Back-to-School Party!

Hi everyone!  Hope you all had a RELAXING stress-free summer and are ready to hit the books this Fall semester.  PGSA is hosting a “Back to School” party to welcome in the new semester before classes get too demanding!  


So, grab your calendars, planners, smart phones, or I-pads and get ready to jot down the following time: Friday, September 7^th from 6:00-til.  The venue, depending on cooperating weather conditions, will be poolside at the Vista Commons (1100 Pulaski Street Columbia, SC 29201).  We plan on grilling and having a good ol’ fashioned potluck style event, so please bring a dish, chips, or dessert to share with others!  You can just park on the street outside of the gate to the complex and there will be signs guiding you in. Also, BYOB and please NO GLASS bottles.  We are looking forward to seeing y’all at the party and having a great time!

Note:  If the weather is not suitable for outdoor activities, we plan on moving the party indoors at Liberty Tap Room.

Feel free to bring your swimmies and have a great start to the semester!

- Jessi and the PGSA

Meet the new PGSA Officers!!

President- Sandra Coulon is a 5^th year student in the clinical-community program and is happy to be serving as PGSA president. She works with Dr. Dawn Wilson doing health psych research related to stress and cardiovascular health. Her somewhat neglected hobbies are searching for vintage and odd treasures, eBay commerce, and befriending large wooden gnomes.

Vice President- Matthew Facciani is a 2^nd year experimental psychology PhD student and is the vice president of PGSA. He works with Dr. Shinkareva doing neural decoding research via fMRI. He is currently working on the neural representations of affect and mental imagery. His hobbies include activism, traveling, running, sports, video games, and being a goofball.

Treasurer- Bryn Schiele is a second year School Psychology student and is the treasurer of PGSA. She works on the School Mental Health team under Dr. Mark Weist studying evidence-based practices, family involvement and quality of youth mental health services. Bryn is particularly interested in the identification and treatment of individuals with internalizing disorders in the schools. Additionally, she is interested in integration of physical and mental health services in the schools, as well as how physical health behaviors can both prevent and treat mental health difficulties. In her spare time, Bryn loves to be active, by running, dancing and swimming, as well as to travel and spend time with her puppy.

Social Chair- Jessi Scherr is a second year School Psychology student and is the social chair of PGSA. She is originally from Jamestown, North Dakota, which is home to the world’s largest buffalo (sadly not a living buffalo, but a statue of a buffalo). She is currently working in a Neurodevelopmental Disorders Lab under Dr. Roberts and learning about the many aspects of the development of children with Autism and Fragile X Disorder including attention, physiological arousal, language, behavior regulation, and social interactions. In her spare time, she loves to be active and partake in activities such as swimming, hiking, and traveling. Jessi also enjoys her attempts at cooking and painting, which both have yet to be perfected!

Secretary- Kassy Alia is a third year student in the Clinical Community program and is excited to be serving as secretary this year. She works with Dr Dawn Wilson doing research related to environmental determinants of obesity and obesity-related health behaviors. She is also very interested in community based obesity and chronic disease prevention programs. She loves spending time with her husband Greg and is a proud dog momma to Josey (a mastiff), Peaches (a hot dog mix), and Tara (a Chihuahua). She also loves cooking/eating/talking about food, being outdoors and reading when she gets a chance.

Grad student publications

Just a sampling of pubs from grad students in our department this year... great job, everyone! Keep 'em coming!

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Decker, S. L., Englund, J. A., & Albritton, K. (2011). Integrating multi-tiered measurement outcomes for special education eligibility with sequential decision-making methodology. Psychology in the Schools. 

Roberts, J.E., Miranda, M., Boccia, M., Magruder, H., Tonnsen, B. L., & Hatton, D. D. (2011). Treatment effects of stimulant medication in young boys with fragile X syndrome. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 3, 175-84.

Roberts, J. E., Tonnsen, B. L., Robinson, A. R., & Shrinkareva, S. (in press). Heart activity and  autistic behavior in toddlers with fragile X syndrome. American Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Decker, S. L., Englund, J. A., Carboni, J. A., & Brooks, J. H. (2011). Cognitive and developmental influences in visual-motor integration skills in young children (Brief Report). Psychological Assessment.

Palomares, M., Englund, J. A., & Ahlers, S. (2011). Patterns and trajectories in Williams Syndrome:  the case of visual orientation discrimination. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32(3), 1021-1029.

Decker, S. L., Englund, J. A., & Roberts, A. M. (2011). Intellectual and neuropsychological assessment of individuals with physical and sensory disabilities and traumatic brain injury. In Flanagan, D. P., & Harrison, P. L. (Eds.) Contemporary Intellectual Assessment (3rd ed.). New York: Guilford.

Decker, S. L., Carboni, J. A., & Englund, J. A. (2010). Assessing visual-spatial and construction skills in a pediatric population. In Davis, A. S. (Ed.) Handbook of Pediatric Neuropsychology. New York: Springer Publishing.

Kitzman-Ulrich, H., Wilson, D.K., St. George, S.M., Peterson, M.S., Schneider, E., & Kugler, K. (2011). A preliminary test of a motivational and parenting weight loss program targeting low-income and minority adolescents. Childhood Obesity, 7, 379-384.

