Research is an important component of the science of psychology. Students gain a better understanding of the discipline through direct experience with psychological research. Opportunities to get involved with research are plentiful in the psychology department and conducting research is a great way to gain valuable, practical experience whilst gaining professional connections and work experience. Involvement in research can also develop your analysis and critical thinking skills and lead to conference presentations and professional publications.
Directed Research
Partnering with faculty to conduct research offers a valuable opportunity to learn new techniques and apply methods learned in the classroom. Starting as early as their first year, students can enroll in directed research (PSYC 197/297/397/497) credits; students must complete learning contract paperwork available via the Registrar.
- 1 credit = 40 hrs/semester (2.5 hrs/week)
- 2 credits = 80 hrs/semester (5 hrs/week)
- 3 credits = 120 hrs/semester (7.5 hrs/week)
- 4 credits = 160 hrs/semester (10 hrs/week)
Volunteers are welcome. Some faculty occasionally offer paid positions.
Read through the listing of faculty research interests. If you are interested in the research of any current faculty member, please don’t hesitate to contact them directly to discuss 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 examples of student research presented as part of the Spring 2020 Virtual Research Symposium
View examples student research presented as part of the Fall 2020 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
SURF (Seahawk Undergraduate Research Fellowship)
SURF is an eight-week annual summer program at SMCM, 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 your 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 support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in addition to a number of internal funding sources. 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
Initiated in 1986 by the Graduate Deans of the Big Ten Academic Alliance, the Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) encourages talented underrepresented undergraduates to pursue graduate study, and subsequently, academic careers. At the University of Maryland, several colleges offer exciting summer research opportunities consistent with the SROP’s goal of increasing the number of underrepresented students in these programs.
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.
University of Virginia Educational Psychology and Applied Developmental Science Summer Undergraduate Research Program: a 10-week internship that provides undergraduates with valuable research and professional development experience under the guidance of UVA Faculty conducting education research
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 publications: (* = SMCM students/alumni):
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- *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, Southeastern Psychological Association, Society for Personality and Social Psychology 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 reinastatement of cocaine-seeking behavior in female and male rats. Poster presented at the 2023 Society for Neuroscience Meeting, Washington, DC.
- *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.