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.	Krystle Cassino discusses how participation in the Worcester Consortium Gerontology Studies Program has helped her achieve her career goal of working with the elderly.

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.

 

2008 Academic Spree Day Presentations

Working toward a culture of peace: A comparison between the United Kingdom and the United States. Emily Terrana ’09 (sponsor: Prof. J. de Rivera)

Personal perceptions of peace at Clark. Mary Brigid Palcic ’11, Suzie Wise ’11, Tim Hutchinson ’10, Michelle Gebele ’11, & Justin Akiyama ’11 (in collaboration with Kelly Sinko, undergraduate student; sponsor: Prof. J. de Rivera)

Barriers for gay men in the transition to parenthood. Jessica Pedrick ’09 (sponsor: Prof. A. Goldberg)

Heterosexual and same-sex couples’ coping experiences during the adoption process. Lauren Schiappa ’08 & Lauren Sidman ’08 (sponsor: Prof. A. Goldberg)

Gay couples’ experiences in navigating sexism and heterosexism in the adoption process. Maayan Carmi ’08 & Amy McPheeters ’08 (sponsor: Prof. A. Goldberg)

Power and authority. Victoria Verlezza ’09 (sponsor: Prof. J. Valsiner)

Adolescent risk of engagement in risky behavior and parental control. Allison Metz ’08 (in collaboration with Carrie (Price) Mauras, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. W. Grolnick)

Emotional climate and political participation in Lebanon. Fouad Bouzeineddine ’09 (sponsor: Prof. J. de Rivera)

True life: Men talk about help-seeking. Emily Zoback ’08, Malini Sakhrani ’09, Jason Berkowitz ’08, & Andrew Ninnemann ’10 (in collaboration with Matthew Syzdek, graduate
student; sponsor: Prof. M. Addis)

Affect matching in mothers and daughters and its relationship with their quality of communication. Jennifer Rabin ’09 (in collaboration with Carrie (Price) Mauras, graduate
student; sponsor: Prof. W. Grolnick)

Choosing a type of adoption: Lesbian, heterosexual, and gay couples’ decision-making process. Kelly Nugent ’08 (sponsor: Prof. A. Goldberg)

The effects of intrinsic need fulfillment in personal life and in the emotional dynamic of the classroom on teacher’s job satisfaction. Aimee Folger ’09 (in collaboration with Valerie Bellas, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. W. Grolnick)

You and your child I: Parents’ feeling about temporarily leaving the child in others’ care. Stephanie Convicer ’08, Jessica Connie ’10, Rachel Goldin ’10, & Elsa Scheie ’10 (sponsor: Prof. J. Valsiner)

You and your child II: Parents' rituals at temporary departure. Stephanie Convicer ’08, Jessica Connie ’10, Rachel Goldin ’10, & Elsa Scheie ’10 (sponsor: Prof. J. Valsiner)

The development of epistemic agency in adolescents. Sehar Mahmood ’08 (sponsor: Prof. R. Joffe Falmagne)
 
Social affiliation as moderating ethnic identity’s influence on mental health. Sehar Mahmood ’08 (in collaboration with Sandra Torres, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. E. Cardemil)
Majoring in Psychology: Sorting out differences between academic and professional identities. Lukas Parkin ’09, Vera Lier ’08, & Sehar Mahmood ’08 (sponsor: Prof. M.
Bamberg)

Construction and protection of Chemyon (the Korean social face) as dialogical self. Soo Hyun Seong Kim ’08 (sponsors: Prof. A. J. Jung and Prof. J. Valsiner)

Chinese-American women attraction: Traditional and Western value influences. Soo Seong ’08 & Joanna Wu ’09 (sponsor: Prof. J. Valsiner)

Immigrant adolescent-parent disagreements: A qualitative study. Joanna Wu ’09 (sponsor: Prof. L. Jensen)

The microgenetic interpretations of art analysis. Ann Rokosky ’11 (sponsor: Prof. J. Valsiner)

