Research in the Department of Psychology
Language and Behavior Lab (The LAB Lab)
Professor Stephanie Huette discusses research and eye tracking methods used in her lab to study language and
behavior at the University of Memphis. The Language and Behavior lab (LaBlab) seeks
to understand the underlying mechanisms of language processing and how behaviors unfold
over time. Please visit the LaB tab to learn more about the current research and focus
of the lab. Learn More about LAB Lab
Resilience Emerging Amidst Childhood Hardships (The R.E.A.C.H. Lab)
The Resilience Emerging Amidst Childhood Hardships (R.E.A.C.H.) Lab in the U of M's
Department of Psychology is studying how different forms of childhood adversity affect
the child, both in the present, and as they move to adulthood. Directed by Dr. Kathryn Howell, R.E.A.C.H.) Lab is part of the Child Clinical Concentration and the Clinical Psychology
Program at the University of Memphis. Watch a Video
Center for Health Promotion and Evaluation Research Lab - Teen Smoking
Dr. Leslie Robinson and researchers in the Center for Health Promotion and Evaluation Research Lab in
the Department of Psychology are working on innovative ways to curb teen smoking.
The three main goals are: to recruit and survey teen smokers about the quitting process;
to expose young smokers to strategies commonly used in cessation programs and ask
them whether the components of the programs are relevant to them; and, by using their
feedback, to design and implement a program aimed at helping young people quit smoking.
More about the program
Department of Psychology - Autism Research
For over two decades, Dr. Charles Blaha and his team have researched the chemical transmitter dopamine in the frontal cortex.
The chemical is critically involved in normal thinking, planning, and social interaction.
Based on that research, his team has developed a theory that deficits in these cognitive
and social skills associated with autism spectrum disorder result from the inability
of the cerebellum, located in the back of the brain, to properly regulate dopamine
in the frontal cortex. There is hope that their studies will lead to new lines of
investigation and novel pharmacological methods of treating autism. Dr. Blaha talks about his research.
About the Department of Psychology
The University of Memphis Psychology Department consists of approximately 30 full-time
faculty members, 20 adjunct faculty (psychologists in the community who teach and/or
supervise our students), 5 postdoctoral fellows, 90 doctoral students, 58 masters
students, and over 700 undergraduate majors and minors.
The Department is also the home of the Center for Applied Psychological Research,
one of the most successful of the centers created under the State of Tennessee's Centers
of Excellence program.