News
Student spotlight: Athena Nooney Receives Rosalin Lieberman-Riess Memorial Award
Congratulations to Athena Nooney, recipient of the 2025 Rosalin Lieberman-Riess Memorial Award! This honor is presented annually to the graduating senior who shows the greatest promise for advancing the understanding and treatment of serious mental illness.
Psychology Students Present Research at the Association for Psychological Science Conference, May 2025
Psychology majors Lynn Yan, Lillian Shattuck, and Athena Nooney presented their research at the 2025 annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science in Washington, DC. Their poster presentations, co-authored with Professor Martin Seehuus, explored diverse topics in psychological science - from unsaid topics in therapy and their link to therapeutic outcomes, to the role of gender in emotional responses and self-assessment patterns. Congratulations to Lynn, Lillian, and Athena on sharing your work on a national stage!
Faculty Spotlight: CAMH Speaking Event by Dr. Laura MacMullin
Dr. Laura MacMullin will be speaking at an online event for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, Canada. The title of her talk is: “Understanding Risk and Promoting Resilience Among Trans and Gender-Nonconforming Children and Youth.” Please feel free to join via the Zoom link included in the poster!
Student Spotlight: Rostyslav Yarovyk
Psychology senior Rostyslav Yarovyk presented research he is leading for the Language and Cognition Lab at the 2025 Second Language Acquisition Student Symposium, hosted by the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His work investigates language processing in second-language learners of Russian using a range of eye-tracking paradigms. Congratulations to Rostyslav for representing our department at this national student symposium!
Students at the Spring Student Symposium
We’re proud to share that many of our students represented the Psychology Department at the 2025 Spring Student Symposium! Jahnavi Choraria, Amna Mohammed, Seunghyun Lee, Isabelle Cone, Athena Nooney, Emily Strasburg, Alexander Scott-Hansen, Lillian Shattuck, and Aliya Hosford: Thank you for showcasing your hard work, innovative ideas, and commitment to scientific inquiry at Middlebury!
Student Poster Session Showcases Research Proposals
Students enrolled in PSYC 202 (Research Methods in Psychology) held a conference-style poster session on April 29 to present research proposals they have been working on all semester. The poster session is an end of semester celebration of PSYC 202 students’ hard work that is attended by students and faculty. In putting together their proposals, students read and synthesized existing psychological research about a topic they are interested in, determined a novel and important research question that will improve our understanding of that topic, and designed a research study to investigate their question.
Student Spotlight: Katherine Ostrow
We’re thrilled to share that our Middlebury graduate, Katherine Ostrow, has been awarded the prestigious David H. and Beverly A. Barlow Graduate Fellowship. This fellowship is awarded to outstanding graduate student applicants and will support her graduate journey at the University of Vermont. Congratulations, Katie! We can’t wait to see where this opportunity takes you!
Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Jason Arndt
Dr. Jason Arndt was honored to deliver the 2025 Distinguished Alumnus Lecture in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at UNC-Chapel Hill. His talk, “Why do we recollect events we did not experience?”, showcased research conducted in collaboration with Middlebury students over the years.
Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Gina Thomas
Dr. Gina Thomas is spending her sabbatical year in Costa Rica, where she’s been traveling with her family and conducting interviews for her latest research project on how solitude is experienced in a collectivistic culture. She’ll share preliminary findings at the upcoming SSEA (Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood) conference this June in Charleston, SC. Gina’s collaboration with psychologists at the University of Costa Rica has also inspired fresh material for her Cultural Psychology course this fall - great news for students eager for more research representation from Latin America! Gina also recently published an article in The Conversation titled “Being alone has its benefits: A psychologist flips the script on the loneliness epidemic”, offering a fresh perspective on solitude perception and perspective.
New Publication: Expanding Eye-Tracking Research on English as the Second Language Reading
We are excited to share a new publication, available this month in Studies in Second Language Acquisition. As part of a worldwide collaborative effort among researchers in eye-tracking and reading, Dr. Olga Parshina co-authored a study expanding the Multilingual Eye Movement Corpus (MECO). This work introduces new eye-tracking data on English reading from 13 first-language backgrounds, offering insights into reading fluency and comprehension in second-language learners. Here you can read the full article.
New Publication! Empathy-Based Intervention and Gender Attitudes in Children
A new article co-authored by Dr. Laura MacMullin has been published in the Journal of Articles in Support of the Null Hypothesis. The study investigated whether an empathy-focused approach could reduce gender stereotyping and improve attitudes toward gender-nonconforming peers. While the intervention did not produce significant effects, the authors discuss potential explanations and offer suggestions for refining future interventions. Read the full article here.
Exploring Careers After a Psych Degree April 24, 2025!
Psychology majors and minors are invited to join us on April 24 for a panel discussion, “What Life Can Be After a Psych Degree.” Hear from panelists from both industry and academia as they share how they’ve built careers in psychology and beyond. Add the event to your calendar and RSVP!
Student Research Spotlight: Exploring Smartphone and Social Media Addiction
Emily Strasburg and Athena Nooney showcased their research (co-authored with Carter McPhedran, Daniel Wellons, and Dr. Kim Cronise) on smartphone addiction, social media addiction, and social intelligence at the Neuroscience, Behavior, and Health (NBH) Forum at the University of Vermont. Congratulations on the great presentation!
From sleeplessness to solitude: emotional repair as a buffer between insomnia and loneliness in university students
Psychology department graduates Katherine Ostrow and Olivia Rieur, together with Dr. Moeller and Dr. Seehuus, are excited to share a new publication in Frontiers in Sleep. Their study examines how emotional repair mechanisms can help mitigate feelings of loneliness caused by insomnia in university students. Congratulations to the research team! You can read the full article!
New Publication: The Effect of The Global Language Context On Bilingual Language Control During L1 Reading
We are excited to announce a new publication in Bilingualism: Language and Cognition! This international collaboration, led by Dr. Parshina examines how bilingual readers adapt to different language environments and whether exposure to a second language influences lexical access and comprehension in their first language. Read the full article!
New Publication: The Effects of Lucid Dreaming and Nightmares on Sleep Quality and Mental Health Outcomes
The department is excited to share a new study in Behavioral Sleep Medicine, co-authored by Dr. Seehuus, exploring how lucid dreaming and nightmares impact sleep quality and mental health. Congratulations to all the authors! Read the full article.