Research in the Department of Psychology
Find out more about the Department of Psychology's research activities and specializations.
A Top Research University
The University of Mississippi is designated as a R-1 Highest Research Activity University by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. We are in an elite group of 2.5% of universities nationwide for world class research faculty, spending on research, and production of graduate students.
Here are just a few of the topics our professors and students are researching:
- Social and cognitive development across the lifespan, with an emphasis on infancy and early childhood. We are interested in how children come to control their thoughts and behavior and what supports this development.
- Emotion, specifically facial and verbal expression of emotion and the influence of personality and situational factors on self-regulation of emotion.
- Psychological and social factors that contribute to poor health behaviors among adults with chronic health conditions – particularly individuals with type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and persistent respiratory conditions (i.e., asthma and COPD).
- Treatment of anxiety disorders across the lifespan, focusing on cognitive, emotional, and physiological processes that underlie a variety of anxiety disorders.
Clinical Psychology
Examining Rare Disorders
Dr. Laura Dixon is studying misophonia—a rare disorder that causes extreme sensitivity to noises like chewing and slurping—with aid from a grant funded by the Misophonia Research Fund. Her research on misophonia and other disorders focuses on understanding the processes contributing to symptoms and causing impairment. In the future, Dixon hopes to test intervention components for misophonia and continue to collect data on the understudied disorder.
Understanding Anxiety
Dr. Sarah Bilsky is the director of the PANDAA lab at the University of Mississippi. The primary aim of the PANDAA lab is to improve our understanding of the development and maintenance of anxiety and related problems. Although this goal encompasses a broad range of foci, our research is currently primarily focused on projects examining the development and maintenance of anxiety and substance use vulnerabilities among parents and adolescents. Recent work includes looking at transdiagnostic factors such as anxiety sensitivity, parenting stress, and sleep difficulties and how they are related to affective symptoms and substance use among adolescents and parents. Dr. Bilsky is currently the Principal Investigator for a CDC funded project aimed at reducing adolescent use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use.
Zeina Ramadan, Doctoral Student
Zeina Ramadan is completing a practicum at Communicare, a Mississippi Department of Health Agency in Northern Mississippi. As a student therapist, she provides mental health care to those from vulnerable populations. Specifically, Ramadan works with individuals who are dependent on Medicaid or unable to pay for mental health services. She has a passion for helping others, and the R. Kelley Thueson Graduate Fellowship affords her the opportunity to impact the lives of those who otherwise might not have access to crucial mental healthcare.
Undergraduate Research on Disordered Eating Behaviors
"My project, which received 2nd place by the MS Academy of Sciences, examined the relationship between gender, social support, and disordered eating behaviors among bariatric patients. Using a moderation analysis, we explored whether social support serves as a protective factor and if its impact varies by gender. Our findings challenge prior assumptions, demonstrating that social support did not significantly predict disordered eating behaviors in this population. This research underscores the need for longitudinal studies and a more detailed examination of specific types of social support to better understand its role over time among bariatric patients."
Anna Papillion
(B.A. in Psychology with a Sign Language minor)
Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Doctoral Scholars Program Fellowship
Gabrielle Armstrong is a recipient of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Doctoral Scholars Program Fellowship, a distinguished initiative dedicated to enhancing the representation of minority scholars pursuing careers as academic faculty across colleges and universities. Her research centers on understanding the mechanisms underlying the co-occurrence of internalizing psychopathology and substance use within various psychosocial and contextual frameworks among historically excluded groups. Currently, she is leading a project examining the co-occurrence of PTSD and alcohol use disorder and its association with aggressive behaviors, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempt history among Black and Hispanic adolescents. This work addresses critical research gaps, and its findings have the potential to inform culturally sensitive intervention strategies for vulnerable populations.
