Undergraduate
Two Saint Michael's College student researchers get grant funding to carry out psychology studies
"They are clearly doing graduate level research," said their adviser.
Contact Information:
Buff Lindau, Public Relations
802.654.2536
blindau@smcvt.edu
How well do pilots navigate when under stress?
Are occasional smokers really affected by the few cigarettes they indulge in?
These are the questions two Saint Michael's psychology majors are seeking to answer in carefully controlled laboratory settings this summer.
Both students received $3,500 summer research grants and both are studying the impact of stress on human subjects, but overall their studies are quite different. They are, however, both rising seniors at Saint Michael's College; they share one of their two advisers, and they share a lab. And both Rachel Allen of Torrington, Conn., and Jenny Pietroski of South Paris, Maine, are doing original research in areas not yet extensively explored by the scientific community.
Studying impact of stress on spatial navigation
Rachel Allen, a senior psychology and journalism double major, received funding from the NASA-Vermont Space Grant Consortium for her eight-week research project. Appropriately enough, Ms. Allen is doing research on the impact of stress on performance of virtual navigation and spatial learning tasks, particularly in order to examine potential of performance in pilots and astronauts who are under acute stress. The full title of her study is "The Impact of Psychological Stress on Cardiovascular Reactivity and Neuroendocrine Responses in virtual navigation and Spatial Learning Tasks." Her findings will be presented next spring at a NASA space flight base, since she expects to learn what impact stress has on the ability of an individual to orient him or her self in space and to navigate under stress.
For this study of spatial perception and cognition, Ms. Allen recruited 40 research subjects, placed them under stress by having them do a difficult, timed computerized test. She tests their stress level while they are in front of a large computer screen being required to navigate through various tricky paths. She tests physiological responses - especially heart rate - to see if levels are elevated and to measure how that affects their ability to cope and to navigate spatially. Her project is designed to "uncover mysteries of disorientation in piloting."
Most significantly, after an extensive search of the scientific literature, Ms. Allen has discovered that she is alone in her approach to exploring the impact of stress on navigational ability.
Her work is being supervised by Saint Michael's assistant professor of psychology Dr. Anthony Richardson, whose own research addresses the psychology of spatial orientation and navigation. He invited Dr. Melissa VanderKaay Tomasulo, Saint Michael's assistant professor of psychology, to be co-adviser on Rachel Allen's study, because one of Dr. VanderKaay Tomasulo's specialty areas is the physiological impact of nicotine on individuals under stress. Dr. VanderKaay Tomasulo was a perfect additional adviser as she has, she said, "always wanted to be an astronaut!" and she is very well versed on upcoming space flights.
Studying impact of stress levels in the 'occasional' smoker
Jenny Pietroski, a senior psychology major, religious studies minor, is studying "The Effects of Acute Psychological Stress on Neuroendocrine Response and Cardiovascular Reactivity in a Sample of Tobacco Chippers." Her work is advised by Dr. VanderKaay Tomasulo, whose own research has focused intensively on various impacts of nicotine.
In a nutshell, Ms. Pietroski is putting a nicotine patch on half her research subjects and a placebo patch on the other half - neither she nor the individuals know who gets which patch. The patch remains overnight and in the morning the subjects take a difficult, timed stress test, similar to the one Ms. Allen is using in her research.
Chippers are occasional, non-addicted smokers who smoke for social reasons, only two-to-five times a week, and only five or fewer cigarettes. Ms. Pietroski tests the heart rate of these chippers who have worn a patch overnight, then administers the stress test. Although social smokers hardly consider themselves smokers, these chippers are shown to be causing themselves long-lasting effects revealed in the heart and saliva testing done after their stress tests.
Future plans for Rachel Allen and Jenny Pietroski
Both of these students will present the results of their research at on-campus research seminars. They also expect to take their results to professional conferences, possibly at the meetings of the Society for Behavioral Medicine or the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, and definitely at a NASA flight base.
Both Ms. Allen and Ms. Pietroski plan to go to graduate school in the future, Ms. Pietroski in occupational therapy or clinical health psychology, and Ms. Allen in law. And their professors regard them as perfect candidates, as their work this summer is described as "graduate level research" that is "very uncommon for undergraduates to be doing."
Their additional activities ...
Both students are very active, Dean's List students doing an array of activities on campus.
Ms. Pietroski played varsity soccer for three years, is an active volunteer with the Cause for Paws project that works to rescue greyhounds, and participates in other campus-led volunteer work.
Ms. Allen is not only a scientist, she is also a journalist. She is upcoming news editor for the Saint Michael's student publications in print and online, The Defender and The Echo. She is also a member of the Saint Michael's Founders Society, which is charged with taking prospective students on tours and presenting the college to them and their families. She is an orientation leader for new students, and she is involved with volunteer projects in the college's MOVE program.
Saint Michael's College, founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nation's Best 368 Colleges. A liberal arts, residential, Catholic college, Saint Michael's is located just outside of Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns and less than two hours from Montreal. As one of only 270 institutions nationwide with a prestigious Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus, Saint Michael's has 2,000 full-time undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 200 international students. In recent years Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Guggenheim, Fulbright, National Science Foundation and other grants, and Saint Michael's professors have been named Vermont Professor of the Year in four of the last eight years. The college is currently listed as one of the nation's Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2009 U.S. News & World Report rankings.
