Amanda Kirsten Gregory
Micayla French
Ricardo Wilhelm
Three students from Lee University were awarded spring undergraduate research grants from Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in psychology. Psychology majors Micayla French, Amanda Kirsten Gregory and Ricardo Wilhelm will receive grant funding for their respective upcoming research projects.
Ms. French and Ms. Gregory received a $1,500 grant for their research proposal titled “Was the Good Samaritan Male, Female, or Does it Matter?” Through this project, the research team intends to test the degree to which participant gender impacts whether s/he behaves prosocially toward other men or women.
“Conducting research within the psychology department has been a very rewarding experience for me,” said Ms. Gregory. “Having the opportunity to work with my peers to see research come alive and to make a difference in the psychology community is a great honor. This grant has given our department the opportunity to improve our research facilities and the quality of the research we are doing, which is a great improvement for future researchers.?”
Mr. Wilhelm received a $950 grant for his research proposal titled “Mixed Emotions and Facial Recognition.” Since he has also received a Colonel Lee B. Ledford Scholarship from the Appalachian College Association, Mr. Wilhelm intends to use this money to purchase equipment that can be used for his ACA experiment and for future psychology students' research projects.
According to Dr. Bryan Poole, assistant professor of psychology and a supervisor of undergraduate student research at Lee, these grants are extremely competitive and provide undergraduate students the resources needed to complete a significant research project.
“These students have shown such initiative, drive, and potential that it makes me proud to be supervising their research and to be their mentor," said Dr. Poole. "Their accomplishments reflect a growing trend in our psychology major at large—an interest in doing real research that matters. Because other students are becoming inspired by their example, I anticipate seeing more future scholars like Ricardo, Kirsten, and Micayla come through our program and succeed in similar or even grander ways.”
Psi Chi’s mission is “to produce a well-educated, ethical, and socially responsible member committed to contributing to the science and profession of psychology and to society in general.” Psi Chi is the largest student psychological organization with over 600,000 members and offers over $350,000 in grants and awards annually.
For more information about Psi Chi, visit their website http://www.psichi.org/