Adult Division
| Director: | Charles S. Carver, Ph.D. |
| Associate Director and Clinical Track Coordinator: | Jutta Joormann, Ph.D. |
| Faculty: | Michael McCullough, Ph.D., Amy Weisman de Mamani, Ph.D., Debra Lieberman, Ph.D., Matthias Siemer, Ph.D., and A. Rodney Wellens, Ph.D. (Department Chair) |
The Adult Division offers training leading to the Ph.D. degree with a track specific focus in Adult Clinical Psychology. This track is built on a scientist-practitioner model, with a greater emphasis on the clinical science component. Students typically receive financial support and full tuition remission through the Ph.D.
This track of the clinical program aims to train psychologists who are academically and clinically prepared to work as researchers, teachers, mentors, and clinicians in either academic settings or applied settings such as psychiatric hospitals. The track philosophy is based on the premise that research training and clinical training should be interwoven, such that development of each facilitates the further development of the other. The philosophy also is based on the premise that a sound conceptualization of normal behavior fosters better understanding of problem behavior. Thus, we place a stronger emphasis than do some clinical programs on the continuity between personality-social psychology on the one hand and psychopathology and clinical science on the other (more information on the training program).
Adult Division Research
Adult Division students have a variety of research opportunities. Below is a listing of Adult Division faculty along with an overview of their research interests. Much of this research revolves around five themes:
- Cognitive and affective vulnerabilities in affective disorders: Drs. Joormann, Siemer, & Carver
- Psychosocial predictors of the course of serious psychological disorders and ways to foster better adaptation to these disorders: Drs. & Weisman de Mamani
- Basic processes of personality, affect, mood, and self-regulation: Drs. Carver, McCullough, Siemer, & Wellens
- Interpersonal processes: Drs. McCullough & Weisman de Mamani
- Biological bases of affect, personality, and social behavior: Drs. Joormann, Carver, & McCullough
- Evolutionary analyses of human experience; specific focus points include religion and virtues (e.g., forgivness and self-control) and the emotional experience of disgust: Drs. Lieberman & McCullough
Adult Division faculty and their research interests:
Charles S. Carver, Ph.D., Professor, Director of the Adult Division Dr. Carver's research has several focuses. He studies several aspects of personality (including the dimension of optimism-pessimism), often in the context of stressful life experiences such as major illness. Not surprisingly, he also studies the nature of coping. He has collaborated for many years in research on how cancer patients adjust to their diagnosis and treatment. Another view of personality that has drawn Dr. Carver's interest is one that emphasizes approach and avoidance processes as influences on personality. Yet another topic of interest is the bases and consequences of affective experience. In recent years this has led to work on genetic and other biological influences on personality and emotion. The broad interest that underlies all of this research concerns the structure of the self-regulation of behavior. See Dr. Carver's research interests for greater detail.
Jutta Joormann, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Associate Director Dr. Joormann's research is guided by the idea that understanding emotional disorders requires integrating clinical research with basic research on cognition, biology, and affect regulation. She is seeking a better understanding of how cognitive processes and aspects of emotion and mood regulation increase the risk for depression and hinder recovery from depression. Her viewpoint links working memory to ruminative responses to negative mood states. She examines how the ruminative responses interfere with emotion regulation in depression. Another important goal of her work is to use her understanding of the cognitive processes that maintain psychological disorders to develop more effective treatment and prevention programs. See Dr. Joormann's web page for greater detail.
Debra Lieberman, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Dr. Lieberman's research has two major focuses. The first relates to human kin detection. Over evolutionary history, it was beneficial to know which individuals were close genetic relatives for the purpose of avoiding them as sexual partners (inbreeding avoidance) and for allocating assistance to them according to the principles of inclusive fitness theory. But how do humans figure out who counts as a close genetic relative? Dr. Lieberman's research investigates the ecologically valid cues that might serve as indicators of relatedness. Currently, she is researching the cues to siblingship and has found that the mind uses two separate cues to identify younger versus older siblings. Regardless of actual genetic relatedness, these cues predict the intensity of disgust felt towards engaging in sexual behaviors with one's siblings, the moral wrongness of third party sibling incest, and levels of sibling directed altruism. A second focus of Dr. Lieberman's research is on the emotion disgust. She has been investigating the different types of disgust and the possibility that each type of disgust is neurally, behaviorally, and physiologically dissociable. Additional research interests include social categorization, biological underpinnings of morality, and application of evolutionary principles to clinical science, medicine, and law. See Dr. Lieberman's web page for additional information.
