Earlier this month, 13 current Oglethorpe students and three alumni accompanied five faculty to the annual meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA) in Orlando, FL. This continued a longstanding tradition of the Oglethorpe psychology department preparing students to submit their own research to peer-reviewed professional conferences.

This year’s student participants were Emily Moore ’24, Jose Valtierra ’24, Sarah Farmer ’24, Alex Nukpi ’24, Porter Deal ’25, Mekela Iorio ’25, Samantha Leblanc ’24, Anabel Dimova ’24, Isabel Berlin ’24, Piper Lashley ’24, Alex Swanson ’24, Nia Kherani ’25, Sarah Clayton ’24 and Brit Rosser ’24. All students attending this year’s conference were awarded Oglethorpe research funding to assist with cost.

Oglethorpe alumni that attended this year’s conference were Kharynton Beggs ’23, Alexa Tringali ’23 and Caidyn Ellis ’23.

Each Petrel presented their original research with the support and encouragement of faculty mentors Drs. Leah Zinner, Justin Wise, Lisa Hayes, Brooke Bays and Emily Bailey.

A range of research subjects were explored in the poster and paper presentations:

• The Influence of Social and Academic Pressure on Student Morality and Cheating Behavior – Emily Moore, Lisa Hayes
• The Effects of Notetaking Styles and Distractions on Memory – Jose Valtierra, Lisa Hayes
• The Effects of Player Gender and Game Genre on Perceptions of Competence and Aggression in Video Gameplay – Sarah Farmer, Lisa Hayes
• Impact of Face Masks and Pathogen Disgust Sensitivity on First Impressions – Alex Nukpi, Porter Deal, Mekela Iorio, Samantha Leblanc, Anabel Dimova, Lisa Hayes, Brooke Bays, Justin Wise
• Investigating the Effect of Two Mood Induction Procedures on Arousal and False Memory – Alexa Tringali, Justin Wise,
• How the Profile of a School Shooter Affects Blame Attribution – Isabel Berlin, Justin Wise
• On-line vs In-Person Samples in a Personnel Evaluation Study – Kharynton Beggs, Leah Zinner
• The Role of Procrastination, Perfectionism, Social Well-Being, and Cognitive Flexibility in Predicting Anxiety Among College Students – Piper Lashley, Alex Swanson, Nia Kherani, Brooke Bays, Lisa Hayes
• How Adults View Rough Sex and Non-Conforming Gender Roles – Sarah Clayton, Justin Wise
• The Effect of Retention Intervals and Crime Severity on Memory – Brit Rosser, Lisa Hayes
• Stigma and Autism: The Impact of Gender and Diagnosis Label – Caidyn Ellis, Lisa Hayes

“Attending this conference allows students to showcase their research at a large professional meeting and interact with experts in the field,” says Dr. Wise.

The projects were completed as part of PSY 320, PSY 321 and PSY 322 (Psychological Statistics and Research Methods I and II, and Advanced Experimental Psychology). One students, Sarah Farmer, conducted her research as part of her Honors thesis — a faculty-guided, independent project allowing students to further explore areas of interest at a high academic level.

“Further, attendance at this meeting affords exposure to the most current research methods and findings that are related to students’ personal research and academic interest areas,” Dr. Wise continued. “Finally, students gain invaluable public speaking experience and intellectual interaction.”