Gabrielle Armstrong
Graduate Student
Clinical Psychology Faculty
Kristin Austin
- Clinical Assistant Professor and Director of the Psychological Services Center
Sarah Bilsky
- Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology
Lee Cohen
- Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Professor of Psychology
Laura J Dixon
- Associate Professor of Psychology
Carey Dowling
- Instructional Professor of Psychology
Laura Drislane
- Assistant Professor of Psychology
Laura Johnson
- Professor of Psychology
Aaron Lee
- Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology
Vanessa Oliphant
- Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology
Taylor Rodriguez
- Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology
Stefan Schulenberg
- Professor of Psychology, Director of Interdisciplinary Minor in Disaster Sciences and Director of the Clinical- Disaster Research Center
Todd Smitherman
- Professor of Psychology and Director of Clinical Training
John Young
- Professor of Psychology
Experimental Psychology
The Psychology of Gossip
Dr. Andrew Hales recently published research on the psychology of gossip, to better understand why and when people may actually desire to be the topic of other people’s gossip. The research shows that, overall, most people prefer not to be gossiped about. However, on average, people who are higher in the trait of narcissism prefer to receive this attention, even when it is explicitly negative. This research helps us understand how different people handle the conflict between two fundamental human motives that sometimes clash: we want to be liked, and we want to be noticed.
Stephanie Miller and the CUB Lab
The CUB Lab is part of an interdisciplinary collaboration with the School of Education (Early Childhood Education, Health and Physical Education) and Nutrition & Hospitality Management working to deliver and understand the benefits of a supplemental standards-based curriculum grounded in mindfulness focused on family and community engagement, gardening and nutrition, social-emotional learning, and physical activity. The CUB lab team works to demonstrate positive contributions of this supplemental curriculum to executive function and social-emotional development during preschool. More information about the Growing Healthy Minds Bodies and Communities curriculum and the research related to this program can be found at their website.
Zoe Fischer, Doctoral Student
“My lab focuses on memory research, and we are currently working on a project that examines how presenting educational content in different formats can impact students' knowledge retention. We are exploring whether presenting information as a narrative, rather than through a traditional lecture style, enhances students' ability to remember what they have learned. Through this project, we aim to generate meaningful insights that can help educators optimize their teaching methods for better student learning and engagement.”
Storytelling Enhances Memory Retention
"In the study Storytelling: A Natural Mnemonic, I explored whether storytelling enhances memory retention compared to traditional lecture-based instruction. My research lies at the intersection of cognitive psychology and education, and I aim to investigate further how different instructional strategies can optimize learning outcomes. This work challenges common assumptions about storytelling as an inherently superior teaching method by demonstrating that its effects on memory retention may be context-dependent. This research can inform the development of more effective instructional approaches tailored to diverse learning needs. My goal is to contribute to creating teaching strategies that engage students and enhance their ability to retain and apply knowledge."
Hailey Stephens
(B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice)
Community Engaged Fellow
Dr. Anna Kate Edgemon has been selected as a 2025–2026 Community Engaged Fellow by the University of Mississippi’s Center for Community Engagement. This competitive fellowship recognizes faculty members who demonstrate a strong commitment to community-engaged scholarship, research, teaching, and service. Her fellowship project, Community Engagement to Improve Conditions for Underserved Youth, focuses on developing restorative justice practices within Lafayette County. Her work aims to provide community-based justice, accountability, and improved outcomes for justice-involved youth. As a Fellow, Dr. Edgemon will participate in a year-long program designed to support and enhance her community-engaged research through collaboration with campus and community partners. This project will support the university’s public service mission and contribute to systemic improvements for youth across Mississippi.
Anna Kate Edgemon
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Experimental Psychology Faculty
Jeff Bednark
- Instructional Assistant Professor of Psychology
Anna Kate Edgemon
- Assistant Professor of Psychology
Andrew Hales
- Assistant Professor of Psychology
Robert Hunt Jr
- Adjunct Research Professor
Kate Kellum
- Instructional Professor of Psychology, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Assistant Chair
Mervin Matthew
- Instructional Associate Professor of Psychology
Stephanie Miller
- Associate Professor of Psychology and Provost Faculty Research Scholar for Institutional Transformation
Erica O'Brien
- Assistant Professor of Psychology
Nicolaas Prins
- Associate Professor of Psychology
Matthew Reysen
- Associate Professor of Psychology
Grace Rivera
- Assistant Professor of Psychology
Don Skinner
- Instructional Assistant Professor of Psychology
Carrie Smith
- Associate Professor of Psychology
Rebekah Smith
- Chair and Professor of Psychology
Kurt Streeter
- Instructional Associate Professor of Cognitive Psychology
Kenneth Sufka
- Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Pharmacology, Research Professor in the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Director of the Stamps Impact Prize
Joseph Wellman
- Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of Experimental Training
Undergraduate Research Resources
For more information and to find out how to participate in research projects with Department of Psychology faculty, see our Research Opportunities web page. For other research opportunities, see the resources available below.
