NEWSLETTER
FALL/WINTER 2008
Applying the Science of Psychology and Evaluation Across the Globe
APPLYING THE SCIENCE OF
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY TO IMPROVE SOCIETY:
A SYMPOSIUM
INSIDE
ISSUE:
INSIDETHIS
THIS
ISSUE:
POSITIVE PSYCH
SYMPOSIUM
1
STUDENT & ALUMNI
PROFILES
2-6
FACULTY NEWS
7-9
NEWLY AWARDED
PHDS
10
ON-CAMPUS EVENTS
10-11
ALUMNI/STUDENT
GATHERINGS
12
NEW BOOKS
13
STUDENT, ALUMNI &
FACULTY
MILESTONES
14
SPECIAL POINTS OF
INTEREST:
•
Cognitive Psych & the
Law (pg 3)
•
Psychology, Rhetoric, &
the Campaign Trail (pg 4)
•
Business Ethics &
Psychology (pg 5)
•
Giving Psychology Away
(pg 8)
•
Global Impact of
Evaluation (pg. 9)
•
Social Psych Events
Galore (pg 11)
•
Celebrations! (pg 12)
JANUARY 24, 2009, 9 AM – 5 PM
Positive Psychology emerged at the be- ciety. Speakers will include:
ginning of the new millennium as a
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
movement within psychology aimed at
Martin Seligman (via video)
enhancing human strengths and optimal
Edward Diener
human functioning. This emerging area
of scholarship, scientific research, and
David Cooperrider
application has inspired leading scholars
Christopher Peterson
and practitioners from across the globe
Barbara Fredrickson
to rethink the fundamental nature of how
Shelley Taylor
we live, work, and educate; of our health
Jane Dutton
and well-being; of how to design and
lead positive institutions; and of how to
Kim Cameron
develop positive public policies.
Jeanne Nakamura
The ideas contained in the initial work in
positive psychology have spread far and
wide across the disciplines to form a
broader movement, sometimes referred
to as the positive social and human sciences.
Claremont Graduate University is
proud to announce that it will host a
day-long event to celebrate the
emerging positive social and human
sciences, and to push their boundaries. Leaders and leading scholars
from across the positive science
landscape will gather in Claremont
on Saturday, January 24, 2009 to
discuss Applying the Science of
Positive Psychology to Improve So-
Nansook Park
Hans Henrik Knoop
Stewart Donaldson
For more information, visit us at
www.cgu.edu/sbos or e-mail
paul.thomas@cgu.edu.
Page 2
STUDENT EXPLORES INTERVENTIONS FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL AGED
CHILDREN
Second-year doctoral student Alexis
Alabastro has soaring hopes to provide
inspiring research that will one day
change the education process for
middle school aged children. Why
middle school age? “Middle school
aged children are transitioning really
quickly,” says Alexis, “And that’s where
we need to focus on understanding the
learning process.”
To compliment her research interests,
Alexis is currently working in
Alexis Alabastro
conjunction with SBOS professor Dr.
Rebecca Eddy on a semester-long project which monitors
achievement as a result of students’ perceived academic
control and tendency to use self-regulatory learning
strategies. What she hopes to get out of this research
experience is to understand the variables that go into
academic achievement.
“I come from a diverse family of mixed races,” she says,
“And I feel that culture really has an effect on
achievement.” For that reason, one of her goals is to
explore culture within education for her dissertation project.
However, Alexis says her current focus is to explore the
attribution process and self-efficacy, seeing how these
factors influence students’ perception of control. “To the
extent (students) perceive control over their academic
environment, they are going to execute self-regulatory
behavior which has a huge impact on their overall
academic achievement”. Her goal for understanding this
process is to “improve teaching interventions while making
them most effective and long-lasting.”
In the end, Alexis says that trying to fuse the traditionally
separate research in education, development, and social
psychology can become difficult at times. Happily, there is
hope: “CGU really fosters and encourages transdisciplinary
research which is perfect for my interests.” Alexis will
continue the year working on her research as well as
working as a Teacher’s Assistant in Research Methods for
the Fall.
ALUMNA “WIDENS LENS” FOR HER STUDENTS
Alumna Dr. Saki Cabrera strives to bring hope and success
to students at Solano Community College (SCC) in northern California. Dr. Cabrera is a first generation Puerto Rican American who grew up in a poverty- and violencestricken neighborhood in the Bronx, New York. After earning her doctoral degree at Claremont Graduate University,
Dr. Cabrera decided to give back to traditionally underrepresented students by offering her students a way of connecting different views. She gives the example of a student
last year who took one of Dr. Cabrera’s Human Services
courses. “We really talked about different cultural groups
and how they related to social issues—prostitution, homelessness, and other topics. This student said she really
grasped the topics because the discussions didn’t stop by
looking at only racial differences. I am trying to give SCC
students the ability to look at these issues in a more complex way. When people think culture, they often just think of
race and ethnicity. I’d like to offer them a wider lens.”
impact,” says Dr. Cabrera, “Because our efforts will affect
generations to come—not only young parents, but their
children and grandchildren. The work will really open up
whole communities that are being stigmatized.” She is especially interested in empowering individuals to realize their
true worth and contribution to the community and strengthening community successes in the spirit of improving health
for all. “I want to offer them my experience and emphasize
the diverse possibilities that exist in the world.” Cabrera’s
evaluation and social psychology consulting firm, SC Associates, also keeps these interests in mind.
Dr. Cabrera has become an inspiration to many students
and community members. “The most rewarding experience,” says Dr.
