Dr.
Linda Baker
Dr. Baker studies literacy development and motivation
for reading. One line of research focuses on the home literacy practices
and parental beliefs of a diverse sample of families and their relations
to the development of reading competencies. A second line focuses on
the effects of a classroom-based intervention designed to improve the
reading achievement of children attending high poverty schools.
Student activities: Conducting classroom observations, coding
and entering data, scoring reading assessments, and working collaboratively
with members of the research team on other tasks that arise.
Dr.
Shawn Bediako
Dr. Bediako’s work is broadly concerned with the influences of
sociocultural factors on health and well-being. Current research projects
focus on the ways in which racial identity, spirituality, and perceived
stigma shape the illness experience and psychological adaption of adults
with sickle cell disease. Another area of inquiry is concerned with
ecological determinants of health-promoting behavior among urban men.
Research assistants will have the opportunities to develop knowledge
and skills in hematological pathophysiology, longitudinal research design,
multilevel statistical methods, and racial identity.
Student activities: Conducting literature searches/reviews, data
entry, assisting with ethnographic interviews and qualitative analyses.
Dr.
Thomas Blass
Dr. Blass’s research activities include impression formation, the
study of social influence with special emphasis on obedience to authority,
and the analysis and evaluation of the work of the social psychologist,
Stanley Milgram.
Student activities: Conducting and analyzing data from experiments,
coding and content analysis of textual materials, internet and library
research.
Dr.
Anne Brodsky
Dr. Brodsky's work uses qualitative methods to explore women's resilience
in the face of societal and community level risks such as sexist oppression,
racism, poverty, etc Her work is focused in both US urban and
Afghan rural and urban women’s communities.
Student activities: (limited availability): Library work, transcribing,
data entry.
Dr.
A. Charles Catania
Dr. Catania will participate in some research projects on ADHD to begin
in 2006 at theKennedy Krieger Institute. Meanwhile, he is concentrating
on working up data from the former pigeon laboratory (closed in 2003),
and he is preparing papers for publication in the areas of delay of
reinforcement and of verbal behavior. He may be available to sponsor
work by students who have interests in work at KKI, data analysis, literature
research and/or computer simulations.
Dr.
Charissa Cheah
Dr. Cheah’s research lab examines the interactions between individual,
peer, family, and socio-cultural factors in predicting social emotional
development and health in children.Examples of projects that are ongoing
in the lab include the examination of: adolescent parents, their transition
into adulthood, parenting, and infants’ outcomes; immigrant families,
their acculturation and adjustment, parenting, and preschool children’s
social development; and parenting goals/beliefs/practices, parent-child
relationships in relation to young children’s social and emotional
development among different cultures around the world.
Student activities; students are strongly encouraged and provided
the opportunity to participate
in all levels of the research. This includes research protocols, data
entry, management and analysis, library research, involvement in conference
presentation and publications, and attending research meetings.
Dr.
Lyn Dahlquist
Dr. Dahlquist’s research team is studying psychological pain and
fear reduction strategies designed to help young children cope with
stressful medical procedures, as well as the impact of chronic illnesses
on children and their families.
Student activities: Collecting data by filming children undergoing
medical procedures, administering questionnaires, transcribing/coding
videotapes, conducting parent-child observation tasks, conducting laboratory
cold pressor pain trials.
Dr.
Robert H. Deluty
Dr. Deluty studies how clinical psychologists address moral/ethical
issues with their clients; commonalities in the processes and outcomes
of psychotherapy and poetry; and associations among the religious beliefs,
political ideologies, and therapeutic orientations of clinical psychologists.
Student activities: Library and internet research.
Dr.
Carlo DiClemente
Dr. DiClemente’s HABITS lab investigates how people change addictive
and health behaviors, including alcohol and drugs, diet, exercise, smoking
and cancer screening.
Student activities: Library and Internet research, interviewing,
data entry, data management, assisting graduate students.
Dr.
Stanley Feldstein
Dr. Feldstein investigates the temporal patterns and coordination
of romantic couples and the relation of each member to such issues as
adjustment to each other, self esteem and anxiety, and relationship
satisfaction. One of the goals of the project is to determine, if possible,
which couples will stay together and which will drift apart.
Student activities: Making appointments, coordinating couples
through the procedures, data input, library work, and presenting posters
at regional and national conventions.
Dr.
Lowell Groninger
Dr. Groninger studies cognitive processes and in particular, the components
of cognition that relate to human memory. He is currently studying retrieval
processes for information in general and peoples' names in particular
(with a specialized interest is in what is known as the "tip-of-the-tongue"
phenomenon). Another research interest is in applying memory techniques
to target populations with a focus on how recent technology can assist
these applications.
Student activities: Contact Dr. Groninger directly for information.
Dr.
Kenneth Maton
Dr. Maton's primary research focus is factors and programs which contribute
to the educational success of students from ethnic minority backgrounds
(in Baltimore City; on the UMBC campus; in graduate programs). An additional
focus is the study of community settings which empower those in need
(self-help groups; churches; men's support groups).
Student activities: Data entry and analysis, coding interview
transcripts, organization and maintenance of raw data, aspects of research
design, assisting with literature reviews.
Dr.
Lynanne McGuire
Dr. McGuire’s research lab examines how psychosocial factors influence
immune function and health outcomes in chronic illness, surgery, and
pain populations. Psychosocial factors of special interest include negative
emotions (depression, anxiety) and resilience factors (positive expectations,
social support).
Student Activities: Participate in research design, interviewing participants,
running research protocols, data entry and management, library research,
involvement in conference presentations and publications, attending
research team meetings.
Dr.
Chris Murphy
Dr. Murphy’s team is studying abuse and violence in intimate adult
relationships, primarily focusing on the efficacy of treatment for abuse
perpetrators.
Student activities: Structured phone interviewing of domestic
violence victims, data entry, coding of audio or videotapes.
Dr.
Steve Pitts
Dr. Pitts collaborates with faculty at UMB on a number of projects including
an ongoing study of risks and consequences of child abuse and neglect
and on obesity prevention programs in adolescents. A second research
focus is on evaluation and application of emerging analytical techniques,
particularly as pertaining to longitudinal data analysis.
Student activities: Interviewing participants, data entry and
analysis, literature review, aspects of research development and design.
Dr.
Robert Provine
Dr. Provine studies the neural bases of ongoing normal and pathological
behavior, including laughing, yawning, coughing and tickling, from prenatal
stages through adulthood.
Student activities: Behavioral observation, video, audio and
statistical analyses, conducting interviews and running experiments.
Dr.
Bernard Rabin
Dr. Rabin studies the effects of exposure to heavy particles on behavior,
including reinforcement and operant responding.
Student activities: Running rats on operant responding.
Dr.
Cindy M. Schaeffer
Dr. Schaeffer’s research focuses on prevention and treatment of
adolescent antisocial behavior, evaluation of Multisystemic Therapy
(MST; a family-systems based intervention) for juvenile offenders, and
the developmental psychopathology of aggression and conduct problems.
Student activities: Attending therapy sessions and providing
assistance to in-home therapists; collecting data in homes and schools;
interviewing youths and parents; conducting, entering and analyzing
data; attending laboratory meetings; assisting with conference presentations
and manuscripts for publication.
Dr.
David Schultz
Dr. Schultz focuses on the development of aggressive tendencies in young
children. He's interested in how families shape preschool children's
ways of thinking and feeling that might put children at risk for conflict
with other children. He also is involved with programs to teach preschool
children social skills.
Student activities: Interview children, parents, and teachers,
observe children in classrooms, monitor children's physiological activity,
enter data into computers, edit digital videotape.
Dr.
Susan Sonnenschein
Dr. Sonnenschein’s primary research interests reflect the intersection
of developmental and educational psychology by focusing on issues in
children’s development pertinent for educational contexts. Her
current research addresses literacy development in children from different
sociocultural groups, parents’ and teachers’ beliefs and practices
that facilitate or impede children’s development, and home/school
relations.
Student activities: Assistance with coding and analyzing data
and library research. There are some opportunities as well for working
with children or families.
Dr.
Laura Stapleton
Dr. Stapleton’s interest is in the collection and statistical modeling
of survey data. A typical study may involve simulating data with certain
known properties and then examining how well the sampling and subsequent
statistical modeling procedure captures the known properties. Another
type of methodological study would be to construct questionnaire items
that attempt to capture the same construct, but are worded or formatted
differently. These items would then be administered to a large sample
of respondents to determine whether differences in response were noted.
Student activities: Literature review, audio tape transcription,
scheduling, note taking, survey administration (copying, mailing), data
entry.
Dr.
Shari Waldstein
Dr. Waldstein’s research examines how stress and psychological
factors may influence the development of high blood pressure and heart
disease.
Student activities: Data coding, data entry, library work, data
collection.
Dr.
Zoe Warwick
Dr. Warwick studies the biobehavioral controls of food intake, with
particular focus on the question of why high-fat foods promote overeating
and weight gain.
Student activities: Preparing solutions and foods, measuring
food intake by test subjects, data entry and analysis, maintaining/modifying
lab equipment.
