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Behavioral Laboratory of Emotion and Psychophysiology

Dr. James Diller & Dr. Kristalyn Salters-Pedneault

Dr. Diller is a behavior analyst and Dr. Salters-Pedneault is a clinical psychologist. Together, they engage in transdisciplinary research, exploring the interactions between psychophysiology and behavior.

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Developing an Understanding of Childhood Knowledge

Dr. T. Caitlin Vasquez-O'Brien

This lab investigates child social-emotional development, including sibling relationships and gender role development in early childhood.

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Health and Human Performance Laboratory

Dr. Jenna Scisco

This lab combines health psychology, biopsychology, and human factors psychology with the goal of helping people to improve their health, performance, and overall quality of life.

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The Laboratory of Cognition, Attention, and Search

Dr. Lyndsey Lanagan-Leitzel

This lab primarily investigates visual search and surveillance among lifeguards. Other projects examine the role of attention and cognition in everyday life, including threat detection and email use.

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Life-span Developmental Psychology Lab

Dr. Jennifer Pickard Leszczynski

This lab focuses on how self-perceptions and stereotypes about others' gender and age change in different situations and across the lifespan. My research also examines how gender and age affect our perceptions about love and romance.

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Organizational Research Group

Dr. Peter Bachiochi

This group conducts research on campus and in organizations addressing the workplace attitudes and behaviors of employees as well as Eastern students.

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The Social and Evolutionary Psychology Lab

Dr. Alita Cousins & Dr. Madeleine Fugère

This lab explores how evolution has shaped our minds and behavior. Most of this lab's research centers around conflict in romantic relationships.

All Faculty Research Interests

  • Research Interests:

    • Organizational Diversity Management
    • Organizational Surveys
    • Team Leadership

    Professional Activity:

    • Habitat for Humanity

    Recent Publications and Presentations:

    • Bachiochi, P., & Everton, W. (2019). Team Leadership and Group Dynamics. In J. Borland, G. Kane, & L. Burton (Eds.), Sport Leadership in the 21st Century (2nd Edition). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.
    • Bielonko, K., Bachiochi, P., Calvo, A., & Pereira, A. (2019). Employee resource groups, occupational health outcomes, and intent to quit. Poster presented at the 34th Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, National Harbor, MD.
    • Bachiochi, P.D., Everton, W.J., Evans, M.E., Fugere, M., Escoto, C., Letterman, M., & Leszczynski, J. (2010). Using empirical article analysis to assess research methods courses. Teaching of Psychology, 38, 5-9.

  • Research Interests:

    • Cognitive Reading Strategies
    • Cognitive Testing
    • Parent-Child Interactions
    • Cognitive Development

    Recent Publications and Presentations:

    • Cordón, L. (2013, February). Margaret Cavendish and the evolution of materialist natural philosophy. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the South Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Austin, TX.
    • Cordón, L. (2012). Freud's world: An encyclopedia of his life and times. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
    • Cordón, L. (2012, February). Mesmerized: Science, pseudoscience, and the eighteenth-century invention of sundry key elements of the modern clinical trial. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the South Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Asheville, NC.

  • Research Interests:

    • Mate Guarding in Romantic Relationships
    • Conflict in Romantic Relationships

    Recent Publications and Presentations:

    • Cousins, A.J. (2019). Predictors of Infanticide. In T.K. Shackelford & V. A. Weekes-Shackelford’s (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. New York: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2312-1
    • *Nastasi, S., *Eslami, S., Cousins, A.J., Fugère, M.A. (2022, April 21). Mating Conflict in Women Who Cheat [Poster]. Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society conference, Virtual conference. (* = student collaborator)
    • Cousins, A.J., *Eslami, S.E., *Nastasi, S., Fugère, M.A (2021, November). The Resistance to Mate Guarding Scale Possesses Reliability in a Male Sample. Presented at the New England Psychological Association [Poster]. Virtual conference. (* = student collaborator)

  • Research Interests:

    • Behavioral Economics
    • Maladaptive Choice
    • Philosophy of Radical Behaviorism

    Professional Activities:

    • Board Certified Behavior Analyst - Doctoral
    • Subject Matter Expert for the Behavior Analyst Certification Board
    • Member of the Association for Behavior Analysis International
    • Member of the Connecticut Association for Behavior Analysis

    Recent Publications and Presentations:

    • Courtemanche, A. B., Brewer, A. T., Hauslaib, S., Diller, J. W., Giamanco, A., & Lafortune, A. (2024). An evaluation of daily perceived stress and impulsive decision making: A pilot study. The Psychological Record. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-023-00584-8 

