MMC Community Members to Present Research Projects at Eastern Psychological Association Convention

The student and alumnae projects are the result of cooperative efforts with faculty members. Linda Solomon, professor of psychology, worked with LisaMarie Goodell, Larissa Kline, Laurissa Mallozzi and Matthew Pittsinger. Claire Owen ’96, assistant professor of psychology, worked with Laurissa Mallozzi, and Cheryl Paradis, associate professor of psychology, worked with Sean McCarthy and Lindsay Meyer ’07.

MMC student presenters were selected from a pool of applicants who were undergraduates, graduates and professionals based on abstracts they submitted about their projects. The MMC representatives will be among a group of several hundred poster presenters who are also members or associates of the Eastern Psychological Association (EPA). The short abstracts will be included in the event program. The long abstracts were used by the program committee to make the decisions for which proposals to accept.

Matthew Pittsinger will present “Perception of Classical and Modern Forms in Art: Positive and Negative Attitudes across Demographic Groupings,” which examined the relationship between demographic data and participants’ appreciation of modern and classical art based on income and education level.

Sean McCarthy’s project, “Attribution Theory, the Contact Hypothesis and Attitudes Toward Gay Marriage,” assessed whether the attribution of homosexuality to biological causes and contact with homosexuals could predict favorable attitudes toward gay marriage and adoption.

LisaMarie Goodell will present “Sex Differences in Attitudes toward Intimacy and Plural Marriage,” which compared the attitudes of men and women towards intimacy in marriage, based on responses to two parallel scenarios about married, employed mothers, one of the whom was married to a polygamist.

Laurissa Mallozzi’s project, “Mentors View of Social Support: Paying it Forward,” surveyed a sample of participants from various occupations and found a significant difference between those who had mentoring experience and those who did not in perceived social support from supervisors, but not from family and friends.

Larissa Kline assessed the effect of ‘understaffing’ in a small college in her poster, “Division of the Sciences: Satisfaction Guaranteed? Student Attitudes Toward Major, Faculty and Department.” Results of surveys of college students analyzed relationships between number of full-time faculty in a major and satisfaction with the major and the faculty.

Lindsay Meyer will present “Competency to Stand Trial in an Inner City Forensic Clinic,” which examined bio-psycho-social-legal data of competency to stand trial reports at an inner city forensic clinic. Significant associations were found between a determination of unfitness and psychotic symptoms.

The Eastern Psychological Association (EPA) was founded in 1896 and is the oldest of the regional Psychological Associations in the United States. Its purpose is to advance the science and profession through the dissemination of professional information about the field of Psychology. EPA promotes psychology research, career development and networking throughout members. It hosts master lectures about various areas in psychology, master teaching lectures for instructors, and symposia, which provide a venue for discussions about topics in psychology and academia.

Published: March 03, 2008