Undergraduate Research and Active Learning

Read about some of the undergraduates who have engaged in research and internships:

Elaine Klein '06 and Christopher Chianese '05 worked with grad student Alisha Pollastri and Professor Esteban Cardemil to study depression in low-income, urban children. Read about their findings.
Kelly Ku and fellow students discuss their work as part of psychologist Nick Thompson's research team on baby cries from an evolutionary perspective. She started her research participation at the beginning of her sophomore year, and received an Anton Fellowship to help fund her research.
Mitch Guerette and several other students participated in a study to uncover what motivates people to take action on a social or political cause that's important to them.	Krystle Cassino discusses how participation in the Worcester Consortium Gerontology Studies Program has helped her achieve her career goal of working with the elderly.

Undergraduate Honors Theses Completed in 2007

Rosslyn Apt "Parenting and theory of mind: A comparison between Worcester Hispanic and Costa Rican families"


Daniel Be "Creating intimacy: The result of vulnerability and safety"


Larissa Christensen "Feelings on relationship maintenance and their relationship to satisfaction and attachment theory" Interview with Larissa.


Alexandra Conrad "Age and gender differences of ideal romantic relationship expectations"


Anthony Davis "Negative life events, coping and depression among college men"


Emily Lescak "Psychological and self-reported responses to attachment vocalizations"


Jennifer Lombardi "The relationship between adult attachment styles and displays of affection" Interview with Jennifer.


Rebecca Louzan "The use of similarity judgments in cardiac auscultation training for medical students and residents"


Michelle Miller "The motivational experience of high school students in the college application process"


Magdalen Toole "Lesbian prospective adoptive parents’ constructions of parental roles" Interview with Magdalen.

Samantha Trickey "Gender specific responses to individualized fantasies of unfaithfulness: Questioning on evolutionary psychology theory" Interview with Samantha.

2007 Academic Spree Day Presentations

Coping, emotional expression, and help-seeking among college males. Anthony Davis '07 (in collaboration with Sandra Torres, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. E. Cardemil)

Predictors of parental involvement: Attributional style and parenting self-efficacy. Angela Dube '07 (in collaboration with Ellen O'Donnell, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. E. Cardemil)

A chart review study of the characteristics of suicide completers following psychiatric inpatient hospitalization. Abbie Townsend '07 (sponsor: Prof. E. Cardemil)

Reasoning, epistemology, & society: Background to the Analyses. Molly Wang, '07, Erin Reilly, '08, Laura Sherman, '08, & Genevieve Ballinger '07 (sponsor: Prof. R. Falmagne)

Affect, emotion, and the reasoning self. Molly Wang '07 (sponsor: Prof. R. Falmagne)

Subjectivity and objectivity in reasoning and personal epistemology. Erin Reilly '08 (sponsor: Prof. R. Falmagne)

Contextual uses of trust and belief. Laura Sherman '08 (sponsor: Prof. R. Falmagne)

Thinking in legal contexts: Interplays of formal and social discourses. Genevieve Ballinger '07 (sponsor: Prof. R. Falmagne)

Qualities of electrical taste. Diane Baker '07 (sponsor: Prof. D. Stevens)

Sustainable development: Working from the ground up. Lindsay Green '10, Fiona Stirling '10, & Brad Bell '09 (Peace Studies Program; sponsor: Prof. J. de Rivera)

Lesbian prospective adoptive parents' constructions of their parental roles. Magdalen Toole '07 (sponsor: Prof. A. Goldberg)

Preferences and attitudes toward race in adoptive parenthood. Alexandria Riley '07 (sponsor: Prof. A. Goldberg)

Motivations to parent in lesbian adoptive couples. Amanda Gagnon '07 (sponsor: Prof. A. Goldberg)

Gender-specific responses to individualized fantasies of unfaithfulness. Samantha Trickey '07 (sponsor: Prof. N. Thompson)

Vocal cues of emotion. Matthew Simonson '07, Matthew Hodge '07, & Brian Eaton '07 (in collaboration with Eric Charles, Postdoctoral researcher; sponsor: Prof. N. Thompson)

Adult performance on novel verb studies. Kevin Kennedy '07 & Jason Edgarton '07 (sponsor: Prof. N. Budwig)

