Volume 4 Issue 2- October 1997
| Dr. Goldstein Publishes Article on Teaching If all homework were as easy as browsing through personal World Wide Web pages, college students would have a much easier time completing their assignments. Few assignments are this effortless but some are just rewarding and amusing. College professors are starting to use just these assignments thanks to an article that will be published in Teaching of Psychology. Dr. Miri Goldstein will have an article published in this peer reviewed American Psychological Association journal. The article "Forming and Testing Implicit Personality Theories in Cyberspace," chronicles an assignment Dr. Goldstein used to help her social psychology students understand and become interested in implicit personality theory. For those of us who are a bit rusty with social psychology, Implicit Personality Theory implies we use one easily recognizable personality trait to construct or generate our perceptions of a new acquaintances personality. Dr. Goldstein's class accomplished this by examining personal web pages of many different social psychologists, and forming assumptions as to possible personality traits they might have. The class then tested these assumptions by contacting the psychologists and asking them directly if their assumptions were valid. Dr. Goldstein's article will provide other social psychology professors with a model of an effective assignment to use in their classrooms. The assignment not only demonstrates to students an important theoretical construct but also introduces students to prominent psychologist and sparks their interest in psychology. Hopefully this article will present a foundation to support more exploration of Implicit Personality Theory and the World Wide Web. If any of you doubters out there are still skeptical as to pertinence of this exercise I would suggest browsing through a few of our own psychology web pages and testing your own impressions. Perhaps a good place to start might even be Dr. Goldstein's Homepage. - Mike Strong |
Psych Department Receives Grant The psychology department received a two-year $40,000 grant from the National Science Foundation's nstumentation and Labratory Improvement Program. The money will go to a computer lab eventually housing twenty computers and serving forty students at a time. The lab will be used for General Psychology, Methods, Statistics, and student research activities. Tim Robinson hopes it will allow statistics to be taught more visually and allow "hands on experience". Changes are already noticeable this year as senior lab assistants direct General Psychology labs with a computer based program. This change comes on the heels of many changes in the psychology department aimed at making the curriculum more structured. -Becky Knudsen Student Affiliate of APA Clinical Practicum January Term Students interested in registering for Clinical Practicum should see Dr. Simpson for registration information. Juniors and Seniors will work within placements coordinated by Dr. Simpson. Sophomores should contact the Career Center for January Term placements. Dr. Simpson will be the Psychology Department contact for those, as well. See her with questions in her office, SSC 21, or by phone, x7416. Kristi Multhaup, Class of ‘87, will tell you that her interest in the human mind began in high school. It took her several years to develop, however, as a junior and senior in high school and then as a Psychology major at Gustavus. Kristi was recently honored by the Gustavus Office of Alumni Affairs with the "First Decade Award", an honor bestowed upon one or more Gustavus alumni who have made distinguished contributions in their field during the first decade following their graduation. Jodi Metz spoke with Kristi about the award, her college days at Gustavus and her work. That interview follows. An Interview with Kristi Multhaup Do you ever wonder what people do with a degree in psychology after they graduate from Gustavus? Well, if you hear the same rumors that I hear, then you are probably thinking "nothing to do with psychology!" That was not the case for 1987 Gustavus grad, Kristi Multhaup. Multhaup, like many of us, became interested in psychology while here at Gustavus taking general psychology from Tim Robinson. She had always had questions about memory and why people forget things, |
 '80 Grad was 1997 Kendall Lecturer
Dr. Colleen Seifert, pictured here with Dr. Tim Robinson and Dr. John Kendall, was the guest speaker at the 1997 Kendall Lecture last April. Seifert graduated from Gustavus in 1980 with a degree in Psychology, followed by a Ph.D. from Yale University. She is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan. Dr. Seifert has written extensively and is often invited to make presentations regarding her research with memory-based reasoning. The annual Kendall Lecture was established by the Department of Psychology in honor of John S. Kendall, Emeritus Professor of Psychology and former President of Gustavus. Funded by gifts from department faculty and Gustavus alumni, the lecture series recognizes researchers who have made significant contributions early in their academic careers. Dr. John Cacioppo of The Ohio State University is scheduled to present the next Kendall Lecture on April 16, 1998. His research concerns the interplay between social and biological processes. Watch for more information! Psi Chi is the National Honor Society in Psychology, founded in 1929 for the purpose of encouraging, stimulating, and maintaining excellence in scholarship and advancing the science of psychology. Watch for information about the Gustavus chapter in future issues of Emil's Epilogue. Reminder |
| Calendar of Events
October 24-27 - Reading Break Previous Issues of Emil's |
 Dr. Richard Martin, Brenda DeBlieck, Jodi Metz Rebecca Knudsen, Emil, Michael Strong To Email: Click on name. |
