Tonight’s Agenda

1. Tonight’s Agenda • Presentations from • The new academic advisor for Psychology • Amanda Hancock • Learning Skills Centre • Lyn Benn – Learning Skills Centre Coordinator • Psyc Club • Carmen Poirier – Psyc Club President • Psychology Program • Dr. Paul Siakaluk

2. The Psychology Program at UNBC: Making the Most of It An Introduction to Faculty, Research Opportunities, the Honours Program, and Graduate School

3. Psychology at UNBC • we offer research opportunities that • help develop important skills (and not just for graduate studies in psychology) • provide other important benefits • what are these research opportunities?

4. Research Opportunities at UNBC • research assistants • good for early in your undergrad program • help faculty conduct their research • a few hours/week • individual research projects • for more senior students • PSYC 499-(3-6) • be personally responsible (with a faculty member) for your “own” research project

5. Research Opportunities at UNBC • honours program • “Admission to the honours program will take place after the end of the second year (i.e., upon completion of 60 credit hours) and will require a minimum CGPA of 3.33” (p. 161) • Dr. Paul Siakaluk is the honours program coordinator

6. Major 122 credit hours Honours 134 credit hours 12 extra credits 6 credits for honours thesis 6 credits in 400-level courses one must be a research methods What is an Honour’s Degree?

7. Honours vs Major in Psychology • Benefits: • gain understanding about the process of research • research experience is expected by grad schools • letters of reference • conference presentation / publication • Costs • heavier work load • possibly additional time in school • GPA

8. Honour’s Program Application Process • eligibility: • CGPA 3.33 • minimum of 60 credit hours • find a willing supervisor • application process: • complete yellow form & submit by April 9th, 2008 • attach transcripts from all post-secondary institutions • attach a “declaration of major” form • see me well before deadline

9. Skill Development • critical thinking skills • problem solving skills • people skills • writing skills • experience in developing and implementing a research project, analyzing data, writing an APA-format paper/manuscript • even using some of those ucky stats you learn in PSYC 315 and 316!

10. Graduate School in Psychology: What Does It Take? • very important to start thinking about what you will need for applying as early as possible!!! (don’t wait until your last semester) • graduate record exam (GRE) • most universities will want the general GRE and some want the psychology GRE • transcripts • letters of recommendation • application forms • where you will apply and with whom • make contact

11. Graduate School in Psychology: What Does It Take? • start thinking about what kind(s) of psychology you would want to pursue for a career • clinical psychology, counseling psychology • experimental psychology • cognitive, developmental, biological, industrial-organizational, theoretical, etc

12. Graduate School in Psychology: What Does It Take? • grades, grades, grades!!! • letters of recommendation • not just for grad school, also med school, law school, job • you want your letters to state that you are • a good researcher • reliable • intelligent • industrious • etc

13. Graduate School in Psychology: What Does It Take? • RESEARCH EXPERIENCE!!!!! • this is important even for “applied” psychology programs like clinical and counselling • e.g., most, if not all, graduate clinical programs require research for a Master’s and PhD

14. Graduate School in Psychology: What Does It Take? • how can we in the Psychology Program help you? • check out the faculty on the web • research interests match? • if not, the research experience is what is important • e.g., if you want to go into biological/physiological psychology, we don’t have a “wet” lab here, but having research experience will help you be competitive for grad school

15. Psychology Program Faculty • we’ll let them introduce themselves in a second • any questions?

16. Psychology Program Faculty • Dr. William Owen • Psychology Program Chair • research interests: basic reading and cognitive processes

17. Psychology Program Faculty • Dr. Sherry Beaumont • research interests: communication in families and friendships; the relation between personality, emotion regulation, and conversational styles; and vulnerability and resiliency associated with maladaptive temperamental or personality styles • sabbatical until July 1, 2008

18. Psychology Program Faculty • Dr. Cindy Hardy • research interests: child and adolescent clinical psychology, and human development. Current research projects address parenting, and delivery of health services to children, youth, and families living in rural and remote Canada

19. Psychology Program Faculty • Dr. Loraine Lavallee • research interests: health psychology, social psychology, environmental psychology • sabbatical until July 1, 2008

20. Psychology Program Faculty • Dr. Han Li • research interests : intercultural communication and physician-patient communication. If any of you are planning to go to medical school, a research project on physician-patient communication may be of interest to you. Please drop by during my office hours (Mon. 1;30-3:30).

21. Psychology Program Faculty • Dr. Kyle Matsuba • Graduate Advisor • research interest: child, adolescent, and young adult development in the areas of at-risk behaviour, civic engagement, morality, sexuality, and technology • exploration of self and narrative identity during the transition period from adolescence to adulthood

22. Psychology Program Faculty • Dr. Glenda Prkachin • research interests: cognitive neuroscience, the development of perception of emotion, and attention.

23. Psychology Program Faculty • Dr. Ken Prkachin • research interests: health psychology, clinical psychology, pain expression, and the biobehavioural determinants of heart disease

24. Psychology Program Faculty • Dr. Paul Siakaluk • Honour’s Program Coordinator • research interests: how word meaning (semantics) is represented in the mind; how various measures of semantics are or are not related to one another • same thing for the sounds of words (phonology) and the visual form of words (orthography)

25. Psychology Program Faculty • Dr. William Wong • research interests: mental health • initiatives, prevention approaches • and learning theory applications

26. Psychology Program Faculty • Julie Orlando • Senior Laboratory Instructor

27. Psychology Program Faculty • Judith Russell • part-time instructor

28. Psychology Program Faculty • Dr. Henry Harder • research interests: • rehabilitation and family psychology • sabbatical until July 1, 2008

29. Psychology Program Faculty • Dr. Robert Tait • former Dean of Graduate Studies at UNBC • administrative leave

30. Psychology Program Staff • Loreen Obst • Psychology Program Administrative Assistant

31. Psyc Club • get some pizza (start with one piece please) • all those interested in organizing the psyc club, please meet with Carmen after you get some pizza • mingle and network