Recent Dissertations

We are proud of our PhD students and the intellectual work they produce. Each dissertation is the culmination of extensive research, intellectual rigor, and a passion for advancing knowledge in the field of psychology. 

We invite prospective applicants to explore this list of the last five years’ dissertations to learn about the kinds of research pursued by PhD students in each of our areas of specialization and the advisors that supported their work.

Monique Nakamura
"Helping Insecurely Attached People Regulate Negative Emotions: Moderating Role of Support on the Effect of Attachment on Emotion Regulation and Eating"
Area: Social Psychology
Advisors: Jeff Simpson, Alex Rothman

Claire Min
"The Role of Perceived Relative Timing of Puberty and Psychosocial Maturation on the Well-Being of Asian American Young Adults"
Area: Counseling Psychology
Advisor: Rich Lee

Jieyi Cai
"Intergenerational Communication About Historical Trauma: Exploring and Measuring the Experiences of Asian American Children of Immigrants"
Area: Counseling Psychology
Advisor: Rich Lee

Colt Deckert
"Data-Driven Approaches to Reducing Adolescent Suicide: Leveraging Informatics Approaches for Prevention and Support"
Area: Clinical Science and Psychopathology Research
Advisors: Bob Krueger, Bonnie Klimes-Dougan

Andrew Freedman
"Measuring Low Vision: Perception and Function"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisor: Gordon Legge

Zi Gao
"Perceptual Categorization and Neural Representations of the Human Voice"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisor: Andrew Oxenham

Quratulain Gulamhussein
"Perceived Family Support for Mental Health Services: A Scale Development and Psychometric Validity Study with Muslims in the United States"
Area: Counseling Psychology
Advisor: Rich Lee

Kelsey Hobbs
"Developmental Antecedents of Maladaptive Personality Traits: A Behavioral Genetic Investigation"
Area: Clinical Science and Psychopathology Research
Advisor: Bob Krueger

Kayla Huber
"Development of an Inclusive Measure of Gender-Based Public Harassment"
Area: Counseling Psychology
Advisor: Pat Frazier

Molly Madzelan
"Revisiting Ambivalent Sexism and the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Examining the Effects of Respondents’ and Targets’ Racial Group Membership on Endorsement"
Area: Social Psychology
Advisors: Gene Borgida, Mark Snyder

Linh Nguyen
"Intraindividual Variability in Personality Research: Considering Time, Measurement, and the Interpersonal Context"
Area: Personality, Individual Differences, and Behavior Genetics
Advisor: Moin Syed

Ian O'Dowd
"Interactive Narratives: Evaluating the Impact of Agency and Immersion on Empathy and Attitude Change Toward Marginalized Groups"
Area: Social Psychology
Advisors: Marti Gonzales, Mark Snyder

Victor Pokorny
"Altered Visuospatial Context Processing in Psychotic Psychopathology"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisors: Cheryl Olman, Scott Sponheim

Jiayin Qu
"Deep-level Team Composition Predicting Team Processes and Effectiveness: A Meta-analysis"
Area: Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Advisor: Aaron Schmidt

Gerardo Rojas
"Development and employment of discounting tasks in 16p11.2 hemideletion mice"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisor: Nicola Grissom

Tyler Sassenberg
"Exploring the Neural Correlates of Openness/Intellect and Related Constructs Using New and Best Practices in Personality Neuroscience"
Area: Personality, Individual Differences, and Behavior Genetics
Advisor: Colin DeYoung

Xin Song
"Modeling the Depressed Mind: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of Learned Helplessness, Anhedonia, and Sensorimotor Bayesian Decision-Making Processes in Depression"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisor: Iris Vilares

Ming Him Tai
"Stochastic Curtailment: A New Approach to Improve Efficiency in Computerized Adaptive Tests"
Area: Quantitative/Psychometric Methods
Advisor: Dave Weiss

Yi Ni Toh
"The Beneficial Effect of Target Detection and Response on Memory of Concurrent Information"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisor: Vanessa Lee

Sarah Volz
"Identification and Test of Health Behavior Theories’ Assumptions: An Investigation of Dual Process Models for Intensive Longitudinal Physical Activity Data"
Area: Social Psychology
Advisors: Alex Rothman, Traci Mann

Ryan Webler
"Developing and Testing a Neural Model of Conditioned Fear Generalization"
Area: Clinical Science and Psychopathology Research
Advisor: Shmuel Lissek

Yagizhan Yazar
"Organizational Environmental Sustainability in Europe and the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey (MENAT): Initiative-Based Assessment and Nomological Network"
Area: Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Advisors: Deniz Ones, Paul Sackett

