Faculty Achievements

PATALANO RECEIVES TENURE
Andrea Patalano, Associate Professor of Psychology, became an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Wesleyan in 2002. Her prior academic appointments include Assistant Professor of Psychology at Ohio University and Teaching and Research Assistant at the University of Michigan and Brown University. Andrea was awarded a Department of Psychology Graduate Fellowship at Michigan, a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, a Cognitive Science Award for Distinguished Research at Brown and the Apple Corporation and University of Michigan Instructional Software Award.
Andrea's teaching and research interests lie in the psychology of reasoning and decision making. Courses she has presented include an Introduction to Cognitive Psychology, Psychology of Decision Making, Quantitative Methods in Psychology, and Seminars in Thinking and in Reasoning.
She earned her B.A. with honors in cognitive science at Brown University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from the University of Michigan. Her tenure is effective as of July 1, 2008. (3/08)

PLOUS WINS CHARLES L. BREWER DISTINGUISHED TEACHING OF PSYCHOLOGY AWARD
Scott Plous, professor of psychology, won the APF (American Psychological Foundation) 2008 Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award. This award recognizes a significant career of contributions of a psychologist who has a proven track record as an exceptional teacher of psychology. At the APA convention in Boston in August, Plous will be presented the award at the APF/APA awards ceremony. (read more) (3/08)

DIERKER AWARDED $1M FROM NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH
Lisa Dierker, associate professor of psychology, received a four-year grant from the National Institutes of Health Roadmap Initiative for her research on "New Statistical Models for Intensive Longitudinal Data." The grant is being split between Wesleyan and Penn State, and is worth $1 million. (read more) (1/08)

STEMLER AND MATTHEW RECEIVE $104,797 FROM THE ARMY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Steven Stemler, assistant professor of psychology, and Cynthia Matthew, visiting scholar in psychology, are creating a basic psychological research tool that will help the Army Research Institute (ARI) to identify individuals who possess “mental flexibility,” a trait which Army officials believe is important to more creative and effective leadership.  Stemler and Matthew are being supported by grant of $104,797 for the 1-year study by the ARI. The researchers are being aided by Max Wu ’08, and Ellen Dinsmore ‘08, who are helping to develop some tests and instruments for the study. (read more).  (A link to an interview given to WNPR: (read more). (10/07)

PLOUS RECEIVES PRESIDENTIAL CITATION
Scott Plous, professor of psychology, received a Presidential Citation in August 2007 from the Society of General Psychology (Division 1 of the American Psychological Association) for his "unique work to unify psychology across specialty and national boundaries through your introduction of www.socialpsychology.org."  The Society has over 2,000 members and works to foster coherence among psychology's diverse specialties. (8/07)

NEW FACULTY MEMBERS
Matthew Kurtz and Anna Shusterman have joined the Department of Psychology as assistant professors. (8/07)

STEMLER ON INTELLIGENCE TESTS AND AUTISM
 Steven Stemler, assistant professor of psychology, comments in the article, "The Puzzle of Hidden Ability," in Newsweek Technology and Science. (8/07)

DIERKER PUBLICATIONS ON SUBSTANCE USE AND ABUSE
Lisa Dierker, associate professor of psychology, is the co-author of "The absence of DSM-IV nicotine dependence in moderate-to-heavy daily smokers" published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence Issue 89; "Psychiatric comorbidity and acculturation stress among Puerto Rican substance abusers" published in American Journal of Preventive Medicine; "Predictive Validity of Four Nicotine Dependence Measures in a College Sample" published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence Issue 87; "Testing the Dual Pathway Hypothesis to substance use in adolescence and young adulthood" published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence Issue 87; and "The association between cigarette smoking and DSM-IV nicotine dependence among first year college students" published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence Issue 86, all in 2007. (8/07)

PLOUS ON THE PHENOMENA OF HOW PERCEPTIONS INFORM JUDGMENT
Scott Plous, professor of psychology, comments in the article, "Are We Judging Actions, Or the people Behind Them?" in Washingtonpost.com (5/07)

SEAMON LEADS A STUDY ON "SODA MACHINE BETROTHAL OR FALSE MEMORY?"
John Seamon, professor of the Psychology Department, led a study titled, "Do you remember proposing marriage to the Pepsi Machine? False recollections from a campus walk," which appeared in a recent issue of Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. The Wesleyan Connection  (4/07)

PLOUS CHOSEN AS CT PROFESSOR OF THE YEAR
In 2006 Professor Scott Plous was named Connecticut Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. The award, which spans all academic disciplines and all statewide institutions of higher education, is designed to honor "outstanding professors for their dedication to teaching, commitment to students and innovative instructional methods." Web link for the 2006 US Professor of the Year State Winners.  The Wesleyan Connection  (11/06)

MORAWSKI DELIVERES DISTINGUISHED LECTURE
Jill Morawski, professor of psychology and director of the Center for Humanities, received the honor of giving the "Distinguished Lecture in the History of the Human Sciences" at the annual meeting of the History of Science Society in November.  Her lecture was titled, "Experimenter, Heal Thyself: Relational Problems in the Psychology Laboratory." It was presented at the annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada. (12/06)