OPUS Spring 2017
Letter from the Editor
Staff Articles
- Managing Mental Health in the Primary Care Sector
- An Interview with Dr. Joshua Aronson
- An Interview with Dr. Elise Cappella
- Childhood Emotional Abuse and Borderline Personality Disorder
- Split: A Review and Its Unexpected Merit
- The Influence of Leadership Style on Individuals’ Satisfaction on Small Teams
- The Impact of Postpartum Depression on the Mother-Child Relationship
- Don’t Worry, But Don’t Just Be Happy
- Teachers’ Use of Positive and Negative Feedback: Implications for Student Behavior
JULIA ACKER
Editor-in-Chief
ackerj@nyu.edu
Julia Acker is a graduating senior in the Applied Psychology program with a combined major in Global Public Health and a minor in Sociology. She is a research assistant for the L-FELD NYU team led by Drs. Gigliana Melzi and Adina Schick. Under the mentorship of Dr. Schick, Julia completed an honors thesis examining predictors of teacher self-efficacy in preschools serving low-income dual language learners. For this project, she won the 2016 Steinhardt Student Challenge Grant and presented her work at the 2017 SRCD Biennial Conference. Julia also conducts social epidemiological research with Dr. Sean Clouston at Stony Brook University. After graduation, Julia will work as a research assistant for the Center on Social Disparities in Health at the University of California, San Francisco, and will provide research support to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America.
ASHLIE PANKONIN
Editor-in-Chief
ashlie.pankonin@nyu.edu
Ashlie Pankonin is a graduating senior in the Applied Psychology program with a minor in Linguistics. She is a research assistant for the Latino Family Engagement and Language Development team led by Drs. Gigliana Melzi and Adina Schick. Ashlie recenlty completed her honors thesis investigating perspective-taking in children’s narratives and how this changes across the preschool years, and presented her work at New York University’s 2017 Undergraduate Research Conference and Research and Scholarship Showcase, as well as at University of Virginia’s L. Starling Reid Undergraduate Psychology Research Conference. After she graduates, Ashlie will work as a lab coordinator for Dr. David Barner’s Language and Development Lab at the University of California, San Diego.
JULIA IMPERATORE | Programming & Communications Director
jmi268@nyu.edu
Julia Imperatore is a graduating senior in the Applied Psychology program. She currently works as a research intern for the organization MDRC for their Expanding Children’s Early Learning Network project which studies new curriculums in Boston public schools and how it affects sustained learning from preschool to third grade. She also works part-time at Bobst Library as a student assistant for Access Services. Previously, Julia has interned with Council Member Ben Kallos of District 5 and worked with the ROSES project with Dr. Shabnam Javdani which studies an advocacy program for young girls involved in juvenile justice system. After graduation, she will work as a Trial Preparation Assistant at the New York County District Attorney’s office.
SHIRLEY WU | Layout & Design Director
shirleywu@nyu.edu
Shirley Wu is a graduating senior in the Applied Psychology and Global Public Health program with a minor in Anthropology. She is currently a Resident Assistant at NYU, and a part-time Associate on the Product Management team at Healthfirst, a hospital sponsored health benefits company that provides quality healthcare coverage to individuals and families in New York. In the past, Shirley has worked as a Corporate Partnerships intern at UNICEF, and has been part of the Development and Fundraising team at The National Eating Disorders Association. She has also served as research assistants for Drs. Melzi and Schick’s L-FELD NYU team and the RELATE Project at the Yale University Center for Emotional Intelligence. After graduating from NYU, Shirley will be joining Healthfirst as a full-time Product Strategy Associate to pursue her interests in healthcare management.
JULIUS UTAMA | Editor-in-Training
jau228@nyu.edu
Julius Utama is a junior in the Applied Psychology program. He is a research assistant on the NYU L-FELD team, led by Dr. Gigliana Melzi and Dr. Adina Schick, and is in the process of applying for an honors thesis investigating the role of home-school continuity in behavior management practices. Julius is also a research assistant on Dr. Lisa Suzuki’s Emotional Intelligence lab, where he is conducting an independent research project examining the association between emotional and cultural intelligence and the mediating role of ethnic identity. Julius will be presenting a poster at this year’s American Psychological Association (APA) Convention, and has previously worked as a research assistant for the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta, Indonesia. Julius hopes to expand his involvement in research as he transitions into his senior year at NYU.
PETER GOLDIE | Staff Writer
pdg283@nyu.edu
Peter Goldie is a sophomore in the Applied Psychology program with a minor in Sociology. He is an intern at Kurtz Psychology Consulting PC, where he observes parent-child interaction therapy and personally works with children who struggle with selective mutism. He is interested in continuing to work with kids who struggle with anxiety and hopes to conduct research in this field in the upcoming year. After graduation, he is looking to gain admission to a counseling program.