Elena Auer
"Choosing a 'Source of Truth': The Implications of Using Self versus Interviewer Ratings of Interviewee Personality as Training Data for Language-Based Personality Assessments"
Area: Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Advisor: Richard Landers

Joshua Braverman
"A Person-and-Situation Approach to Skills-Based Volunteering"
Area: Social Psychology
Advisors: Mark Snyder, Alex Rothman

Celina Furman
"Fueling Physical Activity with a Hybrid Motivational System: How Multiple Sources of Motivation and Experiences Promote Physical Activity Across Contexts and Time"
Area: Social Psychology
Advisors: Alex Rothman, Traci Mann

Margaret Jaeger
"How Perceptions of Influence Tactic Effectiveness and Relationship Norms Predict Agents’ Decision to Influence their Partner’s Health Behavior"
Area: Social Psychology
Advisors: Jeff Simpson, Alex Rothman

Seon-Kyeong Jang
"Investigating Genetic Architecture of Complex Traits through Analysis of Rare Variants and Diverse Genomes"
Area: Personality, Individual Differences, and Behavior Genetics
Advisor: Scott Vrieze

Kara Kedrick
"The ecosystem of discovery"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences 
Advisors: Paul Schrater, Iris Vilares

Yuri Kim
"Expanding the Nomological Net of Personality Psychology"
Area: Personality, Individual Differences, and Behavior Genetics
Advisors: Matt McGue, James Lee

Sara Knauz
"Alexithymia Subscales Have Distinct Roles in Both the Variability of Arousal Ratings and in Associations With Anxiety and Psychological Inflexibility"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisors: Wilma Koutstaal, Shmuel Lissek

Justin Kracht
"Make Some Noise: Generating Data From Imperfect Factor Models"
Area: Quantitative/Psychometric Methods
Advisor: Niels Waller

Anita Kwashie
"Multiple Perspectives on the Impact of Cognitive Control Processes on Disorganization in Psychosis"
Area: Clinical Science and Psychopathology Research Program
Advisors: Angus MacDonald, Scott Sponheim

Samuel Lee
"Moral Neutralization and Counterproductive Behavior"
Area: Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Advisor: Nathan Kuncel

Yanjun Li
"Visual mode switching: Behavior & Neuroimaging"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisor: Steve Engel

Karen Navarro
"Measurements of Malleable Visual Mechanisms Through High-resolution fMRI and Perceptual Learning"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisors: Cheryl Olman, Steve Engel

Erin Standen
"Mapping the Beneficial and Adverse Consequences of Receiving Weight-Related Advice from a Healthcare Provider: Identifying Strategies to Optimize Well-Being"
Area: Social Psychology
Advisors: Traci Mann, Alex Rothman

King Yiu Suen
"A Comparison of Item Selection Methods and Stopping Rules in Multi-category Computerized Classification Testing"
Area: Quantitative/Psychometric Methods
Advisors: Katerina Marcoulides, Dave Weiss

Sooyeon Sung
"Toward an Empirically Based Structure of Infant Temperament: Psychometric Properties and Factor Structure of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised"
Area: Personality, Individual Differences, and Behavior Genetics
Advisor: Colin DeYoung

Ashley Walters
"Masculine Culture, Gender Roles, and the Underrepresentation of Women in STEM Fields"
Area: Social Psychology
Advisors: Gene Borgida, Mark Snyder

Hannah Weiss
"Longitudinal changes in Go/No-Go and Stop Signal Task performance and relationships with gray matter architecture in adolescent development"
Area: Clinical Science and Psychopathology Research Program
Advisor: Monica Luciana

Yueh-Hsun Wu
"Beyond eye charts, the daily challenges for people with impaired vision"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisors: Gordon Legge, Steve Engel

Rafael Aguilera
"White Americans’ impending doom? How changing the narrative surrounding the majority-minority shift can attenuate perceived threat among White Americans and reduce hostility and negative affect toward minority outgroups"
Area: Social Psychology
Advisors: Christopher Federico, Marti Gonzales

Elise Anderson
"Counterproductive work behavior and organizational citizenship behavior: Understanding their nature and antecedents through familial, longitudinal, and concurrent data"
Area: Personality, Individual Differences, and Behavior Genetics
Advisors: Matt McGue, Paul Sackett

Hannah Berg
"Deciding Which Fears to Face: Behavioral and Neural Mechanisms of Costly Avoidance in Clinical Anxiety"
Area: Clinical Science and Psychopathology Research
Advisor: Shmuel Lissek

Sijin Chen
"Sex-correlated variability in exploration strategy in uncertain environments"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisor: Nicola Grissom

