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Psychological Science

Faculty Research Interests

AY 2025-2026

* denotes a CSUSM Psychological Science graduate student

Nancy  G. Caine, Ph.D. (University of California, Davis)

Comparative psychology; evolutionary basis of behavior; behavior of nonhuman primates; captive animal welfare; biological conservation; antipredator and sensory adaptations in mammals..

*Jensen, C.H., & Caine, N.G. (2021). Preferential snake detection in a simulated ecological experiment. American Journal of Biological Anthropology (formerly American Journal of Physical Anthropology), 175(4), 895-904 https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24224

*Castaneda, M.C., & Caine, N.G. (2025). Seeing is believing: Repeated exposure to animals in anthropomorphic contexts promotes desire for exotic pets. Society and Animals, advance online publication, 1-18. https://doi:10.1163/15685306-bja10236

Dr. Caine is not taking new graduate students in the current admission cycle

Dustin P. Calvillo, Ph.D. (University of California, Santa Barbara)

Cognitive psychology; false memory; misinformation; judgment and decision making; reasoning, social cognition, political psychology.

Calvillo, D. P, & *León, A., & Rutchick, A. M. (2024). Personality and misinformation. Current Opinion in Psychology, 55, 101752.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101752  

Calvillo, D. P., *Harris, J. D., & Hawkins, W. C. (2023). Partisan bias in false memories for misinformation about the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot. Memory, 31(1), 137-146. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2022.2127771

Haylee K. DeLuca Bishop, Ph.D. (Kent State University)

Developmental psychology; peer, romantic, and sexual relationships in adolescence and young adulthood; the role of close relationships in college adjustment; the impact of family transitions and dissolutions on adolescent and young adult outcomes; measurement and methodology for developmental and dyadic data.

DeLuca Bishop, H. K., Baker, E. A., & van Dulmen, M. H. (2023). The role of friends and romantic partners in college-attending emerging adults’ engagement and GPA. Emerging Adulthood, 11(1), 221-233. https://doi.org/10.1177/21676968221106140

*Figueroa, J. M., DeLuca Bishop, H. K., & Baker, E. A. (2022). Using a socio-ecological framework to understand romantic relationship satisfaction among emerging adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Emerging Adulthood, 10(6), 1561-1573. https://doi.org/10.1177/21676968221124266

Francisco J. Flores Ramirez, Ph.D (University of Texas at El Paso)

Neurobiology of substance use disorders; alcohol use disorder; drug-seeking behavior induced by cues, stress, and drug priming; neurobehavioral basis of relapse vulnerability; relapse prevention; behavioral pharmacology.

Flores-Ramirez, F.J., Illenberger, J.M., Pascasio, G., Terenius, L., & Martin-Fardon, R. (2024). LY2444296, a -opioid receptor antagonist, selectively reduces alcohol drinking in male and female Wistar rats with a history of alcohol dependence. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 5804. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-56500-9  

Flores-Ramirez, F.J., Varodayan, F.P., Patel, R.R., Illenberger, J.M., Di Ottavio, F., Roberto, M., & Martin-Fardon, R. (2023). Blockade of orexin receptors in the infralimbic cortex prevents stress-induced reinstatement of alcohol-seeking behavior in alcohol dependent rats. British Journal of Pharmacology, 180(11), 1500-1515. https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.16015  

Gerardo M. González, Ph.D. (California School of Professional Psychology, Fresno)

Clinical psychology; multicultural mental health issues, computer-assisted psychological assessment, prevention/treatment of depression, and computer- assisted teaching tools.

González, G.M.  (2025).   Abnormal psychology: Intersections (2nd Ed).  Dubuque, IA: Great River Learning.

Muñoz, R.F., González, G.M., et al. (2016).  Depression prevention and treatment interventions: Evolution of the San Francisco Latino Mental Health Research Program. In N. Zane, G. Bernal & F.T.L. Leong (Eds.), Evidence-based psychological practice with ethnic minorities: Culturally informed research and clinical strategies.  American Psychological Association. Washington, D.C.

Dr. González is not taking new graduate students in the current admission cycle

Lisa V. Graves, Ph.D. (San Diego State University/University of California San Diego) 

Neuropsychology; cognitive aging; mild cognitive impairment; Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD); evaluating the utility of neuropsychological and functional measures to improve diagnostic accuracy across the ADRD continuum, and identifying risk and protective factors for cognition and daily functioning, in culturally diverse populations.

Graves, L. V., *Lozano, J., *Vergonia, L., & Ortega, P. (2024). Depression symptoms moderate associations between daily functioning and neuropsychological performance in Mexican American adults. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology. Online ahead of print.  https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acae100.

