an e-newsletter for students and alumni of saint michael's psychology department


 
 
Faculty on the Move
The latest information on faculty accomplishments
 

Dr. Robert Lavallee has been promoted to Professor Emeritus and is retiring after 37 years at Saint Michael's College. Before he began teaching at the college he was a research psychologist and a captain in the U.S. Army. Lavallee was the second person hired in the psychology department and was instrumental in developing the major. His tenure as chair of the department saw growth in the number of faculty and the number of students declaring psychology as a major. In his early years he was also head of the counseling program, a forerunner of the graduate program in psychology. His areas of teaching included: test and measurement, perception, history of psychology, psychological statistics and research methodology, which he also taught at the graduate level. Students often commented on how much they loved the stories he would tell and how ready he was to meet with them if they so desired.  He exhibited a genuine love for students and the energy they brought to the classroom.  Besides his teaching, Bob was a consulting psychologist in psychological testing for the army, the Vermont Department of Special Education and the Catholic Diocese of Burlington. He lives with his wife, Rita, in a house he built himself in Enosburg Falls.
 

Dr. Sharon Lamb was awarded a $20,000 sabbatical grant by the Association for Moral Education, in conjunction with the Gift of Time Foundation. The award is intended “to provide extended sabbatical time for mid-career scholars to conduct research in moral education/psychology/philosophy,” according to their Web site, www.amenetwork.org. Professor Lamb will be using her sabbatical to create a sexual ethics curriculum for high schoolers. She plans to construct a class in moral education, using philosophy, psychology and health, that encourages conversation about “how you treat people when you grow into your sexuality,” a course “teaching character and raising moral development.”
 

Dr. David Boynton was awarded tenure in May 2007. His area of interest is cognitive psychology, and he specializes in judgment, decision making and intuitive thought processes. His research has included projects that involve superstitious behavior, gambling behavior and the misperception of statistical information. Boynton has also published in the history of psychology, and is currently exploring the cognitive correlates of superstitious or "magical" thinking.
 

 

PUBLISHED WORKS & PRESENTATIONS
(Faculty names are bolded)

 

Boynton, D. M., and Smith, L. D. (2006).
Bringing history to life: Simulating landmark experiments in psychology. History of Psychology, 9(2), 113-143. Paper published for the American Psychological Association.

Boynton, D. M. (2006).
The gambler’s fallacy effect. In N. J. Salkind (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Measurement and Statistics.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Article contributed to the Sage Press encyclopedia of measurement and statistics.

Brown, Lyn Mikel; Lamb, Sharon. (August, 2006).
Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters from Marketers’ Schemes
(St. Martin’s Press). Co-authored and published book.

Carrico, R.L. and Berthier N.E. (January, 2008).
Vision and precision reaching in 15-month-old infants. Infant Behavior and Development.

Kim, M.Y. and Whitney, C.A.. (2007).
Influence of Attachment Style on Same-Culture and Cross-Culture Friendships. Poster presented at presented at the annual meeting of the Association of Psychological Science, Washington D.C.

Kirshenbaum, Ari P.; Bickel, Warren K.; Boynton, David M. (August 2006).
Simulated opioid withdrawal engenders risk-prone choice: A comparison of intravenous and intranasal-using populations. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 83(2), pp. 130-136. Co-authored paper on opioid withdrawal.

Kuntz S. and Kaplan, C. (Winter, 2007).
You can't be old before you are young: Aging and pedagogy. Feminist Teacher.

Lamb, S. (September, 2006).
Sex, Therapy, and Kids: Addressing Their Concerns through Talk and Play
(W.W. Norton). Published book.

Miller, R. (2004).
Facing Human Suffering: Psychology and Psychotherapy as Moral Engagement. Published book. Read a review by Daryl Paulson, Ph.D., President/CEO of BioScience Laboratories.

Millwood, M. (in press).
Demand-withdrawal communication in couples: an attachment perspective. Journal of Couple and Relationship.

Murphy, M., Kirshenbaum, A., and VanderKaay, M. M.  (April 2007).  Psychophysiological Measurement of Human Sexual Attraction Based Upon Fertility Status Detected Through Odor Changes Across the Female Life Span.  Poster presented at the 1st Annual NorthEastern Evolutionary Psychology Society Meeting, New Paltz, NY.

VanderKaay, M. M., and Patterson, S. M.  (March, 2007). 
Differential effects of nicotine and nicotine abstinence on stress-induced cardiovascular reactivity among nicotine dependent and non-nicotine dependent cigarette smokers.  Poster presented at the 28th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society for Behavioral Medicine, Washington, DC.

Whitney, C.A.; Murphy, M.; Newth, A. (2007).
Hooking Up Among College Students: Sexual Motivations and Emotional Loneliness. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association of Psychological Science, New York, NY. 

 

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