Undergraduate Research and Active Learning

Read about some of the undergraduates who have engaged in research and internships:

Elaine Klein '06 and Christopher Chianese '05 worked with grad student Alisha Pollastri and Professor Esteban Cardemil to study depression in low-income, urban children. Read about their findings.

Kelly Ku and fellow students discuss their work as part of psychologist Nick Thompson's research team on baby cries from an evolutionary perspective. She started her research participation at the beginning of her sophomore year, and received an Anton Fellowship to help fund her research.

Mitch Guerette and several other students participated in a study to uncover what motivates people to take action on a social or political cause that's important to them.

Undergraduate Honors Theses Completed in 2007

Rosslyn Apt "Parenting and theory of mind: A comparison between Worcester Hispanic and Costa Rican families"


Daniel Be "Creating intimacy: The result of vulnerability and safety"


Larissa Christensen "Feelings on relationship maintenance and their relationship to satisfaction and attachment theory" Interview with Larissa.


Alexandra Conrad "Age and gender differences of ideal romantic relationship expectations"


Anthony Davis "Negative life events, coping and depression among college men"


Emily Lescak "Psychological and self-reported responses to attachment vocalizations"


Jennifer Lombardi "The relationship between adult attachment styles and displays of affection" Interview with Jennifer.


Rebecca Louzan "The use of similarity judgments in cardiac auscultation training for medical students and residents"


Michelle Miller "The motivational experience of high school students in the college application process"


Magdalen Toole "Lesbian prospective adoptive parents’ constructions of parental roles" Interview with Magdalen.

Samantha Trickey "Gender specific responses to individualized fantasies of unfaithfulness: Questioning on evolutionary psychology theory" Interview with Samantha.

 

2009 Academic Spree Day Presentations

Attachment differences within lesbian adoptive couples. Brianna Welcome '09 (in collaboration with Jordan Downing, graduate student; sponsor: Professor Abbie Goldberg)

Gay and lesbian couples' experiences with adoption agencies. Elizabeth Lahart '09 (in collaboration with Hannah Richardson, graduate student; sponsor: Professor Abbie Goldberg)

Gay men's preferences about child gender in the adoption process. Alison Emery '09 (in collaboration with Hannah Richardson, graduate student; sponsor: Professor Abbie Goldberg)

Emotional support as it relates to friendship quality between urban boys. Allison Clancy '09 (in collaboration with Alisha R. Pollastri, graduate student; sponsor: Professor Esteban V. Cardemil)

The relationship between emotional expressivity and emotional adjustment in immigrant adolescent males. Marissa Millman '09 (in collaboration with Alisha R. Pollastri, graduate student; sponsor: Professor Esteban V. Cardemil)

Urban male friendships: The relationship between extracurricular activities and emotional expression. Rebecca Schulman '09 (in collaboration with Alisha Pollastri, graduate student; sponsor: Professor Esteban Cardemil)

Why buy her a drink? Male and female interactions in an urban bar. Joanna Wu '09 & Stefanie Melendez '09 (sponsor: Professor Jaan Valsiner)

Distant, not conflicting: Family interdependence gap and cohesion in immigrant parent-adolescent relationships. Joanna Wu '09 (sponsor: Professor Lene Jensen)

The mother-daughter relationship during emerging adulthood. Alicia Sack '09 (sponsor: Professor Jeffrey Arnett)

Dominance, control, and intimate partner violence. Jessica Robie '09 (sponsor: Professor Denise Hines)

It happens here too: Physical and sexual violence at Clark University. Jessica Robie '09 (sponsor: Professor Kathleen Palm)

Posttraumatic stress symptoms among male victims of psychological abuse. Michelle Sepe '09 (sponsor: Professor Denise Hines)

Deconstructing number development in preschoolers. Deborah Edelman ’09 & Caterina Dal Col ’09 (sponsor: Professor Marianne Wiser)

Links between child abuse and intimate partner violence. Sarah Beth Waxman '10 (sponsor: Professor Denise Hines)

Violence and revictimization in male victims of childhood abuse. Danielle Goldman '09 (sponsor: Professor Denise Hines)

Understanding urban norms: The development of the urban youth questionnaire. Danielle Goldman '09 (in collaboration with Alisha Pollastri, graduate student; sponsor: Professor Esteban V. Cardemil)

The influences of shame and alcohol on male victims of domestic violence. Lindsay Danforth '09 (sponsor: Professor Denise Hines)

Clark depression-reporting study. Victoria Clarke '10, Lindsay Danforth '09, Alan Jackson '10, and Katie Matcovich '10. (sponsor: Professor Michael Addis)

The association between paternal and peer relationship quality in urban adolescent boys. Allison Bowhers '09 (in collaboration with Alisha R. Pollastri, graduate student; sponsor: Professor Esteban V. Cardemil)

Reflecting on student identity: A life story approach to becoming a psychology major. Emily Levesque-Gottlieb '09, Lukas Parkin '09, Gerry Boucher '10, Fabiana D'Este, & Erin McFadden '10 (sponsor: Professor Michael Bamberg)

