Undergraduate Research Opportunities
Independent Study (PSYC 485)
Independent study is an opportunity for a student to receive course credit for working in a professor’s research lab or for working with a faculty member on a research project. This experience is advantageous for those who are interested in graduate school, may need a letter of recommendation, or just want to gain research experience. Please see here for a more detailed description of the nature of PSYC 485.
The following is a list of faculty members who are currently taking students for independent study during the Spring 2010 term. Please contact the professor(s) in question directly using the information provided below to setup an appointment.
Regarding PSYC 485 Contract Forms: While some professors have their own unique application form(s), the general-purpose contract can be downloaded here or picked up at the department's main office in PM400.
Available Faculty Members:
Dr. David Bridgett
- Office/Lab: 308/130
- Office Phone/Lab Phone/Email: 753-0774, 752-0774, dbridgett1@niu.edu
- Research interests: Developmental Psychopathology, Infant/toddler Emotion Regulation, Parent-child interactions.
- Important Resources: Dr. Bridgett's homepage, which includes a section dedicated to describing possible research experiences available to undergraduate students.
Dr. Amanda Durik
- Office/Lab PM414/PM 329
- Phone/Email: 753-7069, adurik@niu.ed
- Research Interests: Motivation in achievement situations
Dr. Angela Grippo
- Office/Lab: PM 357/328
- Office Phone/Email: (815) 753-7070, angelagrippo@niu.edu
- Research Interests: Interactions of stress, emotion, and cardiovascular function.
- Important Resources: Dr. Grippo's homepage, her lab's public Facebook page, and a unique application.
- Note: Only accepting volunteers at this time.
Dr. Michelle Lilly
- Office/Lab: PM 318/32
- Office Phone/Email: (815) 753-4602, mlily1@niu.edu
- Research Interests: Family violence, trauma, mental health and recovery
- Important Resources: Dr. Lilly's homepage.
Dr. Amy Luckner
- Office/Lab: PM 359/237
- Office Phone/Email: (815) 753-0098, aluckner@niu.edu
- Research Interests: Social processes in the school environment; factors that enhance or impede students’ engagement in school; aggressive and playful relational behaviors and their relation to adjustment.
Dr. Leslie Matuszewich
- Office/Lab: PM 420/537
- Office Phone/Email: (815) 753-0072, lmatusze@niu.edu
- Research Interests: Effects of chronic and acute stress on behavior and the brain; Neurotransmitter regulation of the stress response; Animal models of drug abuse; Neural regulation of sexual behavior in rats.
- Important Resources: Dr. Matuszewich's unique application.
Dr. Holly Orcutt
- Office/Lab: PM 305/330
- Office Phone/Email: (815) 753-5920, horcutt@niu.edu
- Research Interests: Post-traumatic stress disorder; traumatic stress and its consequences; sexual risk-taking behavior; experiential avoidance.
- Important Resources: Dr. Orcutt's homepage, and a unique application.
Dr. Jason Reed
- Office/Lab: PM 555
- Office Phone/Email: (815) 753-9574, jreed11@niu.edu
- Research Interests: Persuasion, relationships, and memory.
Dr. Brad Sagarin
- Office/Lab: PM416/227
- Office Phone/Email: (815) 753-7067, bsagarin@niu.edu
- Research Interests: Attitude change; resistance to persuasion; deception, jealousy and infidelity; evolutionary psychology; human sexuality; statistical approaches to missing data and non-compliance.
- Important Resources: Dr. Sagarin's homepage.
- Note: Dr. Sagarin has a number of new and ongoing studies on jealousy, infidelity, human sexuality, and research methods.
Dr. Alecia Santuzzi
- Office/Lab: PM 561/327
- Office Phone/Email: (815) 753-7096, asantuzzi@niu.edu
- Research Interests: Person perception and social interaction.
Dr. John Skowronski
- Office/Lab: PM 418/133-135
- Office Phone/Email: (815) 753-7073, jskowron@niu.edu
- Research Interests: Processes and structures involved in judgment and memory about others and the self: how we draw conclusions about the internal characteristics (traits, motives, goals) of people, and why we remember certain things about people and forget others.
- Important Resources: Dr. Skowronski's homepage.
Dr. David Valentiner
Dr. Doug Wallace
- Office/Lab: PM 309/430
- Office Phone/Email: (815) 753-7071, dwallace@niu.edu
- Research Interests: Animal models of Alzheimer's Disease.
Dr. Kevin Wu
- Office/Lab: PM 311/31
- Office Phone/Email: (815) 753-1605, kevinwu@niu.edu
- Research Interests: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder; personality; personality disorders; relations between the mood and anxiety disorders.
- Note: Student-initiated projects address the assessment of social anxiety disorder, rumination and how it relates to depression and anxiety, and the importance of certain beliefs for understanding repetitive phenomena (e.g., obsessions, worries). Undergraduate research assistants may earn credit through PSYC 485; typically, students are recruited in April or May to begin during the subsequent Fall term and stay on for either one or (preferably) two terms. Less frequently, students may apply during November/December to begin during the following Spring term.
