News
The new MCAT approved for 2015 means more students will acquire training in basic psychology, sociology, and research methods. Linked story
Congratulations to the senior psychology majors, who passed the comprehensive exam!
General News in Psychology
Research
NSF Grant
Dr. Andrew Shtulman received a prestigious grant award of nearly $500k by the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development program (CAREER). His proposal detailed a series of 12 studies on the causes and consequences of conceptual change in cognitive beliefs that will be conducted in his lab at Oxy in the next few years.
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Psychology Department
Featured Student
Graduating senior Kimberly Lockwood ('12) entered the field of Psychology based on her dual-interest in biology and psychology,
but during her four years, she has dedicated herself to seeking out opportunities both within the department and in the external
Los Angeles community.
Kimberly Lockwood
Portland, Oregon
Kimberly's attraction to the area of psychological physiology prompted her honors research project on the relation of emotions and learning on physiological responses. In the summer of 2011, Kimberly began examining participants' physiological responses under a fear conditioning paradigm that correlated learning and cognitive processes. Her preliminary findings revealed that humans fail to learn a higher order conditioned fear response - unless it was a stimulus they are evolutionary predisposed to fear. Humans are biologically prepared or preconditioned to learn fear to certain phobic objects: snakes, spiders, and angry faces. This conditioned fear is persistent and difficult to unlearn.