Research Projects

Our low faculty-to-student ratio allows us to provide all psychology majors with hands-on learning experiences. These include the directed research, where the student works closely with a faculty member on an experiment of mutual interest (see faculty research interests).

The research experience provides the student with the opportunity to apply information learned in the classroom, as well as acquire a number of skills sought after by employers, namely, critical thinking, problem solving, working in teams, and communication skills.

Clarkson student psychology research projects are often presented at undergraduate research meetings, scientific meetings, and occasionally are published as research articles. Examples include:

Recent (last 3 years) Student Presentations at the Clarkson University Symposium on Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) and at scientific meetings (Clarkson students in bold):

2011
Apau, G., Sherman, A., Minich, S., Langen, T., Skufca, J., & Wilke, A. (August 2011). Early environment and life-history variables. Poster presented at the 14^th Symposium on Undergraduate Research Experiences (SURE), Potsdam, USA.

Carey, N., Dorchies, G., & Dowman, R. Evidence for sensitization of somatic threat detectors in the human brain. Annual Symposium of Undergraduate Research Experiences, Clarkson University, April 2011

Colello, L., Platek, M., Curdt, B., Mata, R., & Wilke, A. (April 2011). Information foraging in a patchy memory environment. Poster presented at the 5^th annual meeting of the NorthEastern Evolutionary Psychology Society (NEEPS), Binghamton, USA.

Curdt, B., Kruger, D. J., & Wilke, A. (April 2011). An evolutionary valid domain-specific risk-taking scale. Paper presented at the 5^th annual meeting of the NorthEastern Evolutionary Psychology Society (NEEPS), Binghamton, New York, USA.

Foti, S., Mondal, S.,& Norton, T. A Look at the Daily Grind: Caffeine use in Clarkson Students. 14^th Symposium on Undergraduate Research Experiences (SURE), Potsdam, USA.

Minich, S., Sherman, A., Apau, G., Langen, T., Skufca, J., & Wilke, A. (August 2011). Early environment and life-history variables: Effects on risk taking propensity. Paper presented at the 14^th Symposium on Undergraduate Research Experiences (SURE), Potsdam, USA.

Ross, C., Chen, X.,Wilke, A. (April 2011). Expectations of clumpy resources influence predictions of sequential events. Poster presented at the 5^th annual meeting of the NorthEastern Evolutionary Psychology Society (NEEPS), Binghamton, USA.

Sherman, A., Minich, S., Apau, G., Langen, T., Skufca, J., & Wilke, A. (August 2011). Early environment and life-history variables: Effects on risk perception and behavior. Paper presented at the 14^th Symposium on Undergraduate Research Experiences (SURE), Potsdam, USA.

Sherman, A., Ross, C., Colello, L., & Wilke, A. (April 2011). Early environment and life-history variables: Effects of subsequent risk-perception and behavior when going out for the night. Poster presented at the 5^th annual meeting of the NorthEastern Evolutionary Psychology Society (NEEPS), Binghamton, USA.

Toia, A. & Dowman, R. Cognitive processes underlying underlying the attentional bias towards biological threats. Annual Symposium of Undergraduate Research Experiences, Clarkson University, July 2011

2010
Bain, D., & Wilke, A. (April 2010). Sex differences in risk attitudes and victimization rates. Poster presented at the 11^th Symposium on Undergraduate Research Experiences (SURE), Potsdam, USA.

Curdt, B., Morgan, A., Bain, D., Barrett, H. C., & Wilke, A. (April 2010). Cognitive adaptations for resource search. Poster presented at the 11^th Symposium on Undergraduate Research Experiences (SURE), Potsdam, USA.

Christopherson B., Rogers M. 2010 (13th) Annual Summer SURE Conference: Mathematically modeling stress induced decision making in blue jays and college students.

Christopherson B., Rogers M. 2010 (13th) Mathematical Association of America Mathfest 2010: Mathematically modeling stress induced decision making in blue jays and college students.

Dowman, R., Quinn, J., & Sieg, E. Mechanisms Underlying the Capture of Attention by Somatic Threats. American Psychological Society 22^nd Annual Meeting, Boston MA May 27-30, 2010.

Drouin, K., Dowman R. Modeling how the brain detects threats. Annual Symposium of Undergraduate Research Experiences, Clarkson University, July 2010

Felch J. 2010 (13th) Annual Summer SURE Conference: perceptual and economic factors affecting choice

Morgan, A., Curdt, B., Bain, D., Barrett, H. C., & Wilke, A. (March 2010). Cognitive adaptations for resource search. Poster presented at the 4^th annual meeting of the Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society (NEEPS), New York, USA.

More F., Murray B 2010 (12th) Annual Spring SURE Conference: Diet choice under risk by black-capped chickadees.

Preston, R., Carey, N., Mata, R., & Wilke, A. (April 2010). Information foraging in a patchy memory environment. Poster presented at the 11^th Symposium on Undergraduate Research Experiences (SURE), Potsdam, USA.

Preston, R., Carey, N., Mata, R., & Wilke, A. (March 2010). Information foraging in a patchy memory environment. Poster presented at the 4^th annual meeting of the Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society (NEEPS), New York, USA.

Rolleston M., 2010 (13th) Annual Summer SURE Conference: perceptual and economic factors affecting choice

Samuels, K., Van Arsdale, S., Dowman, R. Mechanisms of detecting and orienting attention towards threats to the body. Annual Symposium of Undergraduate Research Experiences, Clarkson University, April 2010

Sieg, E., Dowman, R. Cognitive processes underlying the attentional bias towards threats to the body. Annual Symposium of Undergraduate Research Experiences, Clarkson University, April 2010

Walrath T., Murray B 2010 (12th) Annual Spring SURE Conference: Selection of seeds by black-capped chickadees passed on spatial location and mass.

2009
Bain, D., & Wilke, A. (April 2010). Sex differences in risk attitudes and victimization rates. Poster presented at the 11^th Symposium on Undergraduate Research Experiences (SURE), Potsdam, USA.

Fraser, J., Lajoie, R., & Norton, T.R. (2007, April). Social support exchanges between patients with cancer and their caregivers. Poster presented at the 8th Annual Symposium on Undergraduate Research Experiences, Clarkson University.

Gundling, W. Dowman R. Spatial attention in response to threat. Annual Symposium of Undergraduate Research Experiences, Clarkson University, August 2009

Lowenstein, K. Dowman, R. A toolkit for developing neural network models of how the brain detects and orients attention toward threat. Annual Symposium of Undergraduate Research Experiences, Clarkson University, July 2009

Quinn, J. Dowman, R. Investigation of how the brain orients attention towards threats to the body. Annual Symposium of Undergraduate Research Experiences, Clarkson University, July 2009

Roper, J., Stephens, J., van Arsdale, S., Dowman, R. Developing protocols to study how threats to the body are detected and capture attention. Annual Symposium of Undergraduate Research Experiences, Clarkson University, August 2008.

Sullivan, M., Norton, T. Caffeine consumption in the college population. Annual Symposium of Undergraduate Research Experiences, Clarkson University, August 2008.

Trickey, K., Dowman, R. Threat detection and the orientation of attention toward threatening stimuli. Annual Symposium of Undergraduate Research Experiences, Clarkson University, April 2009

Clarkson offers 50 programs of study within three schools: the Wallace H. Coulter School of Engineering, the School of Business, and the School of Arts & Sciences. Our historic strengths in business, engineering, liberal arts, and science remain at the core of the curriculum. But these programs have also been combined into cross-disciplinary majors, such as engineering and management, environmental science and policy, and digital arts and sciences.