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Faculty
FULL TIME FACULTY
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Valerie N. Stratton, Ph. D.
Program Coordinator
Penn State University, 1971
Associate Professor of Psychology
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Office: 115 Smith
Phone: 814-949-5289
E-mail: vns@psu.edu |
Dr. Stratton teaches introductory psychology, research methods, adjustment, learning, and history of psychology. She has employed various strategies for improving student learning over the years, including the personalized system of instruction, an experimental web-based computer program developed by a colleague and used by students to monitor study and exercise behaviors, and the community service model. Dr. Stratton's research is an inter-disciplinary approach to studying psychological aspects of music. She works with a member of the music department on the impact of music on emotions and mood, and the factors which determine how different people respond to music. Most recently, she's exploring how people decide to choose particular pieces of music to listen to, and how emotions play a role in the perception of aesthetic qualities of music.
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William R. Balch, Ph.D.
University of Minnesota, 1976
Professor of Psychology
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Office: 143 CLRC
Phone: 814-949-5261
E-mail: wrb3@psu.edu |
Dr. Balch's research focuses on memory processes, including music-dependent and mood-dependent memory. Lately he has also been investigating the distinction between source and fact memory. Another line of research he pursues involves memory demonstrations and effects that occur in the teaching of psychology, with an emphasis on teaching techniques that improve students' performance in psychology courses. In some of his research, he has worked with student assistants who have taken independent project courses from him. With respect to his teaching interests, Dr. Balch teaches several sections of introductory psychology each year, and included in his classes a number of the demonstrations and techniques he developed in his research. He also teaches a course in developmental psychology, which includes an opportunity for students to earn extra credit by performing videotaped exercises featuring children from the community. Recently, he has been teaching an advanced course in memory involving a number of in-class memory demonstrations and a library-research paper designed to provide expertise to each student in some topic of memory that particularly interests him or her.
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Margaret S. Benson, Ph.D.
Penn State University, 1990
Assistant Professor of Human Development & Family Studies, and Psychology |
Office: 122 Hawthorn
Phone: 814-949-5269
E-mail: enz@psu.edu |
Dr. Benson teaches primarily in the Human Development & Family Studies program, but teaches one section of developmental psychology per year. Her research has focused on the development of narrative ability in preschool children; specifically, the development of the ability to invent stories with plots. With a background of experience with Head Start, she is interested in how narrative ability is connected to emerging literacy, and how mother-child interactions are connected to the child's social competence in the Head Start classroom.
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Robert L. Matchock, Ph.D.
Penn State University, 2003
Assistant Professor of Psychology |
Office: E133B Smith
Phone: 814-949-5249
E-mail: rlm191@psu.edu |
Dr. Matchock’s research focuses on circadian and seasonal rhythms in physiology and behavior, with a special emphasis on reproduction. His primary program of research focuses on how reproductive processes (e.g., pubertal maturation/menarche) can be influenced by early testosterone exposure (as measured with 2D:4D ratios or direct assays of testosterone), and family composition or socioendocrinology (putative olfactory cues released by conspecifics). In addition, he has investigated seasonal rhythms of menarche, which are possibly mediated by the photoperiod. He has also examined circadian and seasonal rhythms in steroid hormones such as cortisol and testosterone during the puberty period. Much of this chronobiological work is interpreted from a human evolutionary perspective. A secondary line of research is related to cognitive neuroscience and investigates how components of attention, especially conflict resolution or the ability to inhibit irrelevant stimuli, can be modulated by chronobiological factors. Specifically, this preliminary, interdisciplinary work is starting to examine how circadian (time-of-day), homeostatic, and sleep inertia (i.e., that period of grogginess and hypovigilence experienced upon awakening) – induced influences on arousal/alertness interfere with attentional processes. This research may help to better understand deficits in performance that require selective attention when in a non-optimal state. Dr. Matchock teaches Introductory Psychology, Research Methods in Psychology, The Neurological Bases of Behavior, Evolutionary Psychology, The Psychology of Fear and Stress, and Behavioral Genetics.
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Brad Pinter, Ph.D.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2002
Assistant Professor of Psychology |
Office: 129F Smith
Phone: 814-949-5507
E-mail: tbp1@psu.edu |
Dr. Pinter teaches Introductory Psychology, Social Psychology, Research Methods, Personality, and Social and Personality Development. As a social psychologist, Dr. Pinter's research interests generally refer to how the actual or implied presence of others affect how people think, feel, and behave. His specific interests relate to the study of unconscious attitudes, inter-group conflict, and self and memory. In recent work, Dr. Pinter has attempted to improve understanding of unconscious or implicit self-esteem, the effect of guilt-proneness in inter-group competitiveness, and the role of information stability in people's tendency to fail to remember negative social information about themselves.
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ADJUNCT FACULTY
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Patrick J. McCoy, M.A.,
Mr. McCoy has been an Adjunct Instructor in Psychology at Penn State Altoona since 1997. He has taught courses in Introduction to Psychology, Psychology of Personal Well-being and Adjustment, Psychology of Religions, Cultures and Therapies, and Abnormal Psychology. Mr. McCoy has served as the part-time faculty senate representative and on the Budget Committee. He is also a member of the Speakers Bureau, addressing the topics of stress and coping, dream interpretation, and yoga.
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John McIntosh, Ed.D., LPC, CAC
Dr. McIntosh is a licensed practicing counselor and is certified as an addictions counselor in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. His doctorate degree is in Counselor Education, and he owns a counseling practice offering personal growth workshops for the community. He has taught undergraduate courses at Altoona in psychology, sociology, kinesiology, and bio-behavioral health since 1995. He received the Excellence in Classroom Teaching award from the Altoona Student Government Association for the 2001-2002 academic year. Dr. McIntosh is a member of the Speakers' Bureau, addressing the topics of relaxation techniques, stress reduction, and meditation.
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Lynn Marie Nagle, M.Ed.
s. Nagle has been an Adjunct Instructor at Penn State Altoona since 2002. She has taught the courses of Introduction to Psychology, Psychology of Well-being & Positive Psychology, Introduction to Developmental, Gender and Abnormal Psychology, as well as Educational Psychology. Ms. Nagle has an active Pennsylvania Instructional II Teaching Certificate, with 7 years teaching experience at the elementary and middle school levels. She has been teaching at the college level since 1995. She participates in the Psychology Club here at Penn State Altoona. She is a member of the Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education and served as a PIAA Gymnastics Official for 15 years. Ms. Nagle was awarded the Penn State Altoona Outstanding Part-time Lecturer Award for the 2006-2007 academic year.
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Lawrence Pennington, Ed.D., N.C.C.
Dr. Pennington has taught at Penn State Altoona since 1998. His doctorate is in Counselor Education, and he has masters' degrees in Counselor Education, and Industrial Relations and Personnel Administration. He is a guidance counselor with the Altoona Area School District, and has served as a board member for Family Services. Dr. Pennington has taught courses in developmental, abnormal, and industrial psychology; adolescence; and mental health in schools. In 2001, he was awarded the Altoona College Outstanding Lecturer Award.
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