PSYX 290 & 390 - Supervised Research - 2017-2018

Below are listed the professors participating in the program with examples of the kinds of research projects(s) on which they feel qualified to work with students. Please note that, since these are “apprenticeship” courses in research psychology, it is necessary that the projects be those which the professors are specially qualified to handle. The present list is not exhaustive, but will give the student a clear indication of the research areas in which the professors are interested and now doing research work. Students should keep in mind that the work undertaken by professors for the PSYX290 and 390 courses is in addition to the professors’ normal teaching assignments, and that such work can only be continued if students come halfway with enthusiasm, ideas, a desire to learn, and a sense of real responsibility. PSYX 120 is not a prerequisite for PSYX 290 or 390. If you are interested in being involved in supervised research, please contact the faculty member directly via email. Each faculty member has a different process (e.g., some have an application). Please email the faculty member, introduce yourself and ask whether the faculty member is currently taking undergraduate research assistants in his or her lab.

Dr. Brown (SB 204)SCHOOL PSYCH
Will work with selected students. Projects will depend on current opportunities. / 1. School-based crisis prevention and intervention
2. International school psychology
3. Bereavement in school-age children
4. Resilience in school-age children
Dr. Campbell (SB 312) CLINICAL / 1. Barriers to depression care: Stigma and depression treatment; stigma activation; attitudes and beliefs about depression and depression treatment options
2. Primary Care-Mental Health Integration efforts; health psychology; the healthcare system.
Dr. Cochran (SB 143) CLINICAL
Will work with selected students. Contact Dr. Cochran for research lab application. / 1.Sexual minority (LGBT) mental health
2.Gender Nonconformity
3.Substance abuse and dependence
4.Prescription drug misuse
Dr. Conway (SB 239) SOCIAL PSYCH
Will work with 6-12 selected students
For info, please see webpage at http://hs.umt.edu/politicalcognition/and click on "join the lab." / 1. Political and Social Psychology
2.Causes and consequences of cognitive complexity (relevant to politics, culture, and mental health)
3.Causes and consequences of shared beliefs (e.g., collectivism, stereotypes, etc.)
Dr. Denis (SB 369) QUANTITATIVE PSYCH
Will work with selected students. / 1.mathematical psychology; statistics; data analysis; statistical and methodological consulting; statistical software; calculus; algebra; linear and matrix algebra; differential equations; philosophy of science; history of statistics and mathematics; decision analysis; psychometrics; elementary real analysis; quantitative problem-solving; legal statistics; medical/health statistics.
Dr. Fiore (SB 143) CLINICAL
Will work with 3-5 students.
Sabbatical Fall 2017 / 1.Projects related to intimate partner violence and dating violence on campus
2.Involvement in graduate research looking at dating violence and psychological abuse
Dr. Goforth (SB 367) SCHOOL PSYCH
Will work with several students.
Please see more information about the lab at: http://www.umt.edu/psychology/ goforth_lab/ /
  1. Culturally responsive practices in school psychology
  2. Native American youths’ mental health and academic performances

Dr. Hall (SB 207) NEUROPSYCH
Will work with several students. / 1. Secondary influences on neuropsychological test performance such as effort, expectations and diagnosis threat
Dr. Hughes (Corbin 029)
Research Professor; Rural Institute
Will work with 1-2 selected students. / 1. Pain, depression, and resilience in Men and Women with Spinal Cord Injury
2. Interpersonal Violence against People with Disabilities
3. Unintended Pregnancy in Women with Disabilities
4.Reproductive and Pelvic Health of Women with Disabilities
5.Psychological Health Promotion for Women with Spinal Cord Injury
Dr. Nathan Insel (SB 362) EXPERIMENTAL
Will work with selected students. /
  1. Investigation of rodent social behavior/cognition (physical and vocal interactions in degus)
  2. Analysis of neural activity recorded from socially interacting degus

Dr. Jang (SB 205) EXPERIMENTAL
Will work with selected students /
  1. Human cognition: priming effects, learning strategies and memory, confidence (over- and under-confidence), judgments and decision making (heuristics), emotion and cognition, etc.; and applying cognitive science to education
  2. Helping to run various cognitive psychology experiments
  3. Learning how to design, develop, and conduct your “own” experiments if further interested – full support will be offered to the student researchers

Dr. Machek (SB 240) SCHOOL PSYCH
Will work with selected students.
Sabbatical 2017-2018 / 1.Positive behavior supports in schools
2.Judgments of responsibility in cases of chronic peer harassment/bullying
3.Bully prevention efforts in public schools
4.Social determinants of bullying behavior
Dr. McCray (SB 203) DEVELOPMENTAL
Will work with 1 or 2 students. / 1. Parent/infant interactions
2. Interventions with at-risk parents/infants
3. Teen parenting and outcomes for children
Dr. McFarland (SB 202) NEUROPSYCH
Will work with select students.
Contact Dr. McFarland for lab application. / 1.Prospective Memory
2.Cognitive Rehabilitation
3.Prospection – imagining future situations
4.Neuropsychology of Aging
Dr. Ravesloot (NCOR 239) RURAL
Will work with 1 or 2 students. /
  1. Development and testing of a tablet-based behavioral medicine intervention for people with disabling chronic illness and injury
  2. Person-Environment fit in rural communities
  3. Pain, barriers and community participation
  4. Measuring community participation with IPODs, GPS, etc.

Dr. Severson (SB 371) DEVELOPMENTAL
Will work with selected students. Please see Dr. Severson’s Lab website (www.hs.umt.edu/psychology/severson) for more info and click “Join the Lab” to apply. / 1.Anthropomorphism: Attributions of minds, internal states, and other animate characteristics to inanimate entities (e.g., nature and technologies)
2.Social perspective taking: Selective social learning, perspective taking biases/limitations
3.Environmental moral reasoning: Development of moral conceptions of the natural world
Dr. Schuldberg (SB 206) CLINICAL
Will work with several students.
Sabbatical Spring 2018 / 1. Research on dynamic changes in emotion and other self-rated characteristics
2.Research on health and mental health services
3.Research on Psychological well-being
4. Research on school-based interventions for child traumatic stress
5.Additional projects conducted by Professor and Graduate research team
Dr. Sun (PJWEC 103)
Asst. Prof. of Educational Psychology
http://www.umt.edu/people/js
See Dr. Sun to apply to work in her lab; register through the Psychology Dept., PSYX 290/390 / 1.Examine how emergent leadership naturally evolves in children’s collaborative learning and facilitates the group’s argumentation and problem solving
2.Examine what individual characteristics, social factors (e.g., peer relationships), and contexts (instructional approaches, culture) impact children’s school engagement
3.Cross-cultural examination of American and Chinese children’s social and emotional development in collaborative learning, and teachers’struggles and growth in scaffolding dialogic-richdiscussions
Dr. Swaney (SB 310) CLINICAL / 1. Resilience in American Indian populations
2. Trauma/Violence in Indian Country
3.Grief
4.Social determinants of health in Indian Country
Dr. Szalda-Petree (SB 201) EXPERIMENTAL
Will work with up to 8 students.
Sabbatical Spring 2018 / 1. Investigation of psychopharmacological effects of serotonin activation on choice behavior in Betta splendens (Siamese fighting fish)