Rachel K. Bencic Hamilton
Department of Psychology
University of Wisconsin-Madison
1202 West Johnson Street
Madison, WI 53706-1611
(703) 399-4377
bencic@wisc.edu
Education
Ph.D. (expected) Clinical Psychology
2011-Present
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
B.A. Psychology
2007-2011
(Anthropology minor)
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Graduated summa cum laude with 3.96 Overall GPA
Senior Honors Thesis: A Hypersensitive Brain: Event Related Potentials (ERP) as
an Index of Behavioral Approach System (BAS) Hypersensitivity in Bipolar
Disorder
Research and Professional Experience
Teaching Assistant
2015-Present
Child Psychopathology
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Teaching Experience: Teach weekly discussion sections; Hold weekly office hours;
Prepare materials for discussion and exams; Provide feedback on student papers
Research Assistant
Summer 2014-Fall 2015
Addiction Research Lab
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison (with Dr. John Curtin)
Research Experience: Collect EMG data on paradigm examining the stability of
startle potentiation in a fear conditioning task and a picture-viewing task
Teaching Assistant
2014-2015
The Criminal Mind: Forensic and Psychobiological Perspectives
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Teaching Experience: Teach weekly discussion sections; Hold weekly office hours;
Prepare materials for discussion and exams; Provide feedback on student papers
Teaching Assistant
2013-2014
The Psychology of Human Emotions: Biology & Culture
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Teaching Experience: Teach weekly discussion sections; Hold weekly office hours;
Prepare materials for discussion and exams; Provide feedback on student papers
Senior Honors Thesis
2010-2011
A Hypersensitive Brain: Event Related Potentials (ERP) as an Index of Behavioral
Approach System (BAS) Hypersensitivity in Bipolar Disorder
Clinical Psychology
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University (with Dr. Robin Nusslock)
Research Assistant
2009-2011
Cognitive Brain Mapping Group
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University (with Dr. Mark Jung-Beeman)
Research Experience: Data collection on behavioral paradigm examining laterality
effects and linguistic priming; Stimulus creation
Research Intern
Summer 2010
Neuropsychology Unit, Cleveland Clinic
Supervisor: Dr. Richard Naugle, Head of Neuropsychology Unit
Research Assistant
2008-2010
Motivated Thinking Lab
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University (with Dr. Daniel Molden)
Research Experience: Data collection on behavioral paradigm examining promotionvs. prevention-focus and anxiety
Clinical Experience
Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center
May 2015-Present
Madison, WI
Supervisor: Hanna Blazel, M.S., CCC-SLP
Clinical Experience: Neurocognitive assessment of research participants with normal
cognition, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia
Psychology Research and Training Satellite Clinic
September 2015-Present
School of Pharmacy
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Psychology
Supervisor: Linnea Burk, Ph.D.
Clinical Experience: Individual Therapy: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy; Acceptance
and Commitment Therapy. Assessment: Intake interviews; Neuropsychological
testing; Academic testing
William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital
August 2014-August 2015
Madison, WI
Supervisor: Carey Gleason, Ph.D.
Clinical Experience: Neurocognitive assessment in the Geriatrics Research Education
and Clinical Center (GRECC) and the University Station Memory Clinic
Psychology Research and Training Clinic
February 2013-September 2014
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Psychology
Supervisor: Linnea Burk, Ph.D.
Clinical Experience: Individual Therapy: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy; Acceptance
and Commitment Therapy; Exposure Therapy. Assessment: Intake interviews;
Neuropsychological testing; Academic testing
Major Research Interests
• Psychophysiological correlates of abnormal cognition in psychopathy
• Theoretical, neurobiological, psychophysiological mechanisms associated with
attentional abnormalities in psychopathy
• The effects of attentional abnormalities on the style and quality of information
processing in psychopathy
Grant Support
Emotion Training Program, NIMH Training Grant
5T32MH018931-23
2011-2013
Publications & Manuscripts
PUBLISHED
Hamilton, R. K. B., Racer, K. H., & Newman, J. P. (2015). Impaired Integration in
Psychopathy: Bridging Affective and Cognitive Models. Psychological Review.