Cabrera, “Is when
people share how they
continue to positively
apply their knowledge,
Dr. Cabrera also has led various federal and local research skills and abilities toprojects and has developed, implemented and evaluated
ward new experiences
community programs focused on diverse questions related long after I have had
to health, education, and vocation. One example is Brighter the honor to serve
Beginnings where she worked over six years to help rethem.”
Dr. Sakai Cabrera (left) at work
duce teenage pregnancy across five sites. “We had a huge
Page 3
STUDENT PROFILE: EMOTION IN JURY DECISION MAKING
“The most common lab animal” goes
the old psychology joke, “is the college sophomore.” Doctoral student
John G. McCabe is keenly aware of
how this limits the validity of studies
in psychology and the law. The average citizen called for jury duty,
after all, is not an upper-middle
class 20-year-old. It is often argued
that undergraduates are specifically
selected for, trained in, and taught to
John McCabe
value the ability to systematically
analyze information, which others are not. “The courts have
long ignored empirical research in jury decision-making,
and an oft-cited reason is the use of undergraduates as
subjects. If we could show that researchers have a handle
on the differences between student and community populations, we could have an impact while continuing to use undergraduates. After all, they are convenient. I think demonstrating an understanding of these differences would go a
long way to bolstering researchers’ arguments for changes
in the system.” Variables that consistently account for differences between student and more representative jurors’
legal decision-making have been surprisingly hard to come
by.
we want the jury’s decision to be based solely on a systematic analysis of the facts.” What if, however, you have a
truly unsavory defendant who has done some despicable
things in the past, but those past actions are legally irrelevant to the current decision the jury has to make? John’s
Master’s thesis project tested whether having the defendant’s attorney acknowledge the jury’s negative visceral
reaction to the defendant and his past actions would impact
their verdicts in a instance where the information was admissible but the jurors’ reaction to it was legally irrelevant to
the decision. “I took the idea from a psychotherapeutic
technique called empathetic mirroring. It’s like when a boss
says to an irate employee, ‘I can see you are very angry,’ in
order to acknowledge the employee’s feelings, lower the
employee’s emotional reactivity, and allow for a more reasoned conversation—in other words, a more systematic
analysis of the situation.”
In addition to finishing up his coursework this semester, he
is currently working pro bono as a trial consultant on an
attempted murder case in Los Angeles Superior Court.
“The case involves many of the same types of issues I
have been researching. That is, how to get people to look
beyond their prejudices.”
John recently authored a paper submitted to Psychology,
Public Policy and the Law, that he describes as a possible
“The justice system is peculiar,” John says. “The system as
first step in developing a theory-based way to distinguish
a whole is supposed to be a reflection of our society’s
undergraduate from community representative samples in
moral outrage at particular actions. But, at the same time,
legal decision-making research.
KEEP YOUR EYES—AND MINDS!—ON THE ROAD, SAYS
STUDENT INTERN IN D.C.
SBOS student Griffin Glatt hasn’t even earned her Master’s degree, but at her internship at the
Government Accountability Office (GAO) in Washington, D.C., she is already helping influence
policy through evaluation research. Like a series of SBOS students before her, Griffin interned in
Summer 2008 with the GAO’s Applied Research and Methods (ARM) team. Over the course of
the summer she worked on several immigration initiatives and focused most of her time on a traffic
safety report, requested by Senator Inouye (Hawaii). In her internship, Griffin compared and analyzed research on a variety of traffic safety issues including, Graduated Drivers Licensing programs and crash avoidance technologies. She presented the information to her supervisors to be
included in the traffic safety report.
Particularly interesting for Californians, Griffin did research on the crash risk for hand-held versus
Griffin Glatt
hands-free cell phone use while driving. The current results, which are included in the report, indicate that laws banning hands-held cell phone use while driving will not likely lead to fewer highway accidents. “Driving
while holding a cell phone verses using an earpiece makes no difference in terms of crash risk,” she explains. “The cognitive distraction of talking on the phone while driving is what leads to increased risk, not holding the phone.”
As far as partaking in such an opportunity, Griffin states “I heard about [the GAO] in an evaluation course, so I looked
into it and found that they had an internship program.” Following in the footsteps of alumna Dr. Cindy Gilbert (now fulltime at the GAO), current student Erica Rosenthal, and many others, Griffin decided to pursue the internship to find out
whether program evaluation and policy evaluation at an organization like the GAO is the career path for her. Assertiveness—and the CGU connection—resulted in a summer to learn about the field, and about herself as well.
Page 4
WHY DON’T SCARE TACTICS KEEP ADOLESCENTS AWAY FROM DRUGS?
Scare tactics have long been used in drug-prevention programs, but
Ph.D. student Jessie Skenderian is finding that they often backfire. “What
we have concluded from our research is that caution must be used when
creating anti-drug messages,” she says, referring to research being done
in collaboration with CGU professors Drs. Crano, Siegel, and Alvaro. “If
adolescents find that the harms of using drugs are not as serious as they
thought, based on well-intentioned prevention strategies, the adolescents’
intentions to use may increase. The research and principles of social
psychology have to be carefully applied when creating anti-drug messages to effectively reduce substance use among adolescents.”
Through this research, Jessie has recently had her first publication accepted at Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. "Expectancy change and
adolescents' intentions to use marijuana” was written in collaboration with
her faculty mentors and with doctoral student Andrew Lac. She analyzed
Jessie Skenderian
data from the National Survey of Parents and Youth to investigate adolescents who were not marijuana users initially, but then became users at a later time, to understand how changes in
expectancies associated with use lead to subsequent changes in intentions.
