http://www.runninginphiladelphia.com/kevin/research.html

Kevin's Research Page


This page lists my past, present, and future research, and gives brief information on each. I will be happy to answer any questions you have on these topics. If you wish to have any reprints, please let me know! :-)
-----Please note that this page is not complete. I should have it all done in a few weeks (gotta find time, you know!).

1. Identity Formation & the role of Personally Expressive Activities
2. Attitude Change & Peripheral Routes of Persuasion
3. History of Psychology - an Early Psychology Laboratory Founded 1892
4. Peace Organizations: Amnesty International
5. HIV/AIDS
6. Panic Disorder
7. Human Sexuality & Sexual Response
8. Synesthesia & Chromesthesia


1. Identity Formation & the role of Personally Expressive Activities

item description

-----Waterman, A. S., Mannion, K., Gruenfeld, K. E., Jessee, C. L., & Lopez, L. (????). Personal expressiveness as a personality variable: Tests of the theory. Manuscript in preparation.
-----Waterman, A. S., Mannion, K. M., Gruenfeld, K., Jessee, C., Goldbacher, E., Miller, C., & Philip, S. (1999, May). The relationship of identity status to intrinsic/extrinsic motivation among college students Poster presented at the Society for Research on Identity Formation conference-retreat, London, Ontario, Canada.
-----Jessee, C. L., Gruenfeld, K. E. & Waterman, A. S. (1995, February). Discovering oneself: An interview study of the role of personally expressive activities in identity formation. Paper presented at the Society for Research on Identity Formation conference, Tallahassee, Florida.

For further reference: Alan S. Waterman, James Marcia, Mihali Csikszentmihalyi, Erik Erikson
Acknowledgements: Alan S. Waterman and Cassandra L. Jessee


2. Attitude Change & Peripheral Routes of Persuasion

This is my earliest research listed here, which I conducted during my junior year of undergrad. Using the Elaboration Likelihood Model of Petty & Cacioppo, and, to a lesser extent the Availability Heuristics Model of Eagly & Chaiken. The avenue of research is on the Peripheral Route of Persuasion (Attitude Change) in contrast to the Central Route of Persuasion. The central route uses logical, rational arguments to convince an audience. This can be likened to the speech of Brutus from the Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar. The peripheral route uses emotional appeals and other incidental arguments, an example of which is the speech of Antony from the same play. The two particular peripheral routes I explored were technical language and surnames with positive, negative, or neutral connotation. Technical language was used to "sell" a printer. Two printers were equal, except that one used this technical language in its "ad" while the other did not. One more item worthy of note: this "technical" language was completely fabricated! Regarding the surnames experiment, two individuals with equal qualifications were applying for a job, and the respondent had to "hire" one. One individual had a "neutral" last name while the other had a last name with either positive or negative connotations. A simple chi-squared statistic was utilized to achieve the results.

-----Gruenfeld, K. E. (1995, July). Peripheral routes of persuasion: Technical language and surnames with positive / negative connotations. Poster presented at the American Psychological Society conference, New York, New York.

For further reference: Shelly Chaiken & Alice Eagly, Richard Petty & John Cacioppo


3. History of Psychology - an Early Psychology Laboratory Founded 1892

The time was September 1892, in Trenton, New Jersey. A new psychology lab was started at Trenton State Normal School (now known as The College of New Jersey) by Lillie Williams, who published some of her research in Pedagogical Seminary (a journal which was founded, I believe, by G. Stanley Hall). This psychology lab was the 1st in the state of New Jersey, the 2nd in the U.S. by a woman, and somewhere in the 1st 20 in the U.S. My archival research, culled from various sources & languages, explores her work, as well as those that influenced her and were influenced by her.

-----Chaffin, R., & Gruenfeld, K. E. (1997). Leslie A. Williams: A pioneer in psychology at the New Jersey State Normal School. History of Psychology Newsletter, 29, 7-10.
-----Chaffin, R., & Gruenfeld, K. E. (1997). Leslie (Lillie) A. Williams: Founder of an early psychological laboratory for teaching. Psychology of Women, 24 (2), 19, 30.

