Tag: Department of Psychological Sciences

Associate professors of psychology Mindy Erchull and Miriam Liss’ study “Feminism and Attachment Parenting: Attitudes, Stereotypes, and Misperceptions” appears in the June 2012 edition of the journal Sex Roles.

The study, based on a survey of hundreds of self-described feminists and non-feminists, shows that attachment parenting techniques, like co-sleeping, breastfeeding and carrying a child in a body sling, are more popular with feminists than non-feminists. The study also reveals that people hold stereotypes about the ‘typical feminist,’ when in fact those stereotypes aren’t true.

Liss and Erchull’s study has appeared in various media outlets, including Buzz Feed, Science Daily and Counsel & Heal.

Holly Schiffrin presented during a four-hour workshop at the annual meeting of the American Institute of Architects National Convention and Design Exposition in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, May 16. The workshop, “Happiness and Architecture: Linking Design to Positive Psychology,” also featured Charles First, an architect with HEERY that has been working on the Dahlgren campus. Other co-presenters included Tim Bachman and Connie Hom of Buckingham Greenery.

Psychology faculty members Mindy Erchull, Miriam Liss, Virginia Mackintosh, Christine McBride, David Rettinger, Holly Schiffrin and Hilary Stebbins will present research at the 2012 Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention from Thursday, May 24 through Sunday, May 27 in Chicago.

Liss and Schiffrin, along with 2012 graduate Kathryn Rizzo, will present “The Impact of Intensive Parenting on the Well-Being of Mothers.” Liss and Schiffrin are the faculty sponsors of “Mother, father, or parent? College students’ intensive parenting beliefs differ by referent,” presented by students Katherine Geary, Taryn Tashner, Haley Miles-McLean,  Kathryn Rizzo and Charlotte Hagerman.

Schiffrin, Liss, Mackintosh, Erchull and student Haley Miles McLean will present “Development and Validation of a Quantitative Measure of Intensive Parenting Attitudes.”

McBride will present “The Impact of Cognitive Stress, Social Stress, and Appraisals on Eating Behavior” with student Janet Greider. Students Erin Burdwood and Amy Newcomb also were part of the research team.

Rettinger will present “Guilt-Proneness and Fear of Being Caught Deter Cheating” with students Caitlin Brady, Megan Hess, Frank Knizner and Caroline Lupsha.

Stebbins will present “The Interaction Between Emotional Expressions of Face Targets in the Attentional Blink” with students Alyssa Dembrowski, David Levin and Chelsea Mageland.

Ted Dumas, assistant professor of molecular neuroscience at George Mason University, will deliver the keynote address, “Boundaries: When One Stops and Another Begins,” at The 27th Annual Psi Chi Symposium for Undergraduate Research in Psychology at the University of Mary Washington. The lecture will take place at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 20 in Chandler Hall, Room 102.

Students will present their research during sessions on Thursday, April 19 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Friday, April 20 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. All presentations will take place in Chandler Hall, Room 102. A reception will follow the conclusion of the symposium on Friday. The two-day symposium is free and open to the public.

Dumas is a faculty member and researcher in the Department of Molecular Neuroscience at the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study at Mason. Dumas has been studying the relationship between behavior, the brain and disease for more than 20 years and has published articles in numerous academic journals. Dumas also is the head of the Physiological and Behavioral Neuroscience in Juveniles Lab at Mason.

The symposium is sponsored by UMW’s chapter of Psi Chi, the international honor society in psychology and provides a forum for students to share their research and findings with their professors and peers.

For more information, contact Mindy Erchull, assistant professor of psychology, at (540) 654-1557.

Mindy Erchull, associate professor of psychology, presented a poster at the annual meeting of the Association for Women in Psychology entitled “A Traditional Shift? Differences in Beliefs and Behaviors Among Feminist Mothers and Non-Mothers” on which Miriam Liss served as co-author.  Erchull also helped facilitate two structured discussions: “Live to Tell: The Experiences of Early Career Feminists” and “ Early Career Research: Fitting it All In.”