Psychological Science

Moving to Tanzania, Cindy (Cardwell) Fast, ’08, expected to see a lot of new sights—but one related to her expertise was especially surprising. “At our land mine training center, every single rat developed this behavior of trotting behind their trainer without any signaling or harnesses attached,” marvels Fast (on right in photo, alongside colleague Kate Sears Webb, ’16). “The rats aren’t trained to do this and are literally free to go wherever they want, but they choose to scurry along behind their trainer.”

Drew Christopher, Albion College psychological science professor, has been honored with the 2017 Teaching and Mentoring Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. “I try to teach [students] that there are oftentimes multiple ways to solve a problem,” he says of his teaching style.

Like a lot of students leaving home for college, Xingzhu “Ceci” Wang was encouraged by family and friends to keep them updated via social media. Unlike a lot of students, “I stopped doing this because I was confused as to whether it helped people really know about my life in Albion,” Wang says. “Even if I post everything, there can be a lot of misunderstandings.”

Katie Zinkel, ’17, gave a lot of cookies to a lot of kids this summer, but one instance really stood out. “Once I gave kids their cookies and their mom told them, ‘You need to thank the lady. It’s not every day you come to a children’s museum and get to participate in a psychological experiment.'”

The first time Mareike Wieth realized her field of interest resonated beyond her office walls was the day in 2012 she got a message she didn’t expect. “When I got a voice mail from the BBC, it was like, ‘What?’ I think I hyperventilated,” she said. After all, it wasn’t every day that the British Broadcasting Corporation called an associate professor of psychology at Albion College. But Wieth was working on something that not only intrigued that news organization, but has sparked the interest of media on this side of the Atlantic as well.

Rebekah Snyder, ’14, was recognized by Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin as one of four 2016 state honorees during National Crime Victims’ Rights Week for her advocacy work. Snyder was commended for her efforts with Day One, a 24-hour help line offering confidential support, information and advocacy services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking.