learn about this topic by reading and discussing primary and secondary literature in this area, by writing papers that apply course topics to our social world, and by gaining hands-on experience with psychological research.

For a complete list of courses, click here.

Faculty

Michelle Barton

Associate Professor of Psychology
(941) 487-4382 | mbarton@ncf.edu

find out more about Prof. Barton

Gordon Bauer

Professor of Psychology; Peg Scripps Buzzelli Chair
(941) 487-4394 | bauer@ncf.edu

find out more about Prof. Bauer

Charlene Callahan

Professor Emerita of Psychology
(941) 487-4380 |

find out more about Prof. Callahan

Peter Cook

Assistant Professor of Psychology
(941) 487-4435 | pcook@ncf.edu

find out more about Prof. Cook

Catherine Cottrell

Associate Professor of Psychology
(941) 487-4699 | ccottrell@ncf.edu

find out more about Prof. Cottrell

Steven Graham

Associate Professor of Psychology
(941) 487-4551 | sgraham@ncf.edu

find out more about Prof. Graham

Heidi Harley

Professor of Psychology; Director of Environmental Studies
(941) 487-4328 | harley@ncf.edu

find out more about Prof. Harley

Leilani Kellogg

Adjunct Instructor of Psychology
(941) 487-4380 | skellogg@ncf.edu

find out more about Prof. Kellogg

Theodore Wagenaar

Adjunct Professor of Sociology
(941) 487-4380 | twagenaar@ncf.edu

find out more about Prof. Wagenaar

Outcomes

Julia Skapik, ’01, spent a year at the FDA performing viral and vaccine neurovirulence research following her graduation from New College with a joint AOC in Psychology and Biology. Following that, she earned her MPH and MD from the Johns Hopkins Schools of Medicine and Public Health and completed her residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where she is currently a clinical instructor.  In September 2011, she was named as an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow by the National Science Foundation. She is also the author of the chapter “Psychotic Disorders, Severe Mental Illness, and HIV Infection” in the Comprehensive Textbook of AIDS Psychiatry and was an editor and author of the sixth edition of the review book First Aid for Step 2 CK and the fourth edition of First Aid for the Wards. She previously served as Health Policy Action Committee chair for the American Medical Student Association and is a Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellow.

New College is proud of our many Psychology graduates. Here’s a sampling of what some of them are up to today:

• Debborah Colbert is the vice president of conservation and science at the Association of Zoos & Aquariums in Washington, D.C. Previously, she was the manatee care and training coordinator at Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium in Sarasota, Florida.
• Erin Hannon is an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). She is the director of the UNLV Music Lab on Auditory Cognition and Development.
• Kimberly Jean Kroflich works for the State Attorney’s office in Brevard County, with special emphasis on the legal needs of children.
• Jill Lany is an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Notre Dame who specializes in early cognitive development with a focus on how infants learn words and grammatical patterns.
• Robert Lecusay is a research associate at the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition at University of California, San Diego.
• Alicia Thompson is the author of the novel Psych Major Syndrome.
• Melissa Williams is vice president for learning at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

Sample of Graduate Schools Attended by NCF Students in Psychology

• Johns Hopkins Schools of Medicine and Public Health
• University of California, Berkeley
• Columbia University
• Cornell University
• Duke University
• Northwestern University
• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Tufts University
• Antioch College
• Brown University
• Florida State University
• Fordham University
• Hunter College at CUNY
• Miami University
• New York University
• University of South Florida School of Marine Sciences
• Pepperdine University
• Purdue University
• S.U.N.Y. Binghamton
• San Diego State University
• Smith College
• Temple University
• University of Alabama
• University of Arizona
• University of California, Los Angeles
• University of California, San Diego
• University of Denver
• University of Florida
• University of Georgia
• University of Hawaii
• University of Illinois at Chicago
• University of Kentucky
• University of Maryland
• University of Miami
• University of Nebraska
• University of New Mexico
• University of Oregon
• University of Tennessee
• University of Texas, Austin
• University of Washington
• Wake Forest University
• Washington University, St. Louis
• Wellesley College
• Western Illinois University
• Xavier University

Senior Thesis

Each academic experience builds toward your senior thesis project. It’s required for graduation, and our students tell us that while it’s demanding, it’s also one of the most rewarding experiences of their lives. Here are some thesis projects in Psychology:

“Thinking about Thinking: Metacognition in Dolphins” by Judith Lobo

“Behavioral Lateralization in the Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris)” by Kara Tyler

“The Extent to Which Biologocal and Sociocultural Factors Account for Differences Between the Sexes in Humor Type Preference” by Emily Acle

“Relationships among Alexithymia, Altruism, and Interpersonal Trust” by Felix Acuna

“Stigma Against People with Depression, It’s Effect on Test Performance, and Role Models’ Influence on This Effect” by Katya Ariano

“What Are You Looking For? The Associations of Attachment and Romantic Relationship Ideals with Attraction” by Cheryl Askey

“Terror Management and Humor: Can Viewing a Cartoon About Death Reduce Death Concerns?” by Alisabeth Ayars

“My Dog Is Better Than Yours: An Examination of The Pain Attenuating Properties Associated With Exposure To a Familiar Dog, an Unfamiliar Dog, and a Plant” by Emma Jane Ballantine

“Grit and Graduation: A Meta-Thesis” by M. Faith Benamy

“Curiosity may not have Killed the Cat After All: The Potential Relationship Between Self-esteem, Self-compassion, and Curiosity” by Elizabeth Brewer

“Talking Back: Effects of Training Session Occurrence on Captive Dolphin Vocal Behavior” by Jennie Caskey

“Crossing the Threshold: An Examination of the Duration of Self-Regulatory Tasks within the Ego Depletion Paradigm” by Kelsey Cooke

“State Attachment, Anxiety Sensitivity, and Drinking Motives: The Effect of Priming State Attachment on Anxiety Sensitivity and Drinking Motives” by Corey Kennedy Costello

“What’s With the Flower Boys? Comparing Korean and American Perceptions of Femininity and Masculinity” by Rebecca Alice Furlow

“Empathy Enhancement in Text Based Computer Mediated Communication” by Sivens J. Glaude

“The Effects of Type-Face on Sarcasm Comprehension” by Joseph Winfield Juneau Haslam

“I Am Us: Overlapping Mental Representations of Self and Community” by Sarah Hernandez

“An Exploration of Facebook’s Ability to Buffer the Negative Effects of Cyberostracism on Self-Esteem” by Heather Jaffe

“Insight And Perception:  The Relationship Between Diversity Attitudes and Perceptions of Campus Diversity” by Destiny S. Lyals

“The Effect of Diverted Disclosure on Cognitive Processing with Applications to Sexual Assault” by Katherine Howard Oglesby

“Owner Perceptions of Dog Emotions” by Kirstin Ohlsen

“Impacts of Foraging Behavior of Initial and Terminal Phase Sparisoma Viride on a Caribbean Coral Reef” by Samantha Ortiz

“Love Shouldn’t Hurt: How Battered Women Cope with Intimate Partner Violence and its Effects on Subjective Stress” by Paula Pulmano

“Using Drawing Tasks to Study Body Perception” by Andrew Fishman

“Counteracting Symptoms of Emotional Suppression with Artistic Expression” byKatherine Evarts

“Don’t Speak, I Know Just What You’re Saying: Gender Role Orientation, Self-Silencing, and Relationship Satisfaction” by Francesca Leyva

“What is Queer-Ness? A Prototype Analysis of Queer Identity” by Molly Swift

“Attitudes About Hispanics and Spanish-English Bilingual Education” by Rachel Barnard

“Parents’ Preference for Gender Stereotypes in Children’s Books” by Carla Abad

“Exchange of Self for others: Associations Between Social Awareness, Self-Compassion, and Satisfaction in Social Relationships” by Meg deCordre’

“The Role of Touch in the Theatergoing Experience of Visually-Impaired Adults” by Sarah Gregory

“Associations Between Self-Monitoring and the Creation of Humorous Advertisements” by Jeff Guertin

“Underwater Vibrotactile Frequency Detection in human Hairy and Glabrous Skin” by Jordan Martin

“I am Punk: A Prototype Analysis of Identity in the Punk Music Subculture” by Noelle Neemeh

“Bais in the Courtroom: The Effects of Attorney attractiveness and Gender on Juror Decisions” by Keytin Palmer

“Gaining a Better Understanding of Love and Relationships” by Stephanie Parrish

“Art in a Granzfeld: The Role of Context in the Perception of Art” by Mary Powell

“Self-Esteem and Interpersonal Perception” by Lior Reischer

“The role of Computer-Based Content in Cooperative, Competitive, and Individualistic Decision-Making” by Rachel Scherer

“Execitive Control and Language Mode in Monoligual and Biligual Young Adults” by Emma Ward

“Qualities of offline and online friendships: Jealousy and Relationship Satisfaction” by Catherine Zakoske

“Adult Literacy Practices and Associated Motivational Needs” by Kathryn A. Klein

“Domestic Cats: Coat Color and Personality, Do Calicos Really Have Catitude?” by Jacqueline Munera

“An Exploratory Investigation of Sleep Disturbance in the Pathogenesis of Depression” by Kristen Linnae Ponte

“Human Chemosensation and Wine Expertise: The Biology of Wine Tasting” by Laura Johanna Weinkle

“The Hard Reduction: Psychology and Neuroscience” by Caleb Kaufman

“Sight Singing with Individualized Real -Time Feedback: The Efficacy of Singing Coach in the Music Theory Classroom” by D’Ariel Barnard

“Shop ‘Til You Drop: A Working Memory Training Program for Older Adults to Improve Memory in a Grocery Shopping Transfer Task” by Melanie Bauer

“Photography and Self – Awareness: The Act of Being Photographed” by Elizabeth Bossom

“Creative Control: An Explanation of Species-Specific Enrichment in Mongoose Lemurs (Eulemur Mongoz) and Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus)” by Hannah Brown