Ziming Clark
"Analyzing Twin Data with Generalized Linear Mixed-Effects Models and Bayesian Computation"
Area: Quantitative/Psychometric Methods
Advisors: Nathaniel Helwig, Niels Waller

Allison Cooperman
"An Automated Test Assembly Approach Using Item Response Theory to Enhance Evidence of Measurement Invariance"
Area: Quantitative/Psychometric Methods
Advisor: Niels Waller

Jami Eller
"Precursors and Consequences of Partner Buffering of Attachment Insecurity for Agents in Romantic Relationships: An Examination of Two Longitudinal Studies"
Area: Social Pychology
Advisors: Jeff Simpson, Marti Gonzales

Brenda Ellis
"Cross-context Examinations of the Big Five Aspect Scales Predicting Counterproductive Behavior"
Area: Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Advisor: Deniz Ones

Elizabeth Fast
"Limits of Adaptation in the Vergence System"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisor: Stephen Engel

Cory Fleck
"Political Attitude Similarity and Change in Early Romantic Relationships"
Area: Social Psychology
Advisors: Jeff Simpson, Mark Snyder

Mari Gades
"The Abuse Potential and Appeal of Electronic Cigarettes for Adult Cigarette Smokers"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisors: Andrew Oxenham, Dorothy Hatsukami

Daniel Guest
"Perception of complex sounds at high frequencies"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisor: Andrew Oxenham

Rachael Jones
"Who eats their feelings, and who sweats them out?: Understanding how individuals and their romantic partners use eating and exercise for emotion regulation"
Area: Social Psychology
Advisors: Jeffry Simpson, Alexander Rothaman

McKenzie Kaubrys
"Examining Mediators of the Association Between Child Maltreatment and Sleep Disturbance in College Students"
Area: Counseling Psychology
Advisor: Patricia Frazier

Rebecca Kazinka
"Behavioral Economics of Persecutory Delusions"
Area: Clinical Science and Psychopathology Resarch
Advisor: Angus MacDonald

Caitlin Koller
"Dynamic Selection History Guides Attention Via A Path-Like, Habit-Like Mechanism"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisors: Vanessa Lee, Daniel Kersten

Siyun Liu
"Does Motion Parallax Enhance the Accuracy of Object Depth Perception?"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisors: Gordon Legge, Daniel Kersten

Xinyu Liu
"Plasticity of face perception in the human visual system"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisor: Stephen Engel

Hao Lu
"Behavioral and Neural Correlates of Auditory Selective Attention"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisors: Andrew Oxenham, Nathaniel Helwig

Emily Mischel Abramowski
"The Role of Stressor Controllability in Regulatory Strategy Use Effectiveness: A Daily Diary Examination of Strategy-Situation Fit"
Area: Counseling Psychology
Advisor: Patricia Frazier

Victoria Oleynick
"Alcohol-related disruptions of cerebellar contributions to cognition: a longitudinal study of cerebellar volume in twins"
Area: Clinical Science and Psychopathology Research Program
Advisor: William Iacono

Riley Palmer
"Investigating Psychotherapy No-Shows Using Latent Trajectory Analysis"
Area: Counseling Psychology
Advisor: Patricia Frazier

Michelle Thai
"Interplay among Neural, Autonomic, and Neuroendocrine Systems in Rumination"
Area: Clinical Science and Psychopathology Research Program
Advisors: Shmuel Lissek, Bonnie Klimes-Dougan

Dana Tomeh
"The Online Workplace Sexual Harassment of Women"
Area: Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Advisor: Paul Sacket

Khue Tran
"Algorithmic Reactions and Task Characteristics in College Admission"
Area: Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Advisor: Nathan Kuncel

Melissa Velez
"El Ingenio Mexicano: A cultural value among Mexican/Mexican Americans"
Area: Counseling Psychology
Advisor: Richard Lee

Yilei Wang
"Organizational Environmental Sustainability in Asian Countries: Assessment and Nomological Network"
Area: Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Advisor: Deniz Ones

Stephanie Zellers
"Impacts of Recreational Cannabis Legalization: Substance Use Development, Pre-Existing Vulnerability, and Psychosocial Outcomes"
Area: Personality, Individual Differences, and Behavior Genetics
Advisor: Scott Vrieze

Nilsu Atilgan
"Visual Constraints on Reading in Normal Vision, Low Vision and Dyslexia"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisors: Sheng He, Gordon Legge

Hui Bai
"Implicit and Explicit Prejudice Are Related to Explicit Support for Politicians Who Are Conservative, but Not White or Male, Mostly Because They Promote Inequality"
Area: Social Psychology
Advisors: Eugene Borgida, Christopher Federico

