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K-State Today

May 10, 2016

Psychological sciences students receive departmental awards

Submitted by Michael Young

The psychological sciences department announces this year's departmental award winners. The following undergraduate and graduate students were honored at events on May 3 and May 6.

Madelyn Ray, senior, Jenks, Oklahoma, received the John C. Peterson Undergraduate Scholarship Prize for outstanding graduating senior and was co-recipient of the E. Jerry Phares Undergraduate Research Award. She has conducted research in both behavioral neuroscience with Charles Pickens and social psychology with Don Saucier. Ray will pursue a doctorate in psychology with a specialization in behavioral neuroscience at Boston College in fall 2016.

Jeremy Lott, senior, Wichita, is this year's recipient of the E. Jerry Phares Undergraduate Research Award. His research looked at the effects of dominant/subordinate relationships in paired-housing conditions on food-reward motivation and risky and impulsive choice. In fall 2016, Lott will be a medical student at the University of Kansas Medical Center where he will pursue a career in the field of neurology.

Sara Doss, junior, Bradenton, Florida, is the winner of the Curtis Lee and J.B. Gee Psychological Sciences Scholarship. This award is based on a combination of academic achievement and financial need. Earlier this year, Doss also received the K-State Transfer Academic Award.

Steven Chalman, junior, Manhattan, received the the Dr. Leon Rappoport Psychology Undergraduate Scholarship. This scholarship honors the memory of a member of the psychological sciences department and is targeted at a nontraditional, high-achieving student. Chalman is actively involved in Saucier's social psychology lab where he is developing research to examine the effects of masculine honor on altruistic behavior. Chalman plans to pursue graduate school for a career in clinical/counseling psychology.

Angelica Castro, junior, Salina; Navante Peacock, junior, Wichita; Sydney Edmisten, junior, Prairie Village; and Hope Rietcheck, junior, Damascus, Maryland, are this year's recipients of the Doreen Shanteau Undergraduate Research Awards. The award provides funds to enable students to conduct research with their faculty mentors during the following academic year.

Castro will work with Saucier to examine the potential use of humor targeting the fear of appearing racist as a means of reducing interracial anxiety and interracial distancing during the discussion of racially sensitive topics.

Peacock will investigate perceptions of microaggressions and how priming different perspectives of thinking about prejudice influences these perceptions, also in Saucier's lab.

Edmisten will investigate the neurobiological mechanisms of decline of episodic-like memory with age by analyzing levels of choline acetyltransferase within the brain regions of rats. Edmisten will work with Kimberly Kirkpatrick.

Rietcheck will use an electroencephalogram, or EEG, to study how the brain responds to making errors when attempting to inhibit a response. Rietcheck will conduct this research in Michael Young's lab.

Erik Garcia, Centennial, Colorado, and David Arndt, Algonquin, Illinois, each received the Outstanding Graduate Research Award/Harry Helson Memorial Scholarship this year. Both Garcia and Arndt have published a significant number of journal articles and book chapters in behavioral neuroscience during their time at K-State and both are working on their doctorates under the supervision of Mary Cain.

Chelsea Schnabelrauch Arndt, Pinckney, Michigan, and Amanda Martens, Shelby, Iowa, each received the Outstanding Graduate Instructor Award this year. Schnabelrauch Arndt also was the winner of the national American Psychology Association of Graduate Students Teaching Excellence in Psychological Sciences Award, received an honorable mention for the Midwest Association of Graduate Schools Excellence in Teaching Award in the doctoral category, and the K-State Graduate Student Council Teaching Award in the doctoral category. The recipients received monetary awards from the Nobuko S. Nicholson Opportunity Fund for Psychological Sciences.

Robin Besse, Minot, North Dakota, was the department's winner of the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award. Besse has been the graduate teaching assistant for a wide range of courses, including General Psychology, Cognitive Psychology and Psychology of Personality. Besse's award was funded by the department's Graduate Teaching Assistant Support Fund, which is supported by a number of the department's alumni.