Psycho-Babble

Macalester College/ May 2012

Congratulations Class of 2012 Soon we will be saying good-bye to the class of 2012. It is always a poignant time for us and for our graduates. They are now concluding one of the most significant times in their lives and will look back on it often over the years. We know they are well prepared for the next step in their life journeys, and we extend our congratulations and very best wishes to them all. A special reminder for seniors: We’re still here for you even after you graduate, so please stay in touch!

Psychology Graduates Nathan Rubin John Carvalho Leah Rue Anita Cavrag Emily Rutherford Kelli Crescenti Logan Sand

Important Dates Ariel Currie Lauren Silberman Tan Do Joshua Smith May 2 – Psychology Thomas Fendt Chloe Souza Major Senior Conversations Sylvia Ferguson Igor Stanceric Group Molly Frean Colin Westcott 1:30 Adam Freedman Maggie Wood Individuals Emma Gershun-Half Hannah Yellin 8:30-3:30 Mitchell Glasser Andrea Zvonkovic May 11 – 4:30 Abby Jacobsma Reception for Jade Johnson Neuroscience Studies Graduates Graduates & Families & Friends Maria Kuznetsova Henry Coshnear

Jenna Machado Ariel Currie May 12 - Graduation Mikayla Mehle Nicholas DeLacey Caitlin Opperman Austin Delmond Maja Palmquist James Noble Ruben Pena Susann Puican Emily Prazak Alora Rando Karl Reichter Logan Sand

Psycho-Babble/ May 2012 / Page 2 of 8 Post Card from Study Abroad

Hello from Costa Rica!

What a whirlwind experience these past three months

have been! I've been comparing male-female with same gender social relationships in wild howler monkeys with a program called Associated Colleges of the Midwest. After two months of living in a cabin in the rainforest I am exhausted but grateful for all of the crazy experiences I have been able to have! In our cabin we had dozens of crabs, a spotted pygmy skunk (in the bed), spiders, lizards, insects... you name an animal and we probably had it living with us! I've learned so much about howlers as well as how to get by in rural Costa Rica- Now walking two hours into town and getting charged at daily by bulls is the norm! I hope to absorb everythingC I can in the last month. It's gone so fast! Hope everyone has a great end to the o semester! n g Pura Vida! Hannahr Strauss-Albee a t u l Congratulationsa to our Honors Graduates Congratulations tot our 2012 Honors Graduates. They have successfully i defended their theseso and will graduate with honors. n s Sylvia Ferguson with Joan Ostrove t Feminism in the Bedroom:o Effect of a Feminist Intervention on Women's Sexual Satisfaction o u r Adam Freedman with Brooke Lea

Varying Taskn Demonstrability to Examine the Roles of Social and Cognitivee Factors in Group Transfer Learning w

oMaria Kuznetsova with Jaine Strauss f The Effect of af Brief Hope Intervention on Boring Task Performance i c e Emily Prazak with Darcy Burgund Facial Expressionr Processing is Holistic or Feature-Based Depending on s Stimulus Format:! Evidence from the Composite Face Illusion and Gaze- Contingent Stimulus Presentations A l l i s o n

Psycho-Babble/ May 2012 / Page 3 of 8

Great Food & Fun at Spring Dinner The Sixth Annual Spring Dinner was held on Monday, April 2nd. This has now become an annual tradition where we honorP the students receiving awards, our honors students,P and our graduates. The food (Italian from Carmelo's) was delicious and there was plentyr of it. There was Italian music and the Psych Trivia game. Fun! o m o

t i o n s ,

R e Postcard from Study tAbroad

Hello from Tokyo! I am here studyingi at Waseda University. I arrived in mid February and will be returning to the states in August. It isr my first semester not taking any psychology courses since I entered college, which is really strange e for me, maybe. I've been exploring Tokyo andm meeting a lot of Japanese people. I am taking courses mostly on Japanese language and Japanese culture.e In my free time, I am working with a student-lead design magazine and website as well as joiningn a photography club. Last weekend, my program took everyone to a traditional Japanese innt with a Japanese hot spring, bath house, and specialized traditional 'inn meals' which are famous in Japan. The experience was really great, as has &been the entirety of my stay here. Hope all is well in St. Paul!

Here is a photo of me by Zojoji temple near Tokyo Tower. It is one of a handful of 'energyN spots' around Tokyo, so maybe I have a little moree energy after going or something. w All the best, Ethan Cline C h a i Psycho-Babble/ May 2012 / Page 4 of 8

Mac Students Present at MUPC th C The 46 annual MUPC (Minnesota Undergraduate Psychology Conference) was at GustavusC Adolphus College on Saturday April 28th. Presenting at MUPC is something all psychology majors do before they graduate. There were 37 students from Macalester who presented theiro research. The posters used by the students will be hung in the center hallway. n g r a t u l a t

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P s Congratulations Chloe! i

Chloe Souza recently won a big award through ACM for her research in Costa Rica. Here's the link: C http://www.acm.edu/features/feature/342 h

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Psycho-Babble/ May 2012 / Page 5 of 8

Senior Conversations are May 2 Before our graduating Wednesday, May 2 this year. psychology and neuroscience Seniors have signed up for either

studies seniors leave the an individual conversation which “The feedback campus, we like to have informal will last about 25 minutes or a from these conversations with them about focus group with other majors their experience in these which will last about 50 minutes. conversations plays majors. The feedback from Neuroscience studies majors an important role these conversations plays an complete their exit interviews in future planning important role in future planning through the end of senior week. for the for the department. All participating seniors will department.” For psychology majors, senior receive a small gift. conversations will be on

Where Are They Going? Our senior majors are all leaving, and we’re sure going to miss them. Let’s take a look at what some are doing for their next steps.

