ASPS will be held on Saturday, April 12, 2014 in Mashburn Hall on the UCA campus. Deadline for early registration and abstract submission is April 1. More details available at the ASPS website.

SWPA will be help April 3-5, 2014 in San Antonio, TX. More information available at the organization website.

From the UCA Bear Ledger:

Three University of Central Arkansas professors have been awarded a $286,500 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study middle school bullying.

The Department of Psychology and Counseling Department announced that Drs. Paul Nail, Elson Bihm, and Joan Simon have been awarded the grant entitled, “Decreasing Bullying with Self-Affirmation: A Test of the Compensation Model.”

Nail says that he first became interested in bullying from his study of organizational psychology.

According to Nail, “Leaders in dysfunctional organizations often bully employees, even when the consequences are in direct opposition to the organization’s stated goals. Our current research is directed toward finding and testing new ways to decrease bullying in middle school, hopefully before it becomes a deep-seated way of dealing with others.”

The duration of the grant is two years. The professors will specifically study the social relations in middle school children. The research will be conducted in conjunction with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

UCA Psych Society Meeting – Thursday, November 14th @ 1:40 PM – Mashburn 239 – Getting Into Graduate School – Part 2.  Due to popular demand, Dr. Lammers will continue his discussion on getting prepared for graduate school.  Also, t-shirts will be available for pick-up or order.

The UCA Psychological Society will host a discussion on “How to Write in APA Style” by Dr. Jennifer Brinegar on Thursday, Oct 31 in MAS 239.

On Saturday, Oct 26, the CAPS organization hosted a Halloween Party at the home of Matt and Heather Martens. Congrats to Drs. Murphy (Keith Richards) and Sobel (upside down person) for runners-up in the costume contest. Special congratulations to Dr. Scoles for his portrayal of Breaking Bad’s Walter White – an image seared into the memories of those who attended.

Dr. Kevin Rowell will host a DSM V Workshop on Friday, Nov 8 from 9:00-12:00 in MAS 201. All are invited.

Dr. Krameelah Banks, Ph.D. School Psychology, will be in our department from 4:00-5:30 on Wed, Oct 30 to speak about the career of a School Psychologist.

On October 29-30, a team respresenting the American Psychological Association will visit our department to review for re-accreditation our graduate program in School Psychology.

A very special thanks to all who sponsored and participated in the Conway Human Development Center Walk-a-Thon last Saturday.