Psychogenesis. Kenneth Cabell ’11 (sponsor: Prof. J. Valsiner)

Microgenetic organization of free associative thought. Kenneth Cabell ’11 (sponsor: Prof. J. Valsiner)

The microgenesis of creating distinctions within an undifferentiated field. Christopher Cesarini ’11 (sponsor: Prof. J. Valsiner)

Horizontal and vertical interpretations of emotions: Comparison of Eastern and Western countries usage of emoticons. Yoon-Keang Joo ’08 (sponsor: Prof. J. Valsiner)

Myself in the mirror: Comparison of Korean and Saudi Arabian young women’s self construction while trying on lipstick. Yoon-Keang Joo ’08 (sponsor: Prof. J. Valsiner)

The researcher is also a stimulus. Yoon-Keang Joo ’08 (sponsor: Prof. R. Bibace)

Gender and emotion socialization in the classroom. Emma Smith ’08 (in collaboration with Valerie Bellas, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. W. Grolnick)

Children’s understanding of weight as associated with material kind. Kimberly Citrin ’08, Victoria Fox ’10, Sarah Hosek ’08, & Athena Drosos ’08 (sponsor: Prof. M. Wiser)

Depression in adolescent girls: The effect of negative life events in an urban, multiethnic sample. Danielle Goldman ’09 (in collaboration with Tatiana Pinedo, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. E. Cardemil)

An investigation of acculturation and mental health among Latino adolescents. Elena Sicairos ’09 (in collaboration with Tatiana Pinedo, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. E. Cardemil)

Sports and mental health: The moderating role of adherence to gender roles. Jenna Glazer ’08 (in collaboration with Tatiana Pinedo, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. E. Cardemil)

Fatalism and adolescent mental health: The effects of gender and ethnicity. Chawisa Chartsuwan ’08 (in collaboration with Tatiana Pinedo, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. E. Cardemil)

Depression and self-esteem in Latino adolescents: The effect of within-group peer discrimination. Maylene Collado ’08 (in collaboration with Tatiana Pinedo, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. E. Cardemil)

Effect of masculine gender norms on emotion suppression. Lindsay Danforth ’09 (in collaboration with Sandra Torres, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. E. Cardemil)

Teaching tolerance or perpetuating stereotypes: A study of adolescent perceived adult discrimination in an urban high school. Amanda Hay ’09 (in collaboration with Tatiana Pinedo, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. E. Cardemil)

Sex differences in emotion regulation: The mediating role of parental emotion socialization. Genevieve Ballinger ’08 (in collaboration with Tatiana Pinedo, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. E. Cardemil)

Effects of feminine gender norms and display rules on depression and anxiety. Ashley Rustigian ’08 (in collaboration with Sandra Torres, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. E. Cardemil)

The bidirectional relationship between television and the family. David Resnick ’11, Caitlin Grelotti ’11, & Jamie Wood ’11 (sponsor: Prof. L. Comparini)

Silent victims: Male targets of female sexual aggression. Jessica Robie ’09 (sponsor: Prof. D. Hines)

Conformity to gender norms and self-esteem among urban adolescent males. David Schuberth ’09 (in collaboration with Tatiana Pinedo, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. E. Cardemil)

Preschooler’s understanding of cardinality, counting, and conservation. Melanie Cabral ’08, Laurill Spinazola ’08, Brandy Oliver ’08, Caterina Del Col ’09, & Kate Dorsey ’08 (sponsor: Prof. M. Wiser)

Correlations between parental autonomy support and student self-regulation. Christopher Bidorini ’09 (sponsor: Prof. W. Grolnick)

Physiological responses to decaffeinated coffee: Situational cuers vs. personal cuers. John Borghi ’08 (sponsor: Prof. J. Laird)

Chinese children’s concept of illness. Dan Dan Wang ’08 (sponsor: Prof. R. Bibace)

 

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)