For further reference: Leslie A. (Lillie) Williams
Acknowledgements: Roger Chaffin


4. Peace Organizations: Amnesty International

This research, conducted for the Peace Psychology division of the American Psychological Association, details how the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) known as Amnesty International helps to promote peace. Unfortunately, I have never seen this article and thus cannot give anyone a reprint. However, if anyone wishes to see some of my research notes, or wants information on how to directly contact Amnesty International, please ask.

-----Gruenfeld, K. E. (1997). Organizations working for peace: Spotlight on Amnesty International. Peace Psychology Newsletter.

Acknowledgements: Mort Winston, former Chair of the Board of Directors of Amnesty International USA


5. HIV/AIDS

This specific archival research was conducted solely for the Encyclopedia of AIDS, and was focused on six areas: Chronology of AIDS, Necrology of AIDS, Gay & Lesbian Groups, Sports & Sports Figures, Red Ribbons, and Computer Bulletin Boards. At this time, only some of this research has been published. Some additional research will likely be published in a work related to the Encyclopedia.

-----Gruenfeld, K. E. (1998). Gay and Lesbian Groups. In R. A. Smith (Ed.), Encyclopedia of AIDS: A Social, Political, Cultural, and Scientific Record of the HIV Epidemic (pp. 231-233). Chicago and London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers.
-----Gruenfeld, K. E. (1998). Sports and Sports Figures. In R. A. Smith (Ed.), Encyclopedia of AIDS: A Social, Political, Cultural, and Scientific Record of the HIV Epidemic (pp.462-464). Chicago and London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers.
-----Smith, R. A. & Gruenfeld, K. E. (1998). Symbols. In R. A. Smith (Ed.), Encyclopedia of AIDS: A Social, Political, Cultural, and Scientific Record of the HIV Epidemic (pp. 473-476). Chicago and London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers.

Acknowledgements: Ray A. Smith, the encyclopedia's editor-in-chief


6. Panic Disorder

This research was conducted while I was a Ph.D. student in clinical psychology and covers several facets. These include Non-clinical Panic (individuals that may have had a panic attack yet do not have panic disorder); Anxiety Sensitivity and its assessment & relation to Panic and other Anxiety Disorders; Differential Diagnosis of Panic Disorder (including using the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV (SCID)); Different models of Panic Disorder (such as cognitive-behavioral or biological); Etiological factors in Panic; Cognitive-behavioral treatment of Panic Disorder; Measurement of Panic Disorder; Correlates of Panic Disorder.

For further reference: Richard J. McNally, Michael J. Telch, Steven Taylor, William J. Koch, Dennis S. Charney, David M. Clark, Donald F. Klein, David Barlow, Michelle G. Craske, Edna Foa.
Acknowledgements: David Valentiner


7. Human Sexuality & Sexual Response

Various aspects of the above including sexual response cycles (arousal, etc.), individual behavior, cultural norms & differences, sexual orientation, contraception, sexually-transmitted infections/diseases, early sexuality research, and human sexuality counseling.

For further reference: Richard Krafft-Ebing, Havelock Ellis, Alfred Kinsey, Masters & Johnson, Shere Hite, Joseph LoPiccolo


8. Synesthesia & Chromesthesia

Synesthesia is the "neurological condition" where senses are crossed. For example, if one smells a scent, that individual might then see a color. It is involuntary, and there are many combinations. Chromesthesia is a specific subcategory of synesthesia, where sounds evoke colors. This is not to be confused with colored hearing, where a tone seems to be simply associated with a color, since chromesthesia is involuntary. There are a few theories of this, but it is generally assumed to be a misfiring or crossing of the pathways in the neural network.

For further reference: R. Cytowic, "Speak Memory" by Nabokov, the accounts of the Russian memory expert "S" by Luria, March 2001 issue of APA's Monitor on Psychology.


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