Student Research
Our faculty members have earned national (e.g. National Science Foundation) and internal (Collaborative Interdisciplinary Scholarship Program) funding to conduct research with our students. Our program emphasizes empirical research because it encourages the development of critical and creative thinking skills and also provides experiences that are valued by graduate programs and in professional settings.
All psychology students engage in original research projects in close collaboration with faculty members. Studies are conducted within required courses or through an individual research practicum. Students are also able to gain valuable experience working with faculty on their ongoing research projects.
These faculty-student collaborations are successful. Every year our students and faculty present at regional, national, and international meetings. Many of our students have been honored with national and regional awards for their research at these meetings.
Scholarship and Creative Arts Day (SCAD)
Psychology students present their independent research projects at the on-campus research conference each year. Some of these project originate in coursework, and others are collaborations with faculty in their research labs. Recent projects have been about reducing prejudice, eye movement and memory, introspection and depression, and the effect of concussions on learning. Learn more about SCAD.
Summer Scholarship Creative Arts and Research Projects (SCARP)
Several psychology students have completed summer research internships with faculty members in our department. Through the SCARP program, the College funds the students’ summer room and board and pays them a stipend to complete research projects in collaboration with faculty members. Recent projects have been on the topic of engineering creativity, time estimation ability and musical expertise, creativity and critical thinking, and the relationship among intuition, scientific reasoning, and political and religious beliefs. In the past, these projects have led to presentations at professional conferences and even peer-reviewed publications in scholarly journals. Learn more about SCARP.
100% of alums surveyed reported that doing research with a
psychology faculty member was a valuable part of their education
Recent Publications and Presentations
Below are references for some recent Etown faculty-student collaborative research projects.
* Denotes a student researcher
*Burns, T. & Roy, M.M. (May, 2016). The whole is not the sum of its parts: Unpacking in time estimation. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science. Chicago, IL.
*Clari, R. (May, 2016). Confabulatory introspection in emerging adults with symptoms of depression. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science. Chicago, IL.
Craver-Lemley, C., Dillon, C., *Pool, K., *Bancroft, S., *Schwark, R. (May, 2015). What color is my personality?: Comparisons between synesthetes’ people-color experiences. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science. New York, NY.
*Frees, A., Pretz, J., Roy, M., Memmert, D., & Radzevick (May, 2015). Role of rumination in professional field hockey players. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science. New York, NY.
*Kile, A., Pretz, J.E., & Atwood, S.A. (August, 2016). Creativity in engineering correlates negatively with first-year GPA: Evidence for domain-specificity. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association. Denver, CO.
Mahoney, J. L., & *Burns, T., *Zaman, P., *Speierman, S., *Speierman, E., & *Schaffer, C. (March, 2016). Where's the science?: What out-of-school activity practitioners say about using research to inform their practice. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence. Baltimore, MD.
*Pool, K. (May, 2016). Irrelevant speech impairs visuospatial memory. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL.
Roy, M.M., *Newman, M., *Nanovic, S., *Diener, H., *Letnaunchyn, T., & *Burns, T. (May, 2015). Factors that increase the likelihood of experiencing an earworm. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, New York, NY.
Smith, T. E., *Gensemer, A. R., *Smith, K. L., *Swint, J. P. (June, 2016). Understanding the experiences of Central PA LGBTQ youth through Photovoice. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Minneapolis, MN.
Szymanski, K., Craver-Lemley, C., *Cotter, K., *Jones, M., McCue, A., Smith, T.E. (May, 2015). Enhanced object imagery is associated with intrusive images among sexual trauma survivors. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science. New York, NY.