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The Psychological and Brain Sciences Department recently developed the Alumni Mentor Database to allow undergraduates to correspond with psychology alumni who have similar professional interests. Each participating alumnus or alumna has submitted information concerning their advanced educational and employment experiences. Students may browse through all the records or search the database to locate the names and addresses of alumni with specific interests or experiences.

Those who work in “helping professions,” such as first responders, teachers, nurses, and mental health professionals, have an increased level and risk of burnout in comparison to other occupations. As such, it is critical to understand how to reduce the risk of burnout among these professionals.

In this research study, faculty mentor Michael Andreychik, PhD, and psychology students Courtney Hankins '19 and Katherine Mackenzie '21 tested the idea that one way of reducing the risk of burnout is to encourage helpers to empathize with the positive emotions (e.g., joy, pride, hopefulness) of those with whom they work.

To examine the potential burnout-reducing effects of empathizing with others’ positive emotions, they presented college students with a video of a fellow student describing the good and the bad parts of their adjustment to college. Before watching the video, participants were randomly assigned to adopt one of four perspectives as they watched: remain objective, focus on the student’s negative emotions, focus on the student’s positive emotions, or focus on all of the student’s emotions. Participants then indicated how much distress they experienced while watching and whether or not they would be willing to help the struggling student by giving or providing her with advice.

The researchers’ key prediction was that while all participants who connected with the struggling student's emotions would report a greater willingness to help her, participants who connected with the student’s negative emotions would report greater burnout-related emotions than those who connected with the student’s positive emotions.

Suicide is currently the third leading cause of death among African American young adults, but studies have suggested that ethnic identity, which is made up of aspects such as language, religious affiliation, and cultural traditions, may serve as a protective factor against feelings of defeat and suicide ideation in African Americans.

In this research study supported by the Vincent Rosivach Collaborative Research Fund, psychology major Chelsea Salvatore '19 and faculty mentor David Hollingsworth, PhD, set out to examine ethnic identity as a moderator of the relationship between defeat and suicide ideation in African Americans. 106 African American college students were asked to complete self-report measures that assessed variables of interest. The results indicated that in participants with low levels of ethnic identity, defeat had a significant effect on suicide ideation. Conversely, in participants with high levels of ethnic identity, the relationship between defeat and suicide ideation was no longer significant.

Dr Henkel’s research team has been running a series of studies examining the impact of taking photos on what people subsequently remember. When we outsource our memory to our cameras by expecting our cameras to record and, in essence, “remember” our experiences, we engage in different ways of thinking about those experiences than if we do not take photos. This research follows up on Dr. Henkel’s 2013 work which was featured on NPR, and dozens of other media sites, including the New York Times, BBC News, Wall Street Journal, and CNN.

Dr. McClure’s NARSAD Young Investigator Award (The Brain & Behavior Foundation) examines the impact of Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT) when paired with an agent that targets the norepinephrine system compared to CRT plus placebo.

Dr. McClure also collaborates on projects examining treatments for personality disorders, such as borderline personality disorder, including studies of medications such as oxytocin and psychological interventions such as dialectical behavior therapy. Students working in this lab have the opportunity to conduct telephone screens of potential participants, observe diagnostic interviews and neuropsychological assessments, and sit in on CRT computerized training sessions.

As part of the Interdisciplinary Health Studies Scholars grant awarded to Dr. Henkel (psychology) and Dr. Alison Kris (School of Nursing) for 2013-2015, a team of undergraduate researchers from both psychology and nursing completed a project examining how memory cues in the nursing home environment can boost not only the residents’ morale and wellbeing, while increasing the social interactions between health care providers and the residents and improving the quality of care received.