Adam Freedman will be joining Analysis Group, an economic consulting firm, in Chicago.

Anita Cavrag is planning on going to grad school in Zagreb, Croatia to pursue a masters degree in psychology. She is also going to get a certificate in NLP - Neurolinguistic Programming . Chloe Souza will be traveling this summer and then moving to Eugene, OR, where she is currently applying for jobs and research positions. Colin Westcott will be continuing his education at the University of Arizona to study social psychology. Emily Prazak will be taking a year off to work as an ER scribe at St. John's Hospital while she applies to medical school. Emily Rutherford has been accepted to the Forensic Psychology MA program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, and will be starting classes there in the fall. Emma Gershun-Half plans on doing some sort of Americorps program next year. Igor Stanceric will be attending Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota for a master's degree in Human resources and industrial relations. Maggie Wood is looking at a potential internship with One Smooth Stone Event Agency in Chicago. Molly Frean plans to return to the Boston area and pursue research opportunities in the field of public health and/or behavioral economics and then go to grad school in 1-2 years. Sylvia Ferguson is going to Portland State University next year to start a Ph.D. in Applied Social and Community Psychology. Postcard from Study Abroad

My first term has been quite the experience. I originally applied to Oxford seeking academic challenge, and Oxford has certainly exceeded my expectations in that regard. From the outside, the structure of the classes actually doesn’t seem too difficult – I meet once a week, or once every two weeks, for an individual hour-long session with my “tutor.” Since I’m enrolled in two classes, on any given week I might have up to two hours of class total. Seems like a total breeze right, and you’re probably wondering what I do with all that free time. The challenge comes from the fact that I’m expected to write a 2000 word essay for each “tutorial,” resulting in 12 essays over an 8-week term, which is 24000 words, or over 80 pages! Since each essay is on a different topic, each with a separate reading list, it becomes easier to understand why I’ve spent a majority of my time hunched over a computer. The scary part is that students who are enrolled full time at Oxford have to the same, but also attend lectures and labs, which culminate in a huge final that determines their grade! With so much work, I’ve taken to finding interesting areas around Oxford to set-up camp and start reading or pumping out an essay. There are over 100 libraries around Oxford, which make for natural study havens. I also enjoy reading in parks, because there are tons of squirrels and ducks! Despite the large amount of work, the students from my college still find a remarkable amount of time to socialize and relax. On any given night, the student lounge is busy, with students playing pool, watching sports, or catching up at the student bar. Every other week, my college hosts a themed party called an “Entz,” which always gets a fantastic turnout with creative costumes (this week’s theme is “around the world”). There are also a number of off-campus nightlife options. My favorite pub is the Turf Tavern, which is where President Clinton allegedly did not inhale. However, the greatest part about studying abroad has been travelling! I had a month long break between the trimesters, and I took that time to explore the European continent. First, my brother and I spent a week in Barcelona, and shortly after that I bought a Eurail pass and spent nearly three weeks hopping trains and backpacking across Europe with two other friends from Mac. We travelled from southern France, through Italy, into Austria, and finally ended up in the Czech Republic. I had an enormous amount of fun, and these two trips have been the highlight of my study abroad experience.

Cheers, Micah Mumper

P.S. I am extremely jealous of the nachos and virgin margaritas psych social.

P.P.S. I don’t really have any good pictures of me in Oxford because I’ve done most of the picture taking, so instead I attached a picture of my friends and I in a gondola in Venice! !

Psycho-Babble/ May 2012 / Page 7 of 8

Reception for Graduates & Families

This is a wonderful opportunity for the Invitations have been sent to the families of

family members to meet the faculty and this year’s graduates for the Psychology and for the faculty to meet the families of the Neuroscience Studies reception to be held graduates. At this reception we attempt from 4:30 to 6:30 on Friday, May 11th. to take photos of the graduates and their families and post them on our website.

FYI - Our home page now has a link

to all the syllabi for the Psychology and Neuroscience classes.

New Psi Chi members

New Psi Chi Members are Allison Divine, Aubrey Rickle, Emma Mabie, Anita Cavrag, Paul Rebman, Samuel Humleker, Qingyang Liu, Zoe Kusinitz, Melanie Kern, Sarah Fleming and Ellen Coble.

Congratulions!

Welcome to the following new majors:

Ian Olson '14 Madison, WI NS Heather Renetzky '15 Tarzana, CA Psych

Macal ester Welcome New Psych & NS Majors!

College

1600 Grand Avenue Ian Olson '14 Madison, WI NS St. Paul, MN

55105-1899 Heather Renetzky '15 Tarzana, CA

Phone: 651- 696-6223

Fax: 651- 696-6348

E-Mail: lolson4 @macalester

Have a great summer everyone! We’re on the Web! Take care and keep in touch. Check out the Psychology web page.