C A L I F O R N I A S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y , L O N G B E A C H

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Department of

Psychology

Psychology Proud!Psychology remains one of the most popular majors on campus. The Department boasts nearly 1,200 majors, and enrolls over 1,100 full-time students every semester. Psychology represents approximately 17% of the enrollment in the College of Liberal Arts, and 4% of the total enrolled students at CSULB.

Twenty-one tenure line faculty and nearly 40 part-time lecturers offer approximately 120 courses every Fall and Spring. But coursework is just the beginning of student

educational opportunities in the department. Outside the classroom, Psychology majors are frequently actively engaged in research with their faculty mentors. Indeed, over 100 undergraduate students participate in research projects each semester. Additionally, 14 graduate

students complete theses each academic year.

Over the past 3 years, the faculty members of the Department have published, often with student co-authors, over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and 11 books and book chapters. Faculty and students of the

Department have delivered over 100 posters and talks at regional, national and international conferences. Additionally, faculty of the Department have received over $3 million in external research support.

100 Years of ServiceThe amazing longevity of the careers of Drs. Robert Thayer and

Martin Fiebert.Page 2

Student Award WinnersRecipients of the

Department’s academic, research, and service

honors are namedPage 3

Support Psychology at the Beach!

Continued excellence is dependent upon strong

support from friends and alumni.

Page 7

2013 - 2014 Academic Year Newsletter

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porttitor risus. Maecenas ac enim. Sed purus eros nullam gravida.

Graduate Program News

Insights into a small sample of the research

projects in the department.

Page 4

Alumni SpotlightA profile of the

impressive accomplishments of three very special

alumni. Page 6

Welcome New FacultyThe Department

welcomes two Developmental

psychologists in as many years.

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C S U L B P S Y C H O L O G Y

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Dr. Robert Thayer has served the Psychology Department for last 51 years. Dr. Thayer is a well renowned expert in mood, and is recognized as an author of a Citation Classic, the designation

provided to the most cited articles in scientific literature. Dr. Thayer has authored four books on mood, including Calm Energy: How People Regulate Mood with Food and Exercise, which Psychology Today said “provides a practical set of guides for functioning up near our best, and feeling like it”. This book helps us understand why it is so difficult to maintain our desired diet and exercise routines. Hint: it’s because of mood! Dr. Thayer’s research has been cited by a number of news agencies and popular press outlets, including Weight Watchers, Newsday, Marie Claire, Reader’s Digest, USA Today, and New Scientist. Dr. Thayer continues to instruct students in his upper division course Self-Observation and Self-Development.

Dr. Martin Fiebert is a true Long Beach State 49er, as the current academic year marks his 49th year in the Department. Dr. Fiebert has been a licensed Clinical Psychologist in California since 1967. His research accomplishments include nearly 60 journal publications and countless presentations and workshops. Dr. Fiebert’s research interests include investigations of sexual coercion, intergroup ethnic perceptions, and physical violence in intimate relationships. Dr. Fiebert’s most recent research examines Facebook behaviors over time. In a manuscript recently published in the journal Sexuality & Culture, Dr. Fiebert summarized 343 scholarly investigations examining spousal aggression. The surprising conclusion of this investigation was that women are as physically aggressive as men in their relationships with spouses. Dr. Fiebert regularly instructs students in Introduction to Clinical Psychology and Clinical Interviewing.

Celebrating a century at CSULBCombined, Professors Robert Thayer and Martin Fiebert have served the

Psychology Department for 100 years.. and counting!

Dr. Robert Thayer

Dr. Martin Fiebert

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Students of Distinction

Outstanding seniors are competitively selected to represent the Department’s top scholars. The Department has selected 13 students as PsychologyOutstanding Seniors for the 2013-2014 academic year: Maria Arrendondo, Taylor Ayres-Everett, Stacy Castellanos, Katie Dominguez, Rodolfo Flores,

Susan Gil, Aliza Gonzalez, Isidro Landa, Adriana Miramontes, Sara Ortiz-Cubias, Daniel Shultz, Kyle Wilson, and Jessica Wysocki.

