I am a social psychologist whose primary research interest is in the study of human aggression. My work concentrates on the cognitive and behavioral effects of aggression-related cues (in particular, media violence and weapon images), as well as individual differences in aggressive cognition and behavior. In the process I have become increasingly skeptical about the purported influence of aggression-related cues, based on work I have conducted as well as that of my peers. I am also interested in examining the role of both short-term and long-term exposure to mass media on the cultivation of social attitudes toward violence (such as the practice of torture). I have secondary interest in political psychology, with a particular focus on right-wing authoritarianism. Most recently, I have become interested in better understanding the psychometric properties of measures of aggressive cognition currently in use, and am keenly interested in understanding if these instruments (e.g. word completion task) are suitable for measuring accessibility of aggressive cognition in their current form. Much of my research intersects with other disciplines such as Communication.
Although my faculty appointments have been at universities primarily geared toward teaching, I maintain an active research program. In fact, I consider original research to be the life blood of any university. Given my emphasis on the importance of research, I have one primary aim in mind: getting students involved in the science of psychology, and increasingly socializing them to embrace the values of open science. At my current post, our majors have an opportunity each fall semester to present their research at our Psychology Symposium, and I regularly sponsor students' projects that are presented each spring at the university's annual Research Day. At this point, all of my most recently published research, as well as those manuscripts that are currently under review or in press have been accomplished with the cooperation of undergraduate student researchers. Our program is developing to the point to where I am now able to include students as co-authors on publishable manuscripts. In the process, I increasingly have the opportunity to mentor young scholars in a way that is similar to which one might mentor a graduate level student.
Max Stout (2020)
Crystal Cordoba (2019)
Tanis Fox (2018)
Holly Jones (2018)
Luke Jones (2017)
David Parks (2017)
Joshua Harmon (2016)
Hannah Ware (2016)
Woodrow Solon Pender (2016)
Meagan Crosby (2015)
Sarah Oelke (2014)
Linda Thao (2014)
Joshua Ellis (2014)
Kelly Franklin (2012)