Undergraduate Accomplishments

Cady Stanton received a Mary Gates Research Scholarship to fund her study “The Potential for Robots to Aid in the Social Development of Children with Autism.” Her advisor is Peter Kahn.

Christina Rainey and Robyn Laing were awarded scholarship funds from the Arts and Science Undergraduate Research Award Program to support their research projects.

Kristyn Sakiko Funasaki and Cady Stanton were co-winners of the 2007 Guthrie Prize in Psychology. Kristyn’s paper, “Examining the Relationship between Sensation Seeking and 21st Birthday Alcohol Use,” sponsored by Psychiatry Assistant Professor Clayton Neighbors, was chosen as best empirical research paper. Cady’s paper, “The Potential for Robots to Aid in the Social Development of Children with Autism,” sponsored by Associate Professor Peter Kahn, was chosen as the best theory/review paper.

Jeannifer Mao, a senior in Psychology, tought the course “Develop: Production of a Photo Essay” that was featured in the February 22 , 2008 Seattle P.I. “Photos take a peek at freshman lives”

Kelsey Smith received a Mary Gates Undergraduate Research Scholarship to further her work on the role of ventral tegmental dopamine system on hippocampal-dependent learning. She works in Sheri J. Y. Mizumori’s lab.

Jessica Kang, a Psychology honors student, received an APA Summer Science Fellowship. She is one of 12 students selected nationally to participate in this fully-funded, intensive summer training program in the psychology laboratory of a nationally recognized scholar in the Washington, DC area. Jessica is affiliated with both Cheryl Kaiser’s and Tony Greenwald’s labs. She is also working in Cheryl Kaiser’s Social Identity Lab, and received a Mary Gates Research Scholarship. Jessica’s research project examines factors that cause people to view Asian Americans through “model minority” stereotypes and the situations in which these stereotypes lead to prejudice and discrimination. Jessica will be presenting this research at the 2009 Society for Personality and Social Psychology Meeting in Tampa, FL.

Jason Poon received a Mary Gates Undergraduate Research Scholarship to further his work on the role of physiological arousal among gamblers. He works with Mary Larimer at the Center for the Study of Health & Risk Behavior.

Dana Kamara, an honors student in psychology was awarded a Mary Gates Undergraduate Research Scholarship to study the effects of intervention on the recognition of familiar faces in toddlers with autism spectrum disorders. She works with Dr. Sara Webb and graduate student Susan Faja.

Kayla Helem, was awarded the Edith Lucena Riehl endowed scholarship for Fall 2008. She will be doing independent research in Sean O’Donnell’s lab on caste differences in brain development of dampwood termites.

Dana E. Kamara and Nicolle A. Perisho, were co-winners of the 2008 Guthrie Prize in Psychology. Dana’s paper, “Effects of Intervention on Familiar Face Recognition in Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders,” sponsored by Dr. Sara Webb, was chosen as the best literature review and research proposal. Nicolle’s paper, “Behavioral Sex Differences among Captive and Wild Macaques,” sponsored by Randy Kyes, was chosen as best empirical research paper.

Susan McKay, was named a Mary Gates Scholar (including 3 quarters of research funding) and received a Mary Gates Travel award. She is conducting research with graduate student Ursula Whiteside in Mary Larimer’s lab. She recently began work on a component analysis of a successful new brief intervention including Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills and motivational interviewing for anxious and depressed heavy drinking young adults.

Cortney Taylor received three quarters of funding from the Mary Gates Undergraduate research scholarship fund. She is conducting research on how the brain controls its response to rewarding stimuli. Her advisor is Sheri J. Y. Mizumori.

Jamie Campanelli won an Animal Behavior Society Turner Travel Award to attend the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Animal Behavior Society in Snowbird, Utah.

Undergraduate psychology majors who were invited to join Phi Beta Kappa in the 2007-2009 academic years

The invitation is based upon the students’ excellent academic records and interest in the liberal arts

Undergraduates who participated in the Spring 2008 Research Symposium:

To find their presentation time or poster location, go to http://tinyurl.com/5shuny and search for Psychology students