Psychology


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Psychology

Faculty


Jen Borton, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology

jborton@hamilton.edu

Jen Borton joined the Hamilton faculty in 1998. She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and education from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Minnesota. Her current research program involves understanding how people with defensive self-esteem cope with negative self-relevant information. Her research been published in several journals, including the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, the Journal of Social Psychology, and Self and Identity.

More about Jennifer L. S. Borton ...


Serena Butcher, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology

sbutcher@hamilton.edu
Butcher received her ScB in psychology at Brown University. She spent two years conducting research in visual attention at Brigham and Womens' Hospital, Boston, before pursuing her doctorate from Harvard University. Butcher recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University. Her research interests include visual perception and visual cognition.


Bev Edmondson, Ph.D., Visiting Professor of Psychology

bedmonds@hamilton.edu

Beverly Edmondson returns to Hamilton as a visiting professor of psychology.  She received an M.A. from Counseling Liberty University, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in educational psychology from Syracuse University.  In addition to teaching in various private and public elementary schools, Edmondson taught psychology classes at SUNY Cortland, Cazenovia College, Hamilton College, and most recently held the position of professor of educational psychology at Buena Vista University.  Her teaching interests include introduction to psychology, foundational courses in child development, introductory and advanced courses in educational psychology, assessment and motivation.


Mike Frederick, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology

mjfreder@hamilton.edu
Michael Frederick earned his Ph.D. in biopsychology at the University at Albany in 2010. His research examines how developmental variables can have long-term effects on physiology, and how this can in turn affect behavior. Frederick is particularly interested in how stress during pregnancy may alter development in ways that increase the likelihood of developing a psychopathology, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or schizophrenia. His broader scientific interests include fields such as physical anthropology and evolutionary developmental biology, as they relate to the evolution of the human brain.


George Gescheider, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Emeritus

ggeschei@hamilton.edu

A member of the Hamilton faculty since 1964, Gescheider specializes in brain and behavioral patterns, psychophysics, and sensory physiology. His most recent research has contributed to the identification of specific receptor systems responsible for the perception of mechanical stimuli. Gescheider is a member of nine professional societies and has received the Pentagon Society Award for Excellence in Teaching, the National Service Award, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professorship, and is a fellow of the Acoustical Society of America.


Tara McKee, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology

tmckee@hamilton.edu
McKee earned a Ph.D. and master's in clinical psychology from the University of Connecticut. Her clinical work has focused on children in school settings and in-patient hospital settings. Her research focuses on families coping with children with varying challenges such as developmental disabilities and behavior disorders as well as the impact of behavioral disorders on the transition to college. McKee is author or co-author of numerous papers published in Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Applied Social Psychology, Behaviour Research and Therapy, Journal of AttentionDisorders, and Journal of the American Medical Association, and has made several invited presentations. More about Tara Eberhardt McKee ...


Gregory Pierce, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology

gpierce@hamilton.edu
Pierce, who specializes in social and personality psychology, earned his Ph.D. in personality psychology from the University of Washington.  He conducts research on stress and coping and the impact of intrusive thoughts on performance. He has edited scholarly volumes on the topics of social support and cognitive interference, and has published his work in numerous journals, including the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology; Journal of Research in Personality; Personal Relationships; Journal of Social and Personal Relationships; Anxiety, Stress and Coping; Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology and the Journal of Psychosocial Oncology. More about Gregory Pierce ...


Jeremy Skipper, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology

jskipper@hamilton.edu
Jeremy Skipper was trained in the Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience Program at The University of Chicago and was a post doctoral fellow at Cornell Medical. At Hamilton, he will be doing social cognitive neuroscience research pertaining to how our brains support communication in the natural settings in which language evolved, develops and normally functions. This research is supported by an NIH grant titled “The Neurobiology of Speech Perception in Real-World Contexts.” Skipper's goal is to apply discoveries from this work to help those with communicative deficits (i.e. due to stroke) recover function. More about Jeremy I. Skipper...


Jonathan Vaughan, Ph.D., The James L. Ferguson Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience

jvaughan@hamilton.edu

An experimental psychologist, Vaughan's research interests focus on the selection of motor movements; eye movements and attentional processes; learning and cognitive neuropsychology. His current work, funded by an AREA grant from the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Strokes, (with colleagues David Rosenbaum of Pennsylvania State University and Ruud Meulenbroek of the Nijmegen Institute for Cognition and Information) has resulted in computational models that describe performance in tasks such as reaching, grasping, and tapping. Vaughan has collaborated with Hamilton colleague Penny L. Yee in facilitating the use of computer applications in psychological research, their most recent efforts being tutorial materials for using the PsyScope program for teaching and research in Cognitive Psychology. Vaughan is also editor of the international quarterly, Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers, published by the Psychonomic Society.

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Douglas Weldon, Ph.D., The Stone Professor of Psychology

dweldon@hamilton.edu

Weldon received his Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo. His interests encompass the study of neuroscience, specifically the basis for attention in the brain, looking at head and body movements toward stimuli. Weldon is a recipient of the National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Mental Health. He has reviewed material for the National Science Foundation and Science magazine. His areas of research include the developmental psychobiology of memory; the behavioral correlates of midbrain neuronal activity; and the cognitive neuroscience of visual spatial memory in humans.

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Penny Yee, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology

pyee@hamilton.edu
Yee earned her Ph.D. in human experimental psychology from the University of Oregon.  She conducts research in the areas of cognition and individual differences, covering a wide range of topics from basic attentional and language processes to personality correlates of performance. Of particular interest is how we manage distractions in handling daily activities. She has published articles in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, Cognitive Psychology, Memory and Cognition, Intelligence, and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. More about Penny Yee ...

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