Saint Michael's students presented the results of many hours in the lab at the Eastern Psychological Association meetings in Pittsburgh, Pa., March 5-8. Psychology assistant professor, Dr. Ari Kirshenbaum took seven of his students and one student of Professor Tony Richardson to the meetings to present research they had conducted in the Krikstone Laboratory for the Behavioral Sciences at Saint Michael's over the course of last summer and last semester. Professors Carolyn Whitney and David Landers also attended and presented research at the EPA meetings.
Saint Michael's psychology students presenting at the conference were Caitlin Adamo of Livingston, Montana, Seth J. Brown of Gorham, Maine, Jason Fuchs of Newton, N.J., Eric R. Jackson of Weare, N.H., Betsie Miltner of Irasburg, Vt., and Alicia McDonald of Holliston, Mass., along with recent graduates Sarah Schwarz '08 and C. E. Gilmore '08.
"I was extremely impressed with the competence and confidence with which the students presented their work at the Eastern Psychological Association's conference," Professor Kirshenbaum said. "They captured the attention of some of the top researchers in the field, and were an excellent reflection of the student body of Saint Michael's College. They are now contributors to the greater scientific community, and I believe that the reinforcement they received at EPA will serve to motivate prosperous careers in psychological science."
Student response
Students came away from their experience at the conference feeling very much a part of the scientific community.
Caitlin Adamo said, "The EPA conference was a stimulating opportunity to explore an array of psychological fields and have exposure to an inspiring community of creative and investigative minds. My confidence was especially enriched by the collaborative efforts of my adviser and colleagues."
Seth Brown said, "I have had the opportunity to present at a few conferences with the most recent being the EPA in Pittsburgh. I really enjoy attending these conferences because I am able to see the most current research being done in the field by some of the biggest names in psychology and have the chance to converse with them."
Betsie Miltner said, "The EPA conference offered a professional yet friendly environment for sharing research with students, professors and well-known researchers from other colleges and universities. I was very happy to be able to be there."
The research projects Professor Kirshenbaum's students presented were the following:
Kirshenbaum, A.P., Schwarz, S. & Brown, S.J. (2009). Context-dependent perturbations in DRL schedule performance.
Brown, S.J., Jackson, E.J., Adamo, C., Miltner, B., & Kirshenbaum A.P. (2009). Response disinhibition induced by nicotine administration II: VI-DRL performance and sensitization.
Jackson, E.J., Brown, S.J., Adamo, C., & Kirshenbaum A.P. (2009). Response disinhibition induced by nicotine administration I: Stop-task performance and sensitization.
Adamo, C, Fuchs, J., & Kirshenbaum, A.P. (2009). Manipulations of motivation engender differential DRL-schedule performance.
Ms. Adamo described her work in language of the lab: "Our research sought to understand impulsive behavior and its relationship with manipulations in motivational arousal. We did this by altering the magnitude of the reinforcer and pre-treatment of ad lib food or sugar water."
About his work, Mr. Brown said, "My research is on response disinhibition induced by chronic nicotine administration and the attenuating effects of mecamylamine (a drug used to block the effects of nicotine).We deliver nicotine to rats and look at performance and changes in behavior that result. Our current research is an extension of previous work that was published last summer in the
Journal of Behavioural Pharmacology."
Jason Fuchs said, "The study we presented was about how we manipulated the reward that two groups of rats get when they complete a prescribed schedule" and we used our parameters to measure performance and impulsivity.
Betsie Miltner said "I presented a poster on the effects of nicotine on impulsive behavior and the ability to inhibit responses."
Additional, faculty and recent graduates' presentations at the EPA Meetings:
Carolyn Whitney and Megan Murphy '07. "Surrendering Problems to God: Religious Coping Style and Correlates of Positive Well-being in College Students."
Carolyn Whitney and C. E. Gilmore '08. "Social Support from Safe Adults and Positive Psychology Outcomes Among College Students."
Carolyn Whitney and David Landers. "Increased Academic Performance for Student-Athletes with Academic Mentors: A Three-Pronged Academic Mentoring Approach."
Carolyn Whitney, S. Schwarz '08, and C.E. Gilmore '08, "Attachment Style, Loneliness, and Coping Among College Students."
Saint Michael's College, founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nation's
Best 368 Colleges. A liberal arts, residential, Catholic college, Saint Michael's is located just outside of Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns and less than two hours from Montreal. As one of only 270 institutions nationwide with a prestigious Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus, Saint Michael's has 2,000 full-time undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 200 international students. In recent years Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Guggenheim, Fulbright, National Science Foundation and other grants, and Saint Michael's professors have been named Vermont Professor of the Year in four of the last eight years. The college is currently listed as one of the nation's Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2009
U.S. News & World Report rankings.
Photo caption: Professor Kirshenbaum & his students at EPA meetings, l. to r., Seth Brown, Professor Ari Kirshenbaum, Betsie Miltner, Caitlin Adamo, Jason Fuchs and Eric Jackson.