Faculty members in the Psychology Department are active in research in a wide variety of areas using world-class research resources. Please visit the Faculty & Staff page for more detail on each faculty member's specific areas of expertise and research interests.
Laboratory facilities within the department include computer laboratories, a full fidelity driving simulator, and a range of state-of-the-art physiological recording equipment. Furthermore, the department has many collaborative research arrangements in place with other departments, universities, government agencies, private companies, and research institutes.
The department is committed to providing research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate researchers. Undergraduate students interested in gaining research experience through our Supervised Research course can find more information from our advising team. Students interested in the Graduate Programs the department offers can find more information here.
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
Graduate Research Opportunities
Broadly, the Behavioral Alcohol and Related Studies Lab's research focuses on the determinants and consequences of alcohol and other substance use among emerging adults.
The Youth Risk and Resilience (YR²) Lab at ¹ÏÉñÍø (Director: Dr. Cassie Glenn) is dedicated to research that aims to improve the mental health and well-being of youth.
The research conducted in the Health, Behavior, & Technology (HaBiT) Lab is broadly related to physical and mental health and behavior.
This research lab focuses on understanding how biological and behavioral factors interact to influence responses to trauma.
This research lab focuses on factors related to at-risk and abusive parenting and family conflict.
The Alcohol Etiology Treatment & Other Health (ETOH) Behaviors Lab, led by Dr. Abby Braitman, studies drinking behaviors among emerging adults.
Research in this lab focuses on alcohol intervention.
Michelle Kelley's Lab
Research in this lab focuses on parental substance abuse and child development, military families/military children, fathering, family violence, statistics, and research design.
The main purpose of the lab is to develop, explore, and apply general quantitative methodology in the sciences.
The Early Family Studies Laboratory at ¹ÏÉñÍø is an applied developmental and clinical science research unit focused on issues related to pregnancy, delivery, and early family life.
Students in Dr. Chen's laboratory study the factors that influence human performance and decision making, and to apply these understandings to solve practical problems. Students have worked on real-world problems such as improving safety in semi-autonomous driving systems and effective risk communication in the cyber space.
Simulation Usage Research Facility (SURF) Lab
Students in Dr. Scerbo's laboratory study simulation and user performance primarily in the area of healthcare. The lab at ¹ÏÉñÍø includes two sound-attenuation chambers and another 2-3 reconfigurable work station areas complemented with various desktop simulator systems. Other facilities are located at Eastern Virginia Medical School.
Students in Dr. Still's laboratory are currently developing models to predict eye movements within interfaces. Helping designers guide users effectively through interfaces. We are also improving and inventing usable authentication methods. Making logging into a system easier and safer by designing interactions that exploit users' natural cognitive abilities.
Students in Dr. Yamani's laboratory study the phenomenon of visual attention in the domain of transportation safety and human-automation interaction. Students have access to a driving simulator and eye tracking systems for the study of visual cognition and perception in applied environments.
Applied & Translational Psychophysiology Laboratory
Students in Dr. Yang's laboratory study physiological processes underlying human performance. The research focuses on identifying indictors of workload and stress, and developing training programs to reduce errors and improve safety in real-life settings. Multimodal electrophysiological and neuroimaging techniques in the laboratory are available for students' research.
The mission of our L.E.A.D. research team is to promote safer, healthier, and more fulfilling lives at and outside of work. We collaborate with industry partners to investigate how individual and organizational characteristics impact employee performance, training, engagement, and well-being.
VMASC
Psychology faculty members collaborate with researchers at VMASC (Virginia Modeling and Simulation Center) on various projects, including evaluating and operating the Battle Lab and analyzing and improving the job selection practices at Northrop Grumman-Newport News.
EVMS
Psychology faculty have joined with faculty at the Eastern Virginia Medical School to investigate the implementation of pediatric asthma care guidelines in adult emergency departments, to evaluate medical simulators for training frequent medical paractices, such as colonoscopy and intravenous catheter insertion, to research social support processes in coping with HIV, and to study doctor-patient interactions.
NASA
Research projects conducted by psychology faculty and supported by NASA Langley include research on cross-cultural communication in the cockpit, displays that adapt to the state of alertness of the operator, and displays of weather information in air transport cockpits.
Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters
A collaborative relationship between the Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters and ¹ÏÉñÍø contributes to research on the reciprocal relationship between children's health and parents' employment.