Professor Research Areas

My research interests involve the use of visual psychophysics to measure the perception of complex stimuli. Psychophysical research investigates the relationship between the physical nature of a stimulus and the perception of that stimulus. I am currently applying some of these techniques in an effort to understand how our brain processes a wide range of complex visual stimuli, including handwriting and shapes. Ultimately, this research is geared towards understanding the neural mechanisms involved in processing these stimuli. I am also interested in the pedagogical advantages of using a computational thinking approach to problem solving in psychology and neuroscience. Students who are interested in visual perception and/or coding and computational thinking would be ideally suited for working in my lab.

NOTE: Accepting both Honours and Independent Study applications for 2026/2027.

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My research focuses on understanding and preventing sexual harm. I study people who may be at risk of perpetrating harm because they have sexual interests that can become harmful if acted on (for example, sexual attraction to children or other non-consenting targets). My work aims to develop and test programs that help people manage these interests safely and build meaningful, offence-free lives. I am also interested in how stigma affects people with these interests - especially how fear of judgment can prevent them from reaching out for help. Another part of my research focuses on individuals who have committed sexual or violent offences. I study how we assess their level of risk to reoffend and evaluate whether treatment reduces that risk over time. Much of my research involves partnerships with researchers and organizations locally and internationally. Students working with me should be self-motivated, organized, reliable, open to feedback, and genuinely curious about these topics.

NOTE: Accepting both Honours and Independent Study applications for 2026/2027.

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My recent research is on why people believe their view of the world is the way the world actually is, even though many others disagree with them. I also examine how believing our view is best affects conflict, negotiation, and compromise. Although most people hold very similar beliefs as any potential adversary, they hold their beliefs with a great deal of certainty. We are examining the consequences of this certainty. We are also working on finding ways to create more tolerance of dissenting opinions by focusing on the commonalities in our worldviews, and by challenging certainty. Discussing disagreements in the home, at the workplace, and in the political arena can become uncivil in part because we are certain in our views, and I am exploring ways that this may be overcome. In addition to this primary line of research, I examine the motivational origins of ideologies – why do we believe what we believe? – as well as the psychology of sustainability.

I am currently accepting both honours and independent study students.

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My research program spans across perceptual, cognitive, and social areas of music psychology in children and adults. One aspect of my research examines the acquisition of culture-specific musical knowledge in preschoolers and school-aged children, such as the ability to detect wrong notes and chords. In another line of research, I am examining associations between formal music training and nonmusical abilities and traits. For example, how do individuals who choose to take music lessons differ from other individuals in terms of personality, cognitive abilities, and social skills? On a related note, do music lessons improve particular skills, such as emotional comprehension or memory? I would also be happy to supervise students with research interests related to 1) other aspects of the psychology of music, and 2) participation in extracurricular activities (including but not limited to music lessons).

NOTE: While I will be accepting honours and Independent Study students for 2026/2027 I will be unavailable for meetings until mid-February of 2026

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Currently I conduct behavioural and cognitive research on four species. This research includes: acoustic communication, spatial cognition, memory, and impulsivity in North American, Douglas, and Eurasian red squirrels as well as acoustic communication in American pika. My communication research involves a variety of experiments exploring the use of alarm calls, territorial calls, and social calls of the various species. My cognitive research explores spatial abilities, memory and inhibitory control in squirrels, given they spend a great deal of time storing food. The squirrel research is conducted in the field within Edmonton, in the foothills of Sheep River Provincial Park, in the coastal regions of Burnaby and Vancouver B.C., and on a small island (Arran) off the coast of Scotland. All pika research is conducted in more remote areas of the Highwood region within Kananaskis Provincial Park. I work with students who have an interest in animal communication, cognition or behaviour generally. Finally, students who work with me must be prepared to work in field conditions and spend time in the summer months collecting data. Although field work is often difficult, there may be opportunity for travel and research in beautiful field locations.

Note: I am currently accepting both honours and independent study students.

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My research examines the intersection of social contexts and personality by investigating (a) how situations influence people’s personality tendencies, and (b) how our first impressions influence the success of our interpersonal relationships. In one branch of my research, I study how situations influence people’s tendency to be narcissistic (i.e., the tendency to be grandiose, self-focused, and vain). I examine the adaptive and maladaptive consequences associated with such changes in narcissism. In another branch of my research, I focus on how we form accurate (or inaccurate) impressions of others, and how we use these impressions to make social decisions. My ongoing research explores questions such as who people should befriend, date, hire, or promote, and how do people decide who should lead and who should follow.