“The Effect of Interest Level on Susceptibility to Unconscious Nonverbal Mimicry” by Amanda  Caizza

“Birth Order and Family Size as Indicators of Social Competence” by Anna MaryFolkers

“Introducing “Mathematics”: The Effectiveness of a Structured Educational Tool with Playful Aspects” by Elaine S. Fritschie

“The Mu Rhythm: An Electrophysiological Measure of Motor, Emotional, and Cognitive Empathy” by Robert Joseph Gougelet

“Gender Role Instillment Upon Children Through the Use of Children’s Literature” by Maria Andrea Siles

“Academic Satisfaction in College and Relatedness to Instructors, Parents, and Peers” by Rita Yelverton

“Effect of Props on Preschool Children’s Communicative Interactions in Scripted Play Events” by Gabrielle Yvonne deFiebre

“This Is Your Brain on Mindfulness: Dispositional Mindfulness and Neural Activity in Attentional Networks” by Natalie Paul

“Association of Commonly Studied Personality Variables with the Stress and Immune Response” by Benjamin Stork

“Fashion, Feminism, and Fascism: The New Woman and the Crisis of Modernity in France and Germany, 1920-1945.” by Kinley Paisley

“Synesthesia: An Exploration of the Behavior, Biology, and Individuality of Cross-Modal Experiences” by Blaine Farmer

“Social Learning in Cats” by Emily Brockmeier

“Do Children Who Know More, Care More? Environmental Knowledge and Scope of Justice” by Jennifer Dyer

“Self-Monitoring and Social Desirability as Factors Associated with Discrepancy Between Indicated Type and True Type on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator” by Katherine Filippi

“Who is Responsible for an Accident? Defensive Attributions and the Self-Determination Theory” by Kelly Maher

“Phonation Production and Synchrony in the Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)” by Caitlin M. O’Brien

“Depression: Experiences, Perceptions and Attitudes” by Krisztina Schlessel

“Mother-Child Reminiscing: Support for Socialization of Affect Regulation?” by Rebecca Weaver

“Synchrony Between a Mother-Calf Pair of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)” by Wendi Fellner

“Basic Husbandry Training of Two West Indian Manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris)” by Deborah Colbert

Resources

Students studying Psychology at New College enjoy a wealth of on and off-campus resources to augment their academic program. These include discipline-specific laboratories, advanced software for data analysis, internship and off-campus research opportunities designed to provide real-world, hands-on experience in the field, and study abroad.

Laboratories
Centrally located on our Bayfront Campus, the Developmental/Social Laboratoryincludes an observation/testing room with an adjacent computer coding room that are available throughout the year to students in Psychology. The observation room can be used for testing individuals or small groups, with or without video recording of the interactions. The adjacent computer room can be used to monitor the activities live via video links on a computer monitor and to code the recorded interactions at a later time. Other rooms in the lab are available for running computerized, survey, or observational studies. Two handheld camcorders and an IP camera are available for video recording, either in the observation room or with laptop computers for offsite recording.  A large, central room in the lab is also available for group studies or as a waiting room for research participants.

The New College Comparative Cognition Laboratory (NCCCL) offers resources for students to analyze animal vocalizations and behavior. Although the focus of the lab is on dolphins, students have also studied other species (e.g., manatees, lemurs, and birds) using the lab’s specialized acoustic processing software and video analysis equipment.

In addition to the Developmental/Social Laboratory and the NCCCL, Psychology students also have access to a new Social Sciences Research Laboratory in our Academic Center and to a small computer laboratory in Bonseigneur House (the Psychology Building), as well as to general use computer labs on campus.

Advanced Software for Data Analysis
Familiarity with software used in advanced data analysis gives students a leg up when it comes to admission into the nation’s leading graduate programs. At New College, students in our Psychology AOC have access to such leading software programs as Interact, an observation software program that allows the interactions to be time stamped with any coding scheme; SuperLab for creating stimulus presentations and measuring reaction times; CLAN and LIWC for coding and analyzing transcripts of social interactions; and SPSS and SAS for statistical analyses.

Internships and Off-Campus Research
Psychology students at New College enjoy internship and off-campus study opportunities with some of the region’s and the nation’s top research laboratories and programs. Through them, they gain invaluable, real-world experience into how psychological research is performed in the field. In recent years, our students have completed internships and research at Vanderbilt Neuroscience Lab, Chimp Haven, Mote Marine Laboratory, Dolphin Research Center, Dolphins Plus, Navy Marine Mammal Program, University of Miami Hearing Lab, University of Miami Touch Lab, Lemur Conservation Foundation, Poynter Institute, Roskamp Institute, and Hawaiian Island Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

Study Abroad
Although it is not a formal component of our Psychology AOC, many students within the program have incorporated study abroad and cross-cultural data collection into their research and thesis work. Examples of recent international or cross-cultural research performed by our students include an examination of early motherhood experiences in Nicaragua, a study of the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on Ugandan orphans, and an investigation of the differences in wayfinding ability among rural and urban-living Aboriginal Australians.