Sona Systems (Info for students)
Sona Systems is a website that we use to manage research participation in the Department of Psychology at the University of Mississippi. If you choose to participate in research you will go to the website, create your own user name, and provide information about the class for which you are registered. You can begin by going to this website:
Sona SystemsFrom that page click the red button on the right that is labeled “Request Account” to create a new account. Complete the requested information, select your course/section from the list, and you will be registered for the system. It is not required that you use your Ole Miss email when you sign up, but if you do so please note that student addresses end in “@go.olemiss.edu.” People frequently enter this incorrectly, which creates difficulties with the next step in the process.
Once you have created your log-in with a working email address, the system will send you an email with a password. You can change this when you log in, but will need the email to access the system for the first time. Also, once you are registered for the system you can request a lost/forgotten password automatically from the link just below where you signed up for your account (on the right side of the main page).
When you sign in you can view a list of currently available studies by clicking the tab at the top of the screen labeled “Studies.” The first thing you’ll need to do is complete the study titled “Prescreening – REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE IN FURTHER RESEARCH.” This is a prerequisite for all other studies, and is completed entirely online. When you sign up to be in this study you will also see a date for completion that is near the end of the semester. Note that this is not the only time you can participate in the study, but is the last time you can participate. You should be able to complete the study any time before this date. Also note that this prescreening study is labeled specifically as indicated above, and appears under the “Studies” tab. The system also has an internal link for something labeled “prescreening,” but this is not the same thing. The system link is blank, and does not correspond to the study you need to complete.
The initial study should take you about an hour to complete, and you will receive credit for this automatically in Sona. Be sure to go all the way to the end of the questionnaire to get credit. Also, note that you must complete all questions in one sitting (i.e., you are unable to do some questions, log out, and log back in later to finish). If you do not complete all questions in this manner you will not receive automatic credit and will need to start over when you return to the study.
Once complete, you now have access to most other research studies. Some require additional prerequisites depending on the study, which are clearly labeled when you click on the individual study link under the “Studies” tab. Most of the information you need about the study is contained under this link, including a description of what it is about, the times available to participate, and the location of the study. Additionally, the researcher or researchers’ names and contact information are listed at the bottom of the study description on the right-hand side of the screen. There is a little red envelope icon to the right of these names that will allow you to contact these individuals via email. Please keep this in mind if you have questions or issues with research participation, including needing to cancel an appointment to participate. This is particularly important for all issues dealing with receiving credit for a study. If you contact the main Sona administrator through the link on the first page he/she cannot assist you with credit for individual studies. You must contact the person or people who conducted the study to resolve these issues, and emailing the wrong person will result in delays.
You may elect to write a 2 page summary of a research article (to earn 3 points). If you are not able to participate in any research project (for example, you are not yet 18 or busy with work), you can complete Option 2 twice, to earn all 5 points. For Option 2, choose an article of interest to you (on any psychology related topic) from a professional psychology journal by doing a computer search on psycINFO.
Go to the Libraries web page.
Under Research Tools, Click on Database Search.
Click on the “P”, then select
Search PsycINFO within the UM Libraries' database search:
- At the top of the screen, type in your search topic in the box.
- Refine your search by clicking on the Linked Full Text, under Publication Type, select All Journals, and click on the box that selects “English” as the language.
- From the search results, look for only those peer reviewed journal articles that report on formal research studies (that have subjects in an experiment). Book Reviews or Letters to the Editor do not count as research studies.
- To print an abstract (summary) of the study, click on the title. Print 5 abstracts as port of this assignment.
- To print an article, click on Linked Full Text. Print out the article you plan to summarize, and hand it in with your written summary.
- To earn 3 points, you must print out 5 abstracts of actual studies, print your chosen full text journal article, and write a brief summary of the major sections of the article, results in a 2 page paper.
- If you fail to follow instructions, you will not earn the full 3 points for this option.
Students enrolled in the Honor's College may choose to do a research project as part of their thesis or practicum.
