Research opportunities are plentiful in the Psychology Department. Getting involved in research is a great way to gain practical experience whilst gaining professional connections and work experience. St. Mary’s students routinely partner with professors on research projects, the results of which are often published in academic journals and/or presented at professional conferences.

Faculty members have a wide range of research interests in both human and animal behavior. Areas of specialization include:

• Behavioral neuroscience
• Clinical/Counseling psychology
• Cognitive psychology
• Developmental psychology
• Social psychology

Directed Research

Starting as early as their first year, students can gain valuable experience working with faculty on research projects.

Learn more about directed research opportunities

Research in Connection with Coursework

Introduction to Psychology students have the option of participating in research studies in order to fulfill the Introduction to Psychology Research Requirement. Some students have the opportunity to earn extra credit for psychology courses by participating in research.

Research Participant Pool Information

A number of students conduct research as part of their coursework prior to the St. Mary’s Project.

• View student research presented as part of the Spring 2020 Virtual Research Symposium
• View student research presented as part of the Fall 2020 Virtual Research Symposium
• View student research presented as part of the Spring 2021 Virtual Research Symposium

St. Mary’s Projects

The St. Mary’s Project is a year-long, eight-credit, independently designed and executed course of study intended as a capstone experience for a student’s time at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and it is a wonderful way to gain research experience. Many psychology students choose to complete an SMP that involves a hands-on, empirical research experience. Psychology majors are required to do an SMP.  They can choose to complete an SMP in psychology, another established academic discipline, or a cross-disciplinary study area.

“I found that conducting research expanded my job opportunities and also helped me obtain a research assistant position when I attended graduate school. The SMP was particularly helpful. Even four years after graduating job interviewers still ask me about this project and are impressed by the level of initiative and depth that the SMP requires.” – Stephanie Klapper ’10

SMP Information for Current Students

• Psychology SMP Showcase
• View SMPs in Psychology presented in SP20
• View SMPs in Psychology presented in FA20
• View SMPs in Psychology presented in SP21

SURF (St. Mary’s Undergraduate Research Fellowship)

SURF is an eight-week annual summer program at St. Mary’s College, where students from a variety of disciplines delve into research topics of their own aspirations with guidance from faculty mentors. The SURF symposium held in early July culminates with the presentations of research projects to an audience of peers and professors. Approximately 10 to 12 students participate in SURF each summer since it started in 2012. The program is selective, with a fifty-percent acceptance rate. SURF is made possible by generous support from the Office of the Provost and other internal funding at St. Mary’s College in addition to Dominion Energy Inc. A portion of the funds go toward a stipend for the students, as well as room and board for the eight weeks.

Other (non SMCM) Undergraduate Research Opportunities

APA Listing

APA Summer Undergraduate Psychology Experience in Research (SUPER) Fellowships

The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences’ Summer Research Initiative (BSOS SRI) at the University of Maryland.

Social-Personality Undergraduate Research (SPUR) Program: The Social-Personality Undergraduate Research (SPUR) Program was originally created as a summer research internship for students interested in pursuing a graduate degree in social-personality psychology. In 2021, the program will transition into a March to December model with a similar mission—to expand opportunities for research experience for students from historically underrepresented racial backgrounds. Notably, the new SPUR program will seek to foster training and community engagement through virtual interconnections with face-to-face interaction at the annual SPSP convention as a launch point.

Summer Undergraduate Minority Research Program (SUMR): This summer internship introduces talented undergraduate students from underrepresented minority groups to research in health services, population health, and clinical epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania.

Funding to Support Student Research & Related Travel

There is funding available to support student research efforts, especially travel to present at conferences.
Learn about the Psychology Research Fund and the Bucknam-Glidden Fund
Conference Opportunities

Publications

Student research with faculty, especially on St. Mary’s Projects, occasionally leads to publication in peer-reviewed journals, a highly prestigious accomplishment for college students.

Representative recent publications: (* = St. Mary’s College students/alumni):

• *Scott, K., & Williams, E. N. (2024). Art therapy with adult refugees: A systematic review of qualitative research. The Arts in Psychotherapy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2024.102126  [Based on Katya Scott’s Summer 2022 SURF Project!]
•  *Van Wert, S. & Howansky, K. (2024) Fantasy worlds, real-life impact: the benefits of RPGs for transgender identity exploration, Journal of Homosexuality, https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2024.2320242 [Based on Sonder Van Wert’s SMP!]
• Bailey, A.M., *Barrett, A., *Havens, L., *Leyder, E., *Merchant, T., *Starnes, H., & Thompson, S. M. (2023). Changes in social, sexual, and hedonic behaviors in rats in response to stress and restoration by a negative allosteric modulator of α5-subunit containing GABA receptor. Behav Brain Res, 452, 114554. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.11455
• Freedman, G., *Moutoux, I., *Hermans, I., & Green, M.C. (2023). “She made a mean beef stroganoff”: Analyzing the Finkbeiner Test in newspaper articles about women in STEM. Communication Monographs. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2023.2285989
• *Faubion-Trejo, R. N. & Mantell, J. T. (2022). The roles of absolute pitch and timbre in plink perception. Music Perception, 39(3), 289-308. https://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2022.39.3.289
• *Morgan, E., & Nutt Williams, E. (2020). A qualitative study of psychotherapists’ in-session tears. Psychotherapy, 58(1), 150–159. https://doi.org/10.1037/pst0000298 [Based on Emily Morgans’s SMP!]

Conference Presentations

Students and faculty regularly present at regional, national, and international professional conferences. Recent conferences attended include the Society for Neuroscience, Eastern Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, and Society for Research in Child Development. Some of these students have been supported by competitive travel awards sponsored by the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience, the Council on Undergraduate Research, the College or the Foundation.

Representative recent conference presentations:

• *Roche, A. & Williams, E. N. (2024, April). Summer Camp Counselor Experiences: The Influence of Training, Self-Efficacy, and Organizational Cohesion. Poster presented at the L. Starling Reid Undergraduate Psychology Conference at UVA, Charlottesville, VA,
• *Iacona, N.  & Tickle, J. J. (2024, March). The Effects of Virtual Reality and Art Therapy on Stress Reduction. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting for the Eastern Psychological Association (EPA), Philidelphia, PA.
• *Verhoeven, M., *Washington, J. & Dennis, T. S. (2023, November). The effect of antibiotic and shory chain fatty acid replacement on the reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior in female and male rats. Poster presented at the 2023 Society for Neuroscience Meeting, Washington, DC.
• *Atwell, J. & Bailey, A. (2023, April). Special K: Effects of (R)-ketamine on Animal Models of Depression. Talk presented at the 2023 Mid-Atlantic Undergraduate Psychology Conference at Harford Community College, Bel Air, MD.
• *Fitzpatrick, J., *Fraser, A., Ehman, A.C., & Weber, M. (2023, April). Uncertain but not unaffected: Sexual assault uncertainty and post-traumatic-stress symptoms. Poster presented at the 69th Annual Meeting for the Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA), New Orleans, LA.
• *Taylor, S., *McGurk, S., *Luhn, K., & Howansky, K. (2023, February). Perceptual conformity: Peer influence on perceptions of attractiveness. Society for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Convention, Atlanta, GA.
• Mantell, J.M., & *Steelman, R. (2020, November). Vocal production as a measure of linguistic associations between space and pitch. Poster presented at the virtual 61st Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society.
• *Ertman, B. & Mirabile, S. P. (2019, March). Parental low negative expressivity and ignoring children’s negative emotions: Implications for children’s emotion regulation. Poster presented at the 2019 biennial conference of the Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore, MD.