School of Psychology

Dr. Conradt earned his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology with a concentration in Developmental Psychology from the University of Toledo under the mentorship of Dr. Kamala London-Newton. Dr. Conradt’s research interests are in the area of forensic developmental psychology and focus on children’s eyewitness memory and testimony, forensic interviewing procedures with children, and disclosure of child abuse. Current research pursuits include: (1) the effect of the emotional context on children’s memory and vulnerability to an interviewer’s misleading suggestions and (2) memory and cognitive development in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the overall eyewitness capabilities of this developmental population.

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Dr. (Gross) Costopoulos' career has been in the area of forensic psychology. She comes to Florida Tech after serving as the senior forensic psychologist for the Sexually Violent Predator Program of Florida (also known as the Jimmy Ryce Act). Previously she served at a forensic psychiatric inpatient unit at Florida State Hospital where she conducted therapy and assessments, and testified to the court on issues of residents' competency to stand trial, commitment for hospitalization and other forensic matters. While there, she received a number of awards for her outstanding work and contributions.

Dr. Costopoulos is coordinating a number of studies examining the efficacy of programs in the community managing mentally ill offenders. Current research includes evaluating aggression in an inpatient forensic settings and examination of theoretical concepts of psychoanalytic conceptualization of violent criminal behavior.

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Dr. Edkins earned her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Kansas. Dr. Edkins' primary research interest is the intersection of psychology and the legal system, especially as it pertains to decision making. She has assessed juror decision making models and constructed a juror attitude questionnaire to predict how jurors will react to various aspects of a trial. Her research program also focuses on the topic of plea bargaining. Specifically, what role does race play in the plea bargains that defense attorneys secure for their clients, and can plea deals be enticing enough to induce innocent people to plead guilty?

Dr. Edkins also assists The FBI's Behavioral Sciences Unit and The Academy Group with various research projects including the analysis of hostage-taker motivations and the relationships that convicted child molesters had with their respective wives/girlfriends.

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Dr. Gabrenya received his degree in Social Psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. His research interests include several areas of cross-cultural social and industrial/organizational psychology, including cultural competence, overseas work, social class, modernity, Chinese behavior, and cultural differences in sexuality. He is the director of the Psychology Honor Program and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in cross-cultural psychology, social psychology, and research methods..

Dr. Gabrenya is Secretary-General of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology and editor of the Cross-Cultural Psychology Bulletin.

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Applied Behavior Analysis Undergraduate Program Coordinator

Dr. Harvey earned his B.A. in Psychology from West Virginia University with an emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis. Dr. Harvey earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in special education from the University of Oregon under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Horner, developing school-based behavioral supports. Dr. Harvey completed a NIH sponsored post-doctoral training at Vanderbilt University under the direction of Dr. Craig Kennedy. Dr. Harvey has worked in a variety of animal laboratories, school systems, and with individuals with developmental disabilities and/or autism (children, adolescents, and adults) for over 25 years.

Dr. Harvey’s research interests are centered around the Physiological and behavioral indices associated with developmental disabilities, the use of technology and behavior analysis in educational settings, behavioral skills training (BST), and the identification and implementation of evidence-based practice. Dr. Harvey teaches both undergraduate and graduate level courses in behavior analysis.

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Forensic Psychology Program Coordinator

Mr. Jones is a retired law enforcement supervisor and currently serves as coordinator of the undergraduate forensic psychology program. His research interests are law enforcement leadership & management, recruiting & retention, and violent crime. Mr. Jones consults with law enforcement in promotional processes, leadership, and applied research. He is a guest lecturer at the FBI National Academy, a member of the Futures Working Group. Current research efforts are focused on applied research in collaboration with the FBI on perpetrator motivation and violent crime.

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Humans sometimes make economic decisions that go against their own self interests. Why, for example, do people gamble when everyone knows they are going to lose money? In my research, I look for the evolutionary origins of these decision-making biases. It may be that these patterns of behavior were useful in our evolutionary past. In order to explore these types of issues, I research decision-making in nonhuman primates. I am particularly interested in how decision-making processes are influenced by the social dynamics within groups.

Currently, I am researching a number of topics within behavioral economics with the animals housed at the Brevard Zoo. At the zoo, my work is conducted with spider monkeys and ring-tailed lemurs.

I teach courses in the animal behavior concentration for psychology undergraduates.

