McConnell named Endowed Professor

Dr. Allen McConnell has been named the inaugural James and Beth Lewis Endowed Professor. The endowed chair was created by a gift from the Lewis family to Miami University, totaling $400,000. Jim Lewis, a 1963 Miami alum, is Chairman of the Geometry Group, an investment concern headquartered in New York City. Previous recognitions for McConnell include being named University Distinguished Scholar (2002) and Professor of the Year in Psychology (2002-04). Recently, he served as associate editor at Journal of Experimental Social Psychology (2003-06) and on the National Science Foundation social psychology grant panel (2004-07).

Graduate students honored with awards

The excellent work of two psychology graduate students was recognized with recent awards. Christina Brown, a student in the social psychology program, was named a receipient of the 2008 College of Arts and Science Graduate Student Teaching Award. Brown has taught a number of classes, ranging from introductory psychology, to introductory social psychology, to advanced seminars on emotion and affect. Her research explores how the self affects one's affective experiences.

In addition, Marci DeCaro, a student in the brain and cognitive program, received a Student Research Award from the Association for Psychological Science. DeCaro will present her research on how pressure impairs successful math problem solving at a special symposium at the APS convention to be held in Chicago this May.

Congratulations to Christina and Marci!

Three new tenure-track faculty hired

The Department of Psychology is pleased to announce the hiring of three new assistant professors. First, Jennifer Quinn has been hired in the brain and cognitive area. Quinn completed her Ph.D. in 2004 at UCLA and has served as a post-doctoral fellow at the Yale Univ. Department of Psychiatry for the past four years. Her work explores the behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms of learning and memory, especially involving the impact of fear, anxiety, and stress.

Also, Amy Summerville, will begin her position as Assistant Professor of Psychology in the social area. Summerville is currently completing her Ph.D. in Psychology at the Univ. of Illinois. Her primary research interests include counterfactual ("if only...") thinking and its implications, affect and its influence on social judgment, culture, and self-regulation processes.

Finally, Michelle Abraham will join the faculty as an assistant professor at the Hamilton branch campus. Abraham is completing her Ph.D. in developmental psychology at Kent State University.

Jenn, Amy, and Michelle will begin their appointments in the fall, and we're excited to have them join our department!

Faculty receive three new NSF awards

Dr. Susanne Abele and Dr. Gary Stasser received a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation to study the tacit coordination of actions. The work will contrast the social antecedents and consequences of two fundamental types of coordination (when it's mutually beneifical for actors to choose the same vs. choose different actions. The work is based on a theoretical model that integrates social categorization theory and the concept of focal points from behavioral economics. The grant will support their research through 2011. Congratulations Susanne and Gary!

Also, Dr. Kurt Hugenberg has received a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation to study the reasons why people are especially poor at discriminating other-race faces. Dr. Hugenberg's research has demonstrated that a number of social contextual factors influence how well people can accourately recognize faces of members of social outgroups, which has a number of important implications (e.g., eyewitness testimony accuracy). The grant will support his research through 2010. Congratulations Kurt!

Finally, in separate (but equally wonderful) news, Dr. Heather Claypool received a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation to study the experience of familiarity. Dr. Claypool's work has demonstrated that we tend to view familiar objects (i.e., those we've seen repeatedly) as being more positive than less familiar objects, and that we tend to see positive objects as being relatively more familiar to us. The grant will support her research through 2010. Congratulations Heather!

In sum, this brings the total number of active NSF awards in the social psychology program to four.

New Psychology Building Dedication and Alumni Reunion held late fall

On November 30 (Friday) and December 1 (Saturday) 2007, the department held its Building Dedication and Alumni Reunion. Events included the formal dedication of the building, lectures by distinguished alumni, a number of seminars and presentations, and an evening reception and dinner at the Shriver Center. Well over 100 people, including many undergraduate and graduate alums from across the country, participated and enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with friends and colleagues from across the years. Thanks to everyone who returned to Miami and to everyone who helped make the event such a huge success!

January 18, 2008
Dr. Jay Smart
Coloquium: Sick of standing there or sick from standing there: What posture has revealed to me about us, 3 p.m.
125 Psychology

January 25, 2008
Faculty meeting, 3 p.m.
302 Psychology

February 1, 2008
P&T Meeting, 2-5 p.m.
302 Psychology

February 8, 2008
Preparing Future Faculty, 3-5 p.m.

February 15, 2008
P&T Meeting, 3 p.m.
302 Psychology

February 22, 2008
Dr. Len Mark et al.,
Presentation on Inquiry-based learning in the Department of Psychology, 3 p.m.
125 Psychology

February 29, 2008
Faculty meeting, 3 p.m.
302 Psychology

March 7, 2008
Center for the Advancement of Computational Research Symposium on Dyanmical Systems in the Sciences

Dr. William Warren
Brown University
Keynote address: Dynamical modeling of human behavior, 9 a.m.
Location: Marcum Center

Dr. Jerry Busemeyer
Indiana University
Keynote address: Building bridges between neural models and complex decision-making behavior, 2 p.m.
Location: Marcum Center

March 8, 2008
Redhawk Mental Life, all day, Psychology Building

March 14, 2008
Dr. Alan Gilchrist
Rutgers Univ.
Colloquium: Computation of surface lightness in simple and complex images, 3 p.m.
125 Psychology
Sponsor: Lynn Olzak

March 17-21, 2008
Spring Break

March 28, 2008
Faculty meeting, 3 p.m.
302 Psychology

April 4, 2008
Dr. Michael Jones
Indiana Univ.
Colloquium: Computation models of semantic learning and representation, 3 p.m.
125 Psychology
Sponsor: Robin Thomas

April 11, 2008
Faculty meeting, 3 p.m.
302 Psychology

April 18, 2008
Dr. Kip Williams
Purdue Univ.
Colloquium: Ostracism: Effects of being ignored and excluded, 3 p.m.
125 Psychology
Sponsors: Susanne Abele

April 25, 2008
Faculty meeting, 3 p.m.
302 Psychology

May 2, 2008
Annual Professor Steve Hinkle Memorial Poster Day, 3 p.m.
Psychology Atrium

May 7, 2008
Spring Semester Graduate Student Review, 8:30 a.m.
302 Psychology