Psychology Research Lab

University of Central Florida

Palm Bay Campus

Mission Statement:

The mission of the Psychology Research Lab at UCF Palm Bay is to empirically explore important issues in Psychology such as gender issues, information fluency, and critical thinking ability. Additionally, our purpose is to train the next generation of academics by providing our students with first-hand research experience that will prepare them for success in graduate school.

 

Projects:

Exploring Automatic Essay Graders

Can automatic essay graders be used to encourage faculty to use essays to assess knowledge in large classrooms? This is a project funded by the UCF information fluency initiative.

Influence of New Media

Is there a relationship between the type of news media exposure and argument quality? Also, are certain personalities drawn to certain types of news media? This is a project also funded by the UCF information fluency initiative.

Stereotypes of Working Mothers

Does major and length of maternal leave influence perceptions held about students who are mothers?

About Us

Researchers:

Dr. Shannon Whitten received her Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Memphis in 2003. Her research interests include Discourse Processes and Educational Psychology with specific interests in drawing thematic inferences from narratives, the role of critical thinking and creativity in comprehension, and information fluency. She is a member of the Society for Text and Discourse and the American Psychological Society.

Dr. Karen Mottarella is a licensed clinical psychologist who received her doctorate from Florida Institute of Technology.  She has published many papers in the area of gender studies.

Our Fall 2008 Research Team:

DeAnn Collins is the is the President of our Psychology Club. She has won several awards and scholarships, including:

Ashley Harper, winner of a $500 SGA scholarship & first place for the Social Science I division of the UCF SURE conference for her thesis entitled, The Myth of The Crazy Cat Lady: Exploring How Pet Attachment and Existential Connectedness Influence Loneliness.

Lindsay Reeser, is working on a thesis investigating perceptions of new mothers. She is the Vice President of the Palm Bay Psychology Club.

Lauren Maleski: Is the most fabulous secretaty of the Palm Bay Psychology club

Alicia Glass: Another great undergraduate student here in Palm Bay

Bridie Wilkie: A senior here at UCF, Bridie is a member of the Psychology Club and coordinates research with the Cocoa research team.

Lisa Rangel: Our newest member of the team and valued member or our Psychology club.

**If you are interested in becoming a member or our team, please contact Dr. Whitten.  You must have had Research Methods and at least a 3.2 in your upper level courses. **

 

UCF Links:

University of Central Florida

MyUCF

UCF Department of Psychology

Webcourses at UCF

Palm Bay Psychology Club

Palm Bay Psi Chi

UCF Honor's in the Major

Palm Bay Research Team

UCF Information Fluency