News

Jason Sidman ’99 Shares His Career Experience Applying Psychology in Industry

Jason Sidman ‘99, Vice President, Business Development, at tool, Inc., graduated from the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences (PBS) with a focus in developmental science. He has worked extensively in the field of Research and Development (R&D) as a cognitive scientist, user experience designer, and director of cognitive training systems.

Susan Whitbourne Receives the Distinguished Membership Award from Psi Chi

psi chi awardSusan Krauss Whitbourne, professor emerita of psychological and brain sciences, has received the Distinguished Membership Award from Psi Chi, the international honor society in psychology. Individuals selected for this honor "have national or international reputations because of contributions made to psychology and Psi Chi" in the disciplines of research, service, and/or teaching. Whitbourne was presented with this award at the Keynote Psi Chi address at the Eastern Psychological Association Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, on March 1, 2018. She is the 37th person to receive this distinction; other notable recipients include B.F. Skinner, Albert Bandura, and Florence Denmark.

Wisniewski, Breviglia, and Woodman Publish Article in the Journal of Clinical Medicine

Hannah Wisniewski '18 Neuroscience, Emily Breviglia '17 Developmental Disabilities and Human Services, and faculty member Ashley Woodman (pictured left to right) have published a new article in the Journal of Clinical Medicine entitled "The Effect of Music on Exercise Intensity among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Study".

Catching Up with Psi Chi

This year’s theme for Psi Chi is “Rebuilding Together.” At the end of the Spring 2017 semester, we bid farewell to our longtime faculty advisor, Dr. Susan Whitbourne, and our graduating Executive Board members. With open arms, we welcomed our two new faculty advisors, Dr. Rebecca Stowe and Dr. Heather Richardson, as well as three new Executive Board members. Together, we are taking one step at a time to rebuild our chapter. Our goals for this year are to build membership, form new relationships with the community, start new fundraising projects, and create new traditions.

Current Executive Board members: From left to right, Kimberly Whitney (Secretary), Jenny Guo (Treasurer), Elise Commons (Co-President), David Benford (Co-President).

A Visit to the Infant Cognition Lab

The primary research goal of the Infant Cognition Lab is to discover the cognitive capabilities of infants early in development. The lab, directed by Erik Cheries, Ph.D., is part of the Developmental Science Center within the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at UMass Amherst.

Research in the lab examines the early foundations of conceptual thought. Studies performed are designed to be simple, fun shows which infants watch, allowing the scientists to examine their intuitions about objects, numbers, and the thoughts of other people. These studies use basic behavioral methods (such as looking, reaching, and crawling preferences) to investigate what infants understand about objects and people. The lab is particularly interested in how infants' early expectations about their physical and social world relate to rudimentary notions of identity, number, and socio-moral judgement. The researchers examine these questions in babies to help provide insight into how our own minds work.

PBS Graduate Student Diversity Committee Retreat

Each January, the PBS Graduate Student Diversity Committee hosts a retreat, which is a daylong opportunity for our community to convene and learn about topics relevant to multicultural practice and research. This year’s retreat was titled, “Diversity in Teaching and Mentorship: Navigating an Increasingly Diverse Academic Atmosphere." The committee hosted a number of great speakers who spoke about various aspects of diversity in academia: Dr. Chrystal A.

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