Psychology Department

College of the Sciences
Ellensburg
Psychology Bldg., room 421
Mail Stop 7575
509-963-2381
Fax: 509-963-2307
https://www.cwu.edu/academics/psychology/

Faculty and Staff
Chair
Heidi Perez, PhD

Program Directors
Tonya Buchanan, PhD, experimental psychology
Heath Marrs, EdD, school psychology

Professors
Kara I. Gabriel, PhD, general experimental psychology, cognitive biases, animal behavior, biopsychology
Susan D. Lonborg, PhD, health psychology, substance abuse, clinical and research ethics, career development, gender, social networking
Heath Marrs, EdD, school psychology, educational psychology, response to intervention, gender issues in education
Megan D. Matheson, PhD, nonhuman primate social behavior, evolutionary psychology, self-injurious behavior, comparative psychology, dog-human relationships
Danielle Polage, PhD, cognitive psychology, psychology and law, memory, eyewitness testimony, lying and jury delibertation
Stephen B. Schepman, PhD, organization development, work motivation, personality theories, social psychology, statistics

Associate Professors
Sara Bender, PhD, leveraging technology to address behavioral health and educational disparities, counselor professional development, online counselor education, online clinical training and supervision
Tonya Buchanan, PhD, experimental psychology, social psychology, social justice, judgement and decision-making, emotion/affective forecasting, nudges/default options
Ralf Greenwald, PhD, cognitive brain dynamics, event-related potentials, music cognition, teaching pedagogy, working memory, general cognitive psychology
Richard Marsicano, PhD, academic and behavioral interventions, intervention adherence, performance feedback, and response to intervention
Liane Pereira, PhD, youth mental health, school-based mental health, child and adolescent development, inequities in health and education
Heidi Perez, PhD, school psychology, response to intervention, efficacy of school-based interventions, social-emotional functioning and behavior in children
Mary Radeke, PhD, use of facial cues in emotion and personality assessment, conversation development in young children, personality traits, technology in the classroom, primate communication, eye tracking and Facial Action Unit Coding laboratory
Wendy A. Williams, PhD, general experimental psychology, human cognition, adjustment issues for students with disabilities, gender typing of cis- and transgender individuals

Senior Lecturers Full-time
Christopher Beeman, MA, behavioral neuroscience, biology of long term memory, teaching in psychology, neuroscience outreach
Cristina Bistricean, PhD, applied behavior analysis, experimental psychology, high-functioning autism, anxiety reduction, transitional periods, PTSD
Joshua Buchanan, PhD, self-conscious emotion, emotion expression, judgment and decision-making, psychology of video games
Kim Collucci, MS, mental health counseling in correctional facilities, social psychology, cultural influences on human development, and memory and remembrance

Lecturer Full-time
Patrizia Chirco, PhD, anti-racist approaches to social justice issues, attitudes and behaviors due to demographic racial shifts, ethnocentrism, skin tone bias, and threats responses to organizational pro-diversity efforts

Staff
Debbie Thomas, secretary supervisor
Chris Buchanan, engineering technician III

Department Information
The psychology department offers an important behavioral science component of the university’s liberal arts curriculum. As part of the General Education program, courses in psychology broaden the student’s knowledge about behavior, cognition, and emotion. Through our major and minor programs, students can develop an understanding of the perspectives, content, and methods of the science and practice of psychology and prepare for graduate study.

Admission Requirements
Prior to admission to the psychology major, students must meet the following requirements:

Completion of PSY 101 with a grade of C or higher
GPA of 2.25 or higher in college coursework

Students wishing to apply for admission to the psychology major or minor are required to register with the department and be advised by a member of the department faculty. Students may register as pre-majors in psychology if they wish to join the major but have not yet met the admission requirements. The department reserves the right to change requirements as circumstances warrant. Application forms may be obtained from the department office or on the department website.

Exit Requirements
Students are required to have a 2.5 GPA within the major area to receive the degree.
Senior psychology majors are required to complete the department’s end-of-major examination in the quarter before graduating. Students should register for the examination in the department office. The purpose of this requirement is to enable us to assess whether the department has fulfilled its instructional objectives and to provide us with information that will enable us continuously to improve our programs and courses. In PSY 200 Introduction to the Major (taken after applying to the psychology major), students will learn about the portfolio requirements that will be due in PSY 489 Senior Assessment. One of the PSY 489 portfolio requirements is a minimum of ten hours of service learning and/or research assistant experience. This requirement can be met any time prior to the end of PSY 489.

Departmental Honors
The eligibility requirements for admission to the Department of Psychology honors program include the following:

Admission to the program: The student must be a psychology major, at least a junior but not more than a first quarter senior and have completed core courses with a GPA of at least 3.25 in those courses and have an overall cumulative GPA of 3.0. The student must apply in writing to the department chair, with a supporting letter of recommendation from a member of the faculty who agrees to supervise the student’s work to completion.
Requirements and Procedures: The student will register for 4-6 credits in PSY 497, Undergraduate Honors Thesis. In consultation with the supervising faculty member, the student chooses a three-person faculty committee. Plans for the honors project, generally an empirical research study, must be approved by the entire committee. The project will culminate in a written research report and a formal defense of the thesis.

Course Offerings
Frequency of course offering information can be found at the department website: www.cwu.edu/psychology or by contacting the department directly.

Programs

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

Minor

Psychology Minor

Courses

Psychology (PSY)