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Newsletter
- Fall 2007
Student Profile
I joined the MARC U*STAR program in the Fall of 1998. I was not the typical MARC scholar because I was a graduating senior when I joined the program (most students are selected at the end of their sophomore year). After being approached by one of my psychology professors who told me about the MARC program and its many benefits, I decided to apply. As a MARC scholar, I was introduced to new people, new locations, and a new way of thinking –as a researcher. I was able to apply the words in a textbook to a real world setting. It allowed for a deeper comprehension of the materials learned in the classroom. For me, being a MARC scholar provided me with the necessary tools to advance my career in psychological research.
My two years as a MARC scholar at Barry University set the foundation of my academic career as a future college professor and researcher. As an undergraduate I embraced my role as a researcher. First, I worked with Dr. Lenore Szuchman on several projects within the areas of social, cognitive, and experimental Psychology. My first project examined the role of age stereotyping in the interpretation of the aging process. In addition, under the supervision of Dr. Szuchman, I assessed factors reducing the serial position effect (i.e., you are more likely to recall information at the beginning and end). Furthermore, as one of the requirements of the program, it is expected the scholar will intern at a different university under the direction of another researcher/professor during the summer. I was able to secure an internship with Dr. Arthur Glenberg at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. I helped investigate unconscious factors influencing language production. Finally, I was given the opportunity to present my research in a variety of forums – an invaluable tool. I believe the ability to discuss my research with others laid the foundation for my ability to convey my knowledge to others. It also made me a more desirable applicant when applying for doctoral programs. The tools and opportunities provided to me by the MARC U*STAR program and its coordinating directors (Sr. John Karen Frei and Dr. Redway) facilitated my acceptance into over five doctoral programs.
After graduating from Barry University in Spring 2000 with a B.S. in Psychology, I began my graduate program at Florida International University in Miami, Florida where the majority of the my graduate education was funded by a MARC Predoctoral Fellowship. I specialized in Legal Psychology, an innovative area in the field of psychology; we examine topics such as eyewitness identification, juror decision-making, and confession evidence. My area of interest is in the evaluation of confession evidence. For my doctoral dissertation, I examined what factors influenced the likelihood a person will confess to an act he/she did or did not commit. Simply, what factors are associated with true and false confession? During the course of several research projects, my colleagues (Drs. Melissa Russano and Christian Meissner) and I were able to suggest factors such as type of interrogation techniques used and experimenter’s expectation of the suspect’s guilt were likely to lead to confession. Some of our research has been published in Psychological Science.
In the Fall of 2005, I accepted a position as Assistant professor in Criminal Justice at the University of New Haven. I will be the director of the newly created undergraduate concentration in Forensic Psychology in Fall 2007. As a college professor, I apply some of the tools and knowledge I acquired as a MARC scholar to my students by teaching them the value of innovative research and the ability to take the knowledge from the classroom and apply it to different settings.
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