Psych Majors Excel in Research

Professor Prohaska's students presented posters on their current or planned research during the 2009 Lehman Scholarship Day. L-R: Nicole Austin, Angela Monge, Sorangie Vasquez, Lucy Messerschmidt, Alaysha Germosen, and Emely Valdez.

Lehman psychology majors have been busy this semester, working on a variety of research projects and presenting their findings on campus, elsewhere in CUNY, and at the Annual Conference of the Eastern Psychological Association, held in Pittsburgh. Here are some examples of the projects conducted by Professor Vincent Prohaska's students:

• Zenaida Bough studied how the pictures used in career aptitude surveys could change people's career preferences;
• Alaysha Germosen and Lucy Messerschmidt evaluated the impact on learning of a collaborative writing assignment and collaborative quiz-taking;
• Nicole Austin also investigated how much students had learned, assessing what students felt they had learned in their LEH 100, 300, and 301 courses;
• Angela Monge focused her research on students' attitudes concerning plagiarism; 
• Sorangie Vasquez studied the effect of chocolate cravings on false memories; 
• Emely Valdez described a study she will conduct in that area as well, examining the role of retrieval processes in creating false memories. 

Students were able to attend the Eastern Psychological Association conference through funding from the College's chapter of Psi Chi, the international honor society in psychology, and from a student travel grant given to Professor Prohaska by the Council on Undergraduate Research and the Office of Student Affairs.

The Department also inducted new members into its chapter of Psi Chi.

From the Annual Conference of the Eastern Psychological Association, held in March in Pittsburgh, L-R: Alaysha Germosen, Zenaida Bough, Sorangie Vasquez, and Lucy Messerschmidt.

Professor Prohaska's students also presented research at the conference held at the College of Staten Island for the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation in the Sciences. L-R: Nicole Austin, Sorangie Vasquez, and Emely Valdez.

Current members and new inductees of the Lehman Chapter of Psi Chi at the chapter's spring induction ceremony.

Officers of the Lehman chapter of Psi Chi, L-R: Mary Sanchez, co-vice president; Professor Prohaska (a former faculty advisor to the chapter) ; Letricia Brown, treasurer; Sorangie Vasquez, co-vice president; and Lucy Messerschmidt, president.