Michael McCullough, Ph.D., Professor Dr. McCullough's research focuses on religion and human social virtues. He is interested in the proximal and ultimate causes for of such behaviors, and therefore moves between evolutionary theory and mid-range theories. Currently, Dr. McCullough is studying the personality and environmental factors that influence religious development over the life course, is examining the effects of religious development on health and well-being as people age, and is working on a theory to explain how religions foster the development of self-control. He is also studying the effects of forgiveness on physiological functioning and has developed a theory to explain the evolution of revenge and forgiveness in humans. See Dr. McCullough's web page for additional information.
Matthias Siemer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Dr. Siemer's research has two major focuses. The first concerns the causes and characteristics of moods and emotions. Dr. Siemer is interested in the effects moods and emotions have on evaluations and appraisal judgments, and he has explored ways in which the regulation of emotions and moods influence affective dis orders. The second area of Dr. Siemer's work concerns quantitative psychology, in particular the methodological foundations of psychological research. He is especially interested in how these foundations translate into appropriate applications of research and statistical methods in basic and applied research.
Amy Weisman de Mamani, Ph.D., Associate Professor Dr. Weisman de Mamani's research focuses on cultural and family factors that predict the course of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and medical illness. She is particularly interested in applying models developed in social psychology (e.g., attribution theory) to better understand family member's reactions to these disorders and how such reactions relate to patient functioning. She has also developed a culturally sensitive family-focused psychosocial intervention for Spanish-speaking families with a schizophrenic member.
A. Rodney Wellens, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the Psychology Department Dr. Wellens has conducted research on telemediated communication; nonverbal communication, stress and decision making.
Current graduate students (and Advisor)
Stephanie Aldebot (Weisman de Mamani) My current research is focusing on the effects of neurocognitive and social cognitive deficits on subjective outcomes in individuals with schizophrenia. Additionally, my research interests revolve around how factors such as clinical and cognitive insight play a role in illness management and medication adherence in this patient population. I am also interested in examining how the above factors influence the course of schizophrenia in order to develop more effective treatment programs. Eventually, I plan to study the effectiveness of acceptance-based mindfulness interventions on treatment adherence in people with schizophrenia.
Radha Carlson (Weisman de Mamani) Broadly, I am interested in the treatment of schizophrenia and factors influencing the course of the illness. For my thesis, I examined how patient and family characteristics influenced therapists' ability to conduct a Culturally Informed Therapy for Schizophrenia, and also how therapist performance influenced consumer satisfaction and dropout rates. For my dissertation, I am looking at the relationship between several measures of the family environment and family member communication (Expressed Emotion, Communication Deviance, family cohesion) and schizophrenia symptoms. I am also interested in ethnic and cultural differences in the above variables.
Evan Carter (McCullough) I am interested in how religious belief systems foster particular kinds of cognition and behavior, especially in regard to the question of religion as an adaptation. This interest has led me to focus on the relationship between religion and self-control; for example, a project I just completed involved experimentally decreasing peoples' rates of delay discounting through exposure to a supraliminal religious prime.
Catherine D'Avanzato (Joormann) I am interested in the role of emotion regulation in depression, specifically how depressed and healthy individuals differ in the types of strategies they use. My current study focuses on the role of affective forecasting in depression, as well as the impact of rumination and reappraisal on affective forecasting. In addition, I plan to examine how cognitive processes are related to the use and effectiveness of emotion regulation strategies in depression.
Katie Denny (Siemer) My interests focus on understanding how emotion regulation and cognitive mechanisms contribute to resilience and performance. I am currently conducting studies to examine the role of individual differences in predicting ideal mood state in stressful situations, and how anger can be utilized to prepare for challenging situations. I hope to use this information to better understand the role of anger in resilience and performance, as well as psychopathology.
Daniel Fulford (Carver) I am interested in understanding the impact of various psychosocial factors on the course of bipolar disorder. Our research team examines the roles of goal-striving, ambition, and emotion in the expression of mania and depression. Currently, I am examining the role of emotional intelligence in the quality of life and functioning of people with bipolar I disorder. Ultimately, I hope to apply findings from these projects to the improvement of psychosocial treatment options for sufferers of bipolar disorder.
