Convention Highlights 2009

We had a great program for you in 2009.  There were two SWPA invited speakers, the APA sponsored Harry Kirke Wolfe lecture, plus three invited symposia organized by our state representatives in the second year of their 2-year term (Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas).  Additionally, several of our adjunct organizations had invited speakers (Psi Chi, SAMR, and SCPA), and there was the traditional President's talk on Friday afternoon.  Of course, the program was also filled with a variety of talks and posters by our members.  Finally, we had eight Continuing Education (CE) sessions available at the convention (the first CE sessions in several years).

On Thursday evening we held our recently revitalized SWPA social, where at least 200 members joined us for conversation, networking, hors d'oeuvres and cash bar, and door prizes. 

The 2009 program is also available. 

Dr. Ernest Jouriles Chair, Department of Psychology Southern Methodist University Join us to hear about ground-breaking research:  "Children, Violence, and Virtual Reality." Dr. Jouriles is a leading authority on family violence and child functioning. His groundbreaking research on the effects of children’s exposure to marital conflict and violence has prompted new theories on how inter-parent conflict influences children. He has also conducted pioneering research on interventions for children in families characterized by frequent and severe intimate partner violence. More recently, he has begun a research program on the prevention of violence in adolescent romantic relationships. [more Biography on Dr. Jouriles]

Dr. Steve Davis Emeritus Professor at Emporia State University. Dr. Davis' 2009 SWPA presentation, Cheating and Education: The Most Dangerous Intersection in the World, is based on student-inspired research on academic dishonesty that he has conducted for the past 20 years. Currently he serves as Visiting Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Texas Wesleyan University (Ft. Worth) and Distinguished Guest Professor at Morningside College (Sioux City, IA). [more Biography on Dr. Davis]

Dr. Don Forsyth Colonel Leo K. and Gaylee Thorsness Chair in Ethical Leadership in the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond, Virginia Dr. Forsyth's talk, titled "Teaching and Learning with the Self in Mind, " will address the question “Who am I?” This question is not a puzzling one for humans, whose unique capacity for self-reflection allows them to look inward to review their own qualities and then critique those qualities. This sense of self, and its influence on both teaching and learning, is the focus of Donelson R. Forsyth’s Harry Kirke Wolfe Lecture.  Forsyth will explore how the self—and the self’s striving for enhancement--both helps and hinders students (and teachers as well) as they strive to achieve their educational goals. Don, a social psychologist, studies reactions to success and failure, leadership, individual differences in moral thought, applications of social psychology in educational and clinical settings, and group dynamics.  He has written and edited several books, including Our Social World (1995), The Professor’s Guide to Teaching (2003), and Group Dynamics (2006).  He is currently the president of APA Division 49, Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy. [more Biography on Dr. Forsyth]