Cooper, S.M., Brown, C.L. & Metzger, I. (in press). Racial discrimination and African American adolescents’ adjustment: Gender variation in family and community social support protective factors. Journal of Child and Family Studies.

Guthrie, B.J., Cooper, S. M., Brown, C.L., & Metzger, I. (in press). Shades of difference: Health profiles among girls of color in the juvenile justice system. Journal of Health Care  for the Poor and Underserved. 

Englund, J. A. (July, 2011). Breaking through to teens: A book review. South Carolina Association of School Psychologists: School Psych Scene, 44(6), 1-4.

PGSA Potluck Holiday Party!

Join us for the annual PGSA Holiday Potluck Party on Sunday, December 11th. Please bring your beverages and a dish to share. Family and friends are welcome!

Where: Bridgette and Cory's apartment
When: Sunday, 12/11, 6pm "until"

RSVP on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/events/316732095012136/) or to Bridgette via e-mail. See listserv e-mail for directions.

See you there!

Meet the AAYD Lab!

This month, we’re featuring the African American Youth Development Lab (Faculty Advisor Shauna M. Cooper). The overall aims of the AAYD lab are to explore the ways in which families, schools, and communities influence positive youth development among African American youth (educational-related outcomes; psychological adjustment; health behaviors). Current graduate students in the lab are Charity Brown (3rd year School; Greensboro, NC), Isha Metzger (3rd year Clinical-Community; Atlanta, GA), Heather Eaddy (4th year Clinical-Community; Lake City, SC), and Melanie Avery (4th year Clinical-Community; Prince George’s County, MD).

Graduate students keep very busy supervising undergraduate research volunteers, preparing presentations and publications, transcribing and coding qualitative research data and with recruitment for several ongoing research projects. Currently, the lab is recruiting African American fathers with children between the ages of 10-17 for participation in the Intergenerational Influences, Co-parenting, and African American Males’ Parenting Practices: The Mediating Role of Fatherhood Ideologies, a mixed-method research project focusing on factors associated with African American fathers’ parenting ideologies as well as how these beliefs and attitudes are associated with parental involvement. The lab is also actively recruiting fathers and their adolescent daughters for participation in the Dads Active in Daughters Developing Successfully (D.A.D.D.S): Contributions to the Psychological and School Adjustment of African American Girls project. Fathers in both studies are compensated for completing a survey and participating in a father focus group (contact browncL9@email.sc.edu for more information about these projects).

Using university and community-based samples, the AAYD is also exploring African American youths’ views about adult responsibilities, including familial responsibilities, perceived gender roles, beliefs about community involvement and career-related/educational goals in the Psychological Well-Being among African American Emerging Adults: Risk and Protective Factors project. They are recruiting 300 African American young adults for participation in this investigation (see web site for more information).

The AAYD Lab graduate students also recently presented their work at the Biennial Meeting for the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) in Montreal Canada. Their poster symposium was entitled: “The "Gendered" Context of Racial Socialization in African American Families: The Discussion Continues.

Charity and Isha recently co-authored two publications, with their advisor, appearing in Sex Roles and the Journal for the Health Care for the Poor and Underserved.  Several other publications co-authored by the AAYD lab graduate students are currently under review.

Charity and Isha will be receiving training in qualitative data analysis at the Odum Institute for Research in Social Science, affiliated with the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. This training will equip them to design, conduct, and critique mixed method research and to interface with qualitative data analysis software such as NVivo.

To learn more about the AAYD lab's work or current projects, visit their web site, "like" them on Facebook, or e-mail the lab.

Updates from Executive Committee Meeting

Faculty are working hard to modify the course curriculum and meeting times to make all of our lives easier. Here are some highlights:

• Standard meeting times for courses to avoid course conflicts (e.g., TA assignments conflicting with grad courses, one course conflicting with another) and to ensure appropriate seating in classrooms
  
• A new grant course is being considered that would be 3 credit hours and would offer students in-depth assistance in preparing a grant (e.g., NIH fellowship or NRSA)
• Consistency in learning objectives for core courses that cut across programs (e.g., stats)

John Henderson suggested an information session for students interested in learning more about writing predoctoral fellowships. Please email Bridgette if you're interested, so that she can include this in the next report.

Please remember to attend colloquia in the department. We may have colloquia coming up for positions in the department. Colloquia also provide the opportunity to network with researchers from other universities and to get ideas for how to prepare your own presentations and future job talks. The next colloquium is this Friday, October 28th in Walsh at 12:15pm. See blurb below - I'm sure that many of you will be interested in the topic area.

Dr. Joel Nigg is a Professor of Psychiatry, Pediatrics & Behavioral Neuroscience and the Director of the Division of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the Oregon Health & Science University. Dr. Nigg will be giving a colloquium on Friday, October 28, 2011 at 12:15 p.m. in the Walsh Conference Room in Barnwell College. The title of his talk is “ADHD Causes and Mechanisms.” A flier is attached, please mark your calendars to attend.

As always, please email Bridgette with ideas, comments, and concerns.

happy hour update, volunteers needed!

Last night's happy hour at Jake's was a great success! Thanks to all who came out, and don't forget to mark your calendars for our next HH on October 27th (location TBD).

The department is looking for a volunteer or two to attend a graduate school fair at UNC-Charlotte on November 4th. Please e-mail Bridgette for more information.