On Saturday April 19, 1997, Gustavus psychology students presented their research endeavors at the Minnesota Undergraduate Psychology Conference held at the University of St. Thomas. The conference provided psychology students with an excellent opportunity to be exposed to what other psychology students around the state are doing as well as to gain experience in presenting research projects. This kind of experience can help students prepare for graduate school as well as to help them decide if psychological research is an area that interests them. There were three poster and paper presentation sessions throughout the day as well as a keynote speaker. Two Gustavus research projects were presented this year. Tara Madsen presented her directed research project titled "Effects of Need for Cognition and Attributional Complexity on the Evaluation of a Novel Food Item" in a poster format. In this study, participants were asked to sample and rate a novel food item that had either been labeled or unlabeled. They were also assessed using the Need for Cognition (NFC) and Attributional Complexity (AC) scales. It was discovered that participants high on complex internal attribution spent more time tasting the food when they knew what is was and less time tasting than the low complexity internal complex participants when they had no label. This implies that thinking too much about the novel food item leads to lower tasting times and less consumption when a label is present and long tasting times amd more consumption when no label is involved. Melissa Stadley, Denise Pulis, Kyle Lehenbauer, and Stacy Dunekacke also presented their research methods class project entitled "The Effect of Recognition of Auditory Stimuli on the Mere Exposure Effect" in a poster format. This study was designed to see if the mere exposure effect would still work even if participants do not realize that they have heard auditory stimuli. Participants were asked to listen to a story which was played to their left ear while they heard (unbeknownst to them) in their right ear a list of Czech words presented at different frequencies. The mere exposure effect would suggest that the words heard more often would be rated more favorably than those presented less frequently. However, no significant differences were found. It is possible that significant results were not found with subliminal presentation because Gustavus does not have as high-tech of equipment as required for a study of this nature. However, it is also entirely possible that the mere exposure effect does not occur with words presented subliminally.

Carmen Westerberg

Mark your calendars!

The psychology department picnic put on by Psi Chi will be Tuesday, May 13, 4:30 - 7:00 p.m. at the Interpretive Center. Stop by the psychology department and sign-up. We need your meal ticket numbers to receive credit for food from the food service. It will be a great time!.

Tuesday night, April 22, Psi Chi sponsored a panel on graduate school in psychology. Some of the information given for applying was the following:

1. Narrow down a geographic region, whether it be the midwest, or states like California and New York.

2. There is a book in the Psych. Dept. that details every grad. school in the country that offers any kind of psych. program which gives details on the specific programs, the requirements to get in, and deadlines for application.

3. When you find some schools you might be interested in send out for an application and information. You'll want to do this as early as June before your senior year and no later than Sept.

4. If you aren't sure which schools have good reputations, talk to the professors.

5. Always give the profs plenty of time to do your letters of recommendation.

6. Give your resume to the profs writing your letters. They might know you in the dept. but it helps if they know about all the other good stuff you do too.

7. Expect to do at least 5 drafts of your personal statement. Have an advisor or someone from the career center help you with it.

8. Make sure you take the GRE in April of junior year or Oct. of senior year if you plan to go right on to grad. school. The scores won't get there fast enough if you take it in December. If you know you have to take the Subject GRE then I recommend taking the General in April and the Subject in Oct. Taking them in one day is tough, but it can be done.

9. Definitely practice for the GRE!!!!! Practice will improve your scores!! There are books you can buy--use them! There are also courses you can take, but they are usually pretty expensive.

10. If you aren't sure what field to go into, do an internship or talk to someone in a field you might be interested in. You can ask them for an informational interview and most people are more than happy to oblige.

11. One final reminder is that to register for the GRE you can get a booklet from the career center and all the necessary information is in there.

I hope this was helpful for everyone!!

Tara Madsen

Interview with Dr. Colleen Seifert.

This year Colleen Seifert '80 gave a very impressive lecture for John Kendall Lecture Series on her research on memory. Maren Henry interviewed her about her life while a student at Gustavus, her thoughts about the department, Gustavus, graduate school, and what she might like to have done differently as a student. To read this very interesting interview, click here.

Next Fall the Psychology Department will welcome an addition to their staff. She is Kelly Champion and she received her doctorate in clinical child psychology from the University of Kansas. To get a preview of what you can expect, click below to read Tara Madsen's interview with her.

Phi Beta Kappa

Congratulations to the psychology majors admitted into Phi Beta Kappa this year:
Erin Augustine
Kara Berge
Christopher Choukalas
Maren Henry
Dawn Kelling
Jill Kirzeder
Rachel Michael
Shawn Rasmussen

Gustie Psych Major arrested for homelessness

Just when you thought there were opportunities for psych majors an article appears in the Star and Tribune about a '93 graduate of Gustavus. To read it, click above.

Sigma Xi Conference

The following psychology majors will present their research papers at the Sigmaz Xi conference, May 2, 1:45 - 5:00 p.m., Olin Hall:
"Individual Differences in Arousal:

Examining the Effect of Affect Structure on Physiological Arousal and Coping Style" by Lia Keller (advisor: Miri Goldstein)

"Performance on a Procedural Memory Task of a Patient with a Traumatic Brain Injury." by Chris Choukalas

"Depression, Approval, and Three Measures of Attachment as Predictors of Relationship Satisfaction." by Chris Choukalas (advisor: Dr. Mark Kruger)

"Effects of Background Information About the Victim In Sexually Explicit Violence." by Rachel Michael (advisor: Dr. Mark Kruger)

Click to get the complete program.

Reminder

Contributions to "Emil's" are welcomed and appreciated. Contact one of our staff below.

May Day Class Period Changes

Classes will meet at different times on May 1 to accommodate May Day Activities.

First period and second periods remain the same.
Third period meets 11:30 - 12:00
Fourth period meets 4 12:10 - 12:40
Fifth Period meets 1:30 - 2:20

May 1- May Day

May 2 - Sigma Xi, Olin, 1:45 - 5

May 3 - Honors Day

May 13 - Psychology Picnic
Interpretive Center 4:30 - 7

Previous Issues of Emil's
March 1997

From left to right: Korinne Cikanek, Tara Madsen, Emil(background), Carmen Westerberg, Dawn Kelling, Maren Henry (Dick Martin, Faculty Advisor, not shown).

To Email One of Us: Click on Name Above.