The Senior Program

Each psychology major completes a research project that culminates in a written thesis and an oral presentation. Working closely with a faculty advisor, the student uses the senior project to synthesize and focus previous coursework. Each project is an original work of scholarship that provides an in-depth examination of a particular empirical or theoretical issue.

Recent projects in psychology include:

• “Dear God, Why Me?”: Personality, Religious/Spiritual Struggles, and Well-being in a Jewish Population
• Stereotypes and Bail Hearings
• White Privilege Perceptions Following an Ego Threat: Comparing Self-Affirmation and Self-Compassion as Protective Factors
• Does Targeting Pluralistic Ignorance Reduce Loneliness by Decreasing the Pressure to Hide Negative Emotions from Others?
• Impact of Mental Illness Mitigating Evidence on Blame Attribution and Sentencing Endorsements
• The Relationship Between Self-Reflection and Social Problem-Solving
• Can Video Games Help Us Keep Going?
• The Relationship Between Attending a Strict Religious Faith-Based School and Worsening Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in Early Adolescents
• The Straw that Broke the Friendship’s Back: How Gender Impacts Friendship Breakups
• For the Love of Subtitles! Inattention and Digital Media
• The Power of Play: How Play Impacts Well-being in Adulthood
• Time Flies When You’re With Your Pet? The Role of Pets in Affective Time Estimation
• Is Higher Education Liberal Propaganda? The Relationship Between College Major and Political Affiliation
• MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD: The Role of Music Selection
• Art Therapy for Autism: Is There a Better Age to Start?
• With a Little Help From My Friend: The Effect of the Presence of a Close Friend on Positive Risk-Taking
• Problem-Solving Strategies in Middle Childhood: Employing Self-Talk to Narrate a Growth Mindset
• “Put me in, Coach”: How Coaching Style Impacts Performance Outcomes
• Investigating Correlates of PTSD and Depression After Unwanted Sexual Contact: Victim-Blame, Self-Blame, and Rape Myth Acceptance
• Missed Autism Diagnosis? The Role of Sex, Gender Identity, and Camouflaging
• Collectivism or Individualism: Which Is Stronger When Resources Are Scarce?
• Examining the Role of Learning in Emotion Regulation
• Athletic Participation as Protection? Understanding the Relationship Between Sport Type and Eating Disorders in Females
• The Effect of Race and Symptomatology on Patient Believability
• Cumulative Risk and Parent Stress on Child Emotion Regulation: Can Pretend Play Serve as a Protective Factor?
• What’s Mine Is Yours
• The Social Disgust: Reported Disgust Mediates Perceived Observation and Blame
• Start Simple: The Use of Scaffolded Learning in A Complex Spatial Localization Task