Ways of making sense: Seniors' academic experience with psychology. Emily Levesque-Gottlieb '09, Lukas Parkin '09, Gerry Boucher '10, Fabiana D'Este, & Erin McFadden '10 (sponsor: Professor Michael Bamberg)

Veterans' perspective on purpose and function of war memorials. Emily Levesque-Gottlieb '09 & Julia Rizzo '09 (in collaboration with Zack Beckstead and Gabe Twose, graduate students; sponsor: Professor Jaan Valsiner)

The effects of music on the stress and mood of at-risk youth: A qualitative and quantitative study. Hayley Haywood '09 (sponsor: Professor Jaan Valsiner)

The 'coming-out process': How family and friends' reactions affect the acceptance of sexual identity among lesbians and bisexuals. Kate S. Dorsey '09 (sponsor: Professor Jaan Valsiner)

Relations between parents' perception of threat in neighborhoods and children's perceptions of parental control. Shelley Grover '09 (sponsor: Professor Wendy Grolnick)

Relations of parental autonomy support to children's anxiety. Abby Weiner '09 (sponsor: Professor Wendy Grolnick)

The path to remarriage. Hannah Ford '09 (sponsor: Professor James V. Cordova)

Before the 3 R's, the 3 C's: Conservation, cardinality, & counting. Victoria Fox '10, Mariana Pradas '10, & Ashley St. Jean '09 (sponsor: Professor Marianne Wiser)

Assessing attachment with the prompt word procedure. Syeda Nissim Jan '09 (in collaboration with Dr. Meike Watzlawik, P.D.; sponsor: Professor Jaan Valsiner)

Comparing sets with and without notation mediation: Which comes first? Patrick Byers '09 & Billie Nachlis '09 (sponsor: Professor Marianne Wiser)

Exploration of changes in gender identity among non-heterosexual college women across time and place. Jessica Pedrick '09 (in collaboration with Hannah Richardson, graduate student; sponsor: Professor Abbie Goldberg)

Bodily response to comedy. Preben Gietz '10 (sponsor: Professor James Laird)

Music make you move? Anne Powers '12, Max Meglio '10, Preben Gietz '10, Sunewan Chunhasuwan '10, Kirtana Tanuku '10, & Katherine Cody '10 (sponsor: Professor James Laird)

New findings on conflict and cohesion in immigrant parents and first generation children. Kirtana Tanuku '10 (in collaboration with Ayfer Dost, graduate student; sponsor: Professor Lene Jensen)

Crying at movies as embodiment of feelings. Katherine Cody '10 (sponsor: Professor James Laird)

Embodied reactions to sporting events. Max Meglio '10 (sponsor: Professor James Laird)

Body language and videogames. Sunewan Chunhasuwan '10 (sponsor: Professor James Laird)

Children's self-esteem as it relates to parental autonomy support and involvement. Danielle Phaneuf '10 (sponsor: Professor Wendy Grolnick)

Acculturation and depression among Hispanic/Latino adolescent immigrants. Micaela Gonzalez '10 (sponsor: Professor Wendy Grolnick)

The influences of social class and single parenthood on parental involvement. Katrina Black '10 (sponsor: Professor Wendy Grolnick)

Questionnaire validation studies: EAP & IPDQ. Katy Crow '10 (in collaboration with Melinda Ippolito Morrill, graduate student; sponsor: Professor James V. Cordova)

Symbol interpretation: Multiple means and multiple ends. Ann Rokosky '11 & Kenneth R. Cabell '11 (sponsor: Professor Jaan Valsiner)

Emergence in oversaturated fields: A study of overdetermination and ornamentation. Ann Rokosky '11 & Kenneth R. Cabell '11 (sponsor: Professor Jaan Valsiner)

 

Symposium: Cultural Living in the Cities: Bridges Between Russia and The United States

Sponsors: Profs. J. Valsiner of Psychology, Clark University & N. Pokrovsky of Sociology, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia

• A glimpse of the semiotic borders of Main Street, Worcester. Kate Del Vecchio '07 & Mike Seidman '08 (sponsor: Prof. J. Valsiner)
• Functional isolation of marginal groups in the city. Elina Dayanova (Higher School of Economics, Moscow)
• Eating out: Meeting of cultures in the restaurants on Main Street, Worcester. Blair Gross '07, Ruth Bleakley '07, & Steven Cianciarulo '07 (Clark University)
• Light and darkness as social factors in the city. Alexander Ramonov (Higher School of Economics, Moscow)
• Cultural psychology of parks: In darkness and in light. Erica Mello '08, Brittney Morrell '08, Stephanie Morris '08, & Victoria Verlezza '09 (Clark University)
• Sounds in/of the street as invisible boundaries. Marina Nord (Higher School of Economics, Moscow)
• The dynamics of time and space in the city. Nikita Kharlamov (Higher School of Economics, Moscow)