Jessica Bair
"Cannabis use and cognition from adolescence to young adulthood: exploring cause, consequence, and influencing factors"
Area: Clinical Science and Psychopathology Research Program
Advisor: William Iacono 

Scott Blain
"Individual Differences in Social Cognition and Behavior: A Personality Psychology Framework"
Area: BP/Personality, Individual Differences, and Behavior Genetics
Advisors: Colin DeYoung, Robert Krueger 

Alexander Bratch
"Representation of Human Body Stimuli within the Human Visual System"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisors: Daniel Kersten, Stephen Engel

Wen Bu
"Common Ingroup Identity and Racial Minority Political Solidarity"
Area: Social Psychology
Advisors: Eugene Borgida, Christopher Federico

Lauren Clatch
"Bargaining for Freedom: A Person-by-Situation Approach to Studying Plea-Bargain Decision-Making"
Area: Social Psychology
Advisors: Eugene Borgida, Mark Snyder

Hyun Euh
"Being an Effective Ally: Values, Self-Efficacy, and Outgroup Collective Efficacy Predict Support for Autonomy- and Assistance-Focused Affirmative Action Policies"
Area: Social Psychology
Advisors: Marti Gonzales, Mark Snyder

Yijun Ge
"Hierarchical visual processing of stimuli with varying complexity"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisors: Sheng He, Daniel Kersten

Casey Giordano
"Temporal Investigations of Counterproductive Work Behaviors"
Area: Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Advisor: Deniz Ones 

Christopher Hunt
"Heightened Sensitivity to Improbable Catastrophes As a Pathogenic Marker of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Theory and Experimental Evidence"
Area: Clinical Science and Psychopathology Research Program
Advisor: Shmuel Lissek 

Shengyu Jiang
"On-The-Fly Parameter Estimation Based on Item Response Theory in Item-based Adaptive Learning Systems"
Area: Quantitative/Psychometric Methods
Advisors: Chun Wang, Niels Waller

Jihyang Jun
"Characteristics of Sustained Attention in Continuous Performance Task (CPT) and its Variants"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisor: Vanessa Lee 

Ummul-Kiram Kathawalla
"Discrimination, Life Stress, and Mental Health among Muslims: A Preregistered Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis"
Area: Counseling Psychology
Advisor: Moin Syed 

Yizhou Ma
"In Search of the Psychosis Continuum in the Human Connectome"
Area: Clinical Science Psychopathology Research
Advisor: Angus MacDonald

Tatyana Matveeva
"Relapse to Opioids Facilitated by Witnessing the Distress of Another is Mediated by the Activity of Oxytocin: A Preclinical Model of The Neural Substrates of the Relationship Between Secondary Trauma and Addiction"
Area: Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Advisor: Jonathan Gewirtz 

Addie Merians
"Resilience in College Students Following Childhood Maltreatment"
Area: Counseling Psychology
Advisor: Patricia Frazier

Joshua Mervis
"Know Thyself: Tracing Insight Along the Psychosis Spectrum"
Area: Clinical Science and Psychopathology Research Program
Advisor: Angus MacDonald 

Danielle Pratt
"Striking A Balance Between Psychometric Integrity and Efficiency for Assessing Reinforcement Learning and Working Memory in Psychosis-Spectrum Disorders"
Area: Clinical Science and Psychopathology Research Program
Advisor: Angus MacDonald 

Alexandra Scharmer
"For the Planet, the Animals, or Oneself? Measuring Individuals’ Motivations to Restrict Meat Consumption and Encouraging Dietary Change"
Area: Social Psychology
Advisors: Mark Snyder, Marti Gonzales

Yayi Swain
"Behavioral Predictors of Individual Differences in Opioid Addiction Vulnerability"
Area: Biological Psychopathology
Advisors: Jonathan Gewirtz, Andrew Harris

Jingyuan Tian
"Comprehensive Meta-Analyses of Perfectionism and A Synthesis for Work Psychology"
Area: Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Advisor: Deniz Ones

Emily Willoughby
"Tracing Causes and Consequences of Human Intelligence Through Genetic and Cognitive Data"
Area: Personality, Individual Differences, and Behavior Genetics
Advisors: Matt McGue, James Lee

Christine Wu
"What’s Race Got to Do With It? Narratives of Asian Americans in Asian/White Interracial Relationships"
Area: Counseling Psychology
Advisor: Richard Lee 

Shu Han Zhang
"Planned Missingness: A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing"
Area: Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Advisors: Nathan Kuncel, Paul Sackett