    • Elcoro, M., Diller, J. W., & Correa, J. C. (2023). Promoting reciprocal relations across subfields of behavior analysis via collaborations. Perspectives on Behavior Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/40614-023-00386-x 
    • Confer, S. V., Diller, J. W., & Danforth, J. S. (2021). A behavior-analytic approach to anti-vaccination practices. Behavior and Social Issues. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42822-021-00051-5

  • Research Interests:

    • Attraction and Romantic Relationships

    Professional Activity:

    • Member of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology

    Recent Publications and Presentations:

    • Fugère, M. A., Madden, S., & Cousins, A. J. (2019). The relative importance of physical attractiveness and personality characteristics to the mate choices of women and their fathers. Evolutionary Psychological Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-019-00195-z
    • Fugère, M. A., Doucette, K. Chabot, C., & Cousins, A. J. (2017a). Similarities and differences in mate preferences among parents and their adult children. Personality and Individual Differences, 111, 80-85.
    • Fugère, M. A., Leszczynski, J. & Cousins, A. J. (2015). The Social Psychology of Attraction and Romantic Relationships. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

  • Research Interests:

    • Parent-Child Relationships Across Cultures
    • Racial and Ethnic Socialization
    • Adolescent Academic Outcomes

    Professional Activities:

    • Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE)
    • Member of the Society for Research on Child Development (SRCD)
    • Member of the Society for Research on Adolescence (SRA)
    • Member of the National Council of Family Relations (NCFR)

    Recent Publications and Presentations:

    • Gullotta, T.P., Plant, R.W., & Evans, M. (Eds.) (2015). Handbook of adolescent behavioral problems: Evidence-based approaches to prevention and treatment (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.
    • Evans, M., & Brown, T.L. (2014). The healthy development of African American youth. In T.P. Gullotta & M. Bloom (Eds.), Encyclopedia of primary prevention and health promotion (2nd ed., Vol 3, pp. 1194-1202). New York, NY: Springer
    • Fouts, H.N., Roopnarine, J.L., Lamb, M.E., & Evans, M. (2012). Infant social interactions with multiple caregivers: The importance of ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology, 43 (2), 328-348.

  • Research Interests:

    • Biological Bases of Attention
    • Driving Behavior
    • Multi-tasking
    • Applied Cognition

    Although his lab logo and name are TBD, here is a blurb about his research:

    This lab investigates the biological bases of the human ability to direct and maintain attention to task-relevant stimuli, particularly in complex, dynamic environments (i.e., traffic)

  • Research Interests:

    • Decision Making and Impulsive Behavior
    • Health, Sport, and Fitness
    • Application of Behavioral Principles to Address Problems of Social Significance

    Professional Activities:

    • Board Certified Behavior Analyst
    • Member of California Association for Behavior Analysis
    • Member of the Association for Behavior Analysis International

    Recent Publications and Presentations:

    • Krebs, C.A., Nyein, K. (2021). Increasing physical activity in adults using self-tailored deposit contract. [Special issue on behavior analysis in health, sport, and fitness]. Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, 21(3), 173-183. doi. 10.1037/bar0000222.
    • Krebs, C.A., Kuhn, S.A.C., Brewer, A.T., Diller, J.W. (2021). Using interteaching to promote online learning outcomes. Journal of Behavioral Education. doi: 10.1007/s10864-021-09434-5
    • Otalvaro, P.A, Krebs, C.A., Brewer, A.T., Leon, Y., Steifman, J.S. (2020). Reducing Requests for Attention by Adults with Intellectual Disabilities using a DRL Schedule. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 53(1), 545-553. doi: 10.1002/jaba.603

  • Research Interests:

    • Lifeguarding and Visual Search
    • Applied Cognition (Related to Technology such as Email and Video Conferencing)
    • Pedagogy and Instruction

    Professional Activity:

    • Member of the Psychonomic Society
    • Expert Witness and Consultant for Cases of Lifeguard Surveillance

    Recent Publications and Presentations:

    • Lanagan-Leitzel, L.K., & Salters-Pedneault, K. (2021, November). Exploring the relationship between mental health and trauma experience and surveillance performance. Poster presented virtually at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society.
    • Lanagan-Leitzel, L. K. (2021). Does incident severity influence surveillance by lifeguards in aquatic scenes? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 35, 181-191. doi: 10.1002/acp.3752
    • Lanagan-Leitzel, L. K. (2019). An examination of the severity of aquatic incidents. The International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education, 10, 1-14. doi: 10.25035/ijare.10.04.07

  • Research Interests:

    • Social-Emotional Development in Schools
    • Child and Adolescent Mental Health
    • Dissemination and Implementation of Evidence-Based Interventions

