Emil's Epilogue - April 2008 
Gustie Psych News & Events
Conference Dates and Deadlines
- Department Happenings
- Did you Know?... Spotlight on Majors
- Did you Know?... Spotlight on Faculty
- Psi Chi Sponsored Updates
- "Need to Reads"
- Just for Fun
Conference Dates & Deadlines
National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) April 10-12, 2008 NCUR® 22 will bring together undergraduates involved in scholarly and artistic activities from more than 300 colleges and universities in the nation. Since the first conference in 1987, NCUR® has grown to become a major annual event drawing well over 2200 undergraduates, faculty and administrators to promote undergraduate research in all fields of study.
Minnesota Undergraduate Psychology Conference (MUPC) -- In addition to poster and paper presentations of undergraduate research projects, programming for MUPC also includes a keynote address by Professor Karl. S. Rosengren, Professor of Psychology at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Rosengren conducts research on cognitive and perceptual motor development such as children's reasoning about events and cognitive, perceptual and motoric influences on ordinary tasks such as walking or catching. Saturday, April 26, 2008 -- Hamline University http://www.hamline.edu/cla/acad/depts_programs/psychology/mupc/
MidBrains Conference - Macalester College - May 3, 2008 - The conference is a joint effort of the MidBrains Neuroscience Consortium-- a network of faculty from undergraduate neuroscience programs in the upper midwest. This annual event provides a forum for undergraduate students in the Midwest to present research findings, to attend research lectures and special panels, and to meet other undergraduate students interested in the neurosciences. Representatives from several major research universities are also present to discuss graduate school opportunities. Students are encouraged to submit abstracts in all fields of the neurosciences and related disciplines!
Gustavus Honors Day - May 3, 2008
Department Happenings
The Spring 2008 Psychology Symposium will provide opportunities for psychology majors (and others who are interested) to learn about the research being conducted by students in the department this year. Methods students, research apprentices, and those conducting directed research projects will prepare and explain poster presentations describing their research. Senior Psychology Honors students will give oral presentations mid-afternoon in SSC 28 (times are to be determined). Please make plans to stop by the department and acquaint yourself with research currently being conducted by fellow psych students.
Noted Primatologist Frans de Waal’s lecture... standing room only!!
by Naomi Garbisch
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Dr. Frans de Waal, the 2008 Drs. Robert E. and Susan T. Rydell Professor, kept over 100 students and guests entertained during his lecture on animal empathy with his fun accent, entertaining video clips and pictures of cute animals, and his vast knowledge and research on the subject. By the end of his talk he had most of us convinced that apes (the subjects of his research) are indeed capable of having
empathy. He began the link to his main point by defining empathy as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. He concluded that one must be in tune with others, share emotions, and take the perspective of the other in order to have empathy. He helped us understand in steps the reason that this is true. The first point he made is that animals are capable of state matching. He gave the example of when mice feel more pain when other mice in their community are in pain vs. when mice they do not know are in pain. deWaal then reasoned that we have pets, like cats and dogs, because of their ability to form an emotional connection and contagion. This is why your pet is happy when you are and why when you are sad they comfort you. de Waal explained that in his research of apes, they will often go to a friend or female after a fight to receive empathy or to ventilate about the situation. 
According to de Waal, the most important component of empathy is the need to have a strong sense of oneself. This is necessary before anyone is capable of taking on the position of others and to see things from their perspective. deWaal showed through the Mirror Self-Recognition (MSR) test that those people and animals that recognize themselves are capable of having empathy in comparison to those who do not recognize themselves. For example, young children who have not passed the MSR are incapable of seeing things from another person’s perspective as previous research has shown. With apes, such as the well-known Binti rescue of the young boy who had fallen into the Ape cage, Binti was capable of seeing what this young boy needed and saved his life by bringing him to humans.-
In order to help us understand the steps necessary for empathy, deWaal had us picture his Kremlin Doll. At the very base of empathy is state matching where you feel more for
those that are similar to you, which is the very inside of the doll. At the second level is sympathetic concern for others, which our pets are capable of, which is the next biggest doll. At the third level is the perspective taking ability that apes, dolphins and elephants are capable of, which is the second to largest doll. Finally, when you combine all three of these components together, you get empathy, which is the biggest and the outer most doll. I believe that this lecture helped open eyes to the connection between humans and apes and the similarities that they have in terms empathy and that this concept has been around for a long time, it is automatic, and it is multi-layered.
