My research is focused on specifying the neural and genetic mechanisms underlying individual differences in executive functions –– high-level cognitive processes that regulate thought and action and thereby enable goal-directed behavior –– and their relations to everyday self-regulation and psychopathology. I use a variety of approaches, including neuroimaging, twin studies, and statistical genetic analyses.
Correlates of Positive Parenting Behaviors.
Behavior Genetics: an international journal devoted to research in the inheritance of behavior in animals and man.
283-297.
2018
EBIO 5800 - Critical Thinking in Biology
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2022
Lect. and discussion. Explores controversial issues, historical themes, or emerging developments in biology. Consult the EBIO Undergraduate Advising Center for current listings. May be repeated up to 12 total credit hours. Recommended prerequisite: minimum of 14 hours of EBIO course work. Same as EBIO 4800.
IPHY 6010 - Seminar
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2022
Presents special topics in integrative physiology. May be repeated up to 15 total credits.
NRSC 4011 - Senior Thesis
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2022 / Spring 2023
Senior Thesis credits are available for students during the semester that they write and defend a departmental Honors Thesis. A neuroscience honors thesis must be based on an empirical research project that the student directs/participates in under guidance from a faculty member. Contact the neuroscience director for further information.
PSYC 3102 - Behavioral Genetics
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2018 / Fall 2023 / Fall 2024
This course introduces the basic principles of behavior genetics, the field of study that is interested in evaluating the different forces that shape individual differences. More specifically, the course will survey the evidence for genetic and environmental influences on a broad range of human behaviors, including psychopathology, personality, cognition, and substance use. This course also covers the different methods for evaluating these genetic and environmental contributions, including family-based designs that compare similarities across siblings, twins, and parents and their children, animal models of human behavior, and more recent genomic methods that measure our DNA. Lectures are largely about conceptually understanding findings from this field and the corresponding methods used to produce these findings. This course does not require a strong statistical or biological background to be successful or understand the material.
PSYC 4011 - Senior Thesis
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2018
Critically reviews some aspect of psychological literature, scholarly analysis of a major psychological issue, and/or empirical research project. See the psychology honors director for further information.
PSYC 5741 - General Statistics 1
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2019 / Fall 2020 / Fall 2022 / Fall 2023
is part 1 of the 2-semester course sequence, PSYC 5741 and PSYC 5751. This course surveys probability and statistics in psychology, using the general linear model as a basic "recipe" for data analysis. After introducing a few powerful concepts that enable a range of questions to be asked, the course focuses on building and interpreting models using standard regression software. Restricted to Psychology and Neuroscience (PSYC & NRSC) graduate students. Instructor consent required for students outside of the department.
PSYC 5751 - General Statistics 2
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2020 / Spring 2021 / Spring 2023 / Spring 2024
is part 2 of the 2-semester course sequence, PSYC 5741 and PSYC 5751. This course surveys probability and statistics in psychology, using the general linear model as a basic "recipe" for data analysis. After introducing a few powerful concepts that enable a range of questions to be asked, the course focuses on building and interpreting models using standard regression software.
PSYC 5761 - Structural Equation Modeling
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2018 / Spring 2020 / Spring 2021 / Spring 2022 / Spring 2024
Provides training in the use of structural equation modeling, a class of analytic techniques that include the estimation of unobserved, or latent, constructs and an estimation of relationships among latent constructs. Recommended prerequisite: successful completion of graduate level statistics.
PSYC 6761 - Topics in Advanced Structural Equations Modeling
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2019 / Spring 2023
Covers topics in advanced structural equation modeling, including modeling with nonlinear observed variables, latent variable interactions, longitudinal models, mixture models and transition analysis. Other topics will be covered by request. Recommended prerequisite: PSYC 5761.
PSYC 7102 - Seminar: Behavioral Genetics
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2022
Intensive study of selected topics in behavioral genetics. Emphasizes recent research. Attention to both human and animal studies. May be repeated up to 12 total credit hours. Instructor consent required for students outside of the Behavioral, Psychiatric, and Statistical Genetics program.