Jessie has also completed a related study from the same data set in which she investigated adolescents who transitioned middle school versus those who did not have to make this transition and how this impacted substance use. The
results revealed that those who transitioned schools were more likely to engage in substance use in comparison to adolescents who did not undergo this shift. “Developmental research points to the fact that adolescents are going through
many changes during this period of their lives, the added change of a new school increases the negative consequences
that they experience, one of which is substance use. The findings emphasize the need for specific programs targeting
adolescents experiencing a middle school transition that are designed to alleviate the many challenges they face and
decrease the likelihood that they will use drugs in the future.”
FACULTY PROFILE: DISSECTING THE CAMPAIGN RHETORIC
Like most of us, Dr. Michelle Bligh has been closely following the American presidential race—well,
perhaps even more closely than the rest of us. Dr. Bligh has undertaken a study of every speech
given by Senators Obama and Clinton during the campaign, and will be doing qualitative analysis to
see how politicians re-shape their rhetoric for different settings. The end results will be more than
just a scientific record of what happened in 2008. Dr. Bligh hopes to tease out which rhetorical
moves are successful and which misfire—information which could inform future political campaigns
for all parties.
Dr. Bligh’s work on leadership has led to three publications this year: “It Takes Two to Tango: An Interdependence Analysis of the Spiraling of Perceived Trustworthiness and Cooperation in Interpersonal and Intergroup Relationships” (with Dr. Jeff Kohles and D. L. Ferrin in Organizational Behavior
Dr. Michelle Bligh
and Human Decision Processes); “Negotiating Gender Role Expectations: Rhetorical Leadership and
Women in the U.S. Senate” (also with Dr. Kohles, in Leadership), and “Presidential Charismatic Leadership: Exploring
the Rhetoric of Social Change” (with SBOS student Vivian Seyranian in The Leadership Quarterly).
In other news, Dr. Bligh will be presenting at the 6th Annual Asia Academy of Management Conference in Taipei this
December with SBOS student Ernest Ng on “Leading Innovation: Understanding Barriers and Facilitators in the Singaporean Context.” Finally, she will be presenting on “Effective Followership: Current and Future Practice” at the International Leadership Association Conference in Los Angeles this November. It’s no surprise that this active researcher was
promoted to Associate Professor this spring—see page 12 for photos from her Tenure Party!
Page 5
STUDENT PROFILE: PETTY CRIMES LEAD TO LARGE-SCALE UNETHICAL
BEHAVIOR IN ORGANIZATIONS
During Ph.D. student Molly
McCallum’s first
career in accounting and financial
consulting, she
noticed a cultural
acceptance of minor unethical activities. “These
‘petty crimes’ were
often ignored by
the leaders of the
companies. If no
one corrects the
smaller acts, they
Molly McCallum
are more likely to
become socially acceptable practices.” Molly is interested
in determining how to keep these smaller, unethical acts
from infecting the corporate culture. “What causes an employee to take advantage of an apathetic system, to go beyond the ‘petty crimes’ to something that is truly damaging
to the organization? And, how do we fix the damage they
have done, not just financially, but to the culture of the organization?”
To answer these questions, Molly is looking at the individual decision-making process and the effect of organizational culture on that process. “Research,” she says,
“Acknowledges that individuals use a cost-benefit analysis
when deciding whether to act in a way that could be considered unethical by superiors and peers within the organi-
“...If no one corrects
the smaller acts, they
Molly is also interested in looking
are more likely to
at the broader picture of building
an ethical organization through the become socially acaspects of organizational culture
ceptable practices.”
and leadership. “Recent research
examines ethical or ‘authentic
leadership’ styles, which include ethical and moral evaluations of every decision and action. If you believe that the
leader does set the ‘tone at the top,’ these leadership styles
could have a huge impact on the cultural norms. Certain
organizational cultures might be more supportive of an ethical environment.” With this in mind, Molly sees her future
dissertation work having more of a focus on the moral aspects of leadership and the influence of leadership style on
the culture of the organization.
zation.”
The idea of promoting ethics and morality in business is a
relatively new one. Molly says she is frequently asked if
organizations can be ethical. “People wonder if a corporation can be ethical because its primary responsibility is to
the shareholders and to make profits. I say it doesn’t have
to be one or the other.”
Molly believes that an ethical cost-benefit analysis can be
included in all levels of organizational decision making.
“Decision makers can ask themselves ‘is this the right thing
to do?’ for all stakeholders, not just the shareholders.” She
also hopes that the public will eventually make their investment decisions based on the ethics and social responsibility of companies, and not just stock prices and future earnings potential.
STUDENT PROFILE: LEADERSHIP AGAINST ORGANIZATIONAL CORRUPTION
Kathie Pelletier’s interest in ethics sprang from her preCGU career at a government agency which was in the
throws of an ethical crisis. What she saw inspired her to
assess the ethical cultures of organizations. Working with
Dr. Michelle Bligh, she developed a survey around a previously untested model of ethics and program effects and
found overwhelming support for the model. This research
was later published in the Journal of Business Ethics and
led to a second article in the same publication based on a
secondary analysis.
heart. However, a survey of these people shows a dark
side. “I want to balance the paradigm by examining aspects
of toxic leaders, the effects of these aspects on followers;
why do followers put up with it?” Kathie believes that both
leaders and followers can benefit from research of this
kind. She thinks that many leaders do try to reflect on how
they treat their followers and such studies can guide their
thinking. However, Kathie thinks that the greatest benefit
will come from helping followers cope with or topple particularly “bad” leaders.
