Team

Dr. Sherecce Fields

safields@tamu.edu

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My current research focuses on behavioral decision-making (with an emphasis on impulsivity) as a trans-disease process in health risk behaviors. My research draws attention to self-regulatory and self-control pathways to behavior, modeling both their causes and consequences in order to better inform intervention efforts. Specifically, I am interested in how behavioral decision-making and other family, process, and psychosocial factors interact to affect prevention and treatment outcomes for health behaviors. My primary research examines factors related to the initiation and maintenance of addictive behaviors (specifically in children and adolescents). My secondary research line extends the knowledge gained from addiction research to eating behavior, obesity, and subsequent diabetes risk. In both areas of research, I am also studying the neural mechanisms that underlie performance on laboratory behavioral tasks modeling impulsive behaviors in order to better inform prevention and treatment interventions. 

In addition, I have an interest in information and communication technologies that might influence behavioral decision making, with a particular focus on the prediction, prevention, and treatment of addiction and eating behavior. Recent work explores novel applications of remote-health technology, ‘serious’ video games, and other computer-mediated technologies that can inform and influence behavioral decision making. 

In addition to my own lines of research, students in my lab are examining the role of behavioral decision-making in the initiation and maintenance of other behaviors such as risky sexual behavior, disordered eating, video game and smart phone use, and recovery after chronic illness.

Dr. Rachel Smallman

rsmallman@tamu.edu

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Lab Website 

My current research focuses on the social cognitive processes involved in decision-making. Our primary research focuses on counterfactual thinking, which are thoughts of “if only” or “what might have been”. Imagining how events might have turned out differently is a common cognitive process, especially after negative events and near misses. Research shows that these counterfactual thoughts can be both dysfunctional and functional, depending on the situation. Our research examines both sides of the counterfactual coin: the bias and the benefits of counterfactual thinking. We are particularly interested in how and why these thoughts occur and their affective, cognitive, and behavioral consequences. Importantly our current projects examine both the basic science behind counterfactual thinking and also how it can be applied to both mental health and health behavior domains. Other research in the lab examines various factors involved in decision-making, with interdisciplinary work examining decision-making and motivation in engineering.​​​​

Vishaka is a graduate student in the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program under the guidance of Dr. Fields at Texas A&M University. She graduated with her MPH from the University of Michigan, and following graduation, worked as a research associate on projects focused on injury prevention at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Vishaka has a growing interest in digital health and gamification of behavioral assessment 

Nicte joined Texas A&M as a graduate student in the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program under the guidance of Dr. Fields. She received her B.S. from Texas A&M, and following graduation, worked as a research coordinator on projects focused on increasing the effectiveness and accessibility of -based treatments as part of the Center for Innovations, Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (IQuESt) at Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine. Nicté’s current interests include adolescent mental health in the family context and lessening disparities between mental health programs and underserved populations, focusing on cultural adaptations.

Valentina is a first-year Clinical Psychology doctoral student at Texas A&M University working under Dr. Sherecce Fields. Her research interests focus on understanding the psychological and behavioral mechanisms underlying health-risk behaviors among emerging adults. More specifically, how attachment style, impulsivity, and decision-making processes, particularly delay discounting interact to influence real-world behaviors such as sexual risk-taking, substance-related decision-making, and digital dating behaviors.

Zoe is a graduate student in the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program under the guidance of Dr. Sherecce Fields and Dr. Rachel Smallman at Texas A&M University. She received her B.S. in developmental psychology and B.A. in ecological biology from Vanderbilt University. Following graduation, Zoe worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator on projects focused on the neurocognitive and neurobiological mechanisms of bulimia nervosa at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City under Dr. Laura Berner. Zoe’s current research interests include examining cultural factors in disordered eating behaviors and using counterfactual-based interventions to promote healthy eating behaviors. 

Nick Kilpatrick, is joining Texas A&M University in the fall of 2026 to pursue a PhD in social psychology under the guidance of Dr. Rachel Smallman. He received his B.S. degree in Psychology from the University of North Florida in 2023, then was awarded his M.S. in psychological sciences from the University of North Florida in 2026. His broad research interests involve how acute and chronic stressors shape whether counterfactual thinking functions adaptively or contributes to maladaptive rumination, with a particular focus on implications for health behavior and stress-related outcomes.