News

Seventeen MSUM psychology students presented research at the 26th Annual Red River Psychology Conference on April 19 and 20, 2012.  The students were Justine Breedon, Spencer Coffman, Ethan Dahl, Dominique DeZiel, Tim Fode, Kimberly Fritel, Jesse Forster, Farryn Helm, Kelsey Ihringer, Bria Itzen, Jennifer Livingood, Emily Lyons, Megan Nere, Nathan Nowak, Dylan O’Brien, Rachel Thompson, and Jennifer Wenner. Read the rest of this entry →

Ashley Hoeck, psychology major, recently received the Female Student Leader of the Year award. This award is given by the Office of Student Activities.

Six psychology students were recently inducted into Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in psychology. These students are: Ibukun Awosika, Spencer Coffman, Jessie Heising, Bria Itzen, Carmella Jasperson, and Elizabeth Plankers. The Psychology Department congratulates these students for their accomplishments.

Dr. Christine Malone, psychology, recently received the Student Organization Advisor of the Year Award. This is an award given by the Office of Student Activities at MSUM.

Loren Houle, graduate student in school psychology, recently was named the 2012 North Dakota Chapter of ASPIRE TRIO Achiever. He received the award at the 2012 North Dakota-South Dakota ASPIRE Co-State Banquet held in Aberdeen, S.D. Houle received the award as an outstanding graduate of the University of North Dakota TRIO programs.

The MSUM Psychology Department and Psychology Club are pleased to host the 26^th Annual Red River Psychology Conference at MSUM April 19 and 20. Our keynote speaker will be Dr. Blair Johnson from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Johnson, a 1983 alumnus of MSUM, is a social psychologist interested in social influence and health promotion, especially with regard to HIV prevention, antidepressants, and exercise. Read the rest of this entry →

WHO: MSUM Faculty & Staff

WHAT: Spring “Poker” Walk for Fitness in conjunction with the DRAGON FIRE WALK

WHERE:

• Athletics Department, Nemzek 134
• Comstock Memorial Union, CMU 115
• Hendrix Health Center Read the rest of this entry →

The Psychology Department nominates an outstanding senior each year for the Paterson Award, given by the Minnesota Psychological Association. This year’s nominee is Jennifer Wenner.

The Psychology Department gave a Junior Research Award to Dylan O’ Brien, for demonstrated excellence in research activity, and a Junior Departmental Award to Megan Nere for demonstrated excellence in overall academic achievement and commitment to the field of psychology.

Sara Heimdahl Fidler, psychology alum, presented a poster at the Minnesota School Psychology Association MidWinter Conference on Feb 2 and 3.

The poster, “Going on a Bear Hunt: Enhancing Vocabulary Development in Preschool using Repeated Read-Alouds”, was based on data collected for Sara’s Master’s thesis and follow up data collected by Tara Hanson, psychology student intern, with Dr. Lisa Stewart as advisor.  Read the rest of this entry →

Doris Walker-Dalhouse, Professor Emerita, STL; Carol Sibley, Library; A. Derick Dalhouse, Psychology; Korella Selzer, Library; & Robin Clark Nagwabi, Marquette University had a paper, Reading Engagement of Preservice Teachers: Impact of a reading-aloud initiative, published in Journal of Reading Education, V37, No.1, 33, Fall 2011.

Lisa Stewart, psychology, has work on early literacy presented in the California Research Institute, with colleages Kate Horst of Minnesota Reading Corps and Irene Frieberg and Susan True from Santa Cruz, Calif.  Read the rest of this entry →

The MSUM child development lab is in need of infants and children to participate in research studies this semester. We study the development of vision and perception by observing how children pay attention to three-dimensional objects and patterns. It takes just one 15 minute visit to the lab here on campus and all families receive a $10 gift card for participating. Two-to five-month-old babies and children from 5-6 or 9-10-years-old needed now!

Contact babyLab@mnstate.edu or Lisa Nawrot at nawrot@mnstate.edu.

The College of Social and Natural Sciences awarded Fall Student Research Awards to support student research for majors in the College. Member sof the College’s Student Advisory Board reviewed applications and made the final determination of grant recipients.

All projects are endorsed by a faculty supervisor, and applicants must be willing to present her/his research results at the MSUM Student Academic Conference. Grants are available for conducting research (photocopy expenses, equipment and software purchases, etc.) and/or for travel to a conference where research will be presented.

The Fall Student Research Awards were given to: Read the rest of this entry →

Lisa Nawrot, Psychology, and undergraduate student researchers from the Child Development Lab were interviewed for a story on infant research to appear in an upcoming Fargo Forum. Life Reporter Tracy Frank visited the lab to observe a recent baby testing session where she conducted interviews and took photographs with Nawrot, the students, and the mother and baby who were participating in the research project. Frank had also taken part in the same research with her infant son this past spring.

Lisa Nawrot, Psychology, presented research at the European Conference on Visual Perception in Toulouse, France, this past week. While in Toulouse, Lisa travelled to the small village of St. Sernin sur Rance in the Aveyron region to visit the site where “Victor the Wild Child” was discovered in 1800.

Lisa Stewart, Psychology, trained Minnesota Reading Corps members and teachers last week as part of the Minnesota Reading Corps 2011 week-long training institute. Minnesota Reading Corps is an Americorps program where members volunteer for a year to help reduce the achievement gap in reading. In 2011-2012 there are over 760 members statewide, serving thousands of students.  Many of the schools in our region have MRC members and several MSUM alumni are MRC members, teacher “coaches” and trainers.

Elizabeth Nawrot, Psychology, with co-authors Mark Nawrot (NDSU Psychology), and MSUM students Jennifer Livingood and Jennifer Wenner, had the following presentation at the Vision Sciences Society Meeting in Naples, Fla.: “Depth from motion parallax: The role of smooth pursuit and ocular following response eye movements.”

The following Psychology students presented at the Midwestern Psychological Association Conference in Chicago, Ill., May 5-7:

Jennifer Wenner, Allyson Schaan & Rebecca Stine: Detection of Inauthentic Emotion: An Eye Tracking Study (Elizabeth Nawrot, faculty sponsor) Read the rest of this entry →

Excellence in Service to Students:

• Yvonne Johnson, Director of Academic Intervention
• Greg Toutges, Director of Career & Disability Services and Director of Academic Resource Office.

Excellence in Service to First Year Students:

Veronica Michael, Director of First Year Programs.

Excellence in Service to the University:

• Curt Erber, Information Technology
• Dr. Randy Cagle, Associate Professor of Philosophy
• Kirsti Fleming, Comstock Memorial Union
• Chad Kraft, Information Technology
• Sara Hartwig, Assistant Director of Financial Aid

Excellence in Teaching:

Dr. Konrad Czynski, Associate Professor of Philosophy

Excellence in Research/Creative Activity:

Dr. Ernest “Willie” Hallford, Professor of Psychology

Sarah Butrum, who will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and minors in Business Management and Political Science, is one of the 12 students from 12 tribes and nine universities selected this year as a Native American Congressional Intern. This highly regarded internship program is intended to provide American Indians and Alaska Natives with an insider’s view of the federal government. Read the rest of this entry →