April 18, 2022
Undergraduates in Arizona State University’s Department of Psychology recently presented their honors theses in front of a committee of external examiners and their peers to compete for the title of “Best Undergraduate Honors Thesis.”
Finalists Ashley Rivard, Lauren Paxton and Tatum Zapp were selected for their projects on the effects of comorbid anxiety among children diagnosed with ADHD, family predictors of educational attainment, and mapping vowel phonemes to emotional arousal, respectively.
“Best Undergraduate Honors Thesis” finalists Lauren Paxton, Tatum Zapp and Ashley Rivard.
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Each year, the cohort produces graduate-level research projects based on datasets or research done by their mentor to answer questions that the undergraduates personally care about.
“This research is done primarily by the undergraduates, and it mirrors the advanced work done in many master’s programs around the country,” said William Corbin, professor of psychology and director of the honors sequence.
After the research presentations, a committee of ASU faculty members and outside scholars deliberated and selected a winner based on the quality of the research and presentation.
This year, Ashley Rivard was named the winner of the Best Undergraduate Research Paper in Psychology.
External examiners included Kevin King, professor of psychology at the University of Washington; Mark Rapport, professor and director of clinical training at the University of Central Floridal; and Lawrence Rosenblum, professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside.
Additionally, the department presented scholar awards to undergraduates based on donor-named funds for their hard work throughout the year. Scholarships are available for any student in the Department of Psychology and promote interest in child development, biopsychology, intervention work, advancing underrepresented students and applied social psychology. The department also provides scholar awards for general academic merit for rising undergraduates.
Meet this year’s awardees:
Ashley Rivard
Rivard is part of the Hyperactivity, Executive function, and Attention Treatment (HEAT) Lab with Assistant Professor Lauren Friedman and helps to conduct research on ADHD and its effects on the executive functioning and working memory of children. Additionally, the lab’s research aims to inform future intervention programs to improve existing interventions and develop new treatment approaches based …….
Source: https://news.asu.edu/20220415-top-psychology-students-compete-best-undergraduate-honors-thesis