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Brief Bio

I am an Assistant Professor at University of Montevallo. I earned my PhD in experimental psychology from Ohio University in 2015 and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Baruch, CUNY. I research social cognitive psychology and psychology and law with an emphasis on quantitative methods. I have taught several courses and offer a graduate school seminar for undergraduate research assistants. I received my Bachelor of Arts from Purdue University where I worked with great faculty members like Bill Graziano, Donal Carlston, & Michael Schmitt, and great graduate students like Jennifer Bruce & Meara Habashi. I completed my Post-Doc at Baruch College, CUNY under Jennifer Mangels in the Dynamic Learning Lab.

My Master of Science was received from Ohio University in 2011 under my adviser Keith Markman. Other great faculty members I work with include Dan G. Lassiter, Rodger Griffeth, Ronaldo Vigo, and Frank Bellezza.

Before graduate school, I had a great experience teaching English at Qinhuangdao Foreign Language High School in Northeast China, where I taught English as a Foreign Language to High school Sophomores and Juniors. 

Research

    My research page provides an overview of my research goals and experience. In brief, my research relates to social cognition, and judgment and decision-making. At Baruch, my research emphasizes trust in social networks; what factors or individual differences influence peoples' choice to trust outside knowledge compared to one's pre-existing knowledge.

I also research intuition and the circumstances that negatively impact intuitive performance. I am also investigating how these obstacles target unconscious and conscious components of the intuitive process. My second area of research examines what factors change perceptions of confession voluntariness when observing an interrogation, with an emphasis on personality variables and situational contexts. My third area of research examines narrative identification, when one takes on the mindset of a protagonist in a story.

Teaching

General Psychology. This is an introduction psychology course that provides a overview a multiple psychological areas. Students will become familiar with basic theoretical perspectives, scientific methods, and the historical progression of psychology. 

Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences. This course teaches students how to conduct psychological analyses for various types of data sets, whether categorical or measurement. After taking this course, students will have the tools to analyze data both by hand and with SPSS.

Social Psychology. This course discusses how thoughts, feeling, and behaviors are influenced by the existence and perception of other people. You will learn more about social theory and the methodologies implemented to test them.

Research Methods. This course exposes students to the critical thinking skills required for the development and dissemination of experimental research. 

Psychology of Fandom. This course examines different aspects of fandom through a psychological lens. Topics include exploring what it means to be a fan, motivations for engaging in fan culture, narrative identification, and methods of engaging in fan cultures.