Education

PhD, Psychology, Northeastern University, 2014

My dissertation comprised two sets of experiments investigating aspects of grammatical encoding in noun-phrase production. The first set investigated the effects of syntactic similarity on phrase and word order; and the second investigated the lexical selection of content words in the production of simple noun phrases. This research culminated in a written dissertation and defense.

MA, Psychology, Northeastern University, 2010

This is a research degree, with no clinical training. (In other words, I am not the kind of psychologist who treats people, although I hold their work in high regard.) The coursework associated with this degree covered research and theory in psycholinguistics, cognition, perception, biology of behavior, social psychology, and ethics, along with quantitative and research methods. The research that I conducted toward this degree culminated in a Master's Thesis, which was submitted to the university in written form, and presented as a talk at the Northeastern University Department of Psychology Master's Convention.

MS, Speech-Language Pathology, Emerson College, 2002

This is clinical degree. The requirements for this degree included coursework in speech, language, reading, and swallowing disorders in adults and children and related research methods; coursework in clinical ethics and decision-making; clinical practica in hospital, small clinic, and elementary school settings; experience as a member of a diagnostic team for pediatric speech and language disorders; and experience as a member of intensive speech therapy group treatment program for adults who stutter. This degree, combined with the Clinical Fellowship following degree completion, certified me as a speech-language pathologist. Maintenance of this certification requires continuing education.

BA, Psychology/Anthropology (Interdisciplinary), Union College, 1998

I designed an interdepartmental major, between the Psychology and Anthropology departments, focused on language in the mind and in culture. This degree culminated in a Bachelor's Thesis with original research that drew on psychological and anthropological theory and research methods. I defended the thesis before a faculty panel, and I presented the work at the Union College Steinmetz Symposium, an undergraduate research symposium.