Psychology

Diversity is something that we necessarily take very seriously. We have compiled a series of documents dealing with diversity issues that may be of interest to certain students. These files can be accessed via the link below.
Diversity Resources

Many of our faculty members maintain research that deals with diversity issues, and are happy to provide guidance to students seeking to pursue diversity related research. Statements and contact information from these faculty members can be found in the table below.

Dr. Gerianne Alexander	E-Mail
Associate Professor	Phone: 979-845-2567
I am interested in preattentive processing as it relates to reproductive behavior - and one task that I have developed measures processing of facial expressions. The measure includes many faces - male, female including some with different racial characteristics. I would be interested in evaluating how social stereotypes influence memory for these perceived ethnic or racial groups. Any undergrad interested in this area is welcomed to contact me.
Dr. Ludy T. Benjamin, Jr.	E-Mail
Professor of Psychology and Educational Psychology Presidential Professor of Teaching Excellence	Phone: 979-845-2540
As a researcher who studies the history of psychology I have a number of interests, one of which is the influence of several of the early African-American psychologists (see, for example my recent article on Kenneth B. Clark and the Brown vs. Board decision in the American Psychologist, 2002, 57, 38-50). Currently I am working on two related projects. The first is a biographical article on Inez Beverly Prosser (1894-1934), the first African-merican woman to get a doctorate in psychology. Most of the work on that project is complete. A second project involves the actions of Francis Cecil Sumner (1895-1954) in protesting the drafting of African Americans for military service to fight in Europe during the first World War. There is still a good deal of research to be done on that project. I am always open to other suggested research projects in the history of psychology that might be generated by student interests.
Dr. Mindy Bergman	E-Mail
Associate Professor	Phone: 979-845-9707
I conduct research on sexual and racial harassment and discrimination in the workplace. And for some of my research, I specifically need UGs and Grads of color (and both sexes!) in order to minimize testing effects and lend legitimacy to the experimental session.
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I conduct research on bilingual sentence processing, as well as research on psycholinguistic aspects of second language acquisition.
Dr. Antonio Cepeda-Benito	E-Mail
Professor Dean of Faculties	Phone: 979-845-8038
I share Texas A&M University’s, and the Psychology Department’s commitment to increase the ethnic and cultural diversity of our faculty and students. Since I came to Texas A&M University in 1994 I have chaired or co-chaired four Ph.D. dissertations and four master’s thesis defenses. Currently, I mentor two post-master and four pre-master students. My graduate students come from very diverse backgrounds. Of the twelve graduate students I mentor, or have mentored, three are European-American, five are Hispanic, one is African-American, one is Asian-American, and two are Spanish (from the University of Granada, Spain). Since 2000 I have published 12 peer reviewed journal articles and 3 book chapters on a wide variety of topics, including the development of psychological tolerance to the effects of nicotine, the effects of nicotine and cocaine on meal patterns, an examination of child abuse research, food cravings and eating disorders, and the development and validation of psychological measures for use in Anglo, African-American, Hispanic-American and Spanish-speaking populations. Thus, my students have the flexibility of selecting their focus of study from a wide variety of choices or tailor their own interests into existing projects.
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I have at least two interests in this area. First are the cultural and/or racial ethic effects on body image and eating behavior. Second, I'm interested in studying the validity of assessment instruments across different racial/ethnic or cultural groups. I'm very open to supervising ethnic minority students and currently play a role in the supervision of two students.
Dr. Jim Grau	E-Mail
Professor Mary Tucker Currie Professor of Liberal Arts	Phone: 979-845-2584
My research interests include spinal neural plasticity and learning, as well as recovery of function following spinal cord injury. I am interested in mentoring graduate and undergraduate students from underrepresented ethnic minority backgrounds. I am also involved in the Texas Minority Consortium in Neuroscience. The consortium is funded by the National Institute of Health and provides funding for graduate training.
