The American Psychological Foundation (APF) and the Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology (COGDOP) have jointly offered graduate research scholarships to doctoral students since 1996. The scholarships, administered by the APA Science Directorate, are intended to assist graduate students whose research reflects excellence in psychological science, with the costs of conducting their research.
The program offered a total of 21 awards in 2020, including the:
- $5,000 Harry and Miriam Levinson Scholarship
- $5,000 William and Dorothy Bevan Scholarship
- $5,000 Charles and Carol Spielberger Scholarship
- $5,000 Peter and Malina James & Dr. Louis P. James Legacy Scholarship
- $3,000 Ruth G. and Joseph D. Matarazzo Scholarship
- $2,500 William C. Howell Scholarship
- $2,000 Clarence J. Rosecrans Scholarship
- $2,000 Raymond K. Mulhern Scholarship
- $2,000 Dr. Judy Kuriansky Scholarship
In addition to these nine awards, the foundation provided 12 additional $2,000 scholarships. This year, more than 115 applications were received, and each was reviewed by a committee of COGDOP members using a variety of criteria, including the significance of the research and the clarity and design of the proposed work itself.
The following 21 graduate students received these awards.
- P.F. Jonah Li (Indiana University-Bloomington) received the $5,000 Harry and Miriam Levinson Scholarship for the project titled: “Efficacy of a Self-Directed Workbook: A Randomized Controlled Trial with Adults Seeking Purpose in Life”
- Brittany King (University at Albany, SUNY) received the $5,000 William and Dorothy Bevan Scholarship for the project titled: “Reviewing recorded tele-therapy sessions for homework: Proximal impacts on client insight”
- Gold Okafor (University of California, Berkeley) received the $5,000 Charles and Carol Spielberger Scholarship for the project titled: “Social Judgments as a Function of Target's Gender, Race, and Emotion”
- Rachel Mis (Temple University) received the $5,000 Peter and Malina James & Dr. Louis P. James Legacy Scholarship for the project titled: “Naturalistic Eye Movements as Clinical Markers of Everyday Cognition in Older Adults”
- Anna Farmer (University of Florida) received the $3,000 Ruth G. and Joseph D. Matarazzo Scholarship for the project titled: “Attenuation of Repetitive Motor Behavior by Environmental Enrichment: Neurocircuitry & Cellular Mechanisms”
- Erika Trent (University of Houston) received the $2,500 William C. Howell Scholarship for the project titled: “Contextual Adversity, Parental Emotion Socialization, and Emotion Dysregulation in Childhood Anxiety: A Multimethod Investigation”
- Michelle Thai (University of Minnesota) received the $2,000 Clarence J. Rosencrans Scholarship for the project titled: “Mindfulness Training and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation as a Multilevel Treatment for Rumination in Youth Depression”
- Laura Janakiefski (Vanderbilt University) received the $2,000 Dr. Raymond K. Mulhern Scholarship for the project titled: “Examining the benefits of question-asking on children's word learning”
- Amy Violante (University of Montana) received the $2,000 Dr. Judy Kuriansky Scholarship for the project titled: “A Qualitative Examination of Spirituality, Social-Emotional Learning, and Implications for Culturally Responsive Practice with Native American Students”
APF/COGDOP Graduate Research Scholarships in Psychology ($2,000 each):
- Ashley Jones (University of Southern Mississippi) – “Does Convenience Come with a Price: The Impact of Remote Testimony on Expert Credibility and Decision-Making”
- Daniel Snook (Georgia State University) – “Fear and Loathing: Understanding the Connection between Americans' Risk Perceptions for Terrorism and Islamophobia”
- Gerald Higginbotham (University of California, Los Angeles) – “Shifting the Self to Make Sense of the Past: Interdependence as Mediating Racial Divergences in Perceptions of Critical Black History”
- Lisa Taxier (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) – “The role of astrocytes in hippocampal memory formation and estrogenic regulation of memory formation”
- Lauren Haliczer (University of Massachusetts Amherst) – “Examining the Real-Time and Prospective Effects of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury on Self-Criticism, Guilt, and Shame”
- Jasmin Brooks (University of Houston) – “Surviving COVID-19: Risk and Resilience Factors for Black Adults”
- Alena Borgatti (University of Alabama at Birmingham) – “The Freshman Life and Student Health (FLASH) Study: Using Social Network Analysis to Understand how Obesity and Stigma Impact Emerging Adult Health”
- Daniel Moriarity (Temple University) – “A Test of the Immunocognitive Model Using a Reward-Salient Stress Task”
- Tao Jiang (The Ohio State University) – “Love Is Not A Battlefield: Nonzero-Sum Beliefs and Responses to Conflict in Romantic Relationships”
- Stassja Sichko (University of California, Los Angeles) – “Family-of-Origin Aggression and Markers of Biological Aging in Young Adults: A Prospective Perspective”
- Michael Granovetter (Carnegie Mellon University) – “Visual System Neuroplasticity Following Pediatric Temporal Resection”
- Karen Tang (Dalhousie University) – “Knowledge of Vaping Harms and Substance Use: A Mixed-Methods Study of Risk Factors to Develop Psychoeducation Programs"