Jessica Jacobson (Siemer) My research interests focus on the cognitive mechanisms underlying resilience. I am currently conducting a study that investigates the relationships between positive affect, cognitive flexibility, emotion regulation, and resilience. I am also working on a project that examines the types of emotion regulation strategies that individuals use in everyday life.
Joelle Lemoult (Joormann) My research focuses on examining the cognitive processes of individuals with depression, social anxiety disorder, and comorbid social anxiety and depression. I am currently conducting a study that looks at differences in the attention, memory, and interpretation biases across these three groups. In addition, I plan to examine whether differences exist in their neuroendocrine stress responses, in order to better understand biological mechanisms that may underlie mood and anxiety disorders.
Christopher Miller (Carver) I am interested in bipolar disorder, including cognitive correlates, treatment, and detection of the disorder. My current research is focusing on Progressive Muscle Relaxation as a potential way to prevent or reduce manic symptoms. In more general terms, our lab is investigating the relationship between goal-related processes and the onset and course of manic episodes.
Jennifer Nam (Carver) I am interested in investigating impulsivity in bipolar disorder. Specifically, I am testing laboratory paradigms after a positive mood to test if there are cognitive, emotional and physiological differences in threat detection. In addition, our lab is focusing on the cognitive factors that impact the course and duration of illness in bipolar disorders.
Robert Oum (Lieberman) My research revolves around applying principles of evolutionary theory to explore human cognition. Currently, specific topics being studied are emotional processing and moral judgments. Additionally, I am interested in quantitative and methodological issues across the discipline.
Adam Smith (Lieberman) My research concerns the evolved structure of the human mind, with particular focus on the psychological mechanisms mediating kin detection, morality, and disgust. With the aid of my mentor, Dr. Debra Lieberman, I am designing a set of experiments investigating implicit attitudes towards kin as a function of cues to relatedness. We are looking to see if non-conscious (subliminal) exposure to a photograph of one's sibling is enough to prime moral altruism, on the one hand, and sexual disgust, on the other.
Giulia Suro (Weisman de Mamani) I am involved in the Culturally Informed Therapy for Schizophrenia project. My research interests include cohesion and communication in families with a member who is managing a chronic mental illness. Additionally, I am interested in culture-specific factors and how they influence the course of schizophrenia and lead to positive outcomes.
Ben Tabak (McCullough) My research interests revolve around the study of positive psychological characteristics and their impact on psychophysiological health, resilience, and well-being. I am currently conducting a study examining the relationship between forgiveness and the neuropeptide oxytocin. I am also interested in creativity and am beginning to study the association between mania and creativity.
Tanya Tran (Joormann) My research focuses on examining the cognitive and interpersonal processes in individuals with depression. I recently conducted a study that examines the effect of rumination on the recall of autobiographical memories, and its effects on one's motivation to engage in interpersonal events. I am also interested in examining the cognitive factors that contribute to the onset and maintenance of depression in order to develop more effective treatment and prevention programs. Thus, I have also studied the effectiveness of implicit positive interpretation training on memory and emotional vulnerability. My current work examines the impact of rumination via Facebook on emotional well-being following an interpersonal conflict.
Naomi Tuchman (Weisman de Mamani) My current research focuses on family and cultural factors that may influence the course of schizophrenia. Specifically, I am interested in exploring protective factors, such as meaning-making and other forms of coping, that may decrease symptom severity and increase quality of life. I also have an interest in identifying potential mediators of the beneficial effects of religion on mental health in this population. This line of research has important clinical implications and I hope that it will expand our understanding of how to improve the lives of families and individuals with serious mental illness.
Adult Division Facilities
Most student research and clinical training takes place on the Coral Gables campus. Other aspects of training occur at the university's Medical campus in downtown Miami. The Department of Psychology recently moved into a new building, which incorporates faculty and graduate student offices, classrooms, laboratories and research rooms, and the department's Psychological Services Center. This new facility incorporates clinical research laboratories (with one-way viewing panels and recording equipment) as well as comfortable rooms for therapy. The department has an extensive computer laboratory that is available to graduate students, with both Macintosh and PC platforms, suitable peripherals, and access to mainframe and Internet resources.