Verb development in two- and three-year-old Chinese children: An analysis of frequency and verb type. Dan Dan Wang '08 (in collaboration with Juan Hu, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. N. Budwig)

How comfortable are you with your romantic partner? An investigation of adult attachment theory and public and private displays of affection. Jennifer Lombardi '07 (sponsor: Prof. J. Cordova)

Creating intimacy. Daniel Be '07 (in collaboration with Jonathan Blair, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. J. Cordova)

Perceived social competence and autonomy within friendships as predictors of adaptive coping. Kristen Otten '08 (in collaboration with Krista Beiswenger, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. W. Grolnick)

High school students' motivational experience in the college application process. Michelle Miller '07 (sponsor: Prof. W. Grolnick)

Parental behavior and adolescent female self-esteem. Meagan McCrea '08 (in collaboration with Carrie Price, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. W. Grolnick)

Emotion in the classroom: An exploration of teachers' responses to emotional expressions in boys and girls. Amanda Purcell '08 (in collaboration with Valeria Bellas, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. W. Grolnick)

Risk and personality. Jon Baker '07, Jackie Barton '07, Sylvie Cancellier '07, Eric Fabricant '07, Paul Grocki '07, Rob Klocko '07 & Wes Long '07 (sponsor: Prof. J. Laird)

Pain sensitivity, athletic experience, and embodiment. Oli Cani '07, Cori Bamberg '07, & Nick Anton '08 (in collaboration with Boyd Timothy, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. J. Laird)

Patterns of autonomic nervous system activity differentiated by cue response style. Oli Cani '07, Christina Herron '07, Allison Ventrice '07, & Emily Young '07 (in collaboration with Boyd Timothy, graduate student; sponsor: Prof. J. Laird)

Pleasant melancholy: A cross-cultural examination. Erica Zolli '10 (sponsor: Prof. J. Valsiner)

The vale of a moldy photo album: Exploring the dynamics of a volunteer in New Orleans relief work. Kate Del Vecchio '07 (sponsor: Prof. J. Valsiner)

Analyzing ideal romantic relationship expectations between gender and age. Alexandra Conrad '07 (sponsor: Prof. R. Bibace)

Changing course evaluations: Instructors' and students' opinions on the current course evaluation system. Tatiana Acosta '08 & Gregory Arteglier '07 (in collaboration with Christine Bascetta '07, Mary Romprey '07, & Angela Ciociolo '08; sponsor: Prof. M. Bamberg)

Students' and instructors' perceptions of course evaluations: Talking about the same instrument? Christine Bascetta '07 & Gregory Arteglier '07 (in collaboration with: Mary Romprey '07, Angela Ciociolo '08, & Tatiana Acosta '08; sponsor: Prof. M. Bamberg)

What is behind instructors' and students' opposing positions of making course evaluations public? Mary Romprey '07 & Angela Ciociolo '08 (in collaboration with: Tatiana Acosta '08, Gregory Arteglier '07, & Christine Bascetta '08; sponsor: Prof. M. Bamberg)

Symposium: Cultural Living in the Cities: Bridges Between Russia and The United States

Sponsors: Profs. J. Valsiner of Psychology, Clark Univeristy & N. Pokrovsky of Sociology, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia

• A glimpse of the semiotic borders of Main Street, Worcester. Kate Del Vecchio '07 & Mike Seidman '08 (sponsor: Prof. J. Valsiner)
• Functional isolation of marginal groups in the city. Elina Dayanova (Higher School of Economics, Moscow)
• Eating out: Meeting of cultures in the restaurants on Main Street, Worcester. Blair Gross '07, Ruth Bleakley '07, & Steven Cianciarulo '07 (Clark University)
• Light and darkness as social factors in the city. Alexander Ramonov (Higher School of Economics, Moscow)
• Cultural psychology of parks: In darkness and in light. Erica Mello '08, Brittney Morrell '08, Stephanie Morris '08, & Victoria Verlezza '09 (Clark University)
• Sounds in/of the street as invisible boundaries. Marina Nord (Higher School of Economics, Moscow)
• The dynamics of time and space in the city. Nikita Kharlamov (Higher School of Economics, Moscow)