Psychology Research Labs

Sue Wenze and twin girls write at a whiteboard.
Nadia Manasfi ’23 works at a brightly lit computer screen in a dark room
Luis Schettino works with a student in a lab
A young child points at a screen during a video chat.

Faculty in the Department of Psychology direct active labs that offer students opportunities to gain research experience. Students and faculty produce a large number of scientific publications and presentations each year. The directory of faculty research labs can be found below.

BIAS Lab

Director: Angela Bell
Website: https://sites.lafayette.edu/bellac/
The Bias Lab research centers on issues of intergroup dynamics and the experiences of being a member of a stigmatized group. We examine causes and consequences of evaluating prejudice and barriers to reducing such prejudice. The current lab project studies factors that underlie why people tend to deny their own racism but are perfectly able to detect racism in others. Ultimately, our goals are to improve accuracy in person perception and reduce anti-Black racism.
Recent presentations and publications:
Alam, R., Bell, A. C., & Taylor, V. J. (2023, February). The role of collective blame and entitativity in opposition to  BLM and anti-racist policies. Poster presentation, Society of Personality and Social Psychology, Atlanta, GA.
Stargel, B. & Bell, A. C. (2022). Examining relationships between transgender prejudice, gender essentialism,  and defining and categorizing transgender people. Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research, 27(4), 276-285. https://doi.org/10.24839/2325-7342.JN27.4.276

Community Health Psychology Lab

Director: Abbey Mann
Website: https://sites.lafayette.edu/mannak/research/community-health-psychology-lab/
The Community Health Psychology Lab is engaged in community-based research on healthcare access, primarily with sexual and gender minority groups. Current projects include analysis of data from Transgender Access to Comprehensive Care Experiences Study in South Central Appalachia (TransACCESS); and collaborating on the Viewpoints on Improving Bonds Between Health Experts and Sexual and Gender Minority Youth (VIBES) study with researchers in Florida.
Recent presentations and publications:
Mann, A., Fredrick E. G., & Wilkins B. (In press). Growing up in a rural area social support, and internalized  transphobia: Understanding Appalachian transgender mental and physical health. Stigma & Health (TBD,  contact for copy of manuscript).
Mann, A. (2022, June). Transgender healthcare interactions: Results from timeline interviews. Society for the  Psychological Study of Social Issues, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

FLAVOR LAB

Director: Rob Wickham
Flavors added to electronic nicotine delivery systems, such as e-cigarettes and vapes, as well as to traditional combustible cigarettes can exacerbate their addictive potential. Aside from their actions on our palate, flavors themselves can also enter the brain when using these products. Our research is exploring how flavors act at the palate as well as within the brain using rodent models of reward-learning, anxiety, and chemosensation.
Recent publication: Lehr, M., Mitchell, L., Kline, K., Kerr, L., & Wickham, R. J. (2021). Comparing taste preference for menthol stereoisomers in adolescent Sprague–Dawley rats. Psychology & Neuroscience, 14(3), 335–342. https://doi.org/10.1037/pne0000249

Human Factors, Perception, & Cognition Lab

Director: Michael Nees
Website: http://sites.lafayette.edu/neesm
Research in the HFPC lab examines theoretical and applied aspects of human interactions with technology. Current research topics and interests include auditory displays, human interactions with automation (especially for driving), driving safety, and effects of interruptions on multitasking performance.
Recent publication: Nees, M.A., & Liu, C.(L’23) (2022). Mental models of driver monitoring systems: Perceptions of monitoring capabilities. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 91, 484-498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2022.10.012

MemLab

Director: Jennifer Talarico
Website: https://sites.lafayete.edu/talaricj
MemLab studies how individuals remember personally-experienced events (i.e., autobiographical memory). Broadly speaking, our research questions examine the relationship between event features and how those events are later remembered and how what we remember is influenced by how a memory is brought to mind.
Recent publications:
Talarico, J. M. (2022). A tetrahedral model of autobiographical memory research design. WIREs Cognitive Science. [pdf]
Talarico, J. M., Bohn, A. & Wessel, I. (2019). The role of event relevance and congruence on flashbulb memory formation. Memory, 27, 985-997.[pdf]

Mood Processing & Treatment Lab

Director: Susan Wenze
Website: https://sites.lafayette.edu/wenzes/
The Mood Processing and Treatment (MPAT) Lab conducts research on mood disorders and related conditions. Specifically, we study cognitive and emotional processes in individuals with sub-threshold and threshold-level mood and anxiety symptoms. We also conduct research on mental health treatment needs and outcomes for affective disorders, anxiety, stress, and related concerns, with a focus on perinatal mental health care.
Recent representative publication: Wenze, S. J., Miers, Q. A. (L’19), & Battle, C. L. (2020). Postpartum mental health care for mothers of multiples: A qualitative study of new mothers’ treatment preferences. Journal of Psychiatric Practice, 26(3), 201-214. https://doi.org/10.1097/PRA.0000000000000469

Motor Control and Motor Cognition Lab

Director: Luis F. Schettino
The motor control and motor cognition lab explores the neural bases of sensorimotor behavior through kinematic and gaze analysis in humans and how spatial perception affects our cognition.
Recent publications:
Furmanek, M.P., Schettino, L.F., Yarossi, M., Kirkman, S., Adamovich, S.V., Tunik, E. (2019) Coordination of reach-to-grasp in physical and haptic-free virtual environments. Journal of Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation 16(1):78.
Steinberg, N. J., Brown, A. A., Schettino, L. F. (2019) Target capture strategy selection in a simulated marksmanship task. Scientific Reports 9:14057.

Neurodiversity Lab

Director: Jessie L. Greenlee
Research in the Neurodiversity Lab aims to understand factors associated with the socioemotional well-being of neurodiverse children and youth and their families. We use multiple methods to explore how and why some neurodiverse individuals do well (build resilience) while others are at increased risk for mental health challenges. Current research topics include using electrodermal activity as a biomarker for child dysregulation, measuring social threat in autistic children, and parenting experiences in the context of autism.
Recent publication: Greenlee, J. L., Hickey, E., Stelter, C. R., Huynh, T., & Hartley, S. L. (2023). Profiles of the parenting experience in families of autistic children. Autism, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221147399