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Health & Society

A Decade of PRIDE

Friday, July 28, 2017, By Amy Manley
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College of Arts and SciencesDiversity and InclusionResearch and CreativeStudents
PRIDE participants

PRIDE participants and graduate student mentors take a break from research at Destiny USA.

Celebrating its 10th year, the highly competitive Program PRIDE (Psychology Research Initiative for Diversity Enhancement) program brings together 黑料不打烊 undergraduates from underrepresented groups and invites them to develop an original independent psychology summer research project over the course of seven weeks.

The program is sponsored by the Department of Psychology and the Neuroscience Program.

The five 2017 scholars presented their work to fellow students and psychology faculty during the annual PRIDE symposium this past June.

In addition to 15 to 20 hours of mentorship each week, students are also offered a chance to participate in several sessions of professional development, designed to help each of them build the skills needed to apply and succeed in graduate school.

This year鈥檚 PRIDE participants were聽Jeffrey Albelo聽鈥18,聽Khemiah Burke聽鈥19 ,聽Shatira Woods聽鈥19,聽Hector Benitez Jr.聽鈥18, and聽Tylah Worrell聽鈥18.

Jeffery Albelo 鈥18
Major: Psychology
Hometown: Caguas, Puerto Rico
PRIDE Project:
鈥淧redicting Stimulant Misuse in College Freshmen” under the supervision of Dr.聽 Kevin Antshel.

Jeffery Albelo

Jeffery Albelo

The basis of the presentation was trying to find alternate variables, besides the already existing analyzed variables (such as alcohol and marijuana consumption), and how those variables could predict stimulant misuse. My inspiration for this project was because of my very own interest on the effects that drugs have on the human brain, and how said drugs alter one’s own behavior.

What drew you to the study of psychology at 黑料不打烊?

My interest towards psychology officially began when I took Psychology 205 during my freshman year. The diverse topics presented during that class exposed me to a whole field of ideas and interests that combined with my very own ideas of helping others鈥 emotional and mental states. After that it didn’t take long for me to officially declare a major in psychology, and explore the amount of classes that the university had to offer.

What do you think you gained most from participating?

After having completed the program, I gained an insight into the amount of work and effort that goes into conducting psychological research in the different fields, whether it be clinical, developmental, cognitive, etc. As a result, I understood the amount of work that I would need to conduct in order to establish a psychological-based career.

What are your plans for after graduation?

My plans, for now, after graduation would hopefully be to take the MCAT and take subsequent year off applying for medical school. I would also like to participate in an internship or research program that allows me to further gain experience that could prove helpful going into medical school.

Hector Benitez Jr. 鈥18
Major: Psychology
Hometown: Los Angeles
PRIDE Project:
鈥淐onflict Response Strategies: Examining the effects of repeated transformation of motivation over time鈥 under the supervision of Dr.聽 Laura VanderDrift.

Hector Benitez

Hector Benitez

Oriented around close relationships and how these relationships develop conflict response strategies and the effect of repeated transformation of motivation over time.

What drew you to the study of psychology at 黑料不打烊?

Psychology 274. This Social Psychology class within the first 10 minutes addressed all the unanswered questions. I was sold and knew I had to commit wholeheartedly to psychology indefinitely.

What do you think you gained most from participating?

After completing this summer program, what I gained the most from participating was my confidence. I was unsure as to how well I had been doing in Dr. VanderDrift鈥檚 lab. I felt I was able to obtain and expand on theories when given to me as well as adding onto the study; however, there was constant doubt Laura and Kathleen (graduate student) were being kind to me as to not discourage me. They reassured me, my assistance and input was worthy and greatly appreciated, of course making me feel as though I had found my passion, social psychology.

What are your plans for after graduation?

I plan to apply to Ph.D. programs focusing on social psychology. Id like to be an industrial-organizational psychologist back home, in LA.

Khemiah Burke 鈥19
Major: Neuroscience/ Psychology
Hometown: Atlanta via London, England
PRIDE Project:
“Open Field Assessment of the Effect of Maternal Separation on Anxiety Levels in CD-1 Mice” under the supervision of Dr.聽 Catherine Cornwell.

