Student Achievements
Congratulations to our 2012 Outstanding Graduate
Each May, we recognize the exceptional work of our college's top seniors with the Outstanding Graduate award.
Alyssa Musto graduated from Pacific with a degree in Psychology in just three years. She is a Stockton native, born and raised in the community. She is a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Society and was recently inducted into Phi Kappa Phi.
Despite her more than full class load, Alyssa has given back to her Stockton community providing math tutoring for elementary school children. She also excelled as a scholar outside the classroom, participating on the research teams of two separate faculty members and being an author on at least one poster presented at a major psychology conference.
Meet Our Outstanding 2011 Graduate
At the end of the year, each of the academic departments and interdisciplinary programs in the College of the Pacific honors a truly exceptional graduating senior or group of seniors with the Outstanding Graduate Award. This award is given to students who have not only earned a consistently high academic record, but who have also been actively involved in the discipline through activities, research, or special projects.
Stephanie Kong has a long list of achievements that include a very high GPA, the study of two different languages, and conducting research and serving as a teaching assistant for several semesters. In addition, she was inducted into the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honor society. Her immediate plans include studying for the GRE in preparation for applying to doctoral programs in Developmental or Social Psychology, with a focus on research related to gender, homosexuality, peer groups, and issues of social significance in schools, such as bullying. We are very proud of Stephanie!
Off to Grad School!
- Valerie Segura '11 was accepted into the M.A. in Psychology program at University of the Pacific.
- Erika Hermosillo '11 was accepted into the Teach for America program and will be working in the St. Louis, MO area.
Graduate Poster Presentations
Graduate student Allison Morley '12 presented the poster "Infant Sign-Language Training and Functional Analysis" co-authored by Dr. Matt Normand and former graduate students Kristin Hustyi '10 and Mychal Machado '11. Morley also presented the poster "A Functional Analysis of Physical Activity in Preschool Children" with graduate student Tracy Larson '12, co-authored by Normand and Hustyi at the conference "Applied Behavior Analysis: Evidence-based Solutions for Helping People" at Fresno State University (sponsored by the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies).
Students and Faculty Present at Western Psychological Association Meeting
Undergraduates Michael Quan '11, Diana Lujano '13, and Bertha Muro '13, presented "Evaluating Parental Beliefs and Behavior Among College Students Enrolled in a Parenting Course" with graduate students Lynda Lowry '11 and Carolynn Steiner '12, and Dr. Scott Jensen.
Scott Jensen, along with graduate students Lynda Lowry '11 and Judith Biesen '12, and undergraduate student Rebecca Kutcher '13 presented "Perceptions and Use of Accommodations among Students with Disabilities."
Stacy Rilea and graduate students Rutvi Patel '12 and Justin Schultz '10 presented "Physiological Feedback and its Influence on Unrealistic Optimism in Coronary Heart Disease."
Students Present at Behavior Analysis Conference
Psychology students, along with faculty, presented research at the California Association for Behavior Analysis conference in Burlingame, CA. Two graduate students won student research awards: Mychal Machado '11 won the Julie Vargas Award for research he conducted as his master's thesis. Sean Blumberg '12 won the B. F. Skinner Foundation Research Award that will provide funding for him to conduct his master's thesis.
Mychal Machado '11 presented the paper "Picture this: Smoking cues as elicitors of compensatory responses in smokers" co-authored by Carolynn Kohn and Matt Normand.
Bryon Miller '12 presented the paper "Be healthy: Behavioral assessment of physical activity" co-authored by Matt Normand.
Mychal Machado '11 and Tracy Larson '12 presented the paper "Using functional analysis methodologies in preschool classrooms" co-authored by Holly White and Matt Normand.
Allison Morley '12 presented the paper "Infant sign-language training and functional analysis" co-authored by Matt Normand, Mychal Machado '11, and Kristin Hustyi '10.
Kristin Hustyi '10 presented the paper "Functional analysis of physical activity in preschool children" co-authored by Matt Normand, Tracy Larson '12 and Allison Morley '12.
Carolynn Kohn presented the paper "Prompts or proximity? Recycling old techniques for a new population" co-authored by Mychal Machado '11, Kelly Rush '13, Aryan Bimar '11, Gabriel Bingo '11 and Todd Fabian.
Wes Rieland '09, Carolynn Kohn and Ken Beauchamp presented the poster "Increasing class participation: All in favor, raise your hand."
Bryon Miller '12 presented the poster "Validation of the Fitbit® fitness tracking device" co-authored by Tracy Larson '12 and Matt Normand.
Tracy Larson '12 presented the poster "A comparison of interval recording methods for measuring physical activity levels" co-authored by Bryon Miller '12 and Matt Normand.
Grad Students to Have Papers Published in Journal of Applied Behavior
Dr. Matt Normand and graduate students Mychal Machado '10, Kristin Hustyi '10 and Allison Morley '11 had their paper "Infant Sign Training and Functional Analysis" accepted for publication in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. The paper reports the results of a study evaluating a method to teach sign language to very young pre-verbal children.
Dr. Matt Normand and graduate students Kristin Hustyi '10 and Tracy Larson '11 had the paper "Behavioral Assessment of Physical Activity in Obese Pre-School Children" accepted for publication in the journal as well. The article reports a study evaluating the effects of a behavioral intervention on child activity levels and an assessment of the validity of a recently developed direct-observation system for scoring child activity levels.