Research Labs

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ACT Research Group

Dr. Mike Levin and Dr. Mike Twohig

The USU ACT Research Group is dedicated to research, training, and clinical services based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Our group is situated within the Clinical/Counseling Psychology Ph.D. program in the Department of Psychology at Utah State University as well as the Sorenson Center for Clinical Excellence.
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JoAnn Tschanz's photo

Alzheimer's Disease and Cognitive Disorders Lab

Dr. JoAnn Tschanz

The Alzheimer's Disease and Cognitive Disorders lab at Utah State University is led by clinical neuropsychologist and professor, Dr. JoAnn Tschanz. Housed within the Psychology Department at USU, the lab has strong collaborations across campus in other departments, the state, the U.S., and other countries.
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Body Composition lab

Behavioral Economics Lab

Dr. Gregory Madden

The Behavioral Economics Lab at Utah State University explores how human and nonhuman behavior may be positively influenced through curated environmental design. Our research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIDA and NICHD) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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Sppech and Language Clinic in the Sorenson Center

Challenging Behavior Assessment and Intervention Lab

Dr. Katie Brown

The Challenging Behavior Assessment and Intervention (CB) Lab is comprised of graduate students in the Behavior Analysis specialization in the doctoral program in the Psychology Department at Utah State University and undergraduate students in the Psychology Department. The CB lab is engaged in collaborative and independent research projects that span across basic and applied domains of behavior analysis.
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Students working in Melanie's house

Culture and Mental Health Lab

Dr. Melanie Domenech Rodriguez

The Culture & Mental Health Lab is comprised of graduate students in the Combined Clinical/Counseling Psychology specialization in the psychology doctoral program at Utah State University and undergraduate students in the Psychology Department. Lab members are engaged in independent research in an interdependent context. 
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hands together

Factotum Lab

Dr. Jenn Grewe and Dr. Crissa Draper

Factotum comes from Latin and literally translates to “Do Everything.” This is a lab made up of many diverse topic areas – between the two faculty, we do a little bit of everything. This is a lab for undergraduates, by faculty who work exclusively with undergraduates, where you can do everything if you've got the time, tenacity, and the passion to do so. 
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Man holding a brain prototype

Mona Buhusi Lab

Dr. Mona Buhusi

Brain function relies on the precise wiring of neurons during embryonic development, when newly generated neurons migrate to their appropriate location, extend axons and form synapses onto their targets. To generate appropriate neuronal circuits, axons respond to various attractive or repulsive cues, from extracellular matrix components to diffusible or cell-anchored guidance molecules.
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Student therapist playing with children

Multisensory Cognition Lab

Dr. Kerry Jordan

Numerical Processing in Infants, Children, and Adults. We use both habituation and choice paradigms to investigate the development of numerical cognition across the human lifespan. We are particularly interested in whether multisensory information enhances our abilities to discriminate between and perform computations on number.
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PMHI Lab logo in shades of blue

Physical and Mental Health Interactions Lab

Dr. Maria Kleinstaeuber

The USU Physical and Mental Health Interactions (PMHI) Lab conducts research on persistent somatic symptoms, such as chronic pain. We use a biopsychosocial model as an overarching framework when exploring the relationship between body and mind. The mission of the PMHI Lab is to hold a biopsychosocial focus in our research on persistent somatic symptoms, including research of both pathomechanisms and interventions for these symptoms.
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Students on a retreat in snow

PR2IDE Lab

Dr. Renee Galliher

The PR2IDE Lab is comprised of graduate and undergraduate students in psychology at Utah State University. Lab members engage in a range of independent and collaborative projects that broadly fall under the umbrella of research in identity development. Ongoing projects focus on intersections of different domains of identity, within the context of marginalization and inequity. 
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Pride flag/rainbow

Sexual, Gender, and Religious Identities Lab

Dr. Tyler Lefevor

In our lab, we focus on understanding how sexual and gender minorities from conservative religious backgrounds can lead healthy and flourishing lives. Much of our work is done from a Latter-day Saint perspective, given the unique population that surrounds us in Utah.
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Tyler Renshaw with students at a conference

School Mental Health Lab

Dr. Tyler Renshaw

We aim to improve the accessibility and quality of school-based mental health services for the benefit of youth, families, educators, and communities. We do this by conducting research, providing clinical services, and developing resources that support evidence-based mental health services in schools. 
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Lab students presenting poster

The Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) Lab

Dr. Greg Callan

This research lab examines the development of innovative measurement tools to examine self-regulated learning processes that engage several processes and beliefs that can facilitate more efficient skill development and/or performance, the development of interventions to foster SRL, and how educators and school psychologists can support the development of SRL. 
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Student holding a rat in laboratory.

Timothy Shahan Lab

Dr. Timothy Shahan

The Shahan lab focuses on quantitative analyses of conditioning and learning. The lab regularly uses operant and Pavlovian conditioning procedures with rats and pigeons, including drug and alcohol self-administration procedures. Common topics of investigation are choice, behavioral momentum theory, relapse of extinguished behavior (resurgence, reinstatement, renewal), conditioned reinforcement, and attention. 
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Melissa Tehee and Lab Members

Tohi Lab

Dr. Melissa Tehee

Tohi is the Cherokee word for wellness, the ideal state of being, peace. “You are in good health when your body and mind are at peace.” Wellness in Cherokee is described as the “harmony between mind, body, and spirit”. This is the expression of our multicultural mental health lab. Much like the traditional medicine wheel, our lab focuses on the physical, spiritual, and psychological health of ethnic and racial minorities.
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Students and Warren in Warren's Lab

Warren Neuromodulation Lab

Dr. Christopher Warren

In the Warren Neuromodulation Lab, we research how the brain optimizes cognitive performance under varying circumstances. Anyone who has made a puzzlingly poor decision under emotional duress, or who has felt as though time slowed down during a dangerous moment realizes that the brain works differently in different contexts. Dr. Warren studies the neuromodulatory actions underlying these differences.
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