	First speaker: Kevin Hovland, Director of Global Learning and Curricular Change at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Title: Global Learning and Liberal Education: Trends in Higher Education Kevin Hovland directs curriculum and faculty development projects for AAC&U’s Shared Futures initiative as well as for the Educated Citizen and Public Health initiative.  Hovland is the author of Shared Futures: Global Learning and Liberal Education (AAC&U, 2006), program director for AAC&U’s annual meetings, and executive editor of Diversity & Democracy: Civic Learning for Shared Futures, the newsletter of AAC&U’s office of Diversity, Equity, and Global Initiatives.  Hovland earned a BA from Columbia University and did graduate work at Georgetown University.
	Second speaker: Arnold Froese, Professor and Chair of Psychology at Sterling College Title: Psychology for General Education in a Global environment: Visions and Roadblocks Arnold Froese has spent 34 years chairing the psychology department at Sterling College.  He earned a BA from Fresno Pacific University, and an MA from California State University at Fresno. While completing his PhD in comparative and physiological psychology, faculty at the University of Tennessee awarded him an NIMH training grant. At Sterling College, he received the first McCreery Teaching award in his second year of teaching. In 1997, Froese worked with social science colleagues to develop a new interdisciplinary core course for general education which addressed the question, “What can psychology contribute to understanding a troubled world?” For 7 years he directed the college’s assessment program, implementing a clear and simple model of assessment that generated instructional improvements. He recently chaired the General Education Revision Committee. Froese has published articles on teaching and presented papers related to psychology’s role in general education.
	Third speaker: Jonathan Iuzzini, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Public Policy Studies Program affiliate at Hobart and William Smith Colleges Title: How We Can (and Should) Bring Social Justice and Civic Engagement to the Forefront of a 21st Century Psychology Curriculum Jonathan Iuzzini joined the faculty of Hobart & William Smith Colleges in July 2006.  While working on his Masters degree at Texas A&M University, he received the Association of Former Students Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2003, the University’s new student orientation program was nicknamed “Camp Iuzzini” in his honor. He then pursued his doctoral studies in social psychology at the University of Tennessee, where he was a recipient of the Hilton Smith Graduate Research Fellowship and the Science Alliance Award for Excellence in Research. Iuzzini’s research focuses on predictors of positive and negative interracial interactions and the social psychology of white privilege. At Hobart and William Smith Colleges, he teaches introduction to social psychology, a seminar in political psychology, and a bi-disciplinary course (co-taught with a colleague in Education) entitled Intersections of Race, Class, and Gender in Everyday Life.
	Fourth speaker: Chrisanne Christensen, Associate Professor of Psychology at Southern Arkansas University Title: Practical Methods for Incorporating Global Issues in Developmental and Domestic Violence Classes Chrisanne Christensen is Associate Professor of Psychology at Southern Arkansas University. Her teaching and research focus is about student engagement in civic issues. She has received two grants from the Association of American Colleges and Universities to explore and develop engagement experiences. Chrisanne uses 'productive discomfort' in her classrooms to encourage students to explore social issues. She is working on the next 'discomforting' teaching project - focusing on domestic violence issues nationally and globally.

Abstract and Speakers:  The individual presentations of this symposium use empirical data from among college campuses and the US Department of Health to identify and explain different sexual behaviors (e.g., infidelity, jealousy, and dysfunctions). A multi-dimensional view to the individual topics will ensue among the audience and panelists during the discussion. Dr. Michael Vandehey Dr. Michael Walker Dr. Theo Joseph Dr. Jeremy Heider Dr. Nicole Warehime Short Biographies of the Presenters.

Summary: Human sexual behaviors remain one of the most interesting topics in today’s society. Many researchers (e.g., David Buss, Susan Sprecher) have made important contributions in providing possible explanations and specific theories for people’s sexual behaviors. However, can society be better served by taking a multi-perspective approach to examining the same sexual behavior (e.g., abuse, infidelity, jealousy, and dysfunctions)? The individual presentations of this symposium use empirical data (some cross-cultural) from among college campuses and the US Department of Health to identify and explain several different phenomena. A multi-dimensional view to the individual topics will ensue among the audience and panelists during the general discussion.

Dr. Sam Gosling Associate professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Gosling's talk is titled "Personality in Everyday Contexts:  What Your Stuff Says About You." Dr. Gosling did his doctoral work at the University of California at Berkeley, where his dissertation focused on personality in spotted hyenas. In addition to his animal work he also does research on how human personality is manifested in everyday contexts like bedrooms, offices, webpages, and music preferences. Gosling's environmental research, which is summarized in his book, “Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You,” is based on the idea that the spaces in which we live and work are rich with information about what we are like. His work has been widely covered in the media, including The New York Times, Psychology Today, NPR, Nightline, and Good Morning America. Gosling is the recipient of the American Psychological Association's Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution. He lives in Austin, Texas.

