Department of Psychology

Congratulations to two former honors thesis students, who had papers based on their theses accepted to peer-reviewed journals this week:
Tali Rychik (CoPE Lab; see paper here)

Selen Amado (Aging, Culture & Cognition Lab; see paper here) 

The department is excited to welcome our new undergraduate department representative, Gila Weinrib.

Originally from New Jersey, Gila spent a year after high school studying in Israel and is currently a Junior studying psychology and HSSP. She still does not know exactly what she wants to do in her future but hopes to work with patients directly in a treatment field related to clinical psychology or neuropsychology. She is a research assistant in the CARD lab and is particularly interested in emotions and how neurological mechanisms relate to psychopathology. Outside of schoolwork, Gila teaches in Sunday school, helps run Challah for Hunger, works on the dining committee, and volunteers for Spectrum. In her free time, Gila loves to “procrastibake” (happy to share all recipes!) spend time with her family, play the piano, and do arts and crafts. She’s thrilled to be UDR this year and cannot wait to discuss all things psychology related!

             Mandatory prerequisite is Psyc 51a, Statistics

 Schedules:

52a(1)Rsrch Mthds & Lab        Prof. Mitchell                            Mon, Wed   2-4:00 pm

52a(2)Rsrch Mthds & Lab        Prof. Wright                              Tue, Thu     2-4:00 pm

A message from our Undergraduate Advising Head, Dr. Ellen Wright:

I have set up recurring Zoom links for my normal office hours (M 8:30-10:30 and T 9:30-11). I have set it up so there's also a virtual waiting room - definitely no physical touching there so I can see you one at a time. This is the first time I have done this so please bear with the various glitches that are likely to occur in our first couple attempts and be patient. Please email me your major/minor declaration form, completed for now as best as you can.

October 23, 2019

Questions? Contact the Psyc UDRs:

Maya Barton-Zuckerman '20 <mayabz@brandeis.edu>

Wanchen Zhao '19 <wzhao@brandeis.edu>

Sign-Up for Psyc 52a, RESEARCH METHODS & LAB in PSYCHOLOGY for the Spring, 2020 semester will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, October 23 and 24.  The department will offer three sections of PSYC 52a with 25 spaces each.  Sign-up sheets along with further information will be posted outside the Psychology Office, Brown #125, starting at 8:40 a.m. on those two days only. Individuals who cannot sign-up personally should ensure that their names are entered on the sheets by a second person. After the sign-up process ends, we will contact you to let you know if you made it into the class.  Priority is given to seniors, then juniors, etc.

            Mandatory prerequisite is Psyc 51a, Statistics

Schedules:

52a(1)Rsrch Mthds & Lab        Prof. Mitchell                            Mon, Wed  10-12:00 pm

52a(2)Rsrch Mthds & Lab        Prof. Mitchell                            Mon, Wed   2-4:00 pm

52a(3)Rsrch Mthds & Lab        Prof. Mitchell                            Tue, Thu    10-12 pm

Congratulations to the 2 PhD students and 13 MA students who will graduate this weekend!

Please join us in congratulating Jeremy Simon, recipient of this year's Verna Regan Award. This award is given each year to a Ph.D. student in Psychology who has excelled in working as a teaching fellow.

Congratulations to doctoral student Alycia Bisson, who was awarded a 2019 University Prize Instructorship.
The University Prize Instructorship award provides our most promising educators with $6,000 to teach their own class.
This class will take an interdisciplinary approach to understand sleep, examining scientific research that explores different theories about why humans sleep, what happens to the body and brain during sleep, and ways that sleep can be improved.
This course will be offered in Fall 2019.

Such a powerful story from (Rabbi) Steve Schwartz about his experience at Brandeis, and an impactful interaction with faculty Dr. Joe Cunningham in 1982:

"One conversation with a professor sticks with me. I was a middling student. He grabbed me after class and we talked for maybe five minutes. I don’t remember exactly what he said. It had something to do with my potential, with something he saw in me that I didn’t see. I walked out of his office and thought of myself in a different way. Suddenly there was an intellectual curiosity, almost a kind of muse, that I am still following. I wonder if he ever knew?"

(full article: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/23/opinion/letters/college-experiences.html)

Congratulations to Dr. Ray Knight, who won the Joseph Zubin Award from the Society for Research in Psychopathology. The award is "in recognition of lifetime contributions to the understanding of psychopathology."

Faculty member Dr. Angela Gutchess was elected to the governing board of the Psychonomic Society.

Congratulations Dr. Gutchess!

• Recipients of the 2018 Teaching Innovation Grant include Professor Angela Gutchess (Teaching Learning Using the Science of Learning) and Professor Teresa Mitchell (An Image-based, Self-paced Module for Teaching and Learning Human Brain Anatomy).  Teaching innovation grants focus on innovations in teaching and student assessment, addressing issues of diversity and inclusion, and team teaching/interdisciplinary course design
• Professors Angela Gutchess and Bob Sekuler have received a 2018 Research Innovation Award for Perceptual and Mnemonic Differences across Cultures. Professors Hannah Snyder and Joy von Steiger (Brandeis Counseling Center) have won the same award for Promoting successful transitions to college for students at high risk for anxiety and depression. This award is aimed at early stage research to initiate innovative scholarly inquiry and creative activities that have the potential for significant, sustained impact.
• Professor Robert Sekuler has been elected a fellow of the Society of Experimental Psychologists. The society was founded by Edward Titchener in 1904 and elects 6 new members annually from among the leading experimentalists in North America.
• Professor Margie Lachman has received a 2015 Distinguished Career Contribution to Gerontology Award. To read more, visit the EurekAlert press release.

• Professor Xiaodong Liu has received a 2015 Provost’s Innovations in Teaching Grant.

• Professor Robert Sekuler has received a 2015 Provost’s Innovations in Research Grant.

• Professor Angela Gutchess has received an Alzheimer’s Association New Investigator Research Grant.
• Professor Shantanu Jadhav has won the prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. To read more, visit the BrandeisNOW article.
• Professor Raymond Knight accepted a Mentorship Award from the Society for Research in Psychopathology. He received this award in recognition of continuous dedication to mentoring students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty in the field of psychology.
• Professor Arthur Wingfield received a Brandeis-Israeli Collaborative Seed Grant! He will be working with the IDC, in Herzliya to initiate collaborative research efforts there.

• Dr. Hannah Snyder published research in Cognitive Therapy and Research.
• Dr. Brittany Cassidy, alumni of the Ph.D. program, is featured by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
• Research from Dr. Donald Katz's lab is featured on BrandeisNow.
• Research from Dr. Angela Gutchess on aging and memory was featured on The Daily Mail.
• Dr. Ray Knight received The Theoharis Seghorn Award for Professional Achievement from the Massachusetts Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers.
• Dr. Don Katz interviewed about color perception and taste for NPR: Are Gummy Bear Flavors Just Fooling Our Brains?

• Dr. Andrew Molinsky (IBS) headlied an event for the annual Dialogues Program to discuss strategies to build personal confidence in the workplace.

• Dr. Paul DiZio’s research on the psychology of movement is featured in a Brandeis Magazine article.

• Dr. Shantanu Jadhav is featured in BrandeisNow: Wellington Prize Winnder Aims for the Stars. He was the winner of the 2016 Wellington Prize, with which he used to purchase a mechanical telescope.

• Dr. Margie Lachman is featured in BrandeisNow: Financial Stress takes a toll on appearance.

• Dr. Sheila Brownlow, who received her PhD from our program in 1989, and has now been named one of the 10 Must Take Psychology Professors in Charlotte, NC! To learn more about her accomplishments, read the article on the Catawba College News Page.

• Professor Katz is featured in BrandeisNow: How many senses do humans really have? Read the article to learn more about why he believes taste, smell, touch, sound and sight may be part of the same system!

• Arielle Keller ’16 has been selected for this week’s Scholar Spotlight! The Scholar Spotlight series is a new initiative in Academic Services to help highlight excellent research that is happening around campus. For more information and opportunities for research funding or fellowships, see the Academic Fellowships at Brandeis University Facebook page.

• A special issue of Research in Human Development, Just One Wish for the Study of Human Development, includes an article written by Prof. Margie Lachman.

• Professor Robert Sekuler’s research with Timothy Hickey and Yile Sun is featured in BrandeisNOW. They used a computer game to collect data at the Museum of Science to investigate audiovisual interaction and the impact of sensory distraction.

• Professor Margie Lachman is featured in BrandeisNOW for her research with the Boston Roybal Center for Active Lifestyle Interventions.

• Dr. Gutchess reviews research on the aging brain as part of a special issue of Science, which looks at the mechanisms and contexts of successful brain aging.

• Professor Ellen Wright is featured in the Brandeis Hoot.