Note: Not accepting honours students; may consider accepting Independent Study students at this time.

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My primary area of study is behavioural neuroscience in zebrafish. In the past I have studied the cellular processes that are responsible for memory formation. At MacEwan University my research involves the development of behavioural tests to examine learning, memory, anxiety-like behaviour, and boldness in fish. T-mazes, novel object recognition arenas, episodic-like memory tests, and anxiety measures are commonly used in combination with various toxicants and pharmacological agents to study the effects of these compounds on behaviour. A major focus is how behaviours persist over time and generations of fish. We are also examining relevant toxins on zebrafish development and behaviour with collaborators with environmental chemists. Students who work with me on these projects must be prepared to work many hours in a lab, be reliable, perform dissections, and be dedicated to running complicated experiments.

NOTE: I am currently accepting both honours and independent study students.

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I am a clinical psychologist who works in geriatric psychiatry which is my specialty area. I have several research interests associated with aging. I am interested in Alzheimer’s disease and management of the behaviors associated with the illness as well as the stigma associated with dementia. I am also very interested in MAiD and what factors make this an acceptable or unacceptable choice for those who are thinking about their own death or the death of others, as well as the stigma associated with choosing MAiD. I am also interested in healthy aging and the ageism associated with aging. Students must be able to work independently and be organized and open to feedback.

NOTE: I am currently accepting only Independent Study applications for 2026/2027.

The goal of my research is to understand the neural basis of learning and decision-making. To do this I record electroencephalography (EEG) while human participants complete computerized reward tasks. The participants wear an elastic cap that holds electrodes in place on their head to record brain-related changes in voltage. I am mainly interested in studying reward-related brain activity during realistic and dynamic tasks. Research in my lab involves learning a combination of technical skills (recording and analyzing EEG) and conceptual skills (understanding and applying various cognitive models of learning). There are also opportunities for computational modelling, which is when we write a computer program to simulate participant behaviour.

NOTE: Accepting both Honours and Independent Study applications for 2026/2027.

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I’m currently studying social greetings and interactions among dogs. Students who work on this project must have already demonstrated to me that they are reliable, ethical, and have a strong behaviourist focus. They should also be willing to argue, to learn from their mistakes, to collaborate with other students, and to think critically about their own ideas. All research students are expected to have completed PSYC 212 and at least one statistics course.

NOTE: I am very unlikely to take on new students this year unless I have already worked with them.

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In the Atypical Perception Lab, we study how stimuli might be perceived differently across individuals. Our focus in is three areas: synaesthesia, gaze perception, and gambling behaviours. Synaesthesia occurs in about 10-15% of the population, where individuals have extraordinary perceptions (e.g., colours, spatial locations) for ordinary stimuli (e.g., letters, sounds, months of the year). My research focuses on those who perceive spatial locations for time units or numbers and how it might influence their perception of time, or attention to space, or memory for events. When examining gaze perception, my focus is on why eye contact is hard to maintain for longer than 5 seconds, and if it is maintained beyond that, how it influences nervous system arousal, attention, and perception. Lastly, I am interested in how slot machine characteristics (mainly flashing lights and sounds) contribute to memories for winning outcomes and problem gambling. Students interested in working in the lab should be motivated, meticulous, reliable, and cooperative. Research in the lab commonly requires using sensitive recording instruments or working with sensitive data/populations.

NOTE: Accepting both Honours and Independent Study applications for 2026/2027.

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My area of specialization is in the field of forensic psychology. My primary research interests focus on individuals who cause harm, specifically sexual violence and intimate partner violence. Much of my research examines risk assessment. Secondary areas of research include high-risk perpetrators of violence and risk factors for campus sexual violence. In my research lab, Psychology Crime Lab at MacEwan (PCL@M), students gain experience in forensic research, data organization (entry, management, analysis) using SPSS, and scientific paper writing. Students interested in working with me must be able to work independently, manage their time effectively, be meticulous and organized, respond to emails in a timely manner, and be open to feedback. Research in my lab involves working many hours in coding records and/or clinical files and may even go through security clearance to access data. Those who wish to learn how to conduct forensic psychological research are invited to speak to me.

NOTE: Accepting both Honours and Independent Study applications for 2026/2027.