These articles caught the eye of NOVA publishers, and
soon Kathie was asked to write a chapter for an upcoming
book on corruption. Inspired by a course she took with Dr.
Jean Lipman-Blumen, she decided to write about toxic
leaders and how they affect organizational culture. According to Kathie, the traditional paradigm of leadership is a
positive one: we view leaders as heroes who are ethical at
Although Kathie admits that there are challenges in conducting this kind of research, often in the form of internal
organizational resistance, the benefits to be had are great.
“A good ethical culture starts at the top. Leaders are in a
great position to develop a good organizational culture that
resonates with employees.”
Page 6
SBOS STUDENT REPORTS FROM FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND LGBT CONFERENCE
ence in a way I don't think anyone
For four stimulating days this August, psychologists gathered
“Having big ideas,
expected. The organizers took a
for the first International LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgendered) Psychology Summer Institute at the University wanting to tackle big gamble putting this institute together. While there was and is
of Michigan, Ann Arbor. One featured Senior Scholar at the
problems, is not
event was CGU’s own Dr. Allen Omoto, who presented on
atypical of students without a doubt a pressing need for
more high quality research on sex
“Psychological processes underlying community involvement
in an applied psy- and sexuality, and a research base
and social action”. Current doctoral student Dustin Tamashiro
chology program
ripe for development, would people
also participated in the conference, and sent back the followcome? Furthermore, could a moting enthusiastic report:
like ours.”
ley group of bright-eyed and bushy"Several people have asked me about my experience at the
tailed students and junior faculty really find the fellowship and
Institute and it was, simply, inspiring beyond belief. Over the
support they needed at a gathering such as this? As it turns
course of five days, I attended workshops and colloquia,
out, they could; we could.
shared meals and traded research ideas with many of the
"It was a tremendous honor to participate in the first -- and I
world's leading scholars on LGBT issues -- a cohort which, of
am sure not the last -- International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
course, includes Dr. Allen Omoto, right here at CGU. [...] I
and Transgender Psychology Summer Institute. I learned a
have to say, by far, the highlight of my experience was the
great deal and feel genuinely inspired to pick up on some old
opportunity to engage with so
many wonderful students and jun- ideas that had promise but I did not have the opportunity to
ior faculty who, up until that point, start. As I discovered this past year, having big ideas, wanting
had been independently bringing to tackle big problems, is not atypical of students in applied
their talents, knowledge, and expsychology program like an ours.”
pertise to bear on a wealth of isThe challenge of honing his work down to one small, resues facing our various communisearchable element of the exciting “big picture,” according to
ties.
Dustin, can at first be daunting, but this conference demon-
Dustin Tamashiro
"At the beginning of the institute,
Peter Hegarty, a man who I can
only describe as characteristically
honest and eccentrically brilliant,
proclaimed, 'You're here! You're
all really, really here!' This sentiment came to define the confer-
strated that the big picture doesn’t get lost—it is simply shared
by a broad community throughout the field, each with its own
“groundbreaking, inspiring, brilliant piece.” He concludes: “If
there's anything that I can share from this experience, it's to
embrace opportunities to collaborate, network, attend gatherings, be social, and always remember: in this struggle, you are
not alone."
PHD STUDENT AWARDED TWO EXTERNAL FELLOWSHIPS
Among his many current activities, including co-running his
own consulting company and working towards his doctorate in
Organizational Behavior, CGU student Max Freund has become the elite recipient of two very competitive scholarships from the Datatel Foundation: the Datatel Scholarship
and the Russ Griffith Memorial Scholarship for students returning to school from the work world. However, it was his continued commitment to advancing leadership in non-profit organizations that helped make him an ideal candidate.
creasingly called upon to exercise shared
leadership in guiding their organizations
through the transitions.”
To put his leadership knowledge into practice, Max and his wife Cynthia Luna formed
the consulting firm LF Leadership. They are
currently working with ExecNet, a local netMax Freund
work of 12 non-profit organizations,
to assess each agency's organizational capacity to effectively
Max’s current research interests at CGU focus on shared lead- carry out its mission and create an action plan to build greater
capacity. They are also assisting ExecNet to find ways to deership and non-profit capacity building to make society more
velop the collaborative capacity of the network as a whole to
just, compassionate, healthy, and sustainable. His master's
thesis research focuses on shared vision and leadership in
serve youth and their families better.
boards of non-profit organizations. According to Max, “thanks
All of these activities represent the commitments that led Max
to growth of the non-profit sector and baby boomer retireto choose Claremont as a place to express his “passion to
ments, there will be a huge deficit of leaders in in the coming
build leadership and to make non-profit organizations more
years. With rising turnover in the executive suite and less exeffective and adaptive in today's multicultural world.”
perienced CEOs, boards of directors will particularly be in-
Page 7
DEAN DONALDSON AND RESEARCH FACULTY
AZZAM PROVIDE EVALUATION TRAINING WITH
STATE SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES
Dr. Tarek Azzam
In July 2008, CGU faculty Stewart Donaldson and Tarek Azzam helped launch
the new Arkansas Evaluation Center. This two-day training event included multiple workshops by the Claremont
guests to provide a practical explanation of program evaluation, as well
as cutting-edge technological tools
for making evaluation more potent.
