MS in Psychological Science Faculty | Ongoing Research in Our Department

Our program’s faculty study a wide range of research topics in psychology. Profiles below provide a window into current research and mentoring opportunities.

Dr. Maryalice Citera

citeram@newpaltz.edu

My research interests center on applying psychology to understanding workplace attitudes and behaviors. My current research focuses on understanding the intersection between work motivation and emotion in particular how individuals anticipate and respond to task situations. I am interested in the role of anticipatory emotions in goal setting and self-efficacy. Recently, I have been conducting research on delegation and influence in leadership. One area I think might be promising is looking at dark influence tactics used by leaders. There is a great deal of literature on the dark triad (narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy) and leadership. Surprising more individuals with these traits tend to hold leadership positions. Because leadership is about influencing other people’s behaviors, I am interested in looking at whether there are specific “dark” influence tactics that these leaders might use.

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Dr. Clifford Evans

evansc@newpaltz.edu

My training is in experimental social psychology, with an emphasis on social cognition.

I am available to serve as a reader on experimental theses relevant to my areas of expertise, which include stereotyping and prejudice, processes of attitude formation and attitude change, gender, and affect.

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Dr. Maria Felix-Ortiz

felixorm@newpaltz.edu

I am a Lecturer in Psychology and have published research in drug use epidemiology; prevention and treatment of substance use disorders; resilience in Latinx and other communities; cultural and male identity development; police training in de-escalation, and in assisted mutual support groups. My current research is focusing on drug use among young adults, with a focus on Latinx, and I am analyzing young adult drug use data collected in 2021-22.

I am willing to read theses related to my current and past research, and to collaborate with students interested in my current research.

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Dr. Giordana Grossi

grossig@newpaltz.edu

My scholarly work has developed along two different, yet related, trajectories. My empirical work explores aspects of expertise and automaticity in visual word recognition in both monolinguals and bilinguals and employs both behavioral and electrophysiological measures. I am currently finishing up a project aimed to test claims on the effects of posture on reading (semantic processing and letter identification) and cognitive control. I also recently published a paper in collaborations with colleagues in England showing that objects characterized by motor valence affect the visual processing of human body parts, both behaviorally and electrophysiologically, therefore suggesting a link between the visual processing of objects and body part based on function. Finally, I just published, in collaboration with a colleague, a volume of essays on brain plasticity in honor of our mentor, Helen Neville. In one of the chapters of the book, I discuss, in collaboration with one of my former students, plasticity in occipito-temporal cortex associated with learning to read as evidenced by studies with event-related potentials.

Based on my interests in development and how experience shapes brain function and structure, I also analyze and critique views that stress the role of “intrinsic biological factors” and minimize the role of experience, broadly intended, and development. My scholarly contributions have addressed claims of inherent sex differences for math and science, claims regarding the role of prenatal testosterone in shaping aspects of cognition, and outlined key issues (methodological, statistical) in sex/gender difference research in neuroimaging. Some of this work is in collaboration with the NeuroGenderings Network, an international and transdisciplinary group of scholars, of which I am a member, whose work focuses on critically examining, and contributing to, the production of neuroscientific knowledge about gender/sex. In addition, I have written a critique of the concept of modularity in evolutionary psychology and provided an in-depth analysis of how the term “hardwired” is used in psychology and neuroscience.

I recently worked on a paper discussing how the words and concepts that scientists use to make claims about the origins of sex/gender differences often betray obsolete assumptions and dichotomies about development. I was also on sabbatical during the AY 2022-2023 to work on a new series of experiments to tap into early reading processes in bilinguals.

In general, I am open to advising, and serve as a reader on, thesis projects (either empirical or theoretical) that pertain to my areas of expertise and background, so that I can provide appropriate guidance and feedback. My publications are available at https://hawksites.newpaltz.edu/grossig/publications/.
I might consider thesis topics that diverge from my expertise if they share my scholarly interests, so feel free to ask.

