Departmental News

Posted:  Dec 13, 2016 - 10:00am

On Friday, December 9, 2016, the Department of Psychology held its annual Recognition of Excellence Celebration to honor achievements made by our graduate students and staff.  Here are this year's winners: 

Graduate Student Awards

Most 1st Author Publications for 2016--Samantha Fede with 2 referred journal articles.

Samantha Fede-Fede, S.J., Schaich Borg, J., Nyalakanti, P.K., Harenski, C.L., Cope, L.M., Sinnott-Armstrong, W., Koenigs, M., Calhoun, V.D., & Kiehl, K.A. (2016). Distinct neuronal activation patterns of positive and negative moral processing in psychopathy. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 1-12. 

Samantha Fede-Fede, S.J., Harenski, C.L., Schaich Borg, J., Rao, V., Caldwell, B., Nyalakanti, P.K., Sinnott-Armstrong, W., Koenigs, M., Decety, J, Calhoun, V.D., & Kiehl, K.A. (2016). Abnormal fronto-limbic engagement in stimulant users during moral processing. Psychopharmacology, 233, 3077.

Most Total Publications for 2016 (any author)--Sephira Ryman with 7 journal articles and 1 chapter.

Ryman, S. G., Yeo, R. A., Witkiewitz, K., Vakhtin, A. A., van den Heuvel, M. P., de Reus, M., Flores, R.A., Wertz, C., & Jung, R.E. (2016). Fronto-Parietal gray matter and white matter efficiency differentially predict intelligence in males and females. Human Brain Mapping. doi:10.1002/hbm.23291

Mayer, A.R., Ryman, S.G., Hanlon, F.M., Dodd, A.B., & Ling, J.M. (2016). Look Hear! The prefrontal cortex is stratified by modality of sensory input during multisensory cognitive control. Cerebral Cortex.doi:10.1093/cercor/bhw131.

Yeo, R.A., Ryman, S.G., Thompson, M.E., van den Heuvel, M.P., de Reus, M.A, Pommy, J., Jung, R.E. (2016). Cognitive specialization for verbal vs. spatial ability in men and women: Neural and behavioral correlates. Personality and Individual Differences, 102, 60-67. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2016.06.037.

Yeo, R. A., Ryman, S. G., Pommy, J., Thoma, R. J., Jung, R. E. (2016). General cognitive ability and fluctuating asymmetry of brain surface area. Intelligence, 56, 93-98. doi:10.1016/j.intell.2016.03.002.

Mayer A.R., Hanlon, F.M., Dodd, A.B., Yeo, R.A., Haaland, K., Ling, J., & Ryman, S.G. (2016). Proactive Response Inhibition Abnormalities in Sensorimotor Cortex of Patients with Schizophrenia. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 41(5), 312-21. doi: 10.1503/jpn.150097.

Yeo, R.A., Ryman, S.G., van den Heuvel, M.P., de Reus, M.A, Jung, R.E., Pommy, J., Mayer, A.R., Ehrlich, S., Schulz, C., Morrow, E.M., Manoach, D., Ho, B., Sponheim, S.R., & Calhoun, V.D. (2016). Graph metrics of structural brain networks in individuals with schizophrenia and healthy controls: Group differences, relationships with intelligence, and genetics. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society,22, 240–249. doi: 10.1017/S1355617715000867.

Hanlon, F.M., Ryman, S.G., Mayer, A.R. (2016). Brain Networks. Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology, 2^nd Edition.

Ewing, S. W. F., Ryman, S. G., Gillman, A. S., Weiland, B. J., Thayer, R. E., & Bryan, A. D. (2016). Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience of Adolescent Sexual Risk and Alcohol Use. AIDS and Behavior, 20, 97-108. doi: 10.1007/s10461-015-1155-2.

Publication in Highest Impact Journal as 1st Author for 2016

Adam Wilson
Wilson, A. D., Bravo, A. J., Pearson, M. R., Witkiewitz, K. (2016). Finding success in failure: Using latent profile analysis to examine heterogeneity in psychosocial functioning among heavy drinkers following treatment. Addiction., 2016
Impact Factor = 4.972

Sephira Ryman
Ryman, S. G., Yeo, R. A., Witkiewitz, K., Vakhtin, A. A., van den Heuvel, M. P., de Reus, M., Flores, R.A., Wertz, C., & Jung, R.E. (2016). Fronto-parietal gray matter and white matter efficiency differentially predict intelligence in males and females. Human Brain Mapping.
Impact Factor = 4.962

Corey Roos
Roos, C. R., & Witkiewitz, K. (2016). Adding tools to the toolbox: The role of coping repertoire in alcohol treatment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
Impact Factor = 4.713

Publication in Highest Impact Journal (any author) for 2016

Sephira Ryman
Mayer, A.R., Ryman, S.G., Hanlon, F.M., Dodd, A.B., & Ling, J.M. (2016). Look Hear! The prefrontal cortex is stratified by modality of sensory input during multisensory cognitive control. Cerebral Cortex
Impact Factor = 8.28

Grant Proposals Submitted as PI in 2016

• Mike Maurer (2)
• Christy Magcalas
• Samantha Fede
• Patricia Rodriguez-Espinosa
• Robert Bailey
• Nick Grebe

Highest Evaluation Kit scores for Fall 2015 or Spring 2016 (small class)

Patricia Rodriguez
PSY 374 Cross Cultural Psychology
(Fall 2015) - Instructor Rating (4.71); Class Rating (1.29)

Kylee Hagler
PSY 332 Abnormal Behavior
(Fall 2015) - Instructor Rating (4.79); Class Rating (1.14)

Highest Evaluation Kit scores for Fall 2015 or Spring 2016 (large class)

Andrei Vakhtin
PSY 265 Cognitive Psychology
(Spring 2016) - Instructor Rating (4.62); Class Rating (1.33)

Outstanding Service to the Community

Laura Berkowitz

Big Brothers Big Sisters: Laura became a mentor to a high school student to gain direct experience mentoring a student from a disadvantaged background.

2016 NeuroExpo:  This was an outreach project held at the Natural History Museum designed to provide information to the community about some of the work Laura is doing in the lab. She created a scavenger hunt where individuals were required to find items using various navigation strategies. At each stop, individuals learned of the strategy they used and were taught about neural mechanisms that may contribute to the use of such tactics. 

Fundraiser event for Alzheimer’s disease:  Laura was one of the main organizers of this dinner that raised over $2,500.

A.J. O'Sickey

For his role in starting a new student organization:  Associated Students in Recovery.

• This organization focuses on providing both networking and support for students attempting to gain academic success afer recovering from addiction.
• It provides "as needed" support and it is entirely students owned and led.
• An excellent example of how a graduate student with a commitment to serving others can make a difference in our department and at UNM more generally.

Staff Awards

Carol-Ann Griffin--UNM Wellness Ambassador for the Psychology Department

• UNM Employee Health Promotion (EHP) Selected Carol-Ann for this role.
• She helps initiate wellness activities for the department.
• She sends information promoting various wellness activities and monthly wellness challenges.

Esther Golden and Rikk Murphy--UNM Step Challenge department winners

• Esther had the 2nd highest average number of steps in the department.
• Rikk had the highest average number of steps in the department.
• Both exceed an average of over 10,000 steps per day.