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PsychNotes
www.psychology.ccsu.edu/psychnotes
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Welcome to the PsychNotes Website!!
PsychNotes, a regular publication of the Psychology Department at Central Connecticut State University, is intended to inform members of the Psychology community (faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, alumni) about current happenings in the Department.
We are pleased to announce that the psychology department has hired three new tenure-track professors! Please join me in welcoming Carrie Andreoletti who specializes in the area of Adult Development and Aging; Rebecca M. Wood who specializes in the area of applied Child Developmental Psychology; and Carolyn R. Fallahi who specializes in Child and Clinical Psychology.
The Psychology Colloquium Series is pleased to present:
The Psychology Colloquium Series along with the Psychology Club and Psi Chi Honors Society is pleased to present a free lecture entitled, Apply the Theory of Practical Intelligence to Develop Experience-based (Tacit) Knowledge. This lecture will be presented by Cynthia T. Matthew (Presenter) and Robert J. Sternberg of Yale University. Hope to see you on Wednesday, October 6th, from 2:00-3:00, in the Philbrick/Camp Room (1st floor) in the Student Center.
This year the Psychology Department at Eastern Connecticut State University will host the 8th Annual Psychology Day Conference. The Psychology Day Conference is a free, day-long event that usually features scholarly and social events for both faculty and students. More information will be provided by your professors soon. It is never too soon to be thinking about a potential research presentation!
Meet the Faculty Luncheon
Please mark your calendars! On Tuesday, October 26th, the psychology department will host a free luncheon between the hours of 11:00 and 1:00 in the Constitution Room. This is your opportunity to get to know your professors a little better while enjoying lunch on us! Hope to see you there!
How to Get into Graduate School Informational Presentation
Please mark your calendars! On Wednesday, November 17th, from 3:00-5:00 (room to be announced), the psychology department will host a form designed to educate our students about the process of both preparing for, and applying to graduate schools. This is not a program focused just on seniors, but on all our undergraduate majors to get them thinking about graduate education.
We will begin with a presentation by one of our faculty who will give an overview of the process of deciding on and applying to a graduate program. We would then like to have brief presentations from representatives from several different types of graduate programs in CT to give the students some insight into how admission decisions are made and the qualities that make a student an attractive candidate. There will also be time for the representatives to give a brief overview of their respective programs. We will conclude the program with an opportunity for students to talk one-on-one with the speakers. Don’t miss this exciting event!
Psychology Achievement Test:
All psychology majors are required to take a “Standardized Psychology Achievement Test” in order to graduate. The test will be administered according to the following guidelines:
· All students with Senior standing (86+ credits) will be eligible to take the test
· The test will be administered two (2) times per semester. The dates for testing sessions will be posted outside of my office, Room 212-Marcus White Hall, the first week of classes every semester
· Eligible students will register to take the test with the department secretary, Room 211-Marcus White Hall, at least one week before the scheduled exam date
We strongly recommend that you plan ahead and register to take the test with enough time to avoid being denied graduation because of this requirement.
Psychology testing dates for this semester include Friday, November 12th from 4:00-6:00 p.m. in FD Auditorium Room 001 and Friday, November 19th from 6:00-8:00 in FD Auditorium Room 001.
The Psychology department has a newcomer! We are pleased to announce that Sallie R. Pinkney is the new secretary for our department. Please stop by and introduce yourself to Sallie. Sallie’s office hours are between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. with a break for lunch between the hours of 1:00 and 1:30. If you need to contact Sallie, you can reach her at Pinkneysar@ccsu.edu. The departmental office number is 860-832-3100. Sallie comes to us with much experience. She has been employed with the state for ten years. She has worked in the Immunization program with in the department of public health as well as a research assistant in the New Born Screening Unit. Welcome Sallie!
