Embedded Files
Karen G. Anderson, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Associate Chair
Department of Psychology, West Virginia University
Research Interests
The research interests in our lab concern Behavioral Pharmacology and how drugs and behavior interact in different environmental contexts.
In our laboratory, graduate and undergraduate students use non-human animal models (different rat strains) to help identify determinants of choice, particularly when that choice is deemed impulsive (choosing a small, immediate reinforcer over a larger, but delayed one) or risky (choosing a larger, uncertain reward over a smaller, but certain reward).
Lab members are also interested in the effects of drugs that have become recently prevalent (such as CBD oil), nanomaterials that exist in our natural environment, and pharmaceuticals that are showing mixed effects in human case studies. By using non-human animal models, we are better able to control the extraneous factors that may influence behavior in human studies, and look at the effects of the drugs themselves.
Other research interests include: drug discrimination, drug self-administration, response acquisition with delayed reinforcers, temporal control of behavior, and behavioral factors involved in drug tolerance.
Dr. Anderson received her Ph.D. degree in Psychology (Behavior Analysis specialization) from the University of Florida and competed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where she remained as faculty until 2003. In 2003, she joined the WVU faculty where she is currently an Associate Professor. She also has an adjunct appointment in WVU’s Department of Neuroscience and serves as Associate Chair of the Department of Psychology.
Dr. Anderson is accepting applications for the doctoral program to start in the Fall of 2026!
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse