Psychology Students Present Research at APS

Three recent AU Psychology graduates presented research they conducted at while AU at the Association for Psychological Science Conference on May 25th. Natalie Bisignano, Hannah Drake, and Tiffany Pryce presented their work, "Women Endorse Their Own Stereotyped Preferences: A Replication of Conrad and Scheve (2017)" during the Saturday morning poster session. The conference was held in Washington, D.C. The students' travel was supported by a Provost Student Research Grant.

AU Psychology Majors Present at URCA

A number of psychology students presented their research at the annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (URCA) symposium that was held on the Ashland University campus on April 9.  The psychology department was well-represented at this year's symposium, as 14 students presented their research, and each of the five members of the psychology department faculty served as sponsors.  Participating students were Nicholas Bloxsom, Kaylei Ruffing, Dana Awlia, Mallorie Harding, Bryce McClish, Elizabeth Takacs, Miranda Bielawski, Katherine Conley, Savannah Lewis, Tiffany Smolinski, Jessica Wilson, Hannah Drake, Natalie Bisignano, and Tiffany Pryce.  Excellent job!

Jessica Wilson

Curt Ickes, Katherine Conley, and Peter Mallik

Psychology Students Present at the Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association

Five students from the Psychology Department at Ashland University recently presented their research at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association in Chicago.  These students were involved in research over the past year that took place in a research methods class, as directed research, or as independent studies, and the students were accompanied to Chicago by Drs. Bonfiglio and Metzger.  Congratulations to Dana Awila, Talyah Fogle, Savannah Lewis, Kaylei Ruffing, and Jessica Wilson!

Student Publishes Article in Psi Chi Journal

Derek Baker, a psychology major who graduated from Ashland University in May 2017, recently published an article with Dr. Chris Chartier in the Psi Chi Journal of Undergraduate Research.  The article, titled "Participant Attentiveness to Consent Forms" is available full-text and online by clicking here.  Derek is currently a student in the School Psychology graduate program at Miami University (OH).  Congratulations!! 

Students Present Their Work at MPA in Chicago

AU Psychology students Tiffany Pryce, Hannah Drake, and Natalie Bisignano presented their original research at the Midwestern Psychological Association annual conference in Chicago on April 12th. The students conducted their research as part of Dr. Bonfiglio’s Fall 2017 Research Methods course. They had the opportunity to connect with psychologists across the region to discuss their research interests, and were also able to spend some time exploring downtown Chicago. We are incredibly proud of these students!

AU Faculty Member and Student Publish Article

Dr. Chris Chartier (Associate Professor of Psychology) and Savannah Lewis (psychology major), along with Dr. Randy McCarthy (Northern Illinois University) recently published an article in Eye on Psi Chi.  The article is titled "Undergraduate Researchers Will Save Psychological Science" and details how undergraduate researchers have "been making significant contributions" to the discipline.  Click HERE to read the full transcript of the article.  

More Positive Press For The Psychological Science Accelerator!!

The Psychological Science Accelerator (PSA), founded last year by Ashland University's Dr. Chris Chartier, is getting more positive feedback in the press! Click HERE to read an article titled "Hundreds Of Researchers Are Trying To Replicate High-Profile Psychology Studies" that was recently  published at BuzzFeed. Congratulations!

Dr. Ickes Presents at Sports Psychology Conference

Dr. Curt Ickes, Associate Professor Psychology, presented at the 32nd Annual Association for Applied Sport Psychology Conference which was held in Orlando, Florida. The title of his presentation was Designing and Implementing a Mental Game Training Program for Smaller Colleges and Universities. Key aspects included ways to overcome challenges such as gaining program support and developing an efficient and effective design. Also, a model emphasizing a multi-level approach to delivering mental game training to collegiate athletes at smaller institutions was given. Dr. Ickes works with Ashland University athletes including the baseball, softball, and swimming and diving teams. He also teaches the sport psychology class (PSYC 280).

Announcing the Ashland University International Collaboration Research Center

Ashland University’s opening of an International Collaboration Research Center (AUICR) this fall gives further evidence that AU is emerging as a leader in the growing trend of collaborative social science. Click HERE to read a recent press release on the AUICR, and click HERE to visit the website for the center which contains information on student scholarships.  This is an exciting opportunity for psychology students to get further involved in the research process, and we congratulate Dr. Chris Chartier for leading the charge in getting the AUICR established!

Dr. Chartier and "StudySwap"

Dr. Chartier and his colleague Dr. Randy McCarthy recently had a blog posting at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) blog detailing "StudySwap".  From the blog post... "Briefly, StudySwap is an online platform where researchers can post brief descriptions of resources available for use (“Haves”) or resources they need that another researcher may have (“Needs”). The goal is for the Haves and Needs to be matched up so that (a) fewer research resources go unused and (b) more researchers have access to the resources they need to complete their research."  Click HERE to read the full story. 

Eleven Psychology Majors Present Research in Chicago

Eleven Psychology majors recently presented their research at the 89th annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association in Chicago on April 20th and 21st.  Ashland University was well-represented by Derek Baker, Danielle Bruno, Kate Budzik, Emily Civitollo, Elizabeth Kemp, Danny Lawson, Lydia Smith, Morgan Snyder, Melanie Ward, Muslimah Williams, and Emily Wirtz, all who did poster presentations of research they completed in the department over the past year.  These students join a long list of student researchers from the Psychology Department who have presented their findings at conferences in places like Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, and San Antonio.  Great job!