Susan Gil was named as the Department’s Most Outstanding Senior. This Signal Hill resident earned a perfect 4.0 average at CSULB. Susan was actively involved in the research lab of Dr. Arturo Zavala, resulting in presentations at the Society of Neuroscience and the NIDA convention. After leaving CSULB, Susan plans to pursue a PhD in Neuroscience where she hopes to study the neural mechanisms impacting human behavior.

The Lucio Morales Research Award is given to the student with the greatest

accomplishments in research. This year’s winner is Isidro Landa. Isidro is a member of the Psychology Honors program, and a member of the Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) Scholar’s program. Isidro was first author on five research presentations in the past year, including conferences in Nashville and Cincinnati, and right here in Long Beach.

Stacy Castellanos is the recipient of the Joann Beers Outstanding Service Award, which is awarded to the Outstanding Senior with a substantial level of service to both the Department and community. In the Department, Stacy has served as a Psychology Resource Office (PRO) Guide (formerly known as Peer Advisor), and is currently acting as the Student Director of PRO. He has also served as an Executive Board member for the Psychology Students Association. In the community, Stacy volunteers for Community Helpline as a trained listener and facilitator. He also volunteers at the Long Beach Center for LGBTQ Youth.

Susan Gil

Isidro Landa

Stacy Castellanos

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The Master’s of Science Human Factors (MSHF) program prepares graduate and undergraduate students to apply knowledge of psychology to the design of jobs, information systems and consumer products with the goal of improving user performance, safety and comfort. HF Faculty, Drs. Kim Vu, Tom Strybel, Dan Chiappe, and Jim Miles, engage

students at all levels of research in one of our two Centers of Research Excellence. The Center for Human Factors in Advanced Aeronautics Technologies (CHAAT), a NASA University Research Center, is a state-of-the-art facility for research and simulations of advanced air technologies and air traffic management issues. The Center for Usability in Design and Accessibility (CUDA) is a laboratory for carrying out usability testing and interface design. Our program provides real world hands-on educational experiences to students in human factors.

News from the Graduate programs

The Master’s of Arts in Psychological Research (MAPR) program attracts students interested in a variety of psychological disciplines. Students in the Pro-Health Laboratory, for example, collaborate with community partners to provide innovative health programs to underserved populations.Students in PRO-Health, under the mentorship of Dr. Guido Urizar, have helped design and test two health promotion programs: 1) a prenatal stress management program aimed at reducing stress hormone levels known to cause health problems in both mothers and their infants; and 2) a community-based exercise program aimed at increasing physical activity levels among low-income mothers.

Both of these projects have received research support through federal (NIH) and university funding with collaboration from faculty at UCLA, UCI, and CSULB (NCLR, Kinesiology) and partnerships with local community organizations (Department of Health and Human Services).To date, these students have conducted over 500 clinical interviews and taught these health programs to approximately 130 mothers, demonstrating how research mentorship programs can provide the necessary skills and resources for students to make a positive impact on the community.

While issues related to employment might not be among your first thoughts when considering adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), students in the Master's of Science in Industrial-Organizational psychology (MSIO)

program are examining facilitators and obstacles to successful employment for adults with this increasingly prevalent developmental disability. Working on this research supported by a CSULB Multidisciplinary Research Award under the tutelage of Dr. Dave Whitney from Psychology and Dr. Tina Arora from Advanced Studies in Education and Counseling, these graduate students are conducting personal interviews to investigate the job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intentions among this special population of working adults. Each informational interview is videotaped and later coded to allow the pursuit of an additional aim of the research: an examination of the degree and type of perseveration behaviors exhibited by the adults with ASD. To date, 30 working adults with ASD have been successfully interviewed.

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Developing the FutureThe Department welcomes two new tenure-track faculty specializing in

Developmental Psychology

Dr. May Ling Halim earned her PhD from New York University before returning to her native southern California. Dr. Halim’s research examines the development of gender identity in children. She has 13 publications in such respected journals as Developmental Psychology and Child Development. Her expertise will be useful when instructing courses such as Psychology of Adult Development and Aging as well as Social Psychology. The popular press has taken note of her research, as illustrated by Psychology Today’s article on her work. More information about Dr. Halim’s research, including information about her lab and the students that are working with her, can be found here.