Other presenters in the event included Senator Tracey Steele, Senator Henry "Hank" Wilkins IV, Representative Stefanie Flowers, Mayor
Carl Redus Jr., and representatives
from the Centers for Disease Control
in Atlanta. Dr. David Fetterman of
Stanford and Claremont evaluation
certificate alumnus Charles Gasper
also presented.
Arkansas Senator Tracey Steele
CLAREMONT EVALUATORS TEACH AT
THE MISSOURI FOUNDATION FOR
HEALTH
During their March trip to Missouri, Drs. Tarek Azzam, David Fetterman, and Stewart Donaldson pose with this strange thing
called “snow” (not seen in California since January)
Drs. Donaldson and Azzam also presented this summer at
the Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH), alongside Dr.
David Fetterman of Stanford University. Their presentation,
which focused on practical ways of making program evaluation more powerful, cost-effective, and reliable, was part of a
day-long effort to build better understanding of evaluation for
the MFH.
MICHAEL SCRIVEN TO TEACH ONLINE COURSES IN EVALUATION
This Fall, evaluation legend Michael Scriven will be teaching two online workshops on evaluation,
open to the general public. The first workshop will be a philosophical introduction to the field of
evaluation. This will be followed by a course on the Logic of Evaluation. Previous online offerings
have drawn an audience to Claremont’s virtual classrooms from Europe, South America, the Middle East, and across North America.
For details on this and other distance-based course offerings, visit the SBOS website at
www.cgu.edu/pages/5164.asp.
Dr. Michael Scriven
Page 8
“GIVING PSYCHOLOGY AWAY”
Associate Dean Dr. Kathy Pezdek sees
part of her mission as an applied psychologist as the task of "giving psychology away” to the public. To this end, Dr.
Pezdek has participated in two trips to
Europe this year. In April, she traveled
to Portsmouth, England to give the keynote address at a conference for police
officers, attorneys, and investigative interviewers. Her topic, “The False MemAssociate Dean
Kathy Pezdek
ory Debate: Implications for Childhood
Memories of Abuse,” presented to forensic practitioners
some guidelines about how witnesses’ memory is affected
by suggestive interviews. In discussing this work, Pezdek
pointed out that in the United States, we assume that research on eyewitness memory and child witnesses actually
gets disseminated to practitioners on the ground. However,
although Pezdek herself frequently speaks to attorney
groups about the reliability of eyewitness evidence, in general the interaction in the U.S. between academics and
practitioners is really quite limited and highly competitive.
This is not the case in Europe where, for example, in the
U.K., the Home Office’s sourcebook for Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings was actually coauthored by
an academic psychologist and an attorney. The British
Home Office is currently commissioning chapters for A
Textbook on Forensic Psychology for practitioners, and
Pezdek, along with her coauthor, Graham Davies from
Leicester England, have written the chapter on “Children as
Witnesses.” While in England, Pezdek also presented a
colloquium at the University of Portsmouth where she has
an external faculty post.
More recently, in July, Dr. Pezdek, with Elke Geraerts from
The University of Saint Andrews, organized a symposium
entitled “New Findings on the Suggestibility of Memory” at
the meeting of the European Association of Psychology
and Law in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Her research presentation was entitled “Planting False Memories for Childhood Sexual Abuse Only Happens to Emotionally Disturbed People … not Me or My Friends.” This conference
represented an effort in collaboration by European psychologists and lawyers.
SBOS PROFESSORS INVITED TO
PRESENT ON POSITIVE
PSYCHOLOGY IN CROATIA
discussed Claremont-based research on flow, positive organizational psychology, and graduate education in positive psychology. Dr. Csikszentmihalyi, as well as being an invited
speaker to the
The force of Positive
conference, also
Psychology is being felt serves as Chair of
globally, a fact shown by the International
growing international
Advisory Board
collaboration. This sum- for the European
mer, the 4th European
Conference on
Positive Psychology Conference was held in Croatia, and
Positive Psycholprominently featured SBOS faculty Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmiha- ogy.
Croatia, 4th European Positive Psychology
lyi, Dr. Jeanne Nakamura, and Dr. Stewart Donaldson. They
Conference
FEDERAL EVALUATION INSTITUTE PROMINENTLY FEATURES SBOS
FACULTY (AGAIN!)
The Summer 2008 Evaluation Institute at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, GA, once again invited professors
Stewart Donaldson and Tina Christie to teach. This year, Stewart Donaldson’s workshops included “Advanced Applications of Program Theory” and “What Counts as Credible Evidence in Contemporary Evaluation Practice: Moving Beyond
the Debates.” Professor Christie offered a session on “Ensuring Evaluation Use.” This marks the 7th time Claremont
faculty have been invited presenters at this federally-funded evaluation institute.
Page 9
DR. PRESKILL GIVES KEYNOTE AT
HAWAIIAN CONFERENCE
SUMMER PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
RECEIVE HIGHEST MARKS TO DATE!
Past-President of the American Evaluation Association
(and CGU faculty member) Dr. Hallie Preskill represented CGU at this year’s Hawaii-Pacific Evaluation Affiliate conference. On September 5, the keynote speech
for this annual gathering was offered by Dr. Preskill on
the timely topic, “Evaluating with Wisdom and Passion:
Using Assets-Based Approaches in Complex Organizations.” She also provided two half-day workshops during
the event, “Using Appreciative Inquiry in Evaluation
Practice” and “Asking Questions that Matter.”