Graves, L. V., Beacham, D., Sawitzky, N., *Lozano, J., *Weberg, M., Hernandez, E., Reyes, K., Sarsar, D., *Vergonia, L., & *Conaway, Z. (2023). Informant sex/gender moderates associations between reported functioning and memory performance in Mexican American adults. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 38(3), 715-737. https://doi.org/10.1080/13854046.2023.2246669.

Alex C. Huynh, Ph.D.(University of Waterloo, Canada)

Social and cultural psychology, cultural change, wisdom and intellectual humility, ethnic diversity and intergroup relations, social class and social inequality, first-generation college student experiences.

Huynh, A. C., & Gonzalez, R. R. (2023) The fine line between intellectual humility and arrogance: Perceiving humility among the intellectually humble and narcissistic. The Journal of Positive Psychology https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2023.2230455

Huynh, A. C., & Grossmann, I. (2020). Rising ethnic diversity in the United States accompanies shifts toward an individualistic culture. Social Psychological and Personality Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550620967230

Allison Jobin, Ph.D., BCBA-D (University of California, San Diego)

Implementation science; clinical child psychology; autism spectrum disorder, with a focus on examining methods to promote the delivery of high-quality interventions in community-based settings and adaptations to improve fit within varied contexts.

Jobin, A., Stahmer, A. C., Camacho, N., May, G. C., Gist, K., & Brookman-Frazee, L. (2024). Pilot feasibility of a community inclusion preschool program for children with autism. Journal of Early Intervention, 46(2), 239-254.      https://doi.org/10.1177/10538151231217483

 Brookman-Frazee, L., Lau, A., Roesch, S., Jobin, A., Chlebowski, C., Mello, M., Caplan, B., Naar, S., Aarons, G. A., & Stahmer, A. (2025). Effectiveness of multi-level implementation strategies for autism interventions: Outcomes of two linked hybrid type 3 implementation trials. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2025.01.003

Sasha Y. Kimel, Ph.D. (University of Michigan)

Social and cultural psychology; understanding conflict between groups (e.g., national, racial/ethnic, religious); How culture (e.g., race/ethnicity, social class) shapes our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Kimel, S. Y., Bierwiaczonek, K. M., Obaidi, M., Foeman, A., Lawton, B., Sidanius, J., & Kunst, J. R. (2024). Finding your roots: Do DNA ancestry tests increase racial (in)tolerance? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 30(1), 120-134. https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000488

Kimel, S. Y., Mischkowski, D., Miyagawa, Y., & Niiya, Y. (2021). Left out but “in control”? Culture variations in perceived control when excluded by a close other. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 13(1), 39-48 https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550620987436

Hyunjin J. Koo, Ph.D. (University of California, Irvine)

Social class, social mobility, economic inequality, attitudes toward work and leisure, social psychology, cultural psychology.

Koo, H. J., Piff, P. K., & Shariff, A. F. (2023). If I could do it, so can they: Among the rich, those with humbler origins are less sensitive to the difficulties of the poor. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 14(3), 333-34. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506221098921

Koo, H. J., Piff, P. K., Moskowitz, J. P., & Shariff, A. F. (2024). System circumvention: Dishonest‐illegal transgressions are perceived as justified in non‐meritocratic societies. British Journal of Social Psychology, 63(4), 1565-1586. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12737

Aleksandria Perez Grabow, Ph.D. (University of Oregon)

Clinical/counseling psychology; developmental psychology; media psychology; understanding the long-term outcomes of trauma and violence exposure through an ecological framework.

Perez Grabow, A., & Becker-Blease, K. (2023). Acquiring psychopathy and callousness traits: Examining the influence of childhood betrayal trauma and adult dissociative experiences in a community sample. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 24(2), 268-283.  https://doi.org/10.1080/15299732.2023.2168827

Perez Grabow, A., Khurana, A., Natsuaki, M. N., Neiderhiser, J. M., Harold, G. T., Shaw, D. S., Ganiban, J. M., Reiss, D., & Leve, L. D. (2017). Using an adoption–biological family design to examine associations between maternal trauma, maternal depressive symptoms, and child internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Development and Psychopathology, 29(5), 1707-1720. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579417001341

Janice N. Phung, Ph.D. (University of California, Irvine)

Developmental psychology; developmental processes in children, adolescents, and young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD); challenges in ASD (e.g., executive functioning, sleep quality, social deficits, etc.) on the family/community systems; optimal development, well-being outcomes, and inclusion for individuals with ASD.

Phung, J. N., & Goldberg, W. A. (2021). Mixed martial arts training improves social skills and lessens problem behaviors in boys with autism spectrum disorder. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 83, 101758. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2021.101758

Wang, P., Tipton-Fisler, L. A., & Phung, J. N. (2022). College students' perceptions of peers with autism. Contemporary School Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-022-00416-6

Kim Pulvers, Ph.D., MPH (University of Kansas)

Clinical health psychology; cannabis and tobacco behavioral research; psychological approaches to tobacco control.

