APPLY
VISIT
GIVE
There are numerous opportunities for students to get involved in research on campus. Undergraduate and graduate CSUDH students who are interested in becoming a research assistant should contact faculty with labs. Students may earn up to 3 units of credit per semester for directed research through individual lab (PSY 498 for undergraduate, PSY 598 for graduate).
Dr. Giacomo Bono
Professor
gbono@csudh.edu
Phone: 310-243-3511
Office: SBS G-307
Lab: SBS A-313
Areas of Research
General research focus is on how qualities of social relationships contribute to mental health, quality of life, and social development. As director of the Youth Gratitude Project (a research program that has received approx. $2.5 million in grant funding since 2011), Dr. Bono’s current focus is on creating 2 measures of gratitude for children, examining the development of gratitude, and testing the effects of promoting gratitude and purpose on students through a curriculum targeting preschools and grades 4-12. Dr. Bono is also interested in exploring the topics of positive parenting and other factors related to positive youth development and achievement, such as materialism, intrinsic motivation, and quality of social relationships, resilience and grit. Therefore, research is both basic and applied.
Dr. Heather Butler
Associate Professor
hbutler@csudh.edu
Phone: 310-243-3462
Office: SBS G-303
Lab: SBS A-240
Areas of Research
Research interests include human cognition, critical thinking, and psychology-law. Dr. Butler’s previous work focused on the development an educational game that teaches scientific reasoning. She also does evaluation research aimed at assessing critical thinking and helping students prepare for life after college. Dr. Butler’s work in psychology-law has emphasized the prevention of wrongful convictions, especially those resulting from improper or un-validated forensic evidence. For more information, please visit www.drheatherbutler.com
Dr. Jeffrey K. Bye
Assistant Professor
jkbye@csudh.edu
Phone: 310-243-2484 | Lab Phone: 310-243-2543
Office: SBS A-341
Lab: SBS B-232D
Areas of Research
Broadly, my research blends cognitive science and learning science methods to understanding how people learn and think. I am particularly interested in how students’ own intuitions and real-life contexts help them make sense of abstract concepts, and how teachers can use concrete experience to help students learn, especially in the areas of algebra, statistics, and digital systems. Through collaborative research, I am also examining the dynamics of how students and teachers discuss concepts through frameworks and feedback, including the role of students’ emotions and affect. In another line of research, I examine how people learn and reason about causation.
Dr. Kaylie Carbine
Associate Professor
kcarbine@csudh.edu
Phone: 310-243-2235 | Lab Phone: 310-243-2523
Office: SBS A-335
Lab: SBS B-241A
Areas of Research
Using electroencephalography (EEG) to examine brain/neural responses to food. Research is mainly focused on testing how neural responses to food: 1) are affected by nutritional properties of food (e.g., calorie content, sugar content); 2) are affected by individual characteristics (e.g., weight, eating tendencies); 3) are affected by external health behaviors (e.g., exercise, sleep, diet); and 4) predict food intake/eating behaviors.
Any students interested in becoming a research assistant in the Cognitive Health EEG/ERP (CHEERs) Lab, please fill out an interest form here: https://csudh.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8kvJIPJxxvMgZZY
Dr. Kathleen Conner
Assistant Professor
kconner@csudh.edu
Phone: 310-243-2030
Office: SBS A-321
Lab: NSM C-109
Areas of Research
My research focuses on how drugs (such as cannabis and alcohol) affect offspring brain and behavioral development. I will be researching various timepoints in development such as exposure during adolescence and young adulthood, maternal exposure to substances during pregnancy, and paternal exposure prior to conception. I also investigate the epigenetic effects of drug use and potential impacts on future generations.
Dr. Alexandra D. Convertino
Assistant Professor
aconvertino@csudh.edu
Phone: 310-243-2078
Office: SBS A-323
Lab: SBS B-241A
Areas of Research
My research largely focuses on the role of stress – defined broadly to include both traumatic stressors and everyday stress – in eating disorders and other body image-related disorders (e.g., body dysmorphic disorder, muscle dysmorphia).