Claremont Graduate University's annual Professional Development Workshop Series garnered rave reviews this summer from participants hailing from across the globe. Evaluators traveled from Bermuda, South Africa, Guyana, Iceland,
New Zealand, Pakistan (not to mention 13 of the United
States ) to participate in high-quality, intensive training on
campus in sunny Southern California. “It’s inspiring to see
people from such diverse backgrounds coming together
here,” says Paul Thomas, one of the conference’s organizers. “We talk about evaluation as an academic transdiscipline at CGU every day, but it’s when you see what that can
really mean that it knocks you off your feet. We had a Pakistani representative from Save the Children, for example,
who is working to make sure child laborers have access to a
solid education. Professors from across the U.S. came to
hone their skills. Some local non-profits sent large contingents, and their only complaint was that one person couldn’t
be in multiple places at the same time!”
DR. SCRIVEN BRINGS EVAL
SKILLS TO ASIA, AFRICA, AND
SOUTH AMERICA
Michael Scriven has just completed his fourth summer of
running the external evaluation of the Heifer Corporation's international aid efforts. This year, he had teams in
Vietnam, Cambodia, Ghana, Honduras, and Guatemala,
and visited them all, which added up to 35,000 miles in
25 days. He concluded that the major effort needed next
was to tighten up Heifer's huge efforts at training farm
families in livestock management and community development. In the final report, he included a detailed new
guide to the evaluation of any training program, which
he hopes will be useful in business as well as non-profit
work. Then he wrote “a 26,000 word paper on the disastrous failure of educational technology in the U.S.” for
the new Sage Handbook on Educational Evaluation, and
is now working on what he calls “a radical new approach
to evaluation” for an online course to be offered this fall
for CGU. Summer 2009 will mark the last of Dr.
Scriven’s five-year contract with the Heifer Corporation,
“So we're doing six new countries, to bring the total to
21 out of the 53 Heifer is currently helping,” Dr. Scriven
reports. “We’re also visiting some we've done before, to
see if they benefitted in any way from our evaluations;
probably will mean 45,000 miles. And perhaps,” he adds
wryly, “A little celebration for my 81st birthday.”
SBOS is working to overcome this obstacle by offering workshops in an online format for those unable to visit Claremont
in person. Watch our website and your e-mail for details in
the near future.
Our thanks to everyone who has made this year yet another
resounding success.
Participants exchange notes during a break in this summer’s
Professional Development Workshop Series.
Page 10
COGNITIVE BROWN-BAG LUNCHES
NEWLY AWARDED PHDS!
Open to all! All talks are in room ACB 211, 12:00- 1:15pm,
unless otherwise marked.
Congratulations to those awarded their Doctorate
since our last issue:
September 12: Cognitive Student/Faculty Meet and Greet
September 17: Jonathan Schooler, “Mind Wandering,
Recovered Memories, and Other Dissociations of MetaAwareness” (4:00pm Burkle 16)
September 26: Bill Banks, “Art & Cognitive Psychology:
James Turrell’s Skyspace”
October 17: Deborah Burke, “Emotion, Memory and
Aging: Why Does Emotional Arousal Improve Memory
Across Age?”
November 7: Talk TBA
November 21: Talk TBA
•
Christina Aldrich Communal Coping : Engaging In
Cooperative Coping Responses With Others Facing A
Similar Stressor
•
Hazel Atuel A Longitudinal Study of a Merger:
Between a White Minority and Asian Majority Religious
Groups
•
Catherine Domier Cognitive Performance of
Cigarette Smokers on a Smoking Stroop Task: The
Influence of Abstinence and Acute Smoking
•
December 5: Paul Zak, “Positive Psychology and
Neuroeconomics”
Victor Gombos Cognitive Load and Deception: The
Role of Executive Processes in the Production of
Deceptive Attitude Statements
•
Erin Kappenberg A Model of Executive Coaching:
Key Factors in Coaching Success
MONTHLY M.A. PROGRAM STUDENT
MEETINGS
The monthly master’s program student meetings this
semester are listed below. In addition to presenting
important information for master’s program students, the
meetings provide a good opportunity to meet and mingle
over lunch. Upcoming meetings and topics include:
September 16: Presentation from Dean Donaldson on
Careers in Applied Research & Evaluation
October 28: Information on Applying to PhD Programs
November 11: Advising for Spring 2009 Registration (open
to all MA & PhD students and SBOS faculty)
December 11: Holiday Lunch and Ice Cream Social
•
Robert La Chausse Parental Characteristics and
Parental Monitoring: Effects of Parental Influence on
Adolescent Disclosure, Parent Knowledge, and
Adolescent Risk Behavior
•
Neil Patel Knowledge of Self Begets Tolerance of
Others: An Ethnic Identity Approach to Reducing the
Ethnic Tension in Los Angeles, CA
•
Michael Patterson Effects of Task Instruction and
Difficulty on Central Stage Capacity Allocation in the PRP
Paradigm
•
Teresa Robbins Student Experiences in
Desegregated Schools: The Interaction of School
Interracial Climate and Ethnic Identity Development on
Student Outcomes
OTHER CGU EVENTS OF INTEREST
September 16th : Preparing Future Faculty workshop
November 1st: SBOS Peer Mentoring Program Fall BBQ
September 18th: SBOS Peer Mentoring Program (SPMP) Fall
Meet-and-Greet
November 22nd: SAA Thanksgiving Potluck
December 6th: SAA Winter Party
October 3rd: “Surviving the First Year,” Sponsored by Minority
Mentor Program (MMP) and Black Graduate Student Association
(BGSA)
January 24th: “Using the Science of Positive Psychology to
Improve Society” Symposium (see pg. 1)
October 2nd: Student Advocacy Association (SAA) Fall Picnic
March 3rd: MMP Student Conference
October 17th: BGSA Wine Tasting Fundraiser
Page 11
“SOCIAL SOCIALS”
doctoral student Namrata Mahajan is keeping the “Social
Socials” true to their original mission of giving applied
The student-led “Social Socials” have grown in their short
social psychology students a venue for discussing their
three-year history into an amazing showcase for prominent own research. October 7 will mark the first student
social psychologists. This grassroots gathering will boast, research presentations of the year, with doctoral students
among others this year, Dr. Thierry Devos of San Diego
Amber Gaffney, Ashaki Jackson, and Erica Rosenthal
State (September 24) and Dr. Marilyn Brewer of Ohio State presenting on “Women and Psychology”.