Dr. Maricela Correa-Chavez joined the Department this past Fall. Following earning her PhD in Developmental Psychology from UC Santa Cruz, Dr. Correa-Chavez was a Postdoctoral fellow for the American Education Research Association / Institute of Education Sciences. She served as Area Head of Developmental Psychology at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts before the CSULB Psychology Department was able to convince her to return to her southern California roots. Courses she will be instructing include Research Methods and Psychology of Child and Adolescent Development. In research, Dr.

Correa-Chavez examines the impacts cultural practices and social interactions have on children’s learning. Her research samples have included immigrant children in southern California, indigenous

children from Mexican cities and small towns, and Guatemalan Maya children. Such investigations have yielded her 13 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. Further, she has received grant funding from the Foundation for Child Development and the Spencer Foundation to support her research.

Dr. May Ling Halim

Dr. Maricela Correa-Chavez

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Alumni SpotlightApril Thames (CSULB PSY BA, 2003) is a Clinical Neuropsychologist and an Assistant Professor at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human

Behavior. She recently received an NIH Career Development Award to develop her laboratory in cultural neuropsychology, neuroscience and health disparities. Her research focuses on the neurological and neurocognitive effects of infectious disease, substance abuse, and cerebrovascular risk factors among underrepresented groups. In her clinical work, Dr. Thames is particularly interested in cognitive issues associated with aging.

Jeffrey Erickson (CSULB PSY BA, 1973; CSULB PSY MS, 1976) served as Technical Fellow for Human-System Integration at the Boeing Company from 2002 to 2009. He was the first Behavioral Scientist to be recognized at the Senior Level of the Boeing Technical Excellence Program. During his 32 year career, he held management and technical leadership positions

of increasing responsibility in development and testing of human interface subsystems for a broad range of aerospace products. Since his retirement from Boeing, he has focused on aviation history. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Aviation Historical Society, and is Curator for Exhibits at the

Lyon Air Museum at Orange County Airport.

Whitney Smith (CSULB PSY BA, 2003; CSULB PSY MA 2007) is a Human Resources Process Manager for Urban Science. In this role, she applies project management principles to HR projects to ensure they are on time, within budget and high quality. The role involves collaborating with leaders in offices within the US and around the globe, requiring travel to locations such as Shanghai, Detroit, Melbourne, Mexico City and Madrid.

Dr. April Thames

Jeffrey Erickson

Whitney Smith

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A Message from the ChairDear Psychology Alumni and Friends,

I’d ask you to remember an earlier you. Just for a moment, go back to a time when you were an undergraduate or graduate student at your alma mater, the Psychology Department of CSULB. Remember the excitement you felt about the world of possibilities open for your future. Remember the pride you experienced in every academic accomplishment. The faculty members of the Psychology department are privileged to serve today’s students by providing excellent instruction in promoting student understanding of human behavior, self, and others. Our Department continues to be among the very best on campus in a number of metrics, including the diversity of our student body, and the success rate of graduating our majors. Our faculty work tirelessly in and out of the classroom to provide students opportunities to understand and advance knowledge of the discipline. It isn’t always easy. The budget cuts of the past 6 years years have drained resources for both instructional and research support and stagnated salaries. At the same time, tuition hikes have continued to challenge the ability of students to complete a degree (despite CSU’s continued strong position in affordability compared to nearly any other state or private university). Alumni and friends of the Department play an essential role in ensuring our current students continue to experience the promise of educational excellence we strive to achieve every day in our department. We thank you for standing behind us.

Psychology. Proud.

David J. Whitney, PhD, Professor & Chair

Alumni ContactWe’d love to hear about your current activities, future plans, and personal and professional accomplishments. Drop us an email at PSYalumni@csulb.eduBe sure to include:•Your name•CSULB Psychology degree and year•Email address •Mailing Address•News you are sharing!We plan on including selected alumni updates in a future department newsletter.

Support PsychologyYou can help us fund important Departmental needs including instructional technology, research support, and intellectual events by making a tax-deductible contribution to the CSULB Psychology Department. Thank you for supporting your alma mater!

Contributions — large or small — can be made by clicking here.