Hamilton, R. K. B., Baskin-Sommers, A. R., & Newman, J. P. (2014). Relation of
Frontal N100 to Psychopathy-related Differences in Selective Attention. Biological
Psychology, 103, 107–116.
Powers, C., Bencic, R., Horton, W. S., & Beeman, M. (2012). Hemispheric inference
priming during comprehension of conversations and narratives. Neuropsychologia, 50,
2577–2583.
UNDER REVIEW / IN PRESS
Hamilton, R., & Newman, J. (under review). Information Processing Abnormalities in
Psychopathy: Evidence from the Simultaneous - Sequential Paradigm. Journal of
Abnormal Psychology.
Hamilton, R., & Newman, J. (in press). The Response Modulation Hypothesis of
Psychopathy: Formulation, Development, & Implications. In C. Patrick (Ed.),
Handbook of Psychopathy (2nd ed.).
IN PREPARATION
Hamilton, R. K. B., Jaehnert, S. M., Cobb, N., Wilson, L., Nicholas, C. R., Kind, A. J.
H., . . . Gleason, C. E. (2015). The U-ARE Model: A Pragmatic Approach to Capacity
Assessment for Clinical Research. Manuscript in preparation.
Hamilton, R. K., B., & Newman, J. P. (2015). Without a Trace: Effects of the Attention
Bottleneck on Memory Representations in Psychopathic Individuals. Manuscript in
preparation.
COLLECTED DATA
Hamilton, R. K., B., & Newman, J. P. (2014). Behavioral data from criminal offenders
from a Simultaneous-Sequential paradigm. Unpublished raw data.
Poster Presentations
Bencic, R.K., Baskin-Sommers, A.R., Curtin, J.J., & Newman, J.P. (2012, September).
Stroop Interference Abnormalities in Psychopathy: Replication and Extension. Poster
presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research on Psychopathology, Ann
Arbor, MI.
Bencic, R.K., Krusemark, E., Baskin-Sommers, A.R., & Newman, J.P. (2013, June).
Attention Responses to Salient Stimuli in Externalizing & Psychopathy. Poster
presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of
Psychopathy, Washington, D.C.
Hamilton, R.K.B., & Newman, J.P. (2014, September). Information Processing Effects
of the Attention Bottleneck in Psychopathy: Evidence from the Simultaneous Sequential Paradigm. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Twenty Eighth
Annual Meeting of the Society for Research in Psychopathology, Evanston, IL.
Kaye, J. T., Bradford, D. E., Rohrer, C. T., Hamilton, R. K. B., Kayser, A. D., & Curtin
J. J. (2015, September). Psychometric properties of startle response modulation
during threat-ofshock, affective picture viewing, and resting state tasks. Poster
presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research,
Seattle, WA.
Invited Talks
Impaired Integration in Psychopathy: A Unified Theory of Psychopathic Dysfunction.
Invited talk given at Indiana University Computational Cognitive Neuroscience
Laboratory, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Bloomington, IN, USA.
August 2015.
Awards and Honors
F. J. McGuigan Dissertation Award (2015)
American Psychological Foundation
Lyn Abramson Award for Cognitive Approaches to Psychopathology (2014)
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Menzies and Royalty Research Award (2014)
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Hertz Foundation Travel Award (2012, 2013, 2014)
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Genevieve Gorst Herfurth Award for Outstanding Research in Social Studies (2012)
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Training Program in Emotion Research (2011-2012, 2012-2013)
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Summa Cum Laude; Honors (2011)
Northwestern University
Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society member (2011)
Northwestern University Dean's List (2007-2011)
Northwestern University
Professional Affiliations
American Psychological Association (APA) student affiliate
American Psychological Association of Graduate Students
(APAGS)
Wisconsin Psychological Foundation (WPF)
Joined September 2015
Joined September 2015
Joined November 2014