Faculty Research

Students may receive credit toward their degree for involvement in research with faculty. It is also an excellent way for preparing for graduate school. Contact the professor you are interested in working with and then contact your academic advisor about getting the credit set up for independent study research work. The course is ANTH/PSY/SW/SOC 490R: Independent Study. Six credits total of 490R may be used toward completion of your degree.

Student and Faculty Research Group:

Dr. Tolman and Dr. John coordinate a student-faculty research group that meets weekly through the year to support student research.  All students interested in learning more about research or considering participating in research are encouraged to attend.  The purpose of the group is to support student original research ideas, generate ideas for research projects, help students develop their research methodology, critique research strategies, and provide feedback on proposals and manuscripts. The group is also very helpful in helping students understand how research begins, the steps and stages involved, and to receive practical feedback on the realities of conducting research at UVU.  While the group encourages students to develop their own original research (since this is the most competitive result for graduate school), students may also work directly work on projects with Dr. Tolman, Dr. John, or other faculty members.  For more information on meeting times, days, and location, contact Dr. Tolman at 801-863-6011 or Anton.Tolman@UVU.edu , or Dr. John at 801-863-8809 or Cameron.John@UVU.edu .

Anton Tolman (PSY):  

Dr. Tolman has interests in two major areas:  forensic psychology and scholarship of teaching.  In forensic psychology, Dr. Tolman is particularly interested in the practical issues of how the science of psychology informs (or does not) judicial decisions regarding violent offenders including stalkers, psychopaths, and sexual offenders.  He continues to work to understand the boundary issues between the two professions with an eye on how to improve the effective use of psychological science in the courtroom.  He has also recently begun a new project investigating the psychology of evil.  He is willing to work and mentor students interested in other areas of forensic psychology as well.  In scholarship of teaching, Dr. Tolman is especially interested in issues related to metacognition (helping students evaluate their own progress, become self-aware of their own learning patterns) and has developed several promising instruments.  He also is interested in evaluating issues of power in the classroom and how to improve the learner-centered environment in distance education.  He would be happy to have help with these projects!  

Rory C. Reid: (PSY):

Coordinates the research team at the Provo Counseling Center, an outpatient mental health clinic. Research focuses on psychological assessment with patients seeking help for sexual compulsivity and pornography issues. Additional research in the area of neuropsychology involving executive functions in the frontal lobe of the brain are also a domain of interest. Instruments used in research include psychological assessment inventories and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participation on this research team is demanding and vigorous and student research associates are expected to commit a minimum of 5 hours per week for a minimum of 1 year. Student researcher’s receive training on research methods, statistics, and psychological testing, opportunities to present research at professional conferences, and opportunities to co-author publications in peer-reviewed journals. Contact Rory Reid at 801-375-1600 or rory@provocc.org or rory@rory.net . Website: www.provocc.org

Dr. Grant Richards and Susan Middleton (PSY/SW):

They are developing a parent education program for parents of kids in the juvenile justice system that can be adapted to the varying needs of these parents. This program is being developed at the request of some local juvenile justice judges and DCFS and is open to student involvement. If you are interested and/or would like more information contact Dr. Richards at 863-8316 or richargr@uvu.edu or Susan Middleton at 473-4989 or middlesu@uvu.edu .

Dr. Kathy French: (PSY):

Dr. French is conducting an oral history of peace activists, from religious leaders to military veterans, to some of Utah's political leaders. She is in need of a student or two to listen to the tapes and type up transcripts. There are some other kinds of tasks involved with this research. For more information contact Dr. French at 801-863-8892 or frenchka@uvu.edu .

Mark Jeffreys (ANTH):

Has a grant for assembling a field economic laboratory of linked laptops and is looking to put together a team to do behavioral economic experiments with this lab. Anyone who has a strong statistics foundation &/or a comfort level in working with shareware would be a good candidate. For more information on these and other projects contact Dr. Jeffreys at 801-863-6199 or jeffrema@uvu.edu .

Ron Hammond (SOC/PSY):

Ron is currently conducting two studies: library utilization research and a survey of students money management, credit care attitudes and retention issues. For more information contact Dr. Hammond at 863-8344 or RonH@uvu.edu !

Lynn England (SOC):

Dr. England has three on-going projects that could involve students. First, he is involved in a project to examine poverty among the Tarahumara Indians of Chihuahua Mexico. They are trying to understand how urban life is affecting them and how they preserve cultural traditions. Second, he has been involved in interviews of residents of several rural communities in Utah and western Colorado. They are working on the changes that are occurring in the communities and the mechanisms they use to preserve local community. Finally, he has been interviewing Hispanic women in Carbon County to try to understand the culture and history. If any of these sound interesting, contact him at englanly@uvu.edu or lynn_england@byu.edu and his phone is 801-717-6037.

David Yells (PSY):

Dr. Yells is currently studying Retrieval-Induced Forgetting: A phenomenon in which studying a subset of items from a study list reduces subsequent memory for non-studied items, aswell as many related topics. For more information please contact Dr. Yells at 863-8585 or david.yells@uvu.edu !

Cameron John (PSY):

Dr. John is continuing work on the creation and validation of a holistic screening instrument that will be used with clients at UVU Student Health Services. Dr. John is also involved in a collaborative project focusing on identifying factors that contribute to successful reintegration for LDS returned missionaries. A third project involves a project that seeks to identify the efficacy of premarital counseling. A fourth project that takes place in Student Health Services is identifying college mental health trends. A fifth project that he is working on is attempting to identify the issues that contribute to Utah being the number one depressed state in the U.S. If you are interested in assisting with any of these projects please contact Dr. Cameron John at 801-863-8809 or cameron.john@uvu.edu .

Jack Jensen (PSY):

Dr. Jensen is working on a project which is attempting to identify the issues that contribute to Utah being the number one depressed state in the U.S. If you are interested in this study and would like to assist please contact Dr. Jensen at 801-863-8375 or jensenjc@uvu.edu .

Barton Poulson (PSY):

My research is centered on art and aesthetics. I have two general interests in these areas and there should be excellent opportunities for research presentations and may publications in either one:
* How do people evaluate creative work in photography, architecture, painting, ceramics, poetry, music, design, and so on? Does personal experience with that field in particular or arts in general help explain how people evaluate creative work? Do they rely on commonly used principles of good composition in that field?
* I am also interested in finding ways to help people have greater aesthetic appreciation for the places and things around them. Will drawing attention to beauty in one place lead to seeing beauty elsewhere? Will aesthetic appreciation improve identification or involvement? Will this kind of outward attention and appreciation improve well-being or social interactions?
I am especially interested in working with students who have (or have had) some experience in one of these fields or other creative areas, although I am also very happy to work with anyone who is interested. Although this doesn’t count as a research interest per se, I am happy to help anybody – students and faculty – with research design or data analysis. Please don’t hesitate to contact me at 801-863-7156 or  bpoulson@uvu.edu .