University (October 30).
But big names are not all this series is about. Organizing
For the full schedule, visit the Social Socials website at
www.cgu.edu/pages/5577.asp.
SAVE THE DATE!
SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 2009
Enhancing Teaching and Learning: Lessons
from Social Psychology
The 2009 installment in Claremont Graduate University's
long-running series of Symposia on Applied Social
Psychology will be led by graduate faculty member Dr.
Debra Mashek of Harvey Mudd College. Keep an eye on
our website for the impressive list of social psychologists
who will be giving talks throughout that day.
Arie Kruglanski (University of Maryland), Dr. Michael Hogg, and
guests discuss the psychology of extremism at our April Symposium.
MIND WANDERING, RECOVERED
MEMORIES, AND OTHER
DISSOCIATIONS OF METAAWARENESS
The 2008 conference from this series, “Extremism and the
Psychology of Uncertainty,” attracted a packed audience of
psychologists, community members, academics from a
range of disciplines, and students from colleges across
Southern California.
STRATEGIES FOR ENCOURAGING
ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION
At 4 pm on October 23, 2008, Dr.
P. Wesley Schultz of Cal State
San Marcos will be giving the secDr. Jonathan Schooler, Professor of
Psychology at the University of California, ond SBOS-Stauffer Colloquium
on Applied Psychology. Dr.
Santa Barbara, gave the first SBOSSchultz will be addressing strateStauffer Colloquium of 2008-09 on
gies for encouraging environWednesday, September 17, 2008. This
talk was not only presented to a standing- mental action using the principals
room-only crowd—it was our first Stauffer of social psychology.
Colloquium to be webcast live.
Dr. Schultz, an SBOS alumnus
Dr. Jonathon
and
long-time supporter of our
Dr. Schooler’s areas of research include
Schooler
programs,
has conducted rememory, problem solving, creativity,
Dr. P. Wesley Schultz
search at California State Univeranalogical reasoning, attitudes, emotion, consciousness,
sity San Marcos for over 10 years.
and the relationship between language and thought. His
research crosses traditional boundaries impacting topics in His talk will take place in room Burkle 16 on CGU's campus, and will be followed with a festive wine and cheese
social, cognitive, and clinical psychology as well as
gathering, where students may meet the speaker in person.
philosophy and law.
Page 12
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGISTS
CELEBRATE AT SPSSI IN CHICAGO
Alumni, faculty, and students gathered at the Society for the
Psychological Study of Social Issues conference in Chicago
this summer. In addition to supporting each other’s research
at the conference—an event long dominated by a strong presence from Claremont Graduate University—the group celebrated at a restaurant near the Art Institute of Chicago. Pictured attendees include Matthew Jarman, Miriam Matthews,
Justin Hackett, Dr. Allen Omoto, Amber Gaffney, Danielle
Blaylock, Ben Marcus, alumna Dr. Teresa Robbins, and Dr.
Tina Brown
from Salisbury University.
OTHER UPCOMING ALUMNI EVENTS
2008-09 promises more opportunities for alumni and
students to meet, share their career paths and goals, and
to just have a great time. Mark your calendars for the
following dates:
November 7, 2008, Denver CO: Cocktail Soiree (during
American Evaluation Association Conference)
January 24, 2009, Claremont CA: Alumni are invited to
meet the speakers at a festive wine-and-cheese gathering
after our major conference on Positive Psychology.
April 4, 2009, Claremont CA: Alumni and students will
reunite at a career-focused mentoring day.
April 24, 2009, Portland, OR: Cocktail Soiree (during
Western Psychological Association Conference).
MICHELLE BLIGH MAKES TENURE!
A celebration in honor of Dr. Michelle C. Bligh reaching
tenure was held at Claremont Graduate University this
Spring. Students, alumni, faculty, and staff appeared in
force to show their support of this very special professor,
researcher, and friend.
Left: Doctoral
students Cindy
Sherman, Kim
Perkins, Rachel
Schiff, Rena
Lee, Ia Ko, Molly
McCallum, and
Bi Deng cheer
on Dr. Bligh.
Right: Dr. Bligh
extends her
thanks to her
students and
colleagues.
Page 13
CHECK OUT THESE NEW RELEASES FROM OUR FACULTY AND ALUMNI!
Attitudes and Attitude Change: William
Crano and Radmilla Prislin have assembled a distinguished group of international
scholars whose chapters on classic and
emerging issues in research on attitudes
provide an excellent introduction for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. The book’s chapters cover all of
the most critical features of attitude measurement, attitude
development, and attitude change.
The Art of Followership: This new text
by graduate faculty Ronald Riggio and
Jean Lipman-Blumen (along with Ira
Chaleff) puts dynamic leader-follower interaction at the forefront of discussion,
examining the multiple roles followers play
and their often complex relationship to
leaders.