Pulvers, K., Jamalian, N., Suh, E., Faltaoos, P., Stewart, S. L., & Aston, E. R. (2024). Nicotine and cannabis routes of administration and dual use among US young adults who identify as Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic White. Preventive Medicine Reports, 48, 102912. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2024.102912

Pulvers, K., Tracy, L., Novotny, T. E., Satybaldiyeva, N., Hunn, A., Romero, D. R., ... & Oren, E. (2023). Switching people who smoke to unfiltered cigarettes: perceptions, addiction and behavioural effects in a cross-over randomised controlled trial. Tobacco Control, 32(4), 520-523. https://doi.org/10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2021-056815

Carlos E. Rosas, Ph.D. (University of Illinois Chicago)

Social psychology; community psychology; health psychology; community-based participatory research; men's health; social determinants of health among Latinx individuals, immigrants, and other minoritized populations; psychological distress and resilience factors as moderators or mediators of the relationship between adverse social conditions (e.g., discrimination, undocumented status, low SES) and cardiometabolic health outcomes; health behavior interventions; inter- and intra-group relations. 

Rosas, C. E., Pirzada, A., Durazo-Arvizu, R., Perreira, K. M., Gallo, L. C., Talavera, G. A., ... & Sanchez-Johnsen, L. A. (2025). Prospective association between depressive symptoms and incident hypertension: Results from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos. Journal of Affective Disorders, 379, 559-566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.03.034

Rosas, C. E., Hsueh, L., Konsor, M., Rosman, L., & Sanchez-Johnsen, L. (2025). Body mass index, body satisfaction, and body image discrepancy among Latinx men: Implications for Latinx-centered cancer and diabetes risk reduction interventions. Journal of Latinx Psychology, 13(1), 55–67. https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000268

Yasmine Sherafat, Ph.D. (University of California, Irvine)

Behavioral neuroscience; addiction neuroscience; learning and memory; developmental neuroscience; using behavioral neuroscience techniques in mouse models such as intravenous self-administration, immunohistochemistry, and conditioned place preference to understand the biological basis of addiction disorders with an emphasis on learning and memory.

Sherafat, Y., Chen, E, Lallai, V., Bautista, M., Fowler, J., Chen, Y. C., Miwa, J., & Fowler, C.D.  (2021). Differential expression patterns of Lynx proteins and involvement of Lynx1 in prepulse inhibition. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2021.703748

Sherafat, Y., Bautista, M., Fowler, J., Chen, E., Ahmed, A., & Fowler, C.D. (2020). The interpeduncular-hippocampal pathway mediates active stress coping and natural reward. eNeuro. https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0191-20.2020

Kimberly Vanderbilt, Ph.D. (University of California, San Diego)

Social cognitive development, developmental psychology, the development of skepticism in children, children’s understanding of other people's thoughts and intentions, children’s understanding of deception from other people and advertisements, children's understanding of sharing and fairness, moral development, sociocultural influences on development.

Vanderbilt, K. E., Rizzo, M. T., & *Blankenship, J. (2023). Preschoolers selectively trust and they selectively share based on their past accuracy and intentions. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 228, 105610. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105610. 

Vanderbilt, K. E. & *Andreason, C. (2022). The influence of popular media characters on children's object choices. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 41(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12434. 

Carrick Williams, Ph.D. (Michigan State University)

Cognitive psychology; visual search; attention; memory; eye movements; scene and object perception.

*Plano, A. & Williams, C. C. (2025). Does object-to-scene binding depend on object and scene consistency? Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-025-03037-2

Williams, C. C. (2020).  Looking for your keys: The interaction of attention, memory, and eye movements in visual search. In K. Federmeir & E. R. Schotter (Eds.) Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Gazing Toward the Future: Advances in Eye Movement Theory and Applications, 73, 195 – 229. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.plm.2020.06.003

Yu Zhang, Ph.D. (University of California, Santa Cruz)

Developmental, cognitive, and cultural psychology; children's learning experience in diverse sociocultural contexts; parent-child interaction; cognitive development from infancy to middle childhood (e.g., analogical reasoning, early math/spatial understanding); learning beliefs and motivation in children and adolescents.  

Zhang, Y., Wang, S.-H., & Duh, S. (2021). Directive guidance as a cultural practice for learning by Chinese-heritage babies. Human Development, 65(3), 121–138. https://doi.org/10.1159/000517081

Wang, S., Zhang, Y., & Baillargeon, R. (2016). Young infants view physically possible support events as unexpected: New evidence for rule learning. Cognition, 157, 100- 105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2016.08.021