Psych Students Take Research to WPA

Faculty and students from the Humboldt State University Department or Psychology will be traveling to Palm Springs, Calif. to present their research at the Annual Western Psychological Association (WPA) Conference, April 27 to 30. The WPA meeting is the nation's largest regional psychology conference, with over 2000 attendees each year.

This year's presentations continue the HSU psychology department's tradition of top-notch faculty-student research collaborations. Students and faculty have collaborated on over 100 conference presentations since 2000.

Graduate student Alyssa Nguyen, the recipient of a competitive WPA student scholarship, will present on "The Effects of Anticipation and Lying on Galvanic Skin Response," and senior Monica Desnoyers will present "Relations of Posed Emotion and Facial EMG Activities." Both were completed in Dr. Senqi Hu's psychophysiology laboratory.

Amber Gaffney, also a senior, will present "Promoting Positive Implicit Attitudes toward Gay Men," and graduate student Michael Porter will present "Predicting Aggressive Expectations Directed at Gay Men." Both works were completed in Dr. Chris Aberson's intergroup-relations laboratory.

Dr. Gregg Gold, an assistant professor of psychology, along with undergraduates Amber Gaffney, Katie Holley, Alyssa Nguyen, and Stewart Smith, all from his interpersonal-relations lab, will present "Forgiving and Not Forgiving Among Lovers and Friends" and "Class Standing and Attention to Experimental Instructions."

Associate Professor of Psychology Chris Aberson will present his research on "Internet-based Materials for Teaching Core Statistical Concepts" as part of an invitational symposium focusing on how the internet has changed the teaching of statistics. He will also present "An Integrated Threat Theory Model of Implicit and Explicit Prejudices" as part of a symposium on prejudice.