ADITI IYER | Staff Writer
ai987@nyu.edu
Aditi Iyer is a freshman in the Applied Psychology program. She currently works as a research assistant at MDRC on the ExCEL P-3. The project aims to ameliorate primary school teaching for sustainable growth. Aditi’s role involves compiling and analyzing data from kindergarten classroom observations. She also participates in the a new program within the 1199 teaching initiative. Lead by professor Dr. Joshua Aronson, the members conduct teaching and mindfulness meditation sessions for high school students in New York City.
SIDDHI PATEL | Staff Writer
scp389@nyu.edu
Siddhi Patel is a freshman in the Applied Psychology program and part of the Pre-Health track. Currently she volunteers at Bergen Regional Medical center in the Emergency Department. She carries blood samples to the lab and retrieves medicine from the pharmacy. In addition, she works with the psychology department which consults and debriefs patients who are brought into the ER regarding drug and alcohol use, attempted suicide, and violent and aggressive behavior to those around them. She shadows doctors as they make their rounds in the ER and sees the process of questioning in order to formulate the correct diagnosis.
HELENA WANG | Staff Writer
helena.wang@nyu.edu
Helena Wang is a junior in the Applied Psychology program with a minor in Sociology. She currently works as a research assistant at Professor Gorfrey and Professor Rezarta’s Social intervention and Intergroup Relations Lab, mainly in charge of quantitative data analysis and literature review. She also works with Dr. Javdani’s ROSES research team, studying the experiences and outcomes of adolescent girls involved in the juvenile legal system. She is also working on her indepedent research project under the mentorship of Dr. Godfrey, studying how White Americans’ perceived warmth and competence of Asian Americans affect their sense of threat from Asian Americans. In the future, she hopes to utilize the research skills she learned in academia to solve more real world issues.
SOPHIA WANG | Staff Writer
sophia.m.wang@nyu.edu
Sophia Wang is a freshman in the Applied Psychology and Global Public health program with a minor in Web Development. She has been volunteering for the New York Boys and Girls Club and other non profit organizations that work to mitigate inequality in education opportunities. She hopes to combine her passion for graphic design and psychology to create content that has an impact. Sophia is excited to see where the rest of her education takes her.
PAIGE ALENICK | Contributing Writer
pa940@nyu.edu
Paige Alenick is a graduating senior in the Applied Psychology program. She is a member of Dr. Erin Godfrey’s Psychology of Social Intervention lab. Paige completed an honors thesis, under the mentorship of Dr. Godfrey, examining the influence of cultural socialization on Latino American early adolescents’ beliefs about the value of education. She will be presenting her work at the Applied Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference. Upon graduating from NYU, Paige will be pursuing a PhD in Industrial Organizational Psychology from Baruch College.
HANNAH EPHRAIM | Contributing Writer
hye201@nyu.edu
Hannah Ephraim is a junior in the Applied Psychology program with a minor in Creative Writing. She currently works on the Bellevue ROSE research team at NYU Langone as a prenatal educator and research assistant, studying the effectiveness of psychoeducation and interpersonal therapy on preventing postpartum depression. In the past she has worked as a research assistant at Massachusetts General Hospital studying the effect of intranasal oxytocin on postpartum depression. In the future she hopes to continue with research, focusing on the intersection of women’s mental and physical health specifically within reproductive issues.
KRISTA MORGAN | Contributing Writer
kmm913@nyu.edu
Krista Morgan is a sophomore in the Applied Psychology program with a minor in Sociology. She is currently serving her second year with Jumpstart NYU as an Americorps member working to close the education gap by providing language, literacy, and social-emotional programs to preschoolers in under-resourced communities. Over the summer, she will be continuing her work with Jumpstart and will work with the East Side Institute for Group and Short Term Psychotherapy in order to gain training in social therapy theory and practice. In the future, Krista hopes to pursue clinical psychology and plans to continue working with children.
REBEKAH MYERS | Contributing Writer
rem464@nyu.edu
Rebekah Myers is a graduating senior in the Applied Psychology program with a minor in Sociology. She is a member of the Latino Family Engagement and Language Development (L-FELD research team led by Dr. Gigliana Melzi and Dr. Adina Schick. Rebekah completed an honors thesis regarding the influence of teachers’ perceptions on the development of preschoolers’ beliefs about their competence under the mentorship of Dr. Schick, and presented this work at the 2017 Reid Undergraduate Psychology Conference at the University of Virginia. After graduating from NYU, Rebekah will be attending the University of South Carolina to pursue a Master’s of Social Work with a specialization in Military Social Work.
ANGELA PAGE SPEARS | Contributing Writer
aps443@nyu.edu
Angela “Page” Spears is a graduating senior in the Applied Psychology Program with a minor in American Sign Language. She is a research assistant on Dr. Anil Chacko’s Families and Children Experiencing Success (FACES) lab at NYU. She completed her honors thesis on the effects of a neurocognitive training program (ACTIVATE) on ADHD symptoms, reading, and executive functions under the mentorship of Dr. Chacko. She presented a poster of her work at the Applied Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference and received the Undergraduate Applied Psychology Outstanding Research Contribution award. Upon graduating from NYU, she will work at the VA Medical Center as a Research Assistant studying suicide prevention of veterans by employing their family members in treatment.