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My main research interest is to gain a deeper understanding of how infants process two crucial socially relevant stimuli: faces and speech. My research focuses on perceptual narrowing, a process that occurs in the second half of the first year of life, when the perceptual system is calibrated to better perceive stimuli that are more common in the infant's environment, while losing efficiency at perceiving stimuli that the infant rarely encounters. To better understand infants' face and speech perception, I use eye-tracking and neuroimaging techniques, develop and improve experimental paradigms for infant research, and always strive to make my research more ecologically valid by developing more naturalistic stimuli and studying longer-term phenomena using longitudinal approaches.

NOTE: I am currently accepting both honours and independent study students for 2026/2027.

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My research examines how people think about, remember, and navigate through space. I am particularly interested in how individual differences in mental imagery—ranging from aphantasia (an absence of mental imagery) to hyperphantasia (extremely vivid imagery)—affect spatial memory and navigation. These differences offer a unique window into how people form and use mental representations of the world around them. Current projects explore questions such as: How do individuals with aphantasia or hyperphantasia encode and retrieve spatial information? How do these differences influence problem-solving, wayfinding, or learning in spatially complex environments? What role does spatial memory play in everyday activities, from remembering where you left your keys to navigating a new city? Honours students working with me will have the opportunity to design and run experiments in stimulated and immersive 3D virtual environments, analyze how mental imagery shapes spatial performance, and contribute to a growing field that bridges cognition, neuroscience, and individual differences.

NOTE: Accepting both Honours and Independent Study applications for 2026/2027.

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My area of interest is in applied behaviour analysis as a science and applied practice. I am a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and Coordinator of the BICA (Behaviour Interventions Certification of Achievement) program here at MacEwan University. The research and applications in behaviour analysis is extensive. I do engage with many areas outside of developmental disabilities and autism; however, these two areas continue to be of interest in evaluating the research and outcomes using principles of behaviour in meaningful ways. My goals and passion are bringing research into practice by incorporating methods of single-case research designs into applied clinical practice to effect meaningful behaviour change for each participant. Other topics of research interest include: the persistent use of fads (non-empirically based interventions) within special education, the accurate dissemination of behaviourism and behaviour analysis by removing misconceptions and misapplications; and the foundations, science and practice of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as a behaviour-analytic perspective of language and cognition.

NOTE: Accepting both Honours and Independent Study applications for 2026/2027.

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My research interests include stress coping, the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), and the intersection of these fields. In my stress coping research, I aim to develop simple coping interventions, evaluate their effectiveness, and investigate why people do or do not implement them in their daily lives. In my SoTL research, I study how different teaching methods (e.g., active vs passive; Universal Design for Learning (UDL)) interact with individual characteristics (e.g., personality traits, test anxiety, procrastination, perfectionism, and mindset beliefs) to impact academic achievement and behaviours. I integrate my interests in stress coping and SoTL by focusing on how helping students to reduce/manage stress impacts academic outcomes. Students wishing to work with me should be motivated, independent, organized, reliable, receptive to feedback, and genuinely interested in these topics.

NOTE: Not accepting Honours or Independent Study students for 2025/2026.

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As a registered psychologist, my training and clinical experience include school and clinical psychology. In the past, I have explored topics related to parent-child communication and bullying, parent-teacher relationships, and children’s social and emotional functioning. At present, I maintain a private practice where I often work with members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. My clinical experience continues to shape my research interests, which broadly include psychological well-being of sexual and gender minorities, as well as 2SLGBTQ+ inclusive education. Through the Sexual and Gender Diversity (SGD) Lab, my students and I examine topics related to allyship, identity, 2SLGBTQ+ mental health and protective factors, as well as beliefs and practices of educators in terms of 2SLGBTQ+ inclusive education. I am available to supervise Honours students, however I am not currently accepting independent study students. I encourage students to develop their own research ideas that fall under the general area of 2SLGBTQ+ mental health.

NOTE: Accepting Honours students; not currently accepting Independent Study students.

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My primary areas of research involve the field of forensic psychology, which can intersect with aspects of social and/or cognitive psychology. I have several areas of study within these domains, but recent studies within my lab have primarily focused on (1) interpersonal violence: sexual assault, intimate partner violence, stalking (i.e., studying factors associated with blame/responsibility/credibility in relation to sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and stalking) and (2) decision-making and judgment biases (i.e., how do extralegal factors influence legal judgments made by judges or jurors, such as emotion, gender/sexual diversity, intoxication). I also have and continue to conduct research on memory for traumatic/criminal events (i.e., how are memories for criminal events altered or recalled under a variety of conditions such as weapon focus, PTSD, interviewing), psychopathic traits (i.e., how they influence actions, emotions, and behaviours), and malingering and deception (i.e., content-based lie detection, faking mental disorders such as PTSD). Students in my lab are mentored using a collaborative approach to research, and must be organized, independent, self-motivated, and receptive to feedback.

