The Full Story

• LeUnes gives Keynote Address at Iran conference

  Professor Arnold LeUnes delivered the Keynote Address at the International Conference on Science and Futbol (Soccer) in Tehran, Iran, in early November. His keynote presentation was entitled “Professional Issues in Sport Psychology.” and he also presented on psychological factors and skills in soccer competition. After the conference, he also presented to faculty and students in a colloquium held by the Department of Physical Education at the University of Tehran.

• Cepeda-Benito in 'Top 100 Influentials'

  'Hispanic Business' magazine has named Antonio Cepeda-Benito, professor of psychology and dean of faculties, to the publication’s 2009/2010 list of the nation’s 100 “most influential” Hispanics. The list also includes Hispanic leaders selected from the halls of power in Washington, the corporate world, information technology professionals, the health care sector, education, the media and other areas. Dr. Cepeda-Benito's research connects the disciplines of behavioral neuroscience and clinical psychology to investigate drug addiction and eating disorders. He has published extensively and his research has been supported by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Texas Department of Health and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology. He has served almost exclusively Spanish-speaking individuals and supervised students who also work with low-income, Spanish-speaking clients.
  
  Cepeda-Benito has received numerous awards while at Texas A&M, including Psychology Teacher of the Year, the Academic Inspiration Award and various diversity service awards. He has received two National Awards of Excellence from the National Hispanic Science Network on Drug Abuse (NHSN), one for contributions in Public Service (2006) and the other for mentoring (2008). He is a founding member of the steering committee of the RED LatinoAmerica (REDLA) on drug addiction and the founding chair of the International Research Collaboration Subcommittee of the NHSN.
  

• Eddie Harmon-Jones awarded NSF grant

  Professor Eddie Harmon-Jones has received a grant from the National Science Foundation to study the relationships among various types of positive emotions and anger-related responses. More specifically, the research will investigate how anger and approach-oriented positive emotion influence each other, and test the novel, counterintuitive hypothesis that positive emotion high in approach motivation may increase anger responses. The research will extend the understanding of the structure and function of emotions, and provide a more detailed understanding of the interplay between emotion, cognition, and behavior.
  
  

• Heffer, Balsis win Teaching Excellence Awards

  Rob Heffer, Clinical Associate Professor, and Steve Balsis, Assistant Professor, were each named as a recipient of the Texas A&M University System Teaching Excellence Awards. These teaching awards, based upon student nominations and voluntary student surveys, are awarded to those instructors scoring in the top 5% of university instructors. Approximately 2,500 instructors were eligible for these awards, which include a certificate and a cash bonus.

• TAMU Psychology recruiting for multiple positions

  TENURED OR TENURE-TRACK POSITIONS IN CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, AND AFRICANA STUDIES - TEXAS A & M UNIVERSITY: The Department of Psychology invites applications for multiple faculty positions: 1 in clinical psychology and 1 in cognitive psychology; current searches in social psychology and Africana Studies remain active and will continue until the positions are filled. Individuals whose work falls into one of these fields exclusively or combines one of these fields with others in psychology are encouraged to apply. For all positions, the searches are targeted at the Assistant Professor level although exceptional individuals at any rank are encouraged to apply. These positions are targeted to begin September 1, 2010 (or before with active searches). CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY: Specific area of expertise is open; the successful applicant will be expected to contribute to our undergraduate program as well as our APA-accredited doctoral program in clinical psychology. COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY: Specific area of expertise is open; the successful applicant should demonstrate an independent research program in any area of cognitive psychology. In addition, current searches in Social Psychology and Africana Studies are not closed and may be continued. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY: Up to two positions may be filled, and specific area of expertise is open; the successful applicants must be prepared to teach basic and advanced undergraduate and graduate social psychology courses in our expanding Social program. AFRICANA STUDIES: Up to two positions may be filled, and will be jointly appointed with the Africana Studies Program. Applications for this position are invited from individuals with research and teaching interests focusing on issues broadly related to the intersection of psychology and Africana studies, including but not limited to the social, cognitive, and health-related development of African-American children and their families. The successful applicants should have a demonstrated commitment to Africana Studies as a discipline. For each position, please send a letter of application, vita, and representative reprints and have three letters of recommendation sent to the Department of Psychology, Texas A & M University, 4235 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-4235. Materials should be addressed to the Chair of the respective search committees; electronic materials may be sent to search@psych.tamu.edu and should indicate the position of interest in the subject line. Review of applications will begin October 1st and continue until the positions are filled. Information about the department may be obtained at http://psychology.tamu.edu <http://psychology.tamu.edu/> Texas A & M University is now in a period of significant growth. The university is approaching its goal of hiring approximately 450 new faculty members to enhance departments, including the Psychology Department, that have been recognized as among the University's strongest. Texas A & M is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. Women and minority candidates are encouraged to apply. The University is committed to building a culturally diverse educational environment and is responsive to the needs of dual career couples.

• Schmeichel receives NSF research grant

  Dr. Brandon Schmeichel has received a grant from NSF to study impulsivity and self-control. This line of research suggests that impulse strength (i.e., the motivational force of an impulse) and self-control strength (i.e., the person’s capacity to control impulses) are distinct but interacting causes of self-control failure. The central hypothesis is that exercising self-control may paradoxically lead to a temporary increase in impulse strength, which in turn may increase the likelihood of self-control failure. Determining whether failures of self-control stem mainly from overly strong impulses or weak self-control strength will suggest the most promising routes by which to minimize several undesirable behaviors, from unhealthy eating and profligate spending to violent behavior and drug abuse.

• Miner-Rubino awarded NSF Grant

  Dr. Kathi Miner-Rubino has received a grant from the National Science Foundation to study college women's academic experiences in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

• Welcome to new faculty!

  We are pleased to announce that the following new faculty members have joined our department beginning in the Fall semester of 2009.
  
  

  • Dr. Chris Berry - Assistant Professor - I/O Psychology - Previously an assistant professor at Wayne State University, Dr. Berry's research addresses issues of validity and fairness in pre-employment and personnel selection procedures.
  
  
  • Dr. Paul Eastwick - Assistant Professor - Social Psychology - Arriving from Northwestern University, Dr. Eastwick examines romantic processes and the role of attachment in the development of romantic relationships.
  
  
  • Dr. Joshua Hicks - Assistant Professor - Social Psychology - Dr. Hicks completed his doctoral work at the University of Missouri-Columbia. His research deals with the interplay of individual differences, situational factors, and cognitive processes in outcomes such as meaning in life, substance use and abuse, magical beliefs and behaviors, and personality development.
  
  
  • Dr. Rebecca Schlegel - Assistant Professor - Social Psychology - Dr. Schlegel completed her doctoral work at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her interests include coping and well-being, particularly in health-related contexts, as well as the establishment of identity in rural and underserved groups.
  
  
  • Anita Kim joins us as a Visiting Assistant Professor in Social Psychology. She is a doctoral candidate at the University of Minnesota, and has research interests primarily dealing with the personal evaluation of social policies.
  
  
  • Seema Saigal joins us as a Clinical Instructor in Clinical Psychology. She is a doctoral candidate at Northwestern University, with research interests in marital interactions and couples therapy.
  
  

• Gable wins Kunze Prize

  Social Psychology graduate student Philip Gable was named as the recipient of the 2009 Kunze Prize. This Prize is presented to a doctoral student nearing completion of the degree program who has shown superior academic achivement and successful publication in refereed journals of national or international stature; the recipient is also expected to demonstrate good citizenship through contributions to the university or the community. The award is named after George W. Kunze, a former Dean of Graduate Studies at Texas A&M University. Philip works with Professor Eddie Harmon-Jones on his research in the psychophysiology of emotion.

• Setlow awarded major NIDA grant

  Professor Barry Setlow was recently awarded a major grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to support a research project entitled 'Neural mechanisms of enduring cocaine effects on impulsive choice'. The 5-year, million dollar project will examine the neural mechanisms by which chronic cocaine use causes long-lasting difficulties in delaying gratification. These difficulties may contribute to addiction by rendering users more likely to choose the immediate rewards of further drug use (e.g., short-term euphoria, relief from withdrawal symptoms) over the delayed but ultimately more beneficial rewards of abstinence (better health, employment, family relationships). Knowledge gained from these experiments will form an important foundation for developing novel treatments to reduce the likelihood of relapse and to enhance quality of life for addicted individuals.
  

• Edens awarded NIMH grant to study contextual processes in prisoner research

  Professor John Edens was recently awarded an $800,000 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to study contextual influences in prisoner research. This multi-site project examines prisoners’ (and other offenders’) attitudes about research participation in general, and their views and perceptions about specific factors that could potentially affect their ability to give voluntary consent to research participation. This project also examines the influence of individual differences variables on these attitudes and perceptions.
  

• TAMU Clinical Psychology identified as Top 10 Clinical Program

  The TAMU Clinical Psychology program was ranked in the Top 10 in the country in terms of faculty scholarly productivity for the 2006-2007 period, according to Academic Analytics. The Top 10 rankings of various fields may be found at:
  
  http://www.academicanalytics.com/TopSchools/TopPrograms.aspx#11
  
  The rankings are based upon a method for evaluating doctoral programs at Research Universities (across all Carnegie research classifications), based on a set of statistical algorithms developed by Lawrence Martin, Ph.D. and Anthony Olejniczak, Ph.D.. The index measures the annual productivity of faculty on several factors including publications (books and journal articles), citations of journal publications, Federal research funding, and awards and honors.