Psychology

15 CAS students earn leadership, engagement awards

Fifteen undergraduate students plus two faculty and one staff member from across the College of Arts and Sciences were recognized during the 2018 Leadership and Engagement Awards of Distinction ceremony on April 17. Award recipients demonstrate exceptional leadership and service to the university and the community and support the leadership development and engagement of WSU […]

2018 CAS awards honor faculty, staff, grad students

Fourteen faculty, three staff, and five graduate students were honored for outstanding achievement at the 2018 College of Arts and Sciences Appreciation and Recognition Social last week. Regents Professor Kerry W. Hipps, an international leader in chemistry, and Barry Hewlett, a veteran anthropologist with a global reputation, received the top two faculty awards. Patricia Thorsten-Mickelson, […]

Psychology senior chosen as 2018 WSU Student Employee of the Year

Clerical assistant Jackie Baltazar’s presence in the WSU Dept. of Criminal Justice and Criminology provides a friendly atmosphere to visiting students, and staff rely on her as a trusted employee who strives to help everyone who comes through her door. “I really like this job,” said Baltazar, a two-year employee and senior psychology major from […]

Assessing how cannabis affects emotional well-being

In a first-of-its-kind study, Washington State University scientists examined how peoples’ self-reported levels of stress, anxiety and depression were affected by smoking different strains and quantities of cannabis at home. Their work, published this month in the Journal of Affective Disorders, suggests smoking cannabis can significantly reduce short-term levels of depression, anxiety, and stress but […]

17 CAS students honored with SURCA awards

From the health benefits of the Lucky Iron Fish to advances in detecting hydrogen polysufides to the cultural impact of a Brazilian composer’s work, 17 CAS students received top honors at the 2018 Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (SURCA) competition in April. Hosted by the Office of Undergraduate Research, SURCA features faculty-mentored research, […]

CAS leads top 20 WSU research stories of 2017

From rising inequality and declining Monarch butterfly populations to a particle with negative mass, news coverage about the College of Arts and Sciences research reached millions of people last year. News outlets carrying the stories ran the gamut of the nation’s most popular media, including CNN, The Washington Post and National Public Radio, as well […]

Dr. Universe: How do we get our personality?

Everyone is different. Maybe you are adventurous, shy, outgoing, funny, or kind. Before you were even born, your unique personality was beginning to take shape. That’s what I found out from my friend Chris Barry, a psychologist at Washington State University. He studies personality in young people, including how people express themselves on social media. He […]

What’s at the core of a dark personality?

Dark personality traits such as narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy are socially aversive personality styles that are often confused because of their similarities. Using a quantitative technique called network analysis, WSU psychologists David Marcus and Jonathan Preszler, along with their colleague Virgil Zeigler-Hill at Oakland University, are investigating the behaviors that make up the common core of dark personality traits.

Psychology course partners with clinic for real-world learning

An elementary statistics in psychology course at WSU Tri-Cities partnered with Grace Clinic, a free health clinic in the Tri-Cities, to assess the mental health of its diabetic patients. The clinic now plans to use the data to maintain and improve its methods in meeting patient resources and health needs. Throughout the fall semester course, […]