Our facilities are designed to optimize your personal and professional development as you work side-by-side with your professors.
Psychology House
The Psychology House, located on Grove Street next to the library, is the heart of the department. Walk right in, there鈥檚 no need to knock. Psychology faculty offices are located throughout the building. The administrative assistant鈥檚 office and faculty mailboxes are located on the first floor. There is also a reception area for students waiting to see faculty members and to take make-up exams.
Psychology Research Suites
Each faculty member has a research laboratory in the Psychology Research Suites located east of the Campus Center. Students can work as research assistants as part of work study, or they may design and conduct their own independent research projects with the guidance of a faculty member. Many of these projects involve data collection in the Psychology Research Suites. All students in 1000 and 2000 level psychology courses are required to participate in research studies, and these studies also often take place in the Research Suites.
Every fall, students are invited to tour the lab spaces and participate in demonstrations to learn more about the psychology research that is taking place on campus.
Child Development Lab
Dr. Meredith Meyer does research on children’s understanding about genes and their beliefs about whether traits and abilities are inborn vs. acquired (e.g., through learning or family upbringing). She is also interested in whether children and adults attribute antisocial behavior to inborn traits or environmental factors, and the consequences of these different explanatory styles.
Coding Room
This room is an integral part of the Social Observation Lab and the Child Development Lab. It is connected to both of these labs by two-way mirrors which allow the unobtrusive observation of lab participants.
Social Observation Lab
The Social Observation Lab is one of two labs shared between Dr. Michele Acker and Dr. Noam Shpancer, but this year, it is hosting the Cognitive Abilities Lab of Dr. Meredith Frey. It is a flexible space designed to be used for a variety of data collection methods. For instance, previous studies in this lab have included focus groups on body image and observational studies of self-disclosure in friendships.
Attention Lab
Students with diverse interests, including neuropsychology, school psychology, and human factors, often find work related to their interests in the Attention Lab. Under the direction of Dr. Cindy Laurie-Rose, the research in the lab examines what makes sustained attention or 鈥減aying attention鈥� so crucial but also difficult for both children and adults.
Science of Learning Lab
The Science of Learning Lab is under the direction of Dr. Katie Wissman. The lab’s research focuses on cognitive processes that underlie human memory, with an emphasis on how to enhance student success and support pedagogical practices.
Biofeedback Labs
The Biofeedback Lab serves as the location for students in Stress & Health Psychology and Biofeedback Seminar to engage in course related lab work using basic biofeedback software and instrumentation. Under the direction of Dr. Denise Hatter-Fisher, the biofeedback areas of focus may include heart rate variability (HRV), temperature biofeedback (TMP), Skin conductance (SCR) and surface electromyography (sEMG).
For more information about our facilities, please contact our administrative assistant at cox18@otterbein.edu.