UC Psychology Teaching & Learning Conference

Psychology, Resources, UC San Diego

This week was the UC Psychology Teaching & Learning conference, hosted by faculty at UC San Diego, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis and UCLA. From the conference webpage, “[The conference] is designed for psychology instructors at all levels who are interested in developing teaching strategies and learning about pedagogy research.”

This was an informative event and gave attendees numerous tools on how to improve the classroom experience (especially in a virtual setting). Listed below are some of the helpful things I learned over the course of these two days:

Presenting: Psychonomic Society 61st Annual Meeting

Psychology, UC San Diego, Wixted Lab

I will be presenting two posters at the Psychonomic Society 61st Annual Conference. The two presentations will be:

  1. Enhancing Evidence of Innocence from Police Lineups
  2. The Effect of Rate-Them-All Lineup on Diagnostic Accuracy

The presentations will occur from 4-6pm CT on November 20, 2020. This post will be updated with a link to my meeting room for a live Q&A session.

A Reintroduction

Personal Blog, UC San Diego

New headshot for a new year of graduate school.

If you’re picking up on different vibes from me this year, it’s because I’m finally back to my old self again (actually, I’m better than my old self).

At this point, most people in my circle know what I mean when I say my “old self,” but for those unaware: I was the victim of two instances of sexual assault by separate perpetrators. In 2018, I wrote about what happened in order to process what occurred. The outpouring of support was wonderful, but my story missed one key piece—my battle with clinical post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Master of Art

Personal Blog, Psychology, UC San Diego, Wixted Lab

For those of you who aren’t aware, I’m a first-generation college student and I recently completed the requirements for my master’s degree! The degree is a Master of Art in Experimental Psychology.

In our Ph.D program, getting a master’s degree isn’t typically celebrated. It’s seen as something you “pick up along the way” on the journey of earning a doctorate and entering a research career. (Also, a good proportion of our graduate students enter with a master’s degree already, so this isn’t a new milestone for them.)

I, however, have not experienced this milestone before, meaning I’m mentally celebrating! I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again: I’m in my dream program, at my dream institution, with an amazing adviser, and residing in my favorite city in the world. I am incredibly grateful and do not take any of this for granted.

For now, I have three years left (minimum) in this program—and I’m looking forward to every single one of them. There is a lot of hard work ahead, but that’s the fun.

Thank you,

-A.Y.

CARTA Fellowship Receipient

CARTA, UC San Diego, Wixted Lab

I am incredibly humbled and elated to share that I have been selected as a recipient for a CARTA Program Fellowship for the 2020-21 academic year!

Thank you so much to the Center of Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny and to the committee that is responsible for the selection process. I am ecstatic for the new year to begin so that I can fully take advantage of the freedom this will give me in pursuing my own research.

Due to pandemic-related circumstances, I’m unable to show my gratitude to CARTA faculty in person, but I have every intention of giving my thanks properly once COVID-19 allows for it.

Qualifying Paper

Psychology, UC San Diego, Wixted Lab

I’m incredibly proud to report that I’ve successfully defended my qualifying paper.

The paper investigated the basic science of confidence. As I’m hoping to turn this qualifying paper into a publication, I will hold off on a detailed explanation of the paper’s topic matter.

I can’t wait to extend this project into something greater!

Presenting: CARTA Student Symposium

CARTA, UC San Diego

Every year, the Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA) hosts a student symposium. It’s a chance for students, faculty, outside researchers, and funders to get a glimpse into the research and interests of students within the anthropogeny Ph.D specialization track. Since I am a recent member of CARTA, my talk served as my introduction to others within the organization.

If you’d like to view my five-minute talk called “Basic Memory Science: Recognition and Long-term Memory” or the talks of my colleagues, you can do so here. (This link will eventually become private by the organization. Please contact me if you do not have access and would like to view the talk.)

CARTA: Impact of Infectious Disease on Humans & Our Origins

CARTA, UC San Diego

 

CARTA_Impact_Infectious_Disease_May_2020

 

Due to COVID-19, CARTA’s symposium for spring quarter was cancelled and replaced with an online-only symposium on infectious disease. Though some people may have “pandemic burnout” and may not want to listen to talks about infectious agents, there is a fantastic group of speakers taking part in this virtual event tomorrow. If you’re interested in salmonella, COVID-19, Zika, etc., I recommend dropping by or viewing the recording on the event page. I’ll be attending!

Link to event page.

 

Working from Home in a Pandemic

Personal Blog, Resources, UC San Diego

Adding to the plethora of “here’s how I do it!” posts online, this is how I (attempt) to work from home during the COVID-19 lockdown. This post is not meant to instruct you on how to maximize productivity—personally, I think there are more important things to worry about right now—rather, it’s meant to validate the emotions of those feeling similarly and (hopefully) provide someone with a new coping strategy.