Note: Tentatively accepting Honours student(s) for 2026; Independent Studies only considered 2-3 months in advance of term of study and on a case-by-case basis.

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My primary research interest is excessive worry, specifically in examining cognitive-behavioural models of generalized anxiety disorder. In particular, my research has tended to focus on the Metacognitive and Intolerance of Uncertainty models of generalized anxiety disorder. My second research area is excessive health anxiety, the primary feature of hypochondriasis/illness anxiety disorder. In this area, my work with students is more exploratory in nature, and has primarily focused on examining the role of intolerance of uncertainty and metacognitions in health anxiety. While my published research has examined how dysfunctional beliefs are related to symptoms in generalized anxiety disorder and/or health anxiety, I am also now beginning to conduct research on the use of ultra-brief self-help materials to decrease worry. These studies are completed through the Worry and Health Anxiety (WAHA) Lab. Students looking to work with me can anticipate being offered opportunities to engage in extra research beyond their honours thesis. Students can also contact me to discuss possibilities for volunteering in the WAHA Lab, though such opportunities will likely not be available until Fall 2026.

NOTE: Not accepting new Honours or Independent Study students in 2026. Contact Alex in May-July 2026 if interested in being a volunteer research assistant starting in Fall 2026.

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My research interests are focused mainly on investigating behavioural models of self-control as well as strategies and tactics of behaviour self-management. I am especially interested in the application of self-management tactics to improving students’ study behaviour and reducing the tendency to procrastinate. Secondary interests include history of psychology and the stigmatizing effects of diagnostic labels. Students should be well organized and able to work independently.

NOTE: Not currently accepting Honours students.

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My research interests fall in the areas of trauma and growth through adversity. I am exploring the process of post traumatic growth occurring in response to trauma, as well as extremely stressful events and everyday stressors. This avenue of research also relates to questions about how the individual’s interpretations of their experiences impact having positive (growth) rather than negative (trauma) outcomes.

NOTE: I am unable to accept new students for Honours or Independent Studies at this time.

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The science of sexual orientation is young. This provides plenty of opportunity to further understand the bio-developmental origins of sexual orientation diversity and ask broader questions about how this diversity is influenced by, and influences, the social world. My research is underpinned by evolutionary and cultural psychology theories. Some of my past research has examined the evolutionary puzzle of (exclusive) same-sex attractions. Other research is more social, examining how non-heterosexual individuals navigate romantic and sexual landscapes (incorrectly!) presumed to be heterosexual, or how non-heterosexual people are perceived by others. Lately, I’ve turned my attention to the female sexual orientation spectrum. I want to know the best ways to characterize this spectrum, what developmental factors are associated with female same-sex attraction, and how non-heterosexual females navigate competition for (or with) romantic and sexual partners. I welcome students interested in studying human sexuality using evolutionary and cultural frameworks, and testing predictions derived from these frameworks with quantitative methods. Prospective honours/independent-study students should be ready to propose a study that replicates and extends a finding from evolutionary or sexuality science.

Note: I am currently accepting honours applications for 2026/2027.

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My academic background is in Neuroscience, so my research interests are in biological Psychology. My research broadly speaking is in neuropharmacology and assessment of behaviour in zebrafish. There are many opportunities for students to become involved in projects on the effects of various chemical agents on fish behaviour, including anxiety and to a lesser degree associative learning. In addition, I am interested in the development of valid behavioural methodologies for assessing fish behaviour. Ultimately, we quantify fish behaviour with motion tracking software. Students working with me are expected to become familiar with zebrafish husbandry and handling and are required to complete animal research ethics training. Compared to survey research with human subjects, animal research typically involves a lot of pilot work to develop methodology and long hours collecting data in the lab, but comparatively simple data structure.

NOTE: I am unable to accept new students for Honours or Independent Studies at this time.