 Danny Lawson

 Lydia Smith

  Kate Budzik and Melanie Ward

Online Collaboration Platform is Developed

Dr. Chartier and collaborators have developed an online platform to help researchers from all scientific disciplines find collaborators, labs to conduct independent replications, or exchange research resources. The website, StudySwap, is hosted by the Center for Open Science and has already started facilitating new collaborations. Click HERE to check out this article in The Scientist to learn more.

Eleven Psychology Students to Present Research at Regional Conference

Congratulations to eleven of our psychology students who were informed that their research was accepted to present at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association this coming April in Chicago!  Two of these students, Emily Wirtz and Danielle Bruno, also found out that their research project was one of 24 (out of over 600) to receive a regional research award!  Click here for an Ashland University press release highlighting our student's accomplishments.

Reproducibility Concerns in Cancer Research?

Students of psychology have undoubtedly heard about recent reports showing that some psychological studies have failed to replicate, which has called into question the integrity of some research studies in psychology.  While the debate on this continues, now it seems that this problem is not limited to the social sciences, as a recent article on NovaNext reports this same issue is occurring in the field of cancer biology research.  The article states that "cancer biology is just one of many fields being scrutinized for the reproducibility of its studies" and cites specific examples such as "cancer scientists Begley and Ellis wrote that they had tried to reproduce 53 high-profile cancer studies while working at the pharmaceutical company Amgen, and succeeded with just six. A year earlier, scientists at Bayer HealthCare announced that they could replicate only 20–25% of 47 cancer studies".  Thus, it appears that the reproducibility problem cuts across at least several scientific disciplines.  Click HERE to read the full article from NovaNext.

Summary of Psychology Department Research Activities, Fall 2016

The fall 2016 semester was a busy one for the Psychology Department. Over the course of the semester 13 researchers (both students and faculty) collected data from 178 participants (PSYC 101 students) who make up our participant pool. The department ran a total of 14 different research projects and, overall, our participants earned 1,333 research 'credits'. As one credit amounts to 15 minutes worth of research participation, this equates to more than 330 continuous hours of data collection over the course of the semester. Students that were involved in this research were doing data collection as part of a class (PSYC 310), as a research assistant to one of our departmental faculty, or as an independent study (PSYC 498). The results of many of these studies will be presented at URCA and the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association in the spring of 2017. Overall, it was a productive semester in the research lab!

Why You Should Do Research If You're A Psychology Major...

Many of our students get engaged in research experiences during their time at Ashland University, and these activities have, for many years, been a hallmark of our department.  Some students get involved in the lab as early as their freshman year, allowing them to accumulate a good deal of experience by the time they graduate.  Considering that the vast majority of our students who successfully gain admittance to graduate school have these experiences in common, those students who want to take the 'next step' in their academic career should consider the opportunities that are in front of them.  Click HERE to read an article that discusses the positive benefits of doing research in the psychology lab.  The article provides insight from Mitchell Metzger and Gary Lewandowski (who gave a talk at our campus a few years ago).  Enjoy! 

Psychology Student Presents at Conference

Dan Whitacre, a junior psychology major, presented at the 30^th Annual Ohio Undergraduate Psychology Research Conference recently held at Lorain Community College.  The research, co-authored by Derek Baker with Drs. Ickes and Chartier serving as faculty sponsors, was titled “The Effect of Color on Athletic Performance.” The study explored whether or not the color of a golf putter impacted performance on a putting task.  Subjective ratings of emotional calmness were also analyzed.  Congratulations, Dan!

Summary of Psychology Department Research, Fall 2015 Semester

Students and faculty in the Ashland University Psychology Department were busy during the Fall 2015 semester gathering data for a variety of research projects.  Sixteen student and faculty researchers completed 15 different studies this semester, with 11 of those studies being traditional laboratory studies and 4  being online studies.  Student participants earned 1,237 credits by participating in research, and as each credit amounts to 15 minutes of research participation, the department gathered 309 continuous hours of data this semester.  Many of these research projects have been submitted for presentation at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association this spring in Chicago, while others have been included in manuscripts that have been submitted for publication.  All in all, it was another productive and fruitful semester for both our students and faculty alike!

Chris Chartier and Ashland Univeristy Psychology Students Take Part in Landmark Study

Dr. Chris Chartier, along with Ashland University psychology students Olivia Perna and Taylor Nervie, were among 270 individuals across the globe who participated in the attempted replication of 100 different psychology experiments.  The results of this collaborative project were published last week in Science, one of the top international science journals.  Click HERE to read the entire story from the AU press release.  Congratulations!

Summary of Research Activities, Spring 2015 Semester

Over the course of the spring semester the students and faculty in the Psychology Department were busy with data collection.  A total of 21 researchers (both students and faculty) collected data from participants in our pool, which amounted to over 375 total hours of data collection.  Data were gathered for 18 different studies, including studies where data was gathered "face to face" and others where online data collection procedures were used.  Overall, it was a fruitful semester in the laboratory, which resulted in a number of student presentations at the spring URCA symposium and presentations by both students and faculty at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association in Chicago.