SPHERE Lab Members
The SPHERE Lab focuses on three values (for further information, consult our Lab Manual). First, we promote radical empiricism. If we can measure it, we can study it! This intellectual freedom affords us the opportunity to study even the most controversial topics. This freedom creates a responsibility to seek complementary perspectives. Second, my training emphasizes ethics. Science is a social contract with the public and requires transparency. We are involved in various steps of open science. Third is levity. Laughter makes null findings bearable!
Bridget O'Neil is a senior Psychology major, minoring in Human Development and Family Science who is an Honor's Student with Fulbright College. Bridget's most recent work considers how individuals infer mental states of athletes through physical features and the implications for mental health. Her long-term plans will focus around understanding how formidability inferences shape juror decision-making. Bridget wants to pursue graduate training in Sport Psychology.
Published in: Personal Relationships |
Lindsey (Lily) Eagan is a senior Psychology major and an Honors Student with Fulbright College. Her research interests are broadly focused on the functional underpinnings of social perception in the identification of people's mate and parental value. She plans on conducting an honors thesis with Dr. Brown investigating how sexually dimorphic facial features inform expectations of parent-child conflict. Lily plans to pursue graduate training in Child Psychology.
Published in: Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences |
Justin Long is a senior Biology major. Justin's research interests are at the intersection of physical fitness and perceptions of people's bodies, particularly focusing on mental health. This will lead him to pursue ideas related to inferences of psychological distress and self-esteem in men through cues to upper body strength. Justin intends to enroll in medical school following graduation to pursue training as a psychiatrist.
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Vienne Howay is a senior Psychology major and an Honors Student with Fulbright College. Her research interests are broadly focused on the intersection between evolutionary theory and body image. She is conducting an honors thesis with Dr. Brown investigating how functional stereotypes of life history strategies shape expectations of women to self-objectify. Vienne plans to pursue graduate training in Clinical Psychology.
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Julie Wynne is a senior Psychology major. Although new to the lab, she has been developing an interest in perceptions of relationships across various contexts with an evolutionary theoretical lens. Her initial projects in the SPHERE Lab will center around how men's physical features inform perceptions of their interests in coalition decision-making and reconciliation following conflict. Julie intends to pursue graduate training in Psychology.
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Jacob Pauley is a senior Biology major and an Honors Student with Fulbright College. Broadly defined, his research interests in the SPHERE Lab center around formidability inferences through men's bodily features and how such inferences inform subsequent interests in affiliating with formidable men. This work is specifically interested in mate guarding toward men who could impose physical costs. Jacob intends to to enroll in medical school.
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Gracie Whitehead is a junior majoring in Marketing with a minor in Psychology. With Dr. Brown, Gracie is interested in understanding how evolutionary theory informs consumer decisions. Her interests address how various mating motives (e.g., mate acquisition, mate retention) influence such decisions. Namely, Gracie would like to apply her knowledge on basic research to inform marketing campaigns. She intends to enter the business world following graduation.
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Natalie Gonzalez is a junior majoring in Psychology. As she begins to develop a research identity within the SPHERE Lab, Natalie has begun considering topics related to perceptions of women's behavior at the intersection of physical features diagnostic of attractiveness. Much of this work will center around eye color and facial morphology. Following completion of her undergraduate training, Natalie intends to pursue training in Counseling.
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Presley Brockett is a junior majoring in Biology with minors in both Psychology and Medical Humanities. Her research interests focus primarily on functional stereotyping based on individuals' morphological features, with particular interest in how perceivers form stereotypes about women in the workplace. This interest in perceptions of women focuses primarily on health care professionals. Presley intends to pursue medical school following graduation.
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Caitlyn Moore is a junior majoring in Biology with a minor in Psychology. She is currently an Honors Student with Fulbright College. Caitlyn's interest in the lab center around humor and mate preferences. Her most recent endeavors has been identifying how individual differences in comic styles (i.e., the content of humor) track men's desirability as mates. Caitlyn intends to pursue training as a physician's assistant following graduation.