Photo caption: Saint Michael's science students and profs: left to right, Rachel Allen, Jenny Pietroski, Dr. Melissa VanderKaay Tomasulo and Dr. Anthony Richardson
Buff Lindau, Public Relations
802.654.2536
blindau@smcvt.edu
How well do pilots navigate when under stress?Are occasional smokers really affected by the few cigarettes they indulge in?
These are the questions two Saint Michael's psychology majors are seeking to answer in carefully controlled laboratory settings this summer.
Both students received $3,500 summer research grants and both are studying the impact of stress on human subjects, but overall their studies are quite different. They are, however, both rising seniors at Saint Michael's College; they share one of their two advisers, and they share a lab. And both Rachel Allen of Torrington, Conn., and Jenny Pietroski of South Paris, Maine, are doing original research in areas not yet extensively explored by the scientific community.
Studying impact of stress on spatial navigation
Rachel Allen, a senior psychology and journalism double major, received funding from the NASA-Vermont Space Grant Consortium for her eight-week research project. Appropriately enough, Ms. Allen is doing research on the impact of stress on performance of virtual navigation and spatial learning tasks, particularly in order to examine potential of performance in pilots and astronauts who are under acute stress. The full title of her study is "The Impact of Psychological Stress on Cardiovascular Reactivity and Neuroendocrine Responses in virtual navigation and Spatial Learning Tasks." Her findings will be presented next spring at a NASA space flight base, since she expects to learn what impact stress has on the ability of an individual to orient him or her self in space and to navigate under stress.
For this study of spatial perception and cognition, Ms. Allen recruited 40 research subjects, placed them under stress by having them do a difficult, timed computerized test. She tests their stress level while they are in front of a large computer screen being required to navigate through various tricky paths. She tests physiological responses - especially heart rate - to see if levels are elevated and to measure how that affects their ability to cope and to navigate spatially. Her project is designed to "uncover mysteries of disorientation in piloting."
Most significantly, after an extensive search of the scientific literature, Ms. Allen has discovered that she is alone in her approach to exploring the impact of stress on navigational ability.
Her work is being supervised by Saint Michael's assistant professor of psychology Dr. Anthony Richardson, whose own research addresses the psychology of spatial orientation and navigation. He invited Dr. Melissa VanderKaay Tomasulo, Saint Michael's assistant professor of psychology, to be co-adviser on Rachel Allen's study, because one of Dr. VanderKaay Tomasulo's specialty areas is the physiological impact of nicotine on individuals under stress. Dr. VanderKaay Tomasulo was a perfect additional adviser as she has, she said, "always wanted to be an astronaut!" and she is very well versed on upcoming space flights.
Studying impact of stress levels in the 'occasional' smoker
Jenny Pietroski, a senior psychology major, religious studies minor, is studying "The Effects of Acute Psychological Stress on Neuroendocrine Response and Cardiovascular Reactivity in a Sample of Tobacco Chippers." Her work is advised by Dr. VanderKaay Tomasulo, whose own research has focused intensively on various impacts of nicotine.
In a nutshell, Ms. Pietroski is putting a nicotine patch on half her research subjects and a placebo patch on the other half - neither she nor the individuals know who gets which patch. The patch remains overnight and in the morning the subjects take a difficult, timed stress test, similar to the one Ms. Allen is using in her research.
Chippers are occasional, non-addicted smokers who smoke for social reasons, only two-to-five times a week, and only five or fewer cigarettes. Ms. Pietroski tests the heart rate of these chippers who have worn a patch overnight, then administers the stress test. Although social smokers hardly consider themselves smokers, these chippers are shown to be causing themselves long-lasting effects revealed in the heart and saliva testing done after their stress tests.
Future plans for Rachel Allen and Jenny Pietroski
Both of these students will present the results of their research at on-campus research seminars. They also expect to take their results to professional conferences, possibly at the meetings of the Society for Behavioral Medicine or the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, and definitely at a NASA flight base.
Both Ms. Allen and Ms. Pietroski plan to go to graduate school in the future, Ms. Pietroski in occupational therapy or clinical health psychology, and Ms. Allen in law. And their professors regard them as perfect candidates, as their work this summer is described as "graduate level research" that is "very uncommon for undergraduates to be doing."
Their additional activities ...
Both students are very active, Dean's List students doing an array of activities on campus.
Ms. Pietroski played varsity soccer for three years, is an active volunteer with the Cause for Paws project that works to rescue greyhounds, and participates in other campus-led volunteer work.
Ms. Allen is not only a scientist, she is also a journalist. She is upcoming news editor for the Saint Michael's student publications in print and online, The Defender and The Echo. She is also a member of the Saint Michael's Founders Society, which is charged with taking prospective students on tours and presenting the college to them and their families. She is an orientation leader for new students, and she is involved with volunteer projects in the college's MOVE program.
Saint Michael's College, founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nation's Best 368 Colleges. A liberal arts, residential, Catholic college, Saint Michael's is located just outside of Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns and less than two hours from Montreal. As one of only 270 institutions nationwide with a prestigious Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus, Saint Michael's has 2,000 full-time undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 200 international students. In recent years Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Guggenheim, Fulbright, National Science Foundation and other grants, and Saint Michael's professors have been named Vermont Professor of the Year in four of the last eight years. The college is currently listed as one of the nation's Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2009 U.S. News & World Report rankings.
Photo caption: Saint Michael's science students and profs: left to right, Rachel Allen, Jenny Pietroski, Dr. Melissa VanderKaay Tomasulo and Dr. Anthony Richardson
