Belmont psychology students Wesley Stuart and Khalil Dabdoub were recently awarded prestigious Psi Chi Undergraduate Research Grants. Psi Chi, the International Honors Society for Psychology, receives numerous undergraduate grant proposals each term and both Belmont students’ projects were awarded $1,500 to fund their independent research studies for the Fall semester.
Stuart’s project, “How Disgust in Germ Averse Individuals Biases Avoidance Decision-Making” will look at how the disgust emotion makes us more wary of “germy” things in our world. Stuart is particularly interested in how stress regulates our avoidance of germs so he will be measuring salivary stress hormones and physiological markers of stress in participants. Stuart is a psychology major with a minor in worship arts. His faculty research advisor is Dr. Timothy Schoenfeld.
Dabdoub’s project, “Investigating the Effects of Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercise on Cognitive Performance and Endorphin Release” will examine a commonly-held belief that brief exercise improves our mental functioning in real time. He will test aerobic and anaerobic forms of exercise to see their improvements on cognitive skills. He is particularly interested in how our body’s endorphins regulate these improvements. Dabdoub is a double-major in psychological science and exercise science with a minor in business administration. His faculty research advisor is Dr. Michael Oliver.
