Master of Arts in Psychological Research

The following faculty are considering accepting new MAPR applicants into their research programs.  It is strongly suggested that these specific faculty members be considered as potential mentors when completing Part D of the MAPR department application.

This procedure applies to MAPR applicants only.  

Potential Mentors

Barbara Caplan, Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Clinical Psychology
I study families of children with autism and other developmental disabilities and the delivery of evidence-based interventions and practices in community settings. My research seeks to promote equity in care for children with disabilities and their families by studying the use of culturally responsive and research-supported practices with traditionally underserved populations (e.g., families from low income and/or racial/ethnic minoritized backgrounds). To achieve this, I use community-partnered approaches and implementation science methods and frameworks.  I have a particular interest in researching best practices for engaging families in their child’s care.
https://sites.google.com/view/carelab-csulb/home

Maricela Correa-Chavez, Associate Professor
Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz
Developmental Psychology
My research examines the organization of childhood and family life in communities that do not have a long history of participation of schooling.  In particular I examine some of the ways that families organize teaching and learning in everyday family and community life and some of the strengths associated with these forms of learning.  My work has centered on families that have historical roots in the Americas (Mexico and Central America in particular) as well as in immigrant families.

Araceli Gonzalez, Associate Professor
Ph.D, San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program
Clinical Psychology
I am broadly interested in the assessment and treatment of anxiety, depression, and related mental health concerns in children, adolescents, and young adults. My current on-campus research focuses on attitudes toward mental health services, and factors that influence mental health help-seeking (e.g., stigma, stress), as well as assessment of anxiety and related constructs (e.g., emotion regulation, depression) in college students.

Brenda Gutierrez, Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz
Developmental Psychology
In my research program, I am interested in understanding how diverse adolescents and emerging adults form their attitudes about gender (e.g., sexism, gender stereotypes, gender values). I consider the roles of family, peers, cultural context, and identity (e.g., ethnic identity, gender identity) in developing attitudes. In addition, I am interested in exploring how youth view their ethnic culture and the role these views play in their developing attitudes. My research primarily considers youth that navigate multiple cultural contexts (e.g., Latiné-heritage youth in the US).

May Ling Halim, Professor
Ph.D., New York University
Developmental Psychology
In my primary line of research I study how, across different cultural groups, children’s gender and ethnic identities develop from preschool to early elementary school. I also investigate what factors lead to differences in gender and ethnic identities, as well as what consequences are associated with them (e.g., intergroup gender attitudes, psychological adjustment). In my secondary line of research I study how forms of group-based discrimination (ethnic, gender, language) interact with one’s identity in affecting health and well-being.
https://homeweb.csulb.edu/~mhalim/index.html

Briac Halbout, Assistant Professor
Ph.D., Ruprecht-Karls University of Heidelberg
Behavioral Neuroscience
My research investigates the neurobiological basis of motivated behaviors and decision-making, particularly how these processes are altered in pathologies such as drug addiction and other mental health disorders. The laboratory uses animal models to study the function of neuronal populations and circuits involved in reward-related behaviors. My research aims to refine and enhance sophisticated behavioral tasks that enable the examination of distinct psychological processes in reward learning and seeking. These tasks are then integrated with pharmacological or viral-based strategies to manipulate or monitor the activity of specific neuronal populations, thereby elucidating their contributions to well-defined normal or pathological reward-related behaviors.

Karissa Miller, Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh
Health Psychology
My research focuses on the psychosocial determinants of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, with a particular emphasis on the pathways  (endocrine, autonomic) through which health disparities in CVD may arise. I am particularly interested in threat appraisal, and examining how individual differences in attention to threat might contribute to sociodemographic health disparities.  This work involves examining whether social disadvantage is reflected in heightened attentional vigilance for threat, and testing whether computerized threat bias interventions might be used to improve cardiovascular health.

William Pedersen, Professor
Ph.D., University of Southern California
Social Psychology                                                       
My research is focused on factors that impact aggressive behavior and violence. I am interested in a variety of personality factors including trait rumination, narcissism, impulsivity, and religiosity. I have also investigated a variety of situational factors that impact aggression including collective rumination, priming aspects of religion, resource inequality, alcohol priming, personal control, and social exclusion.  Please see my lab website for more information (http://www.aggression-irlab.com/).

Yada Treesukosol, Associate Professor
Ph.D., Florida State University
Behavioral Neuroscience
Taste cues and feeding behavior.  My research takes advantage of animal models to ask questions related to how oral signals (e.g. taste, smell, texture) send information to the brain to control feeding and drinking behavior.  My approach is to use physiological procedures (e.g. pharmacology, electrophysiology, genetic manipulations) combined with behavioral measures (e.g. meal patterns, detection thresholds, preference).  This allows us to begin to tease apart the relative contributions of oral stimulation, post-ingestive cues and reward-related mechanisms to eating behavior.  Such studies contribute to efforts to reveal how the system is organized and in turn may also identify potential targets for therapeutic interventions for eating disorders and obesity-related complications.  

Guido Urizar, Jr., Professor
Ph.D., University of Florida
Health Psychology
My research in the area of Health Psychology has focused on how chronic stressors (e.g., discrimination, poverty, family instability, immigration stress) can lead to the intergenerational transmission of adverse health outcomes during critical periods of development, such as pregnancy. As such, my area of expertise is in behavioral medicine, with specializations in maternal and infant health, psychoneuroendocrinology, and disease prevention in underserved populations. Specifically, my research has examined how chronic stress and its biomarkers (e.g., cortisol, genetic markers) impact the health of low-income, ethnic minority parents and their infants. The central goal of this research is to reduce health disparities by identifying groups at risk for stress-related disorders and designing, testing, and disseminating effective health promotion interventions (e.g., stress management, exercise) aimed at regulating biological markers of stress in these underserved communities. Students in my PRO-Health research group are trained in salivary bioscience, developmental psychoneuroendocrinology, health disparities, and health behavior interventions as they continue on to doctoral programs and research careers. For more information about my PRO-Health research group, please refer to the following web site: https://csulb-gurizar-prohealth.com/

Christopher Warren, Professor
Ph.D., Tulane University
Industrial-Organizational Psychology
The first domain of research I conduct involves individual performance, specifically counter-productive or other deleterious behaviors such as sexual harassment. I also do a little work in psychometrics focusing on ways to best measure concepts such as creating and validating measurement scales. I also do applied work which mostly involves the assessment of educational programs, vocational guidance, and educational strategies but recently has included investigations into the barriers individuals face due to stereotypes or other systematic pathways of job segregation or unemployment.

Amy Wax, Associate Professor
Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology
Industrial-Organizational Psychology
My research interests broadly include diversity in the workplace, teamwork, and social network analysis.  Currently, my stream of research investigates women’s issues and LGBTQ issues at work.
https://amymwax.wixsite.com/waxlab
Amy Wax CV

Arturo Zavala, Professor
Ph.D., Arizona State University
Behavioral Neuroscience
Areas of interest include animal models of drug addiction and developmental neuropsychopharmacology. Specifically, my research investigates the short- and long-term neurochemical and behavioral effects of exposure to psychostimulant drugs across development (neonatal, adolescence, and adulthood), the impact that early exposure to drugs may have on the susceptibility to abuse drugs later in life, and on the role of serotonin in modulating the effects of drugs of abuse.  My laboratory combines neurochemical, molecular, and pharmacological approaches with animal behavioral models to understand the neural basis of addiction.