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Kylie Jansen is a junior majoring in Political Science with minors in Psychology and Legal Studies. While trying to gain her footing with research interests in the SPHERE Lab, Kylie has taken an interest in mate preferences and humor. She is actively assisting in research investigating how comic styles inform perceptions of lawyer's abilities. Kylie intends to pursue a law degree.
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Treyton (Trey) Whorton is a junior majoring in Sports Management with a minor in Psychology. With his broad interest in high-level athletic performance, Trey has started to take an evolutionary approach to sport psychology that considers personality, cognition, and the interpersonal components of athletics. Trey has since begun investigating personality preferences in coalitions in the context of football drafts. He intends to pursue a graduate degree in sport psychology.
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Olivia Harper is a junior major in Psychology. As Olivia gets started in the SPHERE Lab, she has become interested in the topic of humor in relationships and the evolutionary underpinnings of what makes it attractive. This interest has positioned her to start considering different types of intelligence as the basis of the sexual selection process. Although she is not sure of what her specific goals are for the future, she intends to pursue a graduate degree in psychology.
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Evelyn Carroum is a sophomore majoring Psychology and an Honors Student with Fulbright College. Broadly, Evelyn is interested in evolutionary psychology with a particular interest in the functional underpinnings of altruism. Namely, this interest stems from a desire to identify whether true altruism may exists and the boundary conditions of extensive prosociality. Although she is undecided on specific plans, Evelyn is interested in graduate training for psychology.
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SPHERE Lab Alumni
Patrick Neiswender Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies; University of Arkansas (2023)
Currently: Incoming Law Student, American University
Published in: Evolutionary Psychological Science; Psychology of Religion and Spirituality
Currently: Incoming Law Student, American University
Published in: Evolutionary Psychological Science; Psychology of Religion and Spirituality
Jasmine James Bachelor of Science in Marketing, Finance, and Psychology; University of Arkansas (2023)
Currently: Incoming MBA Student
Currently: Incoming MBA Student
Samuel (Sam) Snowden Bachelor of Arts in Psychology; University of Arkansas (2023)
Published in: Personality and Individual Differences; Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences; Personal Relationships
Published in: Personality and Individual Differences; Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences; Personal Relationships
Madeline (Maddie) Brown Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Criminology; University of Arkansas (2023)
Currently: Law Student, Texas A&M University
Published in: Personal Relationships; Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences
Currently: Law Student, Texas A&M University
Published in: Personal Relationships; Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences
Steele Donahoe Bachelor of Arts in Psychology; University of Arkansas (2023)
Currently: Graduate Student in Counseling, John Brown University
Published in: Evolutionary Psychological Science; Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences
Currently: Graduate Student in Counseling, John Brown University
Published in: Evolutionary Psychological Science; Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences
Frankie Difiore Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Communications; University of Arkansas (2023)
Published in: Journal of Evolutionary Studies and Higher Education
Published in: Journal of Evolutionary Studies and Higher Education
Dalton Holt Bachelor of Arts in Psychology; University of Arkansas (2023)
Published in: Psychological Reports
Published in: Psychological Reports
Macie Hopkins Bachelor of Arts in Psychology; University of Arkansas (2022)
Currently: Court Clerk, White County, AR
Currently: Court Clerk, White County, AR
Anujin Khosbayar Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Criminology, University of Arkansas (2022)
Currently: Behavioral Health Technician, BlueSprig
Currently: Behavioral Health Technician, BlueSprig
Megan McPherson Bachelor of Arts in Psychology; University of Arkansas (2022)
Currently: Graduate Student in Counseling, Southern Methodist University
Published in: Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences
Currently: Graduate Student in Counseling, Southern Methodist University
Published in: Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences
Lucienne (Lucy) Burnett Bachelor of Arts in Psychology; Fairleigh Dickinson University, Metropolitan Campus (2021)
Currently: Human Resources Associate
Published in: Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
Currently: Human Resources Associate
Published in: Scandinavian Journal of Psychology