Full-Time Faculty

Robert W. Allan

Ph.D., New York University; Associate Professor. Dr. Allan is the strongest advocate of the Skinnerian position within the department, teaching courses in Quantitative Methods, Learning, and Applied Behavior Analysis. His research with pigeons uses creatively constructed conditioning chambers outfitted with computer touch screens. He and his students study operant-respondent interactions, control of the accuracy of pigeon's pecking behavior, stimulus and reinforcer control of response location, various aspects of conditioned reinforcement using chain schedules, and choice behavior using concurrent schedules (the matching law). As a teacher, Dr. Allan is interested in the application of principles of behavior analysis to student learning (Click here to go to the Personalized System of Instruction web page that Dr. Allan maintains!). Click here to see the Learning Class page; click here to email Dr. Allan.

Susan A. Basow

Ph.D., Brandeis University; Charles A. Dana Professor of Psychology. Prof. Basow is a social/clinical psychologist with a special interest in the psychology of gender. She has conducted research on the effects of gender on people's perceptions of others, especially in such evaluative contexts as student ratings of professors. She has also examined such diverse topics as women's body ideals and homophobia in women and men. Much of her work has attracted national attention in the media, including features on CNN. Click here to email Dr. Basow.

Jamila Bookwala

Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh; Associate Professor. Dr. Bookwala is a gerontologist who studies social and relational processes related to mid- and late-life development. Her research interests include links between marriage and health in the mature years, family caregiving, and gender differences in health and aging. Dr. Bookwala has published several journal articles and book chapters on her research. She is currently studying the marital and health impact of family caregiving, chronic illness in the context of marriage in late life, and gender issues related to body weight.

Carolyn Buckley
Ph.D., Lehigh University. Psychology Laboratory Coordinator and Instructor. Dr. Buckley’s special interests are behavioral science education, neuroendocrinology and animal behavior. Her research examines the physiology of hunger and its relationship to behaviors other than eating, such as attention to food and food hoarding. Using rodent cheek pouches as a model system, she also seeks to understand the evolution of novel adaptations for gathering food. She has had articles published in both teaching and science journals. Click here to email Dr. Buckley

Alan W. Childs

Ph.D., University of Tennessee; Professor. After serving a four year stint as Dean of Academic Services, Prof. Childs has returned to the department. Trained as a social psychologist, his recent research interests have been in the area of medical practice, especially in patient-practitioner interactions and the factors which affect critical medical decisions on the part of practitioners, patients, and their families. He is currently working on a manuscript for a textbook in health psychology and is the recipient of the James P. Crawford Award for outstanding teaching. Click here to email Dr. Childs.

Lisa Gabel

Ph.D., University of Connecticut; Assistant Professor. Dr. Gabel’s research focuses on how synapses are modified (strengthened and/or weakened) in response to sensory experience. Her work is focuses on examining the molecular mechanisms which underlie neurodevelopmental disorders, such as Fragile-X mental retardation, and epilepsy. Click here to email Dr. Gabel.

Wendy L. Hill

Ph.D., University of Washington; Rappolt Professor of Psychology. Prof. Hill's "niche" in the department is as the physiological and comparative psychologist. Her research seeks to understand the behaviors of animals by examining both the physiological mechanisms that mediate behaviors, such as the actions of neurotransmitters, as well as the evolutionary processes that select for certain behaviors because they are more adaptive than others. Because of this approach, Dr. Hill conducts both field research (when evolutionary selection pressures are typically examined) and laboratory experiments (when physiological mechanisms are usually explored). Click here to email Dr. Hill.

Ann V. McGillicuddy-DeLisi

Ph.D., Catholic University; Marshall R. Metzgar Professor of Psychology. A developmental psychologist, Prof. McGillicuddy-Delisi has two primary areas of research. First, she is interested in the development of spatial knowledge in children, and second, in the influence of family environment factors on the development of children and the development of adults. Prof. McGillicuddy-De Lisi is editor of the international Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. She recently published a book entitled Biology, society, and behavior: The development of sex differences in cognition that was co-edited with Richard De Lisi. Click here to e-mail Dr. McGillicuddyDeLisi.

Jeannine Pinto

Ph.D., University of Virginia; Assistant Professor. Dr. Pinto studies visual perception with a special interest in the visual perception of human and animal form and action, perception-action relationships, scene and event perception and perceptual learning. Details are available through her perception lab website. Click here to email Dr. Pinto.

John Shaw

Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles; J.D., Stanford Law School. Associate Professor. After graduating from law school in 1980, Professor Shaw practiced criminal law as a prosecutor and public defender for nine years. He draws on this experience in both his teaching and his research. Professor Shaw is a social psychologist, and his primary research interests include eyewitness memory, eyewitness confidence, and attitudes about genetic testing. Click here to email Dr. Shaw.

Jennifer Talarico

Ph.D., Duke University. Assistant Professor. Dr. Talarico studies memory for personally experienced events. Within autobiographical memory, she examines the interactions among what occurred, what is recalled, and how we experience that memory. Click here to email Dr. Talarico.

Andrew J. Vinchur

Ph.D., University of Memphis. Associate Professor and Department Head. Area of concentration is Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Special interests in employee selection, statistical analysis (especially meta-analysis), measurement, and the history of psychology. Click here to email Dr. Vinchur.

Adjunct Faculty

Deena D. Dailey
ABD, City University of New York. Ms. Dailey’s area of concentration is biopsychology and comparative psychology. Her research interests are strongly influenced by questions concerning the perceptual world of animals. These interests include the multi-channel sensory processes underlying sound detection and sound perception by otophysan fish as well as cognitive processes associated with visual stimulus properties in pigeons. Click here to email Ms. Dailey.

Julie Phelan
M.S., Rutgers University. Phelan's research investigates impression formation, stereotyping, and prejudice with a focus on intuitions and automatic associations.
Within automatic cognition, her research focuses on where these implicit attitudes come from, what behaviors they predict, and how they can be changed. Click here to email Ms. Phelan.

Mary Ann Swiatek

Ph.D., Iowa State University. Prof. Swiatek is a counseling/clinical psychologist with a focus on child and adolescent psychopathology. She is the psychologist for an intensive residential treatment program for adolescents. Her research focuses on intellectually gifted students, with particular attention to the social coping strategies used by gifted adolescents to overcome negative social stereotypes. Click here to email Dr. Swiatek.

Department Staff

Yvonne Osmun, Department Secretary
Click here to email Ms. Osmun

Robert Bouton, Technician
Click here to email Mr. Bouton

JoAnn Cannon, Animal Caretaker
Click here to email Ms. Cannon

Updated 12/4/2008