Dr. Roger Kirk Distinguished Professor of Psychology & Statistics and Master Teacher Baylor university Dr. Kirk's talk, Analysis of Variance Revisited, will examine the historical development of analysis of variance and nine computational approaches that have been used to compute sums of squares. The advantages of the cell means model approach will be examined in the context of a factorial design with missing observations and empty cells. Extensions of the model to analysis of covariance designs will also be described. Roger E. Kirk grew up in Marietta, Ohio. When he was 15, his parents moved to Columbus, Ohio. He received his B.S. and M.A. in music and his Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the Ohio State University. He did post doctoral study in mathematical psychology at the University of Michigan. He has written over 90 scientific papers in the areas of statistics, psychoacoustics, and human engineering, and five textbooks on statistics. His first book, Experimental Design: Procedures for the Behavioral Sciences, was identified by the Institute for Scientific Information as one of the most frequently cited books in its field. Dr. Kirk is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (Divisions 1, 2, 5, and 13), the American Psychological Society, and the American Association of Applied and Preventive Psychology. He is a past president of the Society for Applied Multivariate Research, Division 5 of the American Psychological Association, and the Southwestern Psychological Association. A recipient of numerous distinctions for teaching effectiveness, he was named the Outstanding Tenured Teacher in the College of Arts and Sciences for 1992-93 and designated a Master Teacher in 1993, Baylor University's highest teaching honor. The Ohio State University Department of Psychology gave him its Distinguished Alumnus Award for 2001. In 2005, he received the Jacob Cohen Award for Distinguished Contributions to Teaching and Mentoring from Division 5 of the American Psychological Association.

	Due to some health-related issues, Dr. Thiessen will not be able to make it to SWPA this year. Dr. Thiessen is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Texas in Austin, Chief Editor and author of Wall Street Tracker (helping investors in the stock market), and a partner with his wife, Denise Stokes, running an energy-independent ranch near Bastrop, Texas. He began his academic career at Denver University, received his B.A degree at San Jose State College (now SJS University), and earned his Ph.D. at the University of California in Berkeley. He researched alcohol responses at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla and investigated animal and human social behavior while at UT-Austin. He has published nine books and over 250 research articles. Dr. Thiessen’s talk, Barnyard Psychology, will address the relations between ethology, comparative psychology, and evolutionary principles. From there he will develop some of the barnyard themes, which will connect the progressive development of these related areas. The talk will expand upon some of the animal work that he has done at his ranch, including some interesting work with donkeys, finally highlighting the geometric proclivities of his dog, Archer, and related cognitive themes.
	Dr. Muir received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. He also recently received the Walter D. Mink Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher Award presented by The Minnesota Psychological Association. This award recognizes a teacher who brings a special quality or commitment to undergraduate teaching in psychology. His research program is guided primarily by questions about the neural mechanisms of spatial cognition and navigation. The firing activity of certain neurons is thought to represent the animal's perceived location ("place" cells) and head direction ("head direction" cells), and he is interested in how the information contained in the firing activity of these cells is used by an animal when solving a spatial task. He is also interested in how learning a spatial task may alter the firing activity of these cells to represent the animal's newly acquired knowledge. Dr. Muir addresses these questions by observing a "behaving" brain in action by recording the activity of single neurons while freely-moving animals perform spatial tasks. His talk entitled "Wrecking the argosy with a rusty nail: Understanding the neural basis of navigation" will compare directional cells recorded in rats and chinchillas and how the vestibular system contributes to the generation of these spatial neural signals and navigational behavior.
	Dr. McGinnis received her Ph.D. from the University of California in Los Angeles, working with Dr. Roger Gorski.  She then did a postdoctoral fellowship at The Rockefeller University with Dr. Bruce McEwen.  She was a professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and is currently a professor of Pharmacology at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. Dr. McGinnis will summarize current findings from her research, which focuses on the effects of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) on the brain and behavior. Since increases in testosterone levels are known to profoundly influence the nervous system during adolescence, chronic exposure to high levels of androgens during pubertal development may produce enduring changes in brain maturation and subsequent behavioral expression. Pubertal rats are used as the animal model to assess effect of AAS on sexual behavior, aggression, serotonin and dendritic spine density.  In her talk, “Anabolic steroid abuse by adolescents: what have we learned from animal research?” the potential impact of these results with regard to AAS abuse in humans will be discussed.