Representative Advised Thesis:

Cross-language neighborhood density effects in early and late bilingual word recognition

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Dr. Glenn Geher

geherg@newpaltz.edu

Since the Fall of 2000, the New Paltz Evolutionary Psychology Lab in the Psychology Department of the State University of New York at New Paltz (75 miles north of NYC) has been in the business of conducting research on the human condition using evolutionary principles. Glenn Geher, the director of the lab and author of Evolutionary Psychology 101, has published nearly 100 scholarly articles, book chapters, and books focusing on illuminating our evolved human psychology. Working with a broad array of graduate students, undergraduate students, and visiting scholars from all around the world, the work of our lab has led to new insights into such topics as: The evolutionary psychology of estrangements and social transgressions, the personality features of ancestral Neanderthals, the evolutionary psychology of politics, human mating psychology, evolution and education, and Positive Evolutionary Psychology. Across the publications of the lab are more than 100 instances of students serving as co-authors on scholarly publications. Hundreds of conference presentations across the world have been given by members of the lab. Students in the lab regularly have gotten into PhD programs at universities such as the University of Florida, the University of Alabama, Auburn University, Xavier University, DePaul University, Binghamton University, Brunel University, New Mexico State University, and more. Also, our lab is credited with founding the NorthEastern Evolutionary Psychology Society (NEEPS) and our members regularly have special roles connected with that conference each year.

I am open to advising thesis projects that address any facets of the interface of human social behavior and evolutionary processes.
As a rule, I only oversee empirical (data-collection-based) theses.
I am glad to serve as a reader on any projects related to evolutionary psychology, social psychology, and/or personality psychology. All broadly construed.

Representative Advised Theses:

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Dr. Liz Hirshorn

hirshore@newpaltz.edu

My lab, the Diversity in Language Lab (DiLL), uses both behavioral and neuroimaging (EEG) methodologies to study individual differences in skilled reading and how reading skill interacts with other types of cognitive abilities. For example, a current project is examining if and how a sub-set of skilled English readers actually share a lot of underlying cognitive processes with typical Chinese readers, whose reading style is distinct from English, instead of typical English readers. This line of research aims to identify and describe an alternative route to skilled reading, which could have implications for struggling readers. We are also continuing a project investigating a potential relationship between individual differences in reading and face processing in both behavior and neural organization. This line of research addresses some big picture questions regarding cognitive and neuroplasticity throughout one’s life.

I am open to advising thesis students interested in any area of psycholinguistics using behavioral or EEG methodologies. I am also open to advising theses in other areas of cognition after consultation.
I am open to being a reader on theses that involve cognitive psychology or use experimental psychology methodologies more broadly.

Representative Advised Theses:

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Dr. Tabitha Holmes

holmest@newpaltz.edu

There are two general questions that have guided my research over the last 15 years. The first is this: How do the ecological contexts of communities and cultures inform how individuals think, feel, and behave in the world? Second, how do personal narratives of meaning-making relate to well-being and happiness? Last year, my research team focused on the second question in two separate studies. Working with the local storytelling organization TMI (Too Much Information), we began exploring how crafting and sharing stories of trauma are related to authors’ identities and mental heath outcomes. We also looked at how being exposed to stories of trauma affect beliefs and meaning-making. In a second project, we investigated how the stories people tell about COVID19 is related to coping during the stay-at-home order. Analysis of these projects is ongoing. My previous work has also focused on how counterfactual thinking (what if? thinking) and epistemological beliefs (beliefs about truth and knowledge) are related to personal relationships and coping. I have an active research team that focuses on qualitative methodologies and mixed methods.