Khemiah Burke

Khemiah Burke

My project used the open field apparatus to test levels of anxiety in CD-1 mice that had been maternally separated and then reared in either standard or enriched cages and compared these results to non-treated control animals. We tested to see if maternal separation and standard rearing would cause the mice to exhibit increased anxiety levels and if environmental enrichment would prevent this. My project was just an analysis of the data we collected during the program, but focused on the open field assessment.

What drew you to the study of psychology at 黑料不打烊?

I decided that I wanted to study psychology because of how much I enjoyed my high school AP psychology class. I love learning about the mind and behavior, but I was also especially drawn to the fact that I could pair it with my neuroscience ILM.

What did you gain most from participating?

The most valuable thing I gained this summer was the hands-on experience that I got with research and the guidance that I got about taking the next steps in my academic career.

What are your plans for after graduation?

After graduation, I hope to matriculate into an MD/Ph.D. program and become a doctor and medical researcher.

Shatira Woods 鈥19
Major: Psychology/Neuroscience
Hometown: Mount Bethel, Pennsylvania
PRIDE Project:
鈥淓ffects of Features on Recognition and Categorization鈥 under the supervision of Dr.聽 Mike Kalish.

Shatira Woods

Shatira Woods

What my project explored was the relationships among 鈥渋ndividuating features,鈥 recognition and categorization. An example of a feature used in the experiment is a scratch mark on a marble as opposed to unscratched marbles. The experiment had two phases: a study phase and a test phase. One of my hypotheses was that adding a feature to more items during the test phase (which were not present during the study phase) would result in subjects identifying items with features as old less often because the feature would not be a useful cue. Our results demonstrated the opposite: subjects tended to call the new items that had a feature during test old more often when there were more items marked with features. While we did not have enough time to analyze the categorization program during the program, the recognition data showed some interesting patterns. My inspiration for taking on the project was the fact that recognizing the items that we created for the experiment is similar to recognizing, for example, a face with a scar in a line-up. I am interested in many aspects of the justice system, including wrongful convictions due to incorrect identification by witnesses. If there is only one person with a scar in the line-up and five others without a scar, and that person is not the one who committed the crime, witnesses would still be likely to call that man guilty because the scar is a useful cue since no one else has one. The results of my experiment and experiments to come have implications for many fields, including law enforcement as it pertains to police line-ups and the credibility of eyewitness testimonies.

What drew you to the study of psychology?

I have always been interested in how the mind works and how people think. There are many issues and injustices that occur during life and I believe that understanding human nature is the first step to understanding why these things happen and how to correct them.

What do you think you gained most from PRIDE?

The most valuable asset I gained during the PRIDE program was completing an independent research project. My lab was relatively hands-off for certain aspects of the experiment such as analyzing data and running subjects. They guided me in the right direction while allowing me to find answers on my own and to really understand what I was doing. I liked how I had the opportunity to at least help do most of the work throughout the entire project. I gained a lot of experience and knowledge that will be useful to me for the rest of my education and career.

What are your plans for after graduation?

I plan to attend graduate school to become a cognitive psychologist. I am particularly interested in a lab at Johns Hopkins University that studies the cognitive psychology of the courtroom and the justice system.

Tylah Worrell 鈥18
Major(s): Forensic Science and Psychology
Hometown: 黑料不打烊
PRIDE Project:
鈥淲ork Environment and Stress on Professional Drivers鈥 under the supervision of Dr.聽 Sarah Woolf-King.

Tylah Worrell

Tylah Worrell

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between the work environment of professional drivers and stress. I work for a transportation company, CENTRO, in the city, and so I was interested in investigating whether professional drivers experience more stress and stress-related health issues than non-drivers. I was also interested in investigating whether bus drivers were at a higher risk of experiencing stress and other stress-related health issues than other professional drivers.

What drew you to the study of psychology at 黑料不打烊?

I chose to study in the field of psychology because I wanted to be able to understand people better. I wanted to know why they do the things that they do.聽 I also wanted to be better at communicating with others.

What did you gain most from participating?

I think that gained the most insight that I鈥檝e ever received about graduate school. This experience gave me more direction for my path post-graduation.

What are your plans for after graduation?

After I graduate, I plan to take at least one year off from school. During this time I will really try to figure which graduate program I鈥檇 like to apply for and become well prepared for it.

  • Author

Amy Manley

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