    Recent Publications and Presentations:

    • Lee, P., Lang, J. M., & Marshall, T. (2019, March). Evidence-based Practices in Outpatient Child Mental Health Clinics: Relation between Treatment Type and Diagnosis. Paper presented at Annual Research and Policy Conference on Child, Adolescent, and Young Adult Behavioral Health, Tampa, FL.
    • Lee, P. & Bierman, K. L. (2018). Longitudinal trends and year-to-year fluctuations in student-teacher conflict and closeness: Associations with aggressive behavior problems. Journal of School Psychology, 70, 1-15.  doi: 10.1016/j.jsp.2018.06.002
    • Heatly, M. C. & Lee, P. (2018). Conduct disorder. In A. Maragakis & W. O’Donohue (Eds.), Principle-based stepped care and brief psychotherapy for integrated primary care settings. New York, NY: Springer.

  • Research Interests:

    • Contextual Influences on Masculinity and Femininity
    • Feminist Beliefs and Self-Identification
    • Love and Gender Stereotypes Across the Life-Span

    Recent Publications and Presentations:

    • Leszczynski, J. (2009). A state conceptualization: Are individuals’ masculine and feminine personality traits situationally influenced? Personality and Individual Differences, 47, 157-162.
    • Andreoletti, C., Leszczynski, J. P., & Disch, W. B. (2015). Gender, race, and age: The content of compound stereotypes across the lifespan. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 81, 27-53.
    • Leszczynski, J. P., Cousins, A. J., & Casuccio, J. (2019). Generational differences in feminist self-identification & liberal feminist beliefs. Presented at the Association for Women in Psychology’s Annual Conference, Newport, RI.

  • Research Interests:

    • Anxiety and Trauma-Related Disorders

    Professional Activity:

    • Licensed Psychologist

    Recent Publications and Presentations:

    • Shipherd, J. C., & Salters-Pedneault, K. (2018). Do acceptance and mindfulness moderate the relationship between maladaptive beliefs and posttraumatic distress? Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 10(1), 95-102. doi: 10.1037/tra0000248
    • Shipherd, J. C., Salters-Pedneault, K., & Fordiani, J. (2016). Evaluating post-deployment training for coping with intrusive cognition: A comparison of training approaches. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 84(11), 960-971.
    • Diller, J. W., Salters-Pedneault, K., & Gallagher, A. (2014). Effective dissemination requires effective talk: A comparison of behavior-analytic journals. Behavior Analysis in Practice.

  • Research Interests:

    • Occupational Health
    • Eating Behavior & Physical Activity
    • Psychophysiology

    Professional Activities:

    • Member of the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology (SCAPPS)

    Recent Publications and Presentations:

    • Scisco, J., Meyers, E., Miceli, A., Powell, J., & Kawabe, K. (2022, October). “It’s been a game changer”: A qualitative study of treadmill desk use when working from home. Poster presented at the Annual Conference of the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology (SCAPPS), Montréal, Québec, Canada.
    • Scisco, J. L., Angel, A., Miceli, A., Powell, J., Valencia-Conde, M., & Tracy, B. (2021, November). Examining physical activity, barriers to physical activity, and sedentary behavior for American office workers experiencing mandatory work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Poster presented virtually at the 2021 Work, Stress, and Health Conference.
    • Boysen, G. A., Sawhney, M., Naufel, K. Z., Wood, S., Flora, K., Hill, J. C., & Scisco, J. L. (2020). Mentorship of undergraduate research experiences: Best practices, learning goals, and an assessment rubric. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 6(3), 212-224. https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000219

  • Research Interests:

      Child social-emotional development Sibling relations and the family context Gender role development in early childhood

    Professional Activities:

      SRCD – Society for Research in Child Development BGA – Behavior Genetics Association APS – Association for Psychological Science

    Recent Publications and Presentations:

      Monge, C., & Vasquez-O’Brien, T. C. (2021). Effects of individual toxic behavior on team performance in League of Legends. Media Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2020.1868322 Rea-Sandin, G., Vasquez-O’Brien, T. C., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2020). The protective role of parent positive personality and emotional availability in toddler problem behaviors. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 66(3), https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/mpq/vol66/iss3/1 Estabrook, R., Massey, S.H., Clark, C.A.C., Burns, J.L., Mustanski, B., Cook, E.H., Vasquez-O’Brien, T.C., Makowski, B., Espy, K.A. & Waschlag, L.S. (2016). Separating family-level and direct exposure effects of smoking during pregnancy on offspring externalizing symptoms: Bridging the behavior genetic and behavior teratologic divide. Behavior Genetics, 46(3), 389-402, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-015-9762-2