Student Achievements

Jacob Mergendoller '11 challenges Facebook's alcohol advertising policies on the social networking site. (read more). (Fall 2009)

Grant Brenner '92 co-edits book Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilience: Integrating Care in Disaster Relief Work (Routledge), which explores the interface between spiritual and psychological care in the context of disaster recovery work, drawing upon recent disasters including the experiences of Sept. 11, 2001. (read more). (Fall 2009)

Keera Bhandari ’08, MA '09, and Hilary Barth, assistant professor of psychology, are the authors of a new article on children's social cognition. The article, based on Bhandari's research project for her master's degree in psychology, is titled "Show or tell: Testimony is sufficient to induce the curse of knowledge in three- and four-year- olds." It will appear in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology in 2009. (Fall 2009)

Christian Hoyos '11 used his Summer Experience Grant to study the development of morality, intellectual property, racial attitudes, and other social aspects of development in children at the Social Cognitive Development Lab at Yale University. (read more). (Summer 2009)

Jessica Sullivan '08 and Ariel (Ballinger) Starr '07 co-authored a new article with Prof. Hilary Barth. Their work on children's numerical estimation will appear in the journal Cognitive Development in 2009.

Keera Bhandari '08/MA '09 presented her MA thesis research at the 2009 Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), held in Denver, CO from April 2nd to April 4th. The poster presentation, coauthored with Prof. Hilary Barth, was entitled "Acquiring Knowledge from Others: Preschoolers' Use of Testimony." (Spring 2009)

Jessica Sullivan '08 presented a poster coauthored by Kyle MacDonald '10, Annie Paladino '09, and Prof. Hilary Barth at the 2009 Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), held in Denver, CO from April 2nd to April 4th, entitled "Children's Mappings of Number Words to Large Numerosities." (Spring 2009)

Sherry Cho '10, a study abroad student, decided to return to the country of her family: South Korea. Cho is among the more than 120 students who are studying abroad this fall, according to the Office of International Studies [OIS]. (read more). (Fall, 2008)

Tim Archibald '10, goalie for the men's hockey team, had 34 saves in a 1-0 win that was also the first-ever shutout of the Amherst in 81 all-time meetings between the two schools. The game was played at Wesleyan on Nov. 22. Dallas Bossort's '09 scored the game's only goal. (read more). (12/08)

Lisa Drennan '09 has been named New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) women's volleyball Player of the Year for the second time in the last three years. The award was determined by a vote of conference coaches (read more). Ellie Healy '10 has also been named to the all-NESCAC squad as a second-team choice for the second straight season. Congratulations to both of you! (read more)  (Fall 2008)

The Quantitative Analysis Center's summer Apprentice Program held a poster session. The second-annual event allowed the student researchers to talk about their ongoing summer research. Psychology majors and their projects were:  "Emotional Control and Trichotillomania: Subtypes and Phenomenology" by Lauren Feld '11 with Anna Shusterman; "Eye Movements and Decision Making Behavior in Indecisive Individuals" by Joanna Dicke '10 with Barbara Juhasz and Andrea Patalano; "Learning the Meanings of Large Number Words" by Kyle MacDonald '10 with Hilary Barth; and "Production of the Word 'Two' in 18-39 Month Olds" by Dominic Gibson '10 with Anna Shusterman. (read more). (2008)

Toni Martello '08 Honored for Fundraising, Promoting Wesleyan
Toni Martello '08, won a Cardinal Connection Award by University Relations for her efforts on Reunion & Commencement and Homecoming/Family Weekends. She was honored for contributing in efforts to promote Wesleyan, which includes fundraising as well as acting as an ambassador beyond the campus community. (2008)

May Chao '06, MA '07 is featured in Reuters Health in an article titled "Weight worries rise in boys, especially minorities." Chao conducted the research for her study at Wesleyan. Using national survey data collected between 1995 and 2005, a team of researchers, led by Chao, found that white high school girls were more likely than their African-American peers to diet, exercise vigorously, use diet pills or purge in an attempt to lose weight. In contrast, the study found, black and Hispanic boys were more likely to take weight-control measures than white boys were. Prof. Ruth Striegel-Moore was her mentor. (read more).

May Chao '06, MA '07 finds that male adolescents are at increased risk of developing eating disorder symptoms. Prof. Ruth Striegel-Moore was her mentor. (read more).  (12/07)

David Gallo '95 was named one of the "Rising Stars" of today's young psychological scientists who have made great advancements in science, in the October 2007 issue of the Association for Psychological Science. Prof. John Seamon was his mentor. (read more).  (10/07)

Max Wu '08 worked with Steve Stemler, assistant professor of psychology and Cynthia Matthew, research associate in psychology, on a project titled "The Concept of Responsibility Within Organizational Structures," as part of the new Quantitative Analysis Center (QAC)-sponsored apprenticeship program. (read more). (8/07)

Elise Herrig '10 worked on a project entitled "Decision Making in Discrete Number and Continuous Amount Judgments" with Hilary Barth, assistant professor of psychology, as part of the new Quantitative Analysis Center (QAC)-sponsored apprenticeship program (read more). (8/07)

Ariel Ballinger '07 presented her thesis research project at the 2007 Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, held in Boston, MA from March 29th to April 1st. Ballinger's poster presentation, coauthored with Professor Hilary Barth, was entitled "Counting, Estimation, and Approximate Nonverbal Arithmetic in Young Children."

Brittany Speisman '07 won the first place award for her research paper in the college division of the 2007 BrainDance Competition sponsored by the Institute of Living in Hartford. Her paper examined the association between post traumatic stress disorder and chronic physical conditions in a nationally representative sample of adults. Along with a $500 prize, Brittany was nvited to present her work at the awards ceremony on April 25.   (4/07)