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My area of specialization is social psychology. My research focuses on why people fall prey to pseudoscientific claims, with an emphasis on strategies to promote and teach scientific skepticism. I’m interested in the mechanisms underlying people’s belief in the irrational, even when they are confronted with disconfirming evidence. Basically, I want to better understand why people believe in strange things like ghosts, aliens, or psychic powers and find strategies to help combat these beliefs. My research extends to the areas of workplace productivity and self-control, with a focus on evidence-based approaches to improve performance and reduce common workplace and student stressors. I am currently conducting research exploring approaches to reduce procrastination and improve overall time management skills. My lab consists of volunteers, independent study students, and honours students. I am happy to meet with students who are interested in my research area to discuss opportunities to be involved with the lab.

NOTE: Accepting both Honours and Independent Study applications for 2026/2027.

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My area of specialization is cognitive psychology, a field broadly devoted to understanding how people take in information, understand it and use it to interact with their world. Most of my research interests involve applying what we know about human cognition to real world problems and social issues. Sexual consent is a subject receiving widespread attention today. Consent is required for sexual activity to be legal. And healthy. Campuses are interested in building “cultures of consent” and most now have offices and staff devoted to awareness, prevention and incident response. These initiatives focus on affirmative consent (yes means yes), individual responsibilities and conditions that invalidate consent. While error prevention and incident minimization are important goals, examining sources of ambiguity or error in how people understand or exchange consent is also essential. My current interests involve using perspectives from cognitive psychology to examine a) the variability and complexity in how people understand the concept of consent, b) factors that influence our sensitivity and bias in reading signals of consent, and c) how our cognitive construction of social reality shapes our perceptions of consent.

I have also done work in the domain of health care choices, examining how client or patient decision making is affected by differences in the way information is communicated to them.

NOTE: Accepting Honours applications for 2026/2027.

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1. My research interests are primarily focused on the cognitive and neural mechanisms that support visual attention and visuomotor control (e.g., reaching and grasping). I study these topics by examining attention and visuomotor performance in healthy individuals, as well as patients with brain damage, using a variety of techniques such as behavioural testing, kinematic (i.e., movement) recording, eye tracking, and structural brain imaging (e.g., MRI and CT scans). Any students with research interests in attention, motor control, or non-conscious information processing are encouraged to contact me to discuss potential research projects. Below are examples of some of my current research.

2. One line of research in my lab examines how the attention and motor systems can influence one another. One way I examine this is by studying how visuomotor adaptation using optically displacing prism lenses can influence visual attention and motor performance in healthy adults. I have also successfully applied this research to assist in rehabilitating patients with brain damage following a stroke. In addition, I have also started to examine how “motor” regions of the brain (e.g., the cerebellum) might be involved in cognitive functions like attention.

3. Another line of research in my lab examines the degree to which we can process visual information for action (i.e., reaching and grasping), or for visual recognition (e.g., faces, objects) non-consciously. The aim of this research is to determine the extent to which non-conscious information can influence our everyday behaviour.

4. Finally, a third line of research in my lab examines the degree to which we can exert conscious control over what are typically considered to be “automatic” motor movements such as adjusting your reach “on-line” to intercept a moving object.

NOTE: Accepting both Honours and Independent Study applications for 2026/2027.

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My research area is in child development with a specific focus on children’s listening and communication skills. My principal line of research examines children’s listening skills in speech, music, and emotion stimuli. I study typically developing and special populations including deaf children fitted with cochlear implants and children with autism spectrum disorders. The goal is to gain a deeper understanding of the factors that affect children’s developing communication skills and the implications on their social and emotional functioning.
In another line of research, I examine how optimizing children’s perception skills (auditory, visual, and tactile) can help to enhance their thinking skills (e.g. executive functioning and attention). Studies involve observations on children’s problem-solving skills in the learning of rules in games and other play tasks. The findings of this research can impact children’s learning and educational outcomes.
When accepting students, I would be happy to mentor students interested in exploring topics on development across the life span (early childhood to late adulthood). Research involving special populations (disability) or cross-cultural differences could also be explored.

Accepting both Honours and Independent Study applications for 2026/2027.

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My current areas of research interest are materialism and personality disorder and coping flexibility. Materialism is the belief that it is important to acquire money and material possessions. Recent projects with this first line of research have been: 1. Psychological flexibility, Experiential Purchases, Non-attachment and how these relate to materialism. 2. Personality Disorder traits and Coping Flexibility. Future projects will investigate other possible aspects of the materialism-well-being relationship such as the transcendental focus on time and a follow up study on psychological flexibility and materialism.

Accepting Honours applications but NOT Independent Study applications for 2026/2027. 

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