An Interview with a new Faculty Member: Dr. Carrie Andreoletti
I received my B.A. in psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder. After college I moved to Boston and worked for several years as a mental health worker at a small private psychiatric hospital. This was a wonderful experience and gave me great exposure to the clinical side of psychology. Later I worked as a research assistant and secretary in the psychology department at Suffolk University, which gave me a good sense of the academic side of psychology. While at Suffolk I received a master’s degree in organizational communication, but realized that psychology was my true calling. So in 1995 I began my graduate training in psychology at Brandeis University.
My graduate training was an integration of social and developmental psychology, which is reflected in my broad research interests. During my time at Brandeis, I conducted research that examined the influence of physical appearance stereotypes on behavior and control beliefs as well as research related to aging. My current work focuses on understanding the role of social cognitive (e.g., control beliefs, efficacy), affective (e.g., anxiety) and behavioral (e.g., strategy use) factors in enhancing memory performance in adulthood. I am also interested in the influence of age stereotypes and beliefs about aging on cognitive and physical functioning in adulthood, which is reflected in my dissertation that examined the influence of age stereotypes on control beliefs and memory ability in young, middle-aged, and older adults. I have also investigated the content of compound stereotypes (e.g., gender, race, age) across the life span and plan to continue my work in this area.
After finishing my dissertation, I remained at Brandeis and became the projector coordinator of a research grant funded by the National Institute of Aging to study control beliefs, memory, and aging. During this time, in addition to pursuing my own research, I also had the opportunity to supervise student research and to teach several psychology classes. Although I was sad to leave my friends and colleagues at Brandeis, after 8 years there, it was time move on and I was thrilled to accept the position at Central Connecticut State University.
I am so happy to be a part of the CCSU community and look forward to getting more students interested and involved in adult development and aging research. I am also hoping to get more students enrolled in the Gerontology minor program and interested in pursuing careers in aging. In the United States over the next 20 years, as the Baby Boomers start reaching age 65, the 65 and over age group is expected to double by the year 2030. In addition, those 85 and over belong to one of the fastest growing segments of our population. This translates into a growing need for a variety of programs, products, and services that are responsive to the interests of our aging population as well as a growing need for an educated work force ready to meet these demands.
It is important that you meet with your academic advisor to plan your academic program at CCSU, to prepare your class schedule, to ask any questions that you may have, or to assist you in planning your future career. To help you get in touch with your advisor, a directory of psychology faculty that contains their telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and office hours has been placed in our web page this Fall Semester (faculty office hours). If you don’t have an advisor, please see the secretary to be assigned one.
All Psychology majors are encouraged to join the Psychology Club. The club meets several times each semester, and sponsors a number of events including speakers and an annual trip to a psychology conference. The Faculty Advisor to the club is Dr. Carolyn R. Fallahi, 208 Marcus White Hall, 860-832-3114, Fallahic@ccsu.edu. The 2004-2005 Psychology Club President is R. Todd Dyer. To contact Todd regarding the Psychology club, please email him at: ccsupsychclub@yahoo.com.
Psychology Majors are invited to join Psi Chi – The National Honor Society in Psychology. The purpose of Psi Chi is to encourage excellence in scholarship of the individual members, and to advance the science of psychology. We have had a chapter of Psi Chi at CCSU for over 30 years. The criteria for joining are:
· Each candidate must have completed at least 12 semester hours in Psychology including Psychology 221 (Research Methods I)
· The candidate must have an overall GPA of 3.00 and a GPA in Psychology courses of 3.5.
The president of Psi Chi for the 2004-2005 academic year is Robert Fellows. Rob’s email address is: rfellows23@hotmail.com. Dr. Fallahi is the advisor for the CCSU chapter of Psi Chi. For further information about the Society, contact her:
Office: Marcus White Room 208
Phone: (860)
832-3114
E-mail:
fallahic@ccsu.edu
Mail:
Psychology main office in Room 211-Marcus White Hall (second floor).
Please watch for upcoming Psychology club and Psi Chi meetings.
Francisco J. Donis,
Chairperson
Psychology Department