Over the years I have supervised theses on a variety of topics (e.g., generational experiences of menstruation, counterfactual thinking about depression and personal relationships, parenting beliefs of immigrant parents). Although these topics seem widely disparate, there is a through line! I am interested in working on projects that use qualitative methods to understand how individuals make personal meaning out of their experiences.
If you have interest in how people interpret and make sense of the world, we should chat.
**Note: Dr. Holmes will be on sabbatical in Spring 2024.**

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Dr. Damian Kelty-Stephen

keltystd@newpaltz.edu

My research focuses on the close relationship between perception, action, and cognition. Perception, action, and cognition describe a highly textured cycle, which we can see in three steps. First, we perceive to act: the information coming to our bodies from the outside world supports our ability to respond to and explore our surroundings. Second, our actions prompt cognition: we do not simply respond passively, and our ongoing engagement with our surroundings supports a rich capacity to anticipate, plan, and to cycle among goals in an adaptive fashion. Third, cognition shapes perception: top-down effects of goals and attention change the kind of information we pick up through sensory processes supporting perception. So, round and round we go, through perception, action, and cognition! And the important thread running through this cycle is the importance of our bodily structure and capacity to move as organisms tuned into their environments. What also fascinates me about this research is that this perception-action-cognition cycle unfolds over many scales of space or time, e.g., over minutes or hours or months of behavior. So, there is a wide range of domains we can study to probe these ideas.

Recent projects of mine have involved a wide range of topics: postural control, movement coordination, visual perception, language use (e.g., reading, speaking, listening), athletic performance, and spatial reasoning.

I am available to advise theses on perception, movement, and cognition using behavioral measures.

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Dr. Doug Maynard

marynardd@newpaltz.edu

My research in my Positive Play Lab broadly focuses on the experience of play and playfulness in adults. In recent years, for example, we have studied the effects of a brief play experience upon positive emotions (Maynard, Mancini & Rólon, 2020) and the impact of the early COVID pandemic lockdown on the play lives of college students (Maynard, Rodriguez, DeBonis, Moquin & Paras, 2022). Our most recent set of studies focuses on the development and validation of a scale which measures play fulfillment – the extent to which adults feel that they have gotten enough play in their lives in recent weeks. Future work in the lab may head in one or more new directions, such as attempting to disentangle causality in the inverse relationship between stress and play, developing and evaluating a play-centric intervention aimed at college students, and/or exploring the feelings of guilt around ‘non-productivity’ that adults sometimes experience while engaging in play, an as-yet unstudied construct.

I will consider advising theses related specifically to play (especially in adulthood), as well as other areas of positive psychology (e.g., effects of nature, gratitude).

Representative Advised Thesis:

Does the focus of loving-kindness meditation matter for reducing implicit bias?

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Dr. Jonathan Raskin

raskinj@newpaltz.edu

My research generally focuses on two areas: (1) humanistic and constructivist approaches in psychology, especially their applications to understanding abnormality and psychotherapy; and (2) attitudes toward psychiatric diagnosis and the development of alternatives to traditional diagnostic methods. The first area of research builds on George Kelly’s personal construct theory and Ernst von Glasersfeld’s radical constructivism, but also incorporates social constructionism, narrative therapy, solution-focused therapy, context-centered therapy, and other humanistic and constructivist approaches. The second area of research has involved a series of studies looking at therapist attitudes toward the DSM and its alternatives.

I will consider advising thesis projects grounded in personal construct psychology or other areas of constructivist psychology, as well as projects looking at psychiatric diagnosis and its alternatives

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Dr. Corwin Senko

senkoc@newpaltz.edu

Why do some students expend enormous effort while others coast? Why do some enjoy their classes while others remain bored? Why do some seek challenge while others avoid it? Our lab explores these and related motivational questions, tracing the answers to the achievement goals students pursue — for example, goals to learn or improve, or to appear smart, or to outperform classmates, or to serve the community, or to avoid working hard. We find that those different goals guide students’ educational experience in different ways. For example, they shape students’ level of interest in the material, the study strategies they adopt, how well they learn the material and perform in the class, and their evaluations of teacher effectiveness.