Dr. Mary Meagher	E-Mail
Professor Cornerstone Faculty Fellow	Phone: 979-845-2564
Although my research program does not focus on diversity issues, I am committed to mentoring undergraduate and graduate students who come from diverse backgrounds. I hold a broad view of diversity which includes race, class, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and identity, religion, geographic origin, age, and disability. I am chair of the Department's Diversity Committee and serve on several university diversity committees, including the Faculty and Staff Committed to an Inclusive Campus and the Council of Principal Investigator's Diversity Committee. My research focuses on the effects of stress on an animal model of multiple sclerosis. In addition, I conduct research on how stress and emotional states alter human pain perception. I am also involved in the Texas Minority Consortium in Neuroscience. The consortium is funded by the National Institute of Health and provides funding for graduate training of underrepresented minority students.
Dr. Les Morey	E-Mail
Professor and Department Head	Phone: 979-845-2575
One of my interests involves gender and cultural bias in mental health measures and constructs, and also (but to a lesser extent) cross-cultural comparability of such measures and constructs.
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I currently supervise the research of two minority students--Angelica Rocha and Rodrigo Valles. Each is supported by the Texas Minority Consortium in Neuroscience. In addition to adding to the diversity of our student population, it provides these students with an opportunity to examine drug-related issues that are sometimes ethnically linked.
Dr. Stephanie C. Payne	E-Mail
Associate Professor Ray A. Rothrock Fellow	Phone: 979-845-2090
Although my research program does not focus on diversity issues, I am very open to mentoring undergraduate and graduate students who come from underrepresented ethnic minority groups. My research interests include the measurement and prediction of efficient behavior in the workplace; individual differences; training; performance appraisal; military psychology; and history of industrial/organizational psychology.
Dr. Steven Smith	E-Mail
Professor	Phone: 979-845-2509
I have two research projects that are directly relevant to minority issues: 1. Language (English vs. Spanish) X Culture (Texas vs. Spain) studies of false memories. 2. Tip-of-the-tongue research involving language switching to relieve memory retrieval blocks. In addition, I am interested in mentoring minority Ph.D. students in all of my research. I have had two Hispanic Ph.D. students in the past who were involved in my memory and metacognition research, and both are now professors at academic institutions. My research areas are: Memory (Retrieval Blocking & Recovery, Context-Dependent Memory, Reminiscence & Hypermnesia, Aging & Memory, Eyewitness Memory, Created Memories) Creative Cognition (Fixation & Mental Blocks, Incubation, Insight,Creative Idea Generation) Metacognition (Tip-Of-the-Tongue (TOT) States, Feeling-Of-Knowing (FOK) Reports, Feelings of Imminence)
Dr. Douglas Snyder	E-Mail
Professor	Phone: 979-845-2539
My research interests related to cultural, ethnic, and other minority groups center on assessment of intimate relationships in these groups. Specifically, my research has examined adaptations and cross-cultural applications of the Marital Satisfaction Inventory – Revised (MSI-R) with Spanish-dominant Hispanic couples in the U.S.; monolingual Spanish-speaking couples from Mexico, Cuba, and Spain; couples from Germany; and Russian-speaking couples from Uzbekistan. My colleagues and I have also examined use of the MSI-R with gay and lesbian couples in both clinic and community settings. More generally, my research examines methods for evaluating the psychological equivalence of psychometric measures across culturally diverse groups, and adaptations of individual and couple therapy for minority group members.
Dr. Jyotsna Vaid	E-Mail
Professor	Phone: 979-845-2576
Jyotsna Vaid does research on the influence of language and culture on the processing and representation of spoken and written language. Specific groups of interest are Spanish-English bilinguals, Hindi/Urdu-English, Korean/English, and Chinese/English speakers. Recent work in her lab is exploring the influence of cultural variables on figurative language use, including the processing of jokes, proverbs, and other forms of layered discourse. A separate project involves exploring cognitive dimensions of biculturality; populations of interest here are first and second generation members of "recent" immigrant groups in the U.S. Students interested in these research topics are invited to contact Dr. Vaid. Prospective graduate students are also welcome.

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