Examples of past theses in psychology:
Bishop, Mary, "Examining the relationship between Misophonia and Depression"
Blackwell, Meridith. M. A. (2016) "Meaning and resilience as predictors of posttraumatic growth among college students"
Bush, Alexandra Isabella, "Sharing My Story Through Public Speaking: Young People and Mental Health"
DuPerier, Elizabeth Gray, "The Role of Narrative Medicine in Patient Healing and Meaningful Clinical Practice"
Fair, Lara, "Analyzing the Unique Role of Repetitive Negative Thinking on Insomnia in College Students"
Fortner, Sarah Ryann M.; Semko, Joshua, "Meet Them Where They Are: Investigating the Feasibility and Acceptability of Artificial Intelligence-Avatar-Delivered Community-Based Psychological First Aid Programming in a University Setting"
Franklin, Khadeejah and Saval, Alexa, "Key Barriers to University-Enrolled Student Parents Enhanced by the COVID-19 Pandemic"
Hymel, Marie-Josée, "Loneliness and Pain in Individuals with Migraine"
Markham, Kaylee, "Grit Games: Do Incentives Play A Role?"
Melvin, Kaylan, "The Associations Between Adolescent Motives for Social Media Use with Body Dysmorphia, Eating Disorder, and Anxiety and Depression Symptoms"
Daniels, Rachel, "The Effects of Survival, Pleasantness, and Storytelling Conditions on True and False Memory Recollection"
Nosal, Emeri Rose, "Examining the Influence of Training on an Event-Based Prospective Memory Task in 3-Year-Olds"
Arunachalam, Aswin, "Perseverative Thinking and Thought Suppression: Links to Medication Non-Adherence Among Adults with Type 2 Diabetes"
Embry, Racheal, "Relations between Parent Reports of Effortful Control and Behavioral Measures of Executive Function in Toddlers"
Havertape, Ella, "Sleep's Relationship to Executive Functioning in Toddlers"
Mitchell, Kallen E., "Guardian's Goals and Gains: The Relationship between Need Satisfaction and Parenting Goals in Parents of Toddlers"
Lewis, Caroline, "The Effects of Processing Tasks on False Memories"
Morse, Cole, "Predicting Personal Growth: An Analysis of Self-Relevant Approaches"
Wasson, Emily (Honors Thesis 2017) "Parental influence on weight bias in school-age children"
Sanders, MaKensey (Honor’s Thesis 2017) "Little philosophers: Assessing and prompting philosophical reasoning with children"
Davis, Christal (2016). "Perceptions and attitudes regarding preparedness for campus crises: A focus group study of undergraduates at a Southern university"
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Institutional Review Board
The role of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) is to review all proposed research involving human subjects to ensure that subjects are treated ethically and that their rights and welfare are adequately protected. The IRB is composed primarily of faculty members from disciplines in which research involving human subjects is integral to that discipline's work, researchers whose primary interests are non-scientific, as well as members from the community. The human subjects review process is administered through the ORSP’s Research Integrity and Compliance Division.
Visit the Institutional Review Board website
Facilities
George Peabody Building
Located on the circle, the Peabody building is home to the Department of Psychology administrative offices, classrooms, research labs, and more.
Classroom 1
Classroom for large courses, research/clinical presentations, and meetings.
Classroom 2
Classroom for graduate and smaller undergraduate courses.
Classroom 3
Classroom for graduate and smaller undergraduate courses.
HART Lab
Health and Anxiety | Research and Treatment lab led by Laura Dixon.
ISHTAR Lab, Observation Room
Carrie Smith leads the ISHTAR lab which studies how people go about their daily lives, with a focus on their social interactions.
ISHTAR Lab, Testing Room
Carrie Smith leads the ISHTAR lab which studies how people go about their daily lives, with a focus on their social interactions.
Migraine and Behavioral Health Lab
Todd Smitherman's research focuses on the relationship between psychological factors and physical health/illness.
PANDAA Lab
Sarah Bilsky's PANDAA Lab studies familial processes that increase risk for parent and adolescent psychopathology and substance use.
PSICH Lab
Aaron Lee’s lab examines psychological and social factors that contribute to poor health behaviors among adults with chronic health conditions.
Graduate Student Office Space
Graduate students have access to dedicated work space while they are enrolled in a graduate program.
Partner Facilities
Office for Research and Economic Development
The Office for Research and Economic Development (ORED) at the University of Mississippi empowers research that advances knowledge, addresses social challenges, and propels economic growth locally and nationally. Our role is to support researchers, foster collaboration, and facilitate the translation of innovation into progress.
Psychological Services Center
Psychological services provides affordable and accessible services to the Mississippi community. We also engage in research that improves treatment across the nation, and provide in-depth training to our skilled staff of clinical graduate students.