Part of my research focuses on the exploration of eating disorders in sexual minority (e.g., gay, lesbian, bisexual) individuals. According to minority stress theory, sexual minority individuals experience specific stressors (e.g., discrimination, internalized homophobia) due to interacting with the hegemonic structures that enforce heterosexuality. By investigating the associations of sexual minority stressors with eating disorders, body image, and related behaviors, I hope to identify possible avenues for specific, unique prevention and intervention efforts among this population, eventually alleviating the elevated health burden placed upon sexual minority individuals.
Another line of my research is focused on how traumatic stressors and posttraumatic stress disorder are associated with eating disorders. Specifically, how certain types of traumatic events and post-traumatic reactions are associated with specific symptom profiles, later or earlier in life onset, and methods of mitigating the relationship between trauma and eating pathology.
Dr. Erica D. Diminich
Assistant Professor
ediminich@csudh.edu
Phone: 310-243-3499
Office: SBS A-325
Lab: SBS B-241G
Areas of Research
Health Equity and blood-based biomarkers of brain health, cardiometabolic health, and biological aging among Hispanic/Latino adults at midlife; Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRDs) in Black and Hispanic/Latino adults; Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); Resilience; Psychological wellbeing, emotional flexibility, and facial biomarkers
Current projects include 1) Community-based research on chronic stressors (i.e., racism) as determinants of allostatic load and brain health among Hispanic/Latino and Black adults at midlife; 2) Consequences of neurotoxic exposures and PTSD on physical aging, brain health, and cognitive performance among World Trade Center exposed individuals; 3) Psychological well being and healthy brains; 4) Neurological effects of COVID-19 among foreign-born undocumented Hispanic/Latino adults
Join the Cognitive Aging, Resilience, Emotion, Stress (CARES) lab at CSUDH! https://forms.office.com/r/rbDd6UsTCT
Dr. Maria Hurtado-Ortiz
Professor
mhortiz@csudh.edu
Phone: 310-243-3508
Office: SBS A-331
Lab: SBS E-206
Areas of Research
Areas of research include cultural and developmental influences on adolescents’ college planning behaviors, mothers’ childcare practices, and ethnic health psychology. Dr. Hurtado is currently the co-Principal Investigator of a National Institute of Health funded project concerning Latinos at risk for Type-2 diabetes.
Dr. Ashley Membere
Assistant Professor
amembere@csudh.edu
Phone: 310-243-3572
Office: SBS G-310
Lab: SBS A-317
Areas of Research
Research interests include the study of diversity and inclusion in the workplace with an emphasis on how individuals with multiple identities navigate the workplace, creation of interventions meant to promote inclusive and safe work environments, and employee well-being.
Dr. Erin Merz
Associate Professor
emerz@csudh.edu
Phone: 310-243-3512
Office: SBS A-333
Lab: SBS A-319
Areas of Research
Research interests include: psychological adjustment, coping, and quality of life in the context of health-related adversity and chronic illness; social and cultural determinants of health; the operationalization and measurement of psychosocial constructs related to health across language and culture.
For more information, please visit: http://www2.csudh.edu/emerz/welcome.html
Dr. Kevin Montes
Associate Professor
kmontes@csudh.edu
Phone: 310-243-2299
Office: SBS G-311
Lab: SBS A-240
Areas of Research
Research interests include the examination of factors associated with addictive behaviors. Factors specifically targeted in Dr. Montes’ research program include the role that identity, expectancies, motives, social norms, and negative affect pay in the initiation, maintenance, and cessation of addictive behaviors. Addictive behaviors of interest include alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco use (in addition to gambling). Dr. Montes’ program of research aims to develop more efficacious interventions to reduce the risks associated with substance use and behavior addictions.
INTERESTED IN JOINING DR. MONTES’ ADDICTION LAB?
