Conference allows students to make connections, learn

By Amanda Phipps

phippsa@mytjnow.com

Stereotyping, eating behaviors and Facebook friend request trends are some of the topics psychology students will be presenting at the Southeastern Psychology Association Annual Conference in Jacksonville, Fla. this March. 

The conference will be held March 2-5 and will bring together psychology students, faculty, practitioners and experts for discussions and presentations, associate professor of psychology Merry Sleigh-Ritzer said. 

Students had the chance to submit research they have done either in a class or independently for credit to be peer-reviewed by experts in the field, she said. If accepted, the students will be presenting their projects at the conference; at least 26 Winthrop students will be presenting this year. 

Psychology majors are required to take Psych 302, a research methods class, which requires them to do an individual or group research project and create a poster, said senior psychology major Adrianne Galassie. She will be one of the students at the conference presenting the poster from both the class research and individual research she did for credit.

Galassie will be presenting research she did on society’s perceptions of people with tattoos, she said. Working with a partner, Galassie sampled students and discovered that most people are open about tattoos, though some see them negatively. 

Galassie will also present the independent research she did, which involved understanding what kind of people have self-promotional or egotistical characteristics, she said. She and her partner compared groups such as Greek life members, athletes and honor students and found no group had a higher level of these characteristics than another. However, they found males did. 

Galassie wants to go into clinical psychology and said the research was a learning experience. 

“It was good preparation for graduate school,” she said. “It’s what I will be expected to do in the future.”

Senior psychology major Rachel Wood will also present a project she worked on in 302 and continued with during independent research, she said. 

Working with senior psychology major Lisa Wilkinson, Wood studied society’s attitude towards homosexuality, she said.

They found that, though most people are pretty open about homosexuals, liberals and women have a more positive view on homosexuality, Wood said.

“It’s nice to learn to do research,” she said. “It’s interesting.”

Wood said she wants to gain experience with presenting research and hopefully win an award. 

Senior psychology major Amy Rivers studied the psychology behind Facebook friend requests. She set up four mock profiles using her sister and brother-in-law’s information, with their permission, to see how many people would add them even though they were complete strangers. 

Rivers found that, though many people denied the requests or sent her messages asking who she was, some people did accept them without hesitation, she said. People were also more likely to accept her sister, showing people felt safer accepting a female than a male. 

Rivers also used both real pictures and cartoons and said people favored real pictures, but added the ones with the cartoon as well. She said people who had more friends were more likely to add the profiles. 

“It surprised me (how many people added the profiles),” she said. “It’s interesting and unsettling.”

Rivers said she increased the security on her own Facebook page after finishing the project. 

Rivers said she is looking forward to the conference. 

“Going to conferences is fun,” she said. “You go out of town and see what other people are doing.” 

Senior psychology majors Meagan Burns and Heather Ernst used surveys to study people’s perceptions of what is most valuable to learn in psychology, both in high school and college, Burns said. 

People listed sleep and brain functions as important subjects, she said. She will present this at the conference. 

“I hope to interact with professors from graduate schools I have applied to,” she said. “I want to gain a wider knowledge of what’s current in research and come up with some new ideas.”

The conference provides a networking opportunity for students, Sleigh-Ritzer said. It will allow them to hear from psychology experts and share their stories with students from different schools, she said.

Students will also have the chance to receive awards for their research. Winthrop students have sometimes won more awards than students from the bigger research universities, Sleigh-Ritzer said.

“We’ve had pretty good results from students,” she said. “For us to outperform (the bigger schools) is very impressive.”

The awards reflect the psychology department’s emphasis on providing students with the skills and experience necessary for graduate and professional programs, said Joe Prus, chair of the psychology department. 

“Last year, over 60 psychology majors presented at professional conferences and 10 received research awards,” he said. “I wish we had the resources to do even more, for example, offering students quality summer research opportunities with faculty.”

The psychology department prepares students to do well and makes it possible and exciting for them to present, Sleigh-Ritzer said. 

“We make sure students are putting their best foot forward,” she said. “We try to maintain an atmosphere to let them think about the opportunity and want to go.”

The psychology department has continued to mentor student research, Prus said.

“With the support of the University and some extraordinary effort on the part of faculty, the department has been particularly successful in getting students to conferences in more recent years,” he said. 

Sleigh-Ritzer said this experience is important for students’ future education. 

“This experience is critical for graduate school acceptance,” she said. “They have to have a research background.” 

Other topics that students are presenting include music’s effect on mood and young adults’ perceptions of interracial relationships. 

The trip is partially funded by the undergraduate research council in the College of Arts and Sciences and by SPAR (Office of Sponsored Programs and Research), Sleigh-Ritzer said. She said the psychology department also contributes to the trip. 

“We try to support the students financially, but there are always some costs they incur on their own,” she said. “We appreciate all the support we get.”