In another set of studies, we have begun to explore motivational differences between distinct groups of college students, such as first-generation college students vs. continuing-generation college students, so that we can pinpoint ways to reduce any achievement and school retention gaps between them.

Thesis advising: I prefer to advise thesis projects within my area of expertise (motivation). I also consider other factors, such as the number of students I’m already supervising.
Thesis reading: I’m generally open to being a thesis reader for projects rooted in social psychology or related applied fields, such as educational psychology or organizational psychology.

Representative Advised Theses:

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Dr. Carol Vazquez

vazquezc@newpaltz.edu

My recent interests have centered on faulty heuristics leading to biased decisions.

I would be pleased to supervise a thesis on any theoretical or applied aspect of human cognition (e.g., language, memory, reasoning, attention, perception).
I am willing to be a reader on any empirical project in any area of psychology.

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Dr. Karla Vermeulen

vermeulk@newpaltz.edu

My research currently focuses on the impact of growing up in the post-9/11, disaster-filled world for today’s emerging adults. This cohort has experienced (directly or via the media) a series of major natural disasters, and they’ve been exposed to increasingly dire reports about the effects of climate change. They also have been exposed to reports of a relentless series of mass shootings in schools and other public settings, often committed by – as well targeting – members of their own generation, leading to public discussion of alleged character flaws that are supposedly shared by the entire generation. Of course, all of these events are shown and discussed repeatedly in mass and social media, distorting perceptions of their actual frequency and the degree of personal risk of exposure. And this group is now learning to function as adults in a time of extreme political strife and conflict within their own nation – plus now a pandemic! My book on this research, Generation Disaster: Coming of Age Post-9/11, was published by Oxford University Press in 2021.

I also serve as the Deputy Director for the Institute for Disaster Mental Health, where my work focuses on translational research that turns best practices in this field into training curriculum.

I’ll consider serving as adviser or reader for topics where I feel I can contribute expertise, including subjects related to disasters and trauma; loss and grief; and developmental aspects of psychology, particularly for adolescents and emerging adults.

Representative Advised Theses:

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Dr. Matt Wice

wicem@newpaltz.edu

My research broadly concerns how we, over the course of development, come to understand and navigate the complex social world. Of particular interest is how our experiences in rich, cultural environments influence the way we learn to conceptualize central aspects of social life, such as adhering to social norms, and making inferences about others’ minds. I run the Social Perception Lab, which is currently undertaking several projects investigating these topics. One ongoing project examines children’s perceptions of conformity, and how these perceptions may change over the course of middle childhood. Another current project is a cross-cultural investigation of adults’ beliefs about children’s free will.

I am open to advising thesis projects that broadly relate to social cognition (i.e., how people interpret, think, and reason about social behavior). I welcome projects that involve a cultural perspective (aiming to understand the role played by culture in the topic of interest) and/or a focus on child development (though neither is required).

Representative Advised Theses:

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Dr. Greta Winograd

winograg@newpaltz.edu

My background is in educational/school psychology (CUNY Graduate Center) and psychiatric epidemiology (Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University). I typically conduct quantitative and longitudinal analyses on existing datasets using multiple and logistic regression analyses. I am currently working on projects that investigate predictors of disparities in graduation rates between students from backgrounds that have been historically more and less represented on college campuses in the United States.

I would consider advising students on a systematic literature review thesis in a research area that has the potential to:
- ~ inform efforts to improve life chances (e.g., educational attainment, quality of life) in community settings, and/or
- ~ shed light on measurement/methodological/data analytic approaches that are most appropriate to a particular research question.

I would also consider serving as a reader on theses in substantive areas or that use measurement/methodological/data analytic approaches with which I am familiar.
**Note: Dr. Winograd will be on sabbatical during the 2023-2024 academic year.**

Representative Advised Thesis:

Social facilitators of and barriers to community college transfer student success

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