Eleven students from Belmont University recently attended the 51st annual meeting of the Southeastern Psychology Association (SEPA). These students attended poster sessions and lectures and helped serve as local area hosts for the meeting. Students attending were: Laura Bear, Sarah DeNeal, Radha Dunham, James Goodlad, April Hicks, Mary Hyatt, Domonique Lawless, Sarah Miles, Emily Sheffer, Elise Tyler and Shandus Valentine.
Sheffer and DeNeal presented their independent research as a poster at the SEPA regional meeting. Their research was entitled “The Collegiate Life: Effects of Mental Fatigue on Decision Making.” The faculty sponsor for this research was Dr. Lonnie Yandell.
Sheffer and Belmont graduate Jessica Bailey (’04) were awarded second place in the 2005 SEPA/CEPO Student Research Competition. The competition was open to graduate and undergraduate psychology students across the Southeast who were studying minority or women’s issues. Their paper, “Gender Differences in Identifying Heroic Status: A Study of Male and Female Heroic Characteristics,” examined whether men and women differed in their use of masculine and feminine traits describing heroic figures in order to better understand why male heroes are more prevalent in society. Sheffer and Bailey were the only undergraduate students to be recognized in this competition. Assistant Professor of Psychology Mike Sullivan supervised their project.
