RSU students who recently attended the Southwestern Psychological Association’s Annual Conference included senior Zion Solomon (from left), freshman Lindsay O’Neill, senior Bailie Binder, and sophomore Micaiah Stowe.
Four students and five faculty members from RSU’s Department of Psychology and Sociology recently attended the 2024 Southwestern Psychological Association’s annual conference.
Held March 28-30 in San Antonio Texas, the conference is an annual gathering of psychology and sociology students and professionals held to promote and strengthen psychology’s specific, professional, and educational facets.
At this meeting, SWPA provided paper, poster, continuing education sessions, workshops, symposia, and addresses from keynote speakers such as Dr. Nicole Weiss, Dept. of Psychology – University of Rhode Island and STRESS Lab director; Dr. Samuel Y. Kim, Department of Psychology and Philosophy – Texas Woman’s University – coordinator of the School Psychology Ph.D. Program; Dr. Millie Cordaro, Department of Psychology – Texas State University; and others.
Held in tandem with the SWPA convention was the Southwest Teachers of Psychology (SWToP) Annual Conference, which provides opportunities for those in education and social science to network with other professionals in their fields, learn about new methods and methodologies, share research findings, and participate in conference leadership.
RSU faculty members making presentations at the SWToP conference included Christi Mackey, assistant professor of psychology and sociology, and Dr. Lori O’Malley, associate professor of psychology and sociology, whose presentation focused on innovative approaches to teaching gender and sexuality in the college classroom. Dr. Sara K. Moon-Seo, assistant professor of psychology and sociology, and Dr. Junmo Sung, associate professor of business, presented a talk entitled “The Interrelationship among Sports Play Experiences, Mindfulness and College Students’ Wellbeing.” Additionally, Dr. Donna Sharp, assistant professor of psychology and sociology, displayed a research poster which shared her experiences teaching at a private tribal college and public university.
RSU students in attendance included Zion Solomon from Broken Arrow, Lindsay O’Neill from Claremore, Bailie Binder from Locust Grove, and Micaiah Stowe from Skiatook.
RSU Professor Dr. Sonya Munsell, associate professor of psychology and sociology, along with Stowe, Binder and O’Niell, made a poster presentation featuring results of an extensive literature review on binge eating among college students.
Solomon’s presentation – “Here to Learn or Just Earn: A Quantitative Study of College Student Motivation and Achievement” – examined the relationship between numerous types of motivation and student success. Her manuscript on this topic is currently under review for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Solomon, O’Neill and Stowe are psychology majors, and Binder is majoring in community counseling.
For more information about programs and degree in RSU’s Department of Psychology and Sociology, visit www.rsu.edu/PS.