Emil's Epilogue - May 2010
Gustie Psych News & Events

Congratulations and best wishes, seniors!

And - congratulations to our Neuroscience Minor Graduates!

Back row: Nicole Soiseth, Melissa Mackley, Erin Watt, Amanda Sati, Ashley Baumann, Nick Murray and Chad Kumm. Front row: Erin Eppler, Chelsea Zamora, Amanda Fisher, Mark Hartman, Cathryn Nelson

Psi Chi Activities

• Psi Chi hosted a very successful Psychology Major Informational Event on Tuesday, April 13th. The event was open to to all undeclared students who were interested in learning more about the psychology major. Current majors and faculty provided a panel discussion with time for questions and answers. 
• The traditional department Bowling with the Profs was held Tuesday, April 27th.
• The annual spring Psi Chi Induction for new members was held on Tuesday evening, May 11th. Seniors in attendance received their Psi Chi Honor Cords.

Psychology Research Symposium Spring 2010

Symposium brochure listing student research poster presentations

Psychology Honors Paper presentations were given by:

• Emma Iverson - Helping Others Helps Me: Prosocial Behavior as a Function of Identity Development and Self-regulation in Emerging Adulthood
• Susan Kramer - The Effect of Attachment Style on Word Recognition in Social and Non-Social Narratives
• Cathryn Nelson - Vowel Discrimination in Auditory Conditions Simulating Two Aspects of Hearing Loss
• Jenny Grundman - Does Parenting Style Predict Identity and Emotional Outcomes in Emerging Adulthood?
• Abbe Paulhe - Frontal Asymmetry and Changes in Attachment in First-Year College Students

ALUMNI UPDATE LINK!

Department News

Abnormal Psychology classes engaged in service learning

• Two Abnormal Psychology classes engaged in service learning in their community this semester. One of the classes volunteered weekly at local agencies or homes that offer mental health services: Shiloh’s Hope, Pheasants Ridge, Wednesday Friends and Life Works. The second class (shown in the photographs) took on two community-based research (CBR) projects that they worked on in groups. This CBR project addressed the needs of mental health services clientele and providers in Nicollet County and surrounding area and the two projects developed out of real needs within the local mental health community. Neither project has been conducted before in the county, but the need for such programs or plans became evident in conversations with the two community partners, Barb Christenson, Nicollet County Social Services Supervisor and Patty Pierson, Shiloh’s Hope Program Supervisor. These two individuals served as guides and sources of information for both projects.
• The first project was aimed at finding appropriate facilities for young adults diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome or autism spectrum disorder who behave aggressively. A number of such individuals were recently deemed by an advocacy group to be deprived of active treatment in the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center. They were scheduled to be released into the community as early as October 2009, but because there are no facilities that will meet their treatment needs and the safety concerns of community members, there was an impasse.
• The second project involved developing a crisis response team that would be effective in dealing with mental health crises that arise in Nicollet County and the surrounding area. The appropriate range or jurisdiction for this team would be one of the questions answered by this project. The crisis response team would respond to individuals in mental health crisis when police or other emergency personnel are called in to control a difficult situation.
• Each group presented their work to their community partners at the end of the semester and some of their presentations are pictured here. 

Meet two student assistants who will return to help out in the department during the 2010-2011 academic year...

Hello, my name is Paul Huff. I'm a Junior Psychology Honors Major with a Music minor from Apple Valley, Minnesota. When I'm not working in the Psychology Department office, you can find me in the Fine Arts Building practicing saxophone for Sax Quartet and the Vasa Wind Ensemble. I have also been active as a commentary writer for the Gustavian Weekly and also as a Curriculum II writing tutor. This past January, I traveled to Italy to learn about the height of the Roman Empire. In my spare time, I enjoy reading periodicals (mainly Time Magazine and The Onion), listening to alternative rock, taking long walks on the beach, and watching intense action movies. After graduating, I plan to get a PhD in either Counseling or Social Psychology.

    My name is Alyssa Gilgenbach and I am a junior psychology major, music minor. I am a psychology student assistant and I absolutely love working the psychology department. The activities I am involved in on campus are the Gustavus Symphony Orchestra, Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority and the Juggling Assembly of Gustavus. My hometown is Stillwater, MN but if you look me up on the gribly, it says that I am actually from Douglasville, Georgia, because my family moved there when I was a freshman. Next fall I will be studying abroad at Lancaster University in England. I am excited to have to opportunity to take more psychology courses, Professional Skills for Psychologists and Advanced Developmental Psychology, while I am abroad.

And farewell and thank you to our three graduating student assistants: Emma Iverson, Kari Jacobsen and Susie Kramer. Your contributions to the department have been exceptional and we appreciate all you have done! You will be missed.

Traditional end-of-year department gathering....

The picnic (lasagna dinner) was held immediately after the Research Symposium concluded at approximately 5:15 p.m. on Friday, May 14. Fun, food and fellowship.

Thank you to Dick and Kathie Martin who, once again, graciously hosted the annual end-of-year gathering for psychology majors in their home on Friday, May 14.

Events and Conferences

• 2010 Minnesota Undergraduate Psychology Conference

• Gustavus was well represented at MUPC at the annual conference on April 24 at Macalester College in St. Paul. Students presenting posters:
• Paul Huff, Kirsten Engel, Tanner Winslow - Effects of Parental Intrusion on Adjustment to College Life
• Jean-Paul Noel - Can Multilingualism Deter the Effect of Implicit Misleading Cues?
• Abbe Paulhe - Frontal Asymmetry and Changes in Attachment in First-Year College Students
• Amanda Fisher and Kari Jacobsen - Lexical Decision Reflects Recent Linguistic Experiences

Students Presenting Papers were:

Emma Iverson - Helping Others Helps Me: Prosocial Behavior as a Function of Identity Development and Self-regulation in Emerging Adulthood.

Cathryn Nelson - Vowel Discrimination in Auditory Conditions Simulating Two Aspects of Hearing Loss

Jenny Grundman - Does Parenting Style Predict Identity Outcomes in Emerging Adulthood?

UCLA Research Conference

Jean-Paul Noel presented The Difference Between Monolinguals and Multilinguals in Implicit Social Cognition Tasks at the 19th annual UCLA Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference on May 14, 2010.

Miscellaneous Randomness

There are a few remaining Pyschology t-shirts available in medium and large. $10.00 Contact Lee Sande in SSC 04.

Have a great summer everyone! Graduates... please keep in touch. Returning students - we look forward to your return in the fall!