Applied Psychometrics Laboratory

Social and Psychological Impact of Stuttering We seek to fully understand the impact that stuttering has on a person’s mental health in order to improve treatment outcomes for chronic stutterers. We are simultaneously investigating psychological impairments concomitant with the speech disorder as measured by a number of assessment inventories (e.g., depression, anxiety, executive functioning deficits) as well as investigating the impact that stuttering has on a perceiver’s evaluations (i.e., ratings of attractiveness, intelligence, friendship potential) of a target that stutters. Investigations into perceptions of people who stutter is necessary in order to understand the nature of the stigma attached to stuttering and discover the roots of psychological impairments suffered by people who stutter.  Research assistants will work with Dr. Ainsworth in all aspects of the research process; 1) reviewing literature, 2) research design and implementation, 3) administering and scoring psychological inventories, 4) working directly with participants, 5) entering, coding and analyzing data using SPSS, Excel and other programs, and 6) poster and paper preparation for conferences and publication. 

Advanced Statistical Methods As a quantitative psychologist I have the opportunity to consult and/or collaborate on a number of projects in a wide variety of sub-fields within psychology (e.g. neuropsych,psychopathology, personality, health, cognitive). Students working with me will receive extensive training in advanced research and statistical methods (e.g. multivariate analysis of variance, hierarchical regression, mediation analysis, factor analysis, structural equation modeling) that can either be applied to his/her area of interest or applied to multiple areas.

Michelle is a second-year graduate student in the General Experimental MA program. She has a BA in Psychology from UC Santa Cruz, and an MA in clinical Psychology. Her main interests include statistics and research methodology. Other areas of interest include Social Cognition and Neuropsychology. She is currently the lab coordinator and you can find her working on the Executive Functioning Study and the Psychophys study. michelleturitz@gmail.com

Andrew Samonte is a first year graduate student in the California State University Northridge (CSUN) General Experimental Program. His research interests comprise of measuring attraction specifically its influence on mate selection. Currently you can find him working on the processing fluency project, and speed dating study. He is also the APL lab coordinator and website designer. Fun fact about Andrew is he’s currently working at Porto’s Bakery and he writes on cakes. andrewjoseph.samonte.867@my.csun.edu

Hanna Kim is a second year GE student at CSUN. Investigating the effects of language on cognition is her main research interest, but is also working on processing fluency, psychophys, and cultural/language differences in stuttering. While she may not stutter, she sometimes puts the emphasis on the wrong syllable. kihany1@hotmail.com

This is Roxanne Benoun and she is currently in her second year of the General Experimental Psychology masters program. Her research interests include visual information sciences and quantitative psychology. She has just joined the APL lab and will be taking part in various projects. A fun fact about her is she sometimes wears fuzzy stick-on mustaches when hanging out with friends or working on homework. roxanne.benoun.31@my.csun.edu

Madison is a first-year graduate student in the General Experimental MA program in California State University Northridge. She is part of the NIH-RIMI Honors fellowship, a former member of the NIMH-COR Honors Pre-Doctoral fellowship and has been an active member of the National Stuttering Association (NSA) since 2006. Her primary research interests relate to exploring the social and cognitive components of stuttering; specifically, examining the relationship between stuttering and executive functioning, social identity formation, self-efficacy, and other core areas relating to quality of life for those affected. Currently you can find Madison working on the Executive Functioning study. Fun fact about Madison she is a professional photographer. (Click here to check her out). madison.nicole.garcia@gmail.com

Kate holds a B.A. in Psychology from CSU, Fullerton and is a first year graduate student in CSUN’s M.A. General Experimental Psychology program. Her research interests are in psychometrics, specifically item response theory. Presently, her contributions in the APL consist of working on the Social Desirability, Psychophys, and Executive Functioning projects. Outside of academia, Kate enjoys the beach, the snow, live music, and giving gifts wrapped in pretty paper. katelyn.cerneka.448@my.csun.edu

Jeremy Neswald is a first year graduate student in the California State University Northridge (CSUN) General Experimental Program. His research interests comprise of studying the neural resources allocated for attention. You can find Jeremy working concurrently in the Advanced Psychometrics Laboratory as well as the Neuroscience Laboratory. Fun fact about Jeremy is he like comic books. jeremy.neswald.524@my.csun.edu

Alina is currently a senior undergraduate student who is primarily interested in health psychology. She’s currently applying to health psychology doctoral programs and specifically interested in research on how stress, anxiety, and other psychological aspects of an individual can affect physical health. Currently you can find her participating in the psychophys study, processing fluency study, and hopes to study the health disparities of stuttering individuals. Fun fact about herself: She enjoys yoga and learning about alternative medicine during her spare time.alina.valdez.646@my.csun.edu

Emmanuel Gama is in his senior year at California State University Northridge. His research interests include I/O psychology specifically the factors that influence productivity in workers. Currently you can find him working on the processing fluency project and executive functioning study. Fun fact about Emmanuel, he speaks four different languages and mixes them up pretty often. obeth.gama.67@my.csun.edu