Women at the Top: Diane Halpern and
Fanny M. Cheung discuss the issue of balancing a dually-successful lifestyle as a
woman. This book draws on psychological
research and personal interviews from 60
successful female leaders around the world
to talk about how these women have balanced both work
and family.
The Changing Realities of Work and
Family: In the context of a rapidly changing U.S. work force, this up-to-date volume provides keen insights into how families, communities, and workplaces can
reap substantial benefits from greater investments in supportive work-family policies. Edited by graduate faculty Amy Marcus-Newhall and Diane Halpern and alumna Sherylle Tan.
What Counts as Credible Evidence in
Applied Research and Evaluation Practice?: Stewart Donaldson, Tina Christie,
and Melvin Mark asked an internationally
renowned line up of authors explore a wide
range of issues that address the fundamental challenges of designing and executing
high quality applied research and evaluation studies.
Readers will come away from this volume with a new and
clear understanding of the philosophical, theoretical, methodological, political, and ethical dimensions of gathering
credible evidence to answer fundamental research and
evaluation questions across diverse disciplinary boundaries and “real world” contexts.
Evaluation in Action: The first book to go
behind the scenes of real evaluations to
explore the issues faced—and the decisions
made—by notable evaluators in the field
draws from the popular “Exemplars” section
in the American Journal of Evaluation. The
book’s twelve interviews with evaluators illustrate a variety
of evaluation practices in different settings and include
commentary and analysis on what the interviews teach
about evaluation practice. Edited by Jody Fitzpatrick, Tina
Christie, and Mel Mark.
Who: A Method for Hiring: Alumnus
Geoff Smart and co-author Randy Street
offer a solution to avoiding hiring mistakes.
They interviewed over 20 billionaires to
collect their best advice and stories on this
topic. The creation of the book generated
the largest research study of its kind, conducted in conjunction with the University of Chicago. The
results were distilled into four simple steps, which the authors call the “Method for HiringT.” Nearly two dozen
CEOs have already endorsed the book. Visit
www.whothebook.com
Curious? These and many, many other titles are available for purchase online:
www.cgu.edu/pages/4920.asp
Page 14
FACULTY, STUDENT, AND ALUMNI MILESTONES
•
•
John McCabe, PhD Student, recently won best research
proposal in the American Society of Trial Consultants Student
Paper Competition. He presented his paper on jury research
at the annual conference in Chicago in June.
Doctoral students Janice Adelman and Stacey Hawkins spent
Summer 2008 in D.C. with the RAND Institute, working on
projects related to (respectively) identity and violence in Iraq
and family well-being for deployed members of the military.
•
SBOS Alumna Dr. Lynnette Zelezney has been appointed by •
the Craig School of Business at California State University,
Fresno as its interim Associate Dean. Currently she is the codirector of a $4.5 million grant from the National Institute of
Health to develop biomedical infrastructure for the Central
•
Valley.
For a grant funded by the National Science Foundation,
Doctoral student Kathryn Sperry is challenging assumptions
about risk-taking by eyewitnesses in gang-related criminal
trials.
•
•
•
CGU student Robert Blagg was the winner of a 2007 Grantsin-Aid Award from SPPSI for a project entitled “Rebuilding
•
Community in New Orleans, LA.” Blagg was one in only
thirteen students from across the nation to receive funding for
his research from the group.
•
Alumnus and “Primal Therapy” researcher Dr. Arthur Janov
has begun a public blog about his practice that is available to
all at http://arthurjanov.com/.
•
In the recently concluded Society for the Psychological Study
of Social Issues (SPSSI) election, Dr. Amy Marcus-Newhall
(Graduate Faculty in Psychology at Scripps College) was
elected to the SPSSI council. Dr. Allen Omoto, SBOS faculty
•
member, was reelected to represent SPSSI on the APA
Council of Representatives. Congratulations go to them, as
well as alumnus Dr. Dan Perlman, who is finishing his year as
SPSSI president.
•
SBOS alumna Dr. Donna LaVoie is now the Chair of the
Department of Psychology at Saint Louis University, and has
recently been promoted to Full Professor.
•
Dr. Mark Costanzo, SBOS supporting faculty member at
Claremont McKenna College, recently received an award
from SPSSI for excellence in teaching.
•
Congratulations to current SBOS student Megan Beyer, who
was married on May 3, 2008.
Alumna Dr. Debra Berry Malmberg has started a tenure-track
position in the Psychology Department at Cal State
Northridge.
Alumna Dr. Lori James was recently awarded tenure and
promotion to Associate Professor of Psychology at the
University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.
Dr. Anita Blanchard, SBOS alumna, has been promoted to
associate professor with tenure at the University of North
Carolina.
Alumna Dr. Marycarmen Kunicki began a new job at the
Boston Public Health Commission as the Evaluator for
REACH US in the Center of Excellence in the Elimination of
Disparities.
Alumna Amy Ward, current Social Worker for the Mental
Health Association, has announced her marriage to John
Quinn on October 11 2008.
•
2001 alumna Kelly Fischbein recently started a position as
Manager of Performance Research with the United Way of
America in Alexandria, Virginia.
•
Congratulations to alumna Dr. Joanna Worthley, who has
moved from chairing the Psychology Department to the
position of Associate Dean in California State University San
Bernardino’s College of Social & Behavioral Sciences.
SCHO0L OF BEHAVIORAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL SCIENCES
123 East Eighth Street, Claremont CA 91711
Phone: 909-621-8084 Fax: 909-621-8905 Email: psych@cgu.edu