Did you Know? Spotlight on MAJORS and ALUMS... Living and Learning on campus and off...
[Psychology Honors Majors will present their research in a public forum as part of the Psychology Research Symposium mid-afternoon on May 16. Presentations will take place in SSC 27 and SSC 28. More information to follow. Several of the Psychology Honors students are featured below:]
Lindsey Carlson is originally from Woodbury, Minnesota. She is a Psychology Honors, Religion double major and Women's Studies minor. Her research involves studying interpersonal relationships and self-expression in relation to Facebook. Lindsey is currently jobsearching, primarily within nonprofit organizations. She is hoping to find work related to violence prevention/intervention, youth mentorship, or family/youth advocacy. Her long term goal is to eventually attend graduate school to earn a counseling degree, specializing in children and families.
Alicia Blomquist is from Owatonna, Minnesota (and will be happy fill you in on all the hometown places to visit when and if you go there!) Alicia is a senior psychology honors major and particularly interested in social and organizational psychology. Her research has involved ideals and mental illness stigma. Possible long-term plans for the future include graduate school or seminary for marriage and family therapy, but for the next year she will be around the area working and planning a wedding.
Taylor Olson is from Richfield, Minnesota. Taylor is a psychology honors and criminal justice double major. Her honors research project involved exploring aggressive sexual interactions between men and women. She indicates that she has her data entered and is ready to begin analysis. Taylor intends to enroll in a Psy.D. program for clinical psychology with a specialization in forensic psychology at, as of yet, an undetermined location. She eventually sees herself working for a state or federal government in a hospital/medical center or prison.
Katie Jensen came to Gustavus from the Forest Lake area. She is a psychology honors major and a dance minor. Katie refers to herself as a psychology nerd who loves to apply what she has learned in class to the world around her. Her immediate career plans are to work for a year and to determine what area she'd like to pursue in graduate school. Katie sees herself eventually applying her knowledge and skills in working with either mentally handicapped adults or children.
Jessie Woulfe is from Shoreview, Minnesota. She is a psychology honors and religion double major. Jessie relays that the Honors program has provided her with the opportunity to explore her interests in research and has found it challenging and rewarding at the same time. Her immediate plan following graduation is to work for several years before enrolling in graduate school for either Clinical or I/O Psychology.
Lindsey Cattau is from
Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Lindsey is a psychology honors and french double major with minors in religion and peace studies. She indicates that she is pleased that she decided to enroll in psychology honors as she is now aware of how important rsearch is for graduate school admission and also because it has given her experience in preparing for the future. Lindsey is going to become an elementary school teacher in Philadelphia for the next two years through Teach for America. Long terms plans may include a clinical psychology grad program or possibly law school to become a child advocate.
Psychology alum Melissa (Bateson) Keltgen
[Melissa (Bateson) Keltgen is a 2001 psychology and music double major. She is currently providing outpatient mental health therapy at Sioux Trails Mental Health Center in the New Ulm, North Mankato, and St. Peter offices.]
When I chose my majors at Gustavus, I was planning on becoming a music therapist. By the time I graduated in May 2001, I was unsure of what I wanted to do, but knew I wanted to pursue more education in the psychology field. I took a year off to gain work experience before starting my master's degree at Minnesota State University, Mankato. I completed the degree in three years (May 2005) and then searched for a job to get the two years of required supervised experience needed to become a licensed marriage and family therapist. It was extremely 
difficult finding a job in this field to get the experience I needed to become fully licensed. I spent one year as a therapist at Leo A. Hoffmann Center, working in a residential setting with developmentally delayed adolescent males with inappropriate sexual behaviors. I discovered that I preferred the outpatient setting and took a job at Sioux Trails Mental Health Center, my current position. I perform diagnostic assessments, outpatient therapy, and crisis intervention to children, adults, and families. I enjoy co-facilitating the DBT skills group and providing DBT therapy. My journey to become a licensed marriage and family therapist was completed in February 2008. Along the way, my husband and I decided to start a family. Our daughter, Evelyn, was born on June 23, 2007. She has had serious health issues and has made managing a stressful career even harder. At six weeks old she was diagnosed with primary pulmonary hypertension, a rare and terminal illness. This disease has no cause and no cure, but medical advances have provided medications that can prolong life expectancy. This disease is unpredictable and no two patients are the same. Evelyn's doctor is in New York City and we currently fly out there every three months for testing. People keep telling me "I don't know how you do it." It has been difficult managing stress and sleep deprivation, but the support of my husband, friends, family, and co-workers (along with the skills I have from working in mental health) have definitely helped. Evelyn has a caring bridge website that you may visit if you want to stay informed on her health and development: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/evelynkeltgen Please help increase the awareness of pulmonary hypertension. You can visit the official website for more information on this disease: http://www.phassociation.org
Need to Reads...
