Achievements

Psychology Students and Faculty

Psychology

HSU psychology students and faculty gave 20 presentations at the annual Western Psychological Association (WPA) conference in Reno, NV (April 25-28). The meeting is the nation’s largest regional psychology conference with two thousand attendees.

The Psychology Department continued its tradition of student-faculty research with 42 undergraduate student authorships and 20 graduate student authorships.

Student presentation highlights included Rebekah Becker on the development of a college student motivation scale, Crystal Perez on work creating a self-confidence inventory, Zoey Phillips on affective, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of forgiveness, Edwin Vazquez on the influence of diversity course enrollment on ethnic identity development, and Tish Dias on quality of life and grief.

Psychology faculty members presented as well. Professor William Reynolds presented on topics such as fatigue assessment, and moderators and mediators of the stress-depression relationship. Professor Chris Aberson gave a two-hour talk titled “R for SPSS users” as part of the annual Statistical Workshop Series and participated in a symposium titled “Internet Application in Support of Statistics Education.”

Since 2000, psychology students and faculty have given nearly 300 conference presentations.

Tasha R. Howe and Howard Friedman

Psychology

Drs. Tasha R. Howe and Howard Friedman -- along with HSU students Esperanza Alcazar, Edwin Vazquez, Rebekah Becker, and Sarah Murphy -- have had a presentation accepted at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development.

Their study, entitled "Heavy Metal Enthusiasts at Mid-Life: Developmental Trajectories and Functioning Three Decades Later" examined the life-histories and current functioning of middle aged 1980s heavy metal groupies, band members, and fans, in comparison to a middle-aged comparison group and another group of HSU students.

Chris Aberson

Psychology

Psychology Professor Chris Aberson was recently named Associate Editor of the Journal of Applied Social Psychology (JASP). Published by Wiley-Blackwell, JASP is devoted to applications of experimental behavioral science research to problems of society. Dr. Aberson joins JASP after completing a four-year term as Executive Editor of The Journal of Social Psychology (JSP). In honor of his service with JSP, Dr. Aberson was named Executive Editor Emeritus, making him the youngest person to ever hold an Emeritus title.

Michael Le

Psychology

Psychology Academic Research M.A. student Michael Le received the Western Psychological Association’s Maslach-Zimbardo Research Award in Social Psychology. Le’s research focuses on how a prominent theory relevant to prejudice (Integrated Threat Theory) differentially predicts evaluations of African Americans by White and Hispanic/Latino students. The award, which is funded by an endowment created by Dr. Christina Maslach (Professor of Psychology at UC Berkeley) and Dr. Philip Zimbardo (Emeritus Professor of Psychology, Stanford), goes to the top student submission in Social Psychology. Le will receive his award this April at the annual Western Psychological Association conference.

Heriberto Herrera

Psychology

Heriberto Herrera, a first year graduate student in School Psychology (Psychology), received the Pearson Minority Scholarship from the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). One of five named scholarships to be awarded to minority students nationally, Herrera was the only first year graduate student to receive an award this year, and one of a very few non-doctoral students to ever receive this award. He is the first HSU student to receive this award in the 24 years the scholarship has been in existence. Herrera received a $5,000 scholarship and reimbursement for his trip to Philadelphia to receive his award.

Tasha R. Howe

Psychology

Tasha Howe has published a textbook:
Howe, T.R. (2011). Marriages and Families in the 21st Century: A Bioecological Approach. Wiley-Blackwell.

The textbook is multi-disciplinary and can be used in social work, sociology, nursing, psychology, family studies, child development and related disciplines.

Psychology Department Graduate Students and Faculty

Psychology

The HSU School Psychology Program received national approval from the National Association of School Psychologists through December 2015.

Faculty submitted a folio describing the program, containing comprehensive data regarding graduate student outcomes including scores on the ETS national licensing exam, practica and internship performance, and a comprehensive and culminating portfolio.

This approval means that HSU meets the highest national standards for training sub-doctoral school psychologists, and can compete nationally for top graduate students. It also means that HSU graduates automatically qualify for their credential as a nationally certified school psychologist upon graduation.

Brent Duncan, Professor, Department Chair

Psychology

Brent Duncan recently returned from a research trip to Vietnam, his second in the past 6 months. In addition to delivering an invited paper to the 2nd International Conference on School Psychology in Vietnam, he visited 4 universities regarding collaboration with US universities to train school psychologists for work in Vietnamese public schools. With colleagues from Long Beach Unified School District, CSULB and Chapman University, he then conducted a 32-hour training on delivering mental health services in schools, sponsored by Hanoi National University of Education. More than 40 university lecturers and school-based psychologists from throughout Vietnam attended the workshop.

Dr. Tasha R. Howe

Psychology

Tasha published an article about her experiences as a Fulbright Scholar in Cyprus, working with Greek and Turkish Cypriots on issues related to child maltreatment. The article makes recommendations for social work instructors who wish to globalize their students' thinking and experience. The article is titled, "International Child Welfare: Guidelines for Educators and a Case Study from Cyprus." It was published in the Journal for Social Work Education, Vol. 46., No. 3, Fall, 2010.

Lindsay Weymouth

Psychology

Lindsay Weymouth, a recent graduate of the Master's Program in Academic Research (Developmental Psychopathology emphasis) was awarded the McConkey honor for outstanding thesis at HSU. Her thesis work evaluated a nationwide violence prevention parenting program. The American Psychological Association invited Lindsay to present her results to program implementers in Washington D.C., and her mentor, Dr. Tasha R. Howe, presented the work at the Conference for APA in San Diego.