Are you interested in joining the Psychology of Addiction Lab (PAL)? Please fill out the PAL Application by clicking the link below. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE LAB APPLICATION
Dr. Keisha Paxton
Professor
kpaxton@csudh.edu
Phone: 310-243-3411
Office: SBS A-330
Lab: SBS B-232B
Areas of Research
Research interests include sexual risk behavior among African American youth and women, health promotion intervention development, minority and women’s mental health.
Dr. Silvia Santos
Professor
ssantos@csudh.edu
Phone: 310-243-3475
Office: SBS A-341
Lab: SBS E-206
Areas of Research
Research interests include the study of health (physiological and psychological) and culture as well as issues related to ethnic identity and psychological and academic adjustments. Dr. Santos is currently the co-Principal Investigator of a National Institute of Health funded project concerning Latinos at risk for Type-2 diabetes.
Dr. Carl Sneed
Professor
csneed@csudh.edu
Phone: 310-243-3463
Office: SBS A-329
Lab: SBS B-232E
Areas of Research
Work in adolescent health behavior
Mental health for child and adolescent populations
Dr. Irene Tung
Assistant Professor
itungphan@csudh.edu
Phone: 310-243-2742
Office: SBS G-309
Lab: SBS A-326
Areas of Research
Developmental psychopathology; Prenatal stress; Early life stress; Resilience; Child and adolescent mental health; Emotional reactivity; Externalizing-spectrum behaviors; Early prevention
For more information, please visit our lab website: www.perchresearch.org
Dr. Tara Victor
Professor
tvictor@csudh.edu
Phone: 310-243-3467
Office: SBS G-305
Lab: SBS B-232C
Areas of Research
Multicultural neuropsychology; The development and use of performance validity indicators; Impact of early life experiences on neurocognitive development and emotion regulation.
Over the past 10+ years, Dr. Victor’s research has focused on the detection of performance and symptom invalidity, populations vulnerable to false positive error (e.g., individuals with low IQ, dementia, other bonafide disability), as well as ethnocultural bias in neuropsychological assessment. Current interests also include the neurophysiology of trauma and dissociation and trauma-induced psychological disorder. Other areas of research include: the utility of mindful awareness practices in educational settings and organizational development.
To learn more about her Brain and Behavior Laboratory or to apply to become a research assistant in the lab, please fill out an application.
Dr. Philip Viera
Professor
pvieira@csudh.edu
Phone: 310-243-3271
Office: SBS A-339
Lab: NSM C-101/C-109
Areas of Research
Research projects include drug biosensor development for use in the central nervous system; individual difference in drug pharmacokinetics; sex-related differences in drug reward preference; epigenetics of drug addiction.
Any students interested in becoming a research assistant in the lab can fill out an application here (https://forms.gle/ZuBQyCWXUTRh3B5m7)
Dr. David Weissman
Areas of Research
Developmental psychopathology; Developmental cognitive neuroscience; Childhood Adversity; Resilience; Child and adolescent mental health; Emotional awareness; Emotion regulation; Interoception
I am developmental psychologist. My research investigates how adverse childhood experiences like abuse, neglect, and poverty impact the way teenagers experience emotions in their brains, bodies, and minds, and the role that plays in their mental health.
You can learn more about my lab at https://www.ranlabdh.com/.
Positive Psychology Lab
Co-Directors: Dr. Monique Turner, Steven Frieze, M.A., Erin Barrett, M.A.
Email: PositivePsychologyCSUDH@gmail.com
Phone: 310-243-2090
Lab: SBS A-315
Areas of Research
This lab is designed to encourage the personal and professional growth and development of all members through a variety of activities that are guided by the co-directors and senior members of the lab. Members will be encouraged to explore and seek out professional growth opportunities, as well as to develop research competencies that will enable them to thrive in graduate school.
Lab projects delve into Positive Psychological research constructs such as resilience, thriving, gratitude, curiosity, perception and learning, value orientations, positive emotions, positive self-fulfilling prophecies, optimism, personal narrative, and the application of Positive Psychological constructs to elements of the social topography.
Website: https://sites.google.com/view/positivepsychologylab/home
Application: https://forms.gle/m1cAngQ5eKVvtUiP9