Opportunities for Faculty-Student Collaborations
Our faculty members are active scholars in the field who conduct research on a variety of psychological phenomena. In the Department of Psychology, we pride ourselves in fostering faculty-student collaboration through our faculty research labs. In these labs, students not only get firsthand experience with psychology research, but also get the opportunity to co-author presentations at regional and national research conferences, and even serve as co-authors on research publications.
Clinical Psychology Research Center
Christine Hatchard, Psy.D., Howard 103A
The mission of the Clinical Psychology Research Center is to conduct innovative, ethical research and engage in scholarly activities to contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the field of Clinical Psychology and its role as an interdisciplinary and applied science. We strive to create a collaborative and supportive environment for all members of the team and to provide exemplary mentoring to undergraduate research assistants to prepare them for graduate study and professional careers.
Ecopsychology “Touch Grass” Lab
Megan Delaney, Ph.D., Howard 116
The mission of the Ecopsychology “Touch Grass” Lab is to explore our relationship with the natural world and the impact of that relationship on mental health. The growing disconnection between humans and the natural world has contributed to rising mental health challenges, including climate anxiety and ecological grief. Ecopsychology addresses these issues by emphasizing the vital connection between people and nature, helping us understand how nature impacts emotional well-being, mental health, and personal growth. Integration of attention restoration and stress recovery theory into practice fosters empathy, self-awareness, and environmental stewardship, equipping trainees. In this lab, we will work in conjunction with the Urban Coast Institute to develop campus programming to foster eco-wellness, attention restoration, and stress recovery in Monmouth students.
Family Dynamics Lab
Michele Van Volkom, Ph.D., Howard 101A
My current research program focuses on relationships within the family, most recently the sibling relationship among emerging adults (those ages 18-25). My research assistants and I study topics such as closeness and rivalry among siblings, various types of communication between siblings, and the impact of parental factors on the adult sibling bond. We also examine the effects of birth order on personality as well as how birth order affects the sibling relationship.
Gender Development Lab
Lisa Dinella, Ph.D., Howard 103B
The Gender Development Laboratory focuses on scientifically exploring gender development across the lifespan. Lisa Dinella, Ph.D., and her research team work collaboratively with researchers at the University of Wisconsin and Washington and Lee University to investigate how gender stereotypes and gender identity are actively created in preschool and elementary school children. Additionally investigated are how these factors and societal constructions of gender influence career paths. Dinella actively trains and mentors undergraduate students to conduct empirical investigations. Undergraduate research team members participate in the design, data collection, data analysis, synthesis, and the presenting and publishing of research.
Human-Animal Wellness Collaboratory (HAWC)
Lindsay Mehrkam, Ph.D. BCBA-D, Howard 119
The HAWC Lab is dedicated to the scientific understanding of human-animal interactions and to the application of that knowledge for improving the lives of both humans and animals in society. Current research examines the relationship between play and welfare in animals, assessment of animal welfare, and developing strategies for promoting behavioral choices for animals in captivity through training and enrichment. While students can gain experience with a variety of research methods in the HAWC lab (including observational, experimental, and surveys), the lab is especially unique in that it affords students and our research participants exposure to the field of applied behavior analysis with both humans and non-human animals in a wide range of real-word settings, such as animal shelters and sanctuaries, zoos and aquariums, and with pet owners and dog parks in the community. Thus, HAWC exists as a “collaboratory” because our research intimately involves collaborations with a range of outside institutions and organizations interested in animal welfare. Students are active participants in the entire research process and can learn directly about a variety of career paths in psychology working with both humans and animals.
Play, Culture, and Development Lab
In this lab, students gain experience working with participants across the life span from diverse ethnic heritages in real life settings, for example preschools, extended care programs, senior centers, and senior residential facilities. Research assistants engage in qualitative (ethnography, interview, observation, visual; survey) and mixed methodological approaches.
Politics, Identity, and Misinformation Lab (PIM)
Sean Bogart, Ph.D., Howard 101B
Psychological Research in Identity, Stigma, and Mental Health Lab (PRISM)
Jamie Goodwin-Uhler, Ph.D., Howard 116
Relationship Science Lab
Gary Lewandowski, Ph.D., Howard 106B
We conduct research generally on how the self influences romantic relationships, primarily in the context of self-expansion. This work focuses on a variety of relationship processes such as: attraction, relationship initiation, relationship maintenance, infidelity, break-up, as well as the benefits of self-expansion in non-relational contexts.
Self & Identity Lab
Natalie Ciarocco, Ph.D., Howard 105B
This lab focuses on the role of self-regulation in everyday life using the theory that self-control is a limited resource. Current projects focus on the role of self-regulation in intimate relationships.