[Kim Maurelli is a senior psychology honors major and will attend Central Michigan 
University in the fall to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology - she wrote the following article in an effort to assist psychology majors who may be considering making applications to grad school]
"First and foremost, the best advice I can give is to START EARLY!
- Regarding Tests: Most schools require the GRE and ... continued here
Did you Know? Spotlight on Faculty
Dr. Kyle Chambers will join the Gustavus Psychology Department beginning in September of 2008. Dr. Chambers received a B.A. with Honors in Psychology and Philosophy from Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma; an M.A. in Psychology (Cognitive Division) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; and a PH.D. In Psychology (Cognitive Division) with minors in Developmental Psychology and Linguistics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois. We look forward to Dr. Chamber's arrival!
India in January 2009 - Dr. Barbara Simpson
Psi Chi Sponsored Updates
Psi Chi treasurer Sarah Erickson reports, "On Wednesday, April 2nd at 6 PM in the 3 crowns room there was a psychology career discussion panel that lasted 2 hours. We had a great turnout with 40 students and 4 professors attending the event. There were 5 Gustavus Alumni that made up the panel; each of whom graduated from Gustavus with a B.A in psychology. The panelists were Matthew Peterson '73, Principal HR systems partner; Shawn Mayfield '96, HR consultant for Wells Fargo; Tom Hamburgen '79, clinical psychologist; Molly 
Dueber '93 , training analyst at Guidant Corporation; and Adrian Sola '73, private practice psychotherapist. Psi Chi sponsored this event because of the importance for students to be familiar with the various careers supported by a psychology major. Each panelist talked a little about their vocational journey post-Gustavus and a little about what his or her job entails. The floor was then opened for discussion and current students asked some great questions pertaining to the various careers. Many of those in attendance commented that they felt this panel discussion was very informational and helpful as they consider careers. Hopefully this will continues to be an annual event sponsored by the Gustavus chapter of Psi Chi".
The annual spring Psi Chi Induction for new members will be held on Thursday, April 17 at 7:00 p.m. in the Saint Peter Banquet Room. 2007/2008 members to be inducted are: Margaret Dorer, Carly Ernst, Noemi Lopez, Jessica Malmquist, Ashley Martin, Lor Moua, Christopher Stark, Amy Veerkamp, Joshua Busacker, Rebecca Carlson, Kelly Chaudoin, Jennifer Grundman, Maggie Hansvick, Emma Iverson, Kari Jacobsen, Susan Kramer, Theodore Roth, Megan Taylor, and Erin Watt.
Psychology-related Links
http://www.startribune.com/jobs/healthcare/
The Minnapolis Star Trib has provided a website in which students can search for jobs, research companies, participate in a "Healthy Discussion" message board/blog, view healthcare events calendar and more. (Please let the department know if this is a helpful link or if this is an unhelpful link.)
School Psychology Resources for Psychologists, Parents and Educators. Research learning disabilities, ADHD, functional behavioral assessment, autism, adolescence, parenting, psychological assessment, special education, mental retardation, mental health, and more.
http://www.bcpl.net/~sandyste/school_psych.html
Welcome to Social Psychology Network,
the largest social psychology database on the Internet. In these pages, you'll find more than 5,000 links related to psychology.
http://www.socialpsychology.org/
The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology
http://siop.org/
PsychologyToday.com.
Featured columns on relationships, mental health education, and work related issues http://www.psychologytoday.com/
HTDocs/prod/PTOhome/home.asp
Just for Fun or Food for Thought... 
Space for rent.