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Frank Webbe earned his Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Florida and was on the faculty of the University of Mississippi before joining the Florida Institute of Technology, where he is professor of psychology. The Research Director at the East Central Florida Memory Disorder Clinic, Dr. Webbe has studied standard and computerized methods of early assessment of Alzheimer's disease, and also Applied Behavior Analysis interventions with family caregivers and Alzheimer patients. Through the Florida Tech Sport-Related Concussion Project he has studied the risk factors for concussion in sport, as well best practices for assessing and managing concussion. Dr. Webbe teaches courses in Physiological Psychology, Learning and Motivation, and Cognitive-Affective Bases of Behavior.

He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the National Academy of Neuropsychology, chairman of the State of Florida's Alzheimer's Disease Advisory Committee, and chair-elect of the Technology Professional Interest Area of the International Society to Advance Alzheimer Research and Treatment. He is a former president of the Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Webbe is the NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative at Florida Tech, and is the president-elect of the national Faculty Athletics Representatives Association.

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Assistant Director Of Clinical Training

Dr. Aragon received his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Nova Southeastern University. His interests include empathy in the process of forgiveness and therapeutic necessity; chronic mental health with inpatient and homeless individuals; substance abuse prevention & intervention.

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Dr. Rich Elmore received his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Georgia State University. His research interests are primarily in the areas of traumatology and couple therapy. He teaches coursework on psychotherapy to include Clinical Skills and Techniques, Marital and Sex Therapy, Clinical Hypnosis, Consultation and a specialty seminar on combat-related PTSD. Dr. Elmore supervises the advanced practicum team on Couple Therapy and serves as the Director of the Center for Combat Veteran Resiliency which provides services to combat veterans.

In addition, Dr. Elmore maintains a part-time private practice specializing in Marital and Sex Therapy. He is a member of the Emeritus Medical Staff, Department of Psychiatry at Holmes Regional Medical Center. He is a past President of the Brevard/Indian River Chapter of the Florida Psychological Association and serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Florida Society of Clinical Hypnosis.

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Professor And Director Of Clinical Training

Dr. Follette earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from University of Memphis. She is Professor of Psychology, Clinical Psychology Program Chair and Director of Clinical Training (DCT). Dr. Follette's interests include trauma, psychotherapy outcomes, acceptance and commitment therapy, integrated behavioral health in primary care.

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Dr. Krishnamurthy received her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from the Virginia Consortium for Professional Psychology and completed her predoctoral internship at Eastern Virginia Medical School. Her research interest is primarily in the area of personality assessment and includes psychometric investigations, applications of testing in treatment planning and implementation, therapeutic assessment and feedback, and diversity-sensitive assessment. She teaches the three-course psychological assessment sequence in the Psy.D. program and supervises comprehensive battery assessments at the SCPS clinic practicum.

Dr. Krishnamurthy is 2011-2013 President of the Society for Personality Assessment (www.personality.org) and former President (2008) of Section IX (Assessment) of the American Psychological Association's Division 12 (Society of Clinical Psychology). She serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Personality Assessment and Consulting Editor for Assessment and Psychological Assessment journals

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Anthony LoGalbo, Ph.D. is a board certified clinical neuropsychologist. He earned his B.A, at New College of Florida and his Ph.D. at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He was a fellow in the neuropsychology program at the VA Puget Sound Healthcare System. In recent years, he has been a clinical neuropsychologist at the Medical Psychology Associates/Florida Hospital Medical Group. He was affiliated with the Florida Hospital Departments of Neuroscience and  Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation. He is a licensed psychologist in the State of Florida.

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Dr. (Gross) Costopoulos' career has been in the area of forensic psychology. She comes to Florida Tech after serving as the senior forensic psychologist for the Sexually Violent Predator Program of Florida (also known as the Jimmy Ryce Act). Previously she served at a forensic psychiatric inpatient unit at Florida State Hospital where she conducted therapy and assessments, and testified to the court on issues of residents' competency to stand trial, commitment for hospitalization and other forensic matters. While there, she received a number of awards for her outstanding work and contributions.

Dr. Costopoulos is coordinating a number of studies examining the efficacy of programs in the community managing mentally ill offenders. Current research includes evaluating aggression in an inpatient forensic settings and examination of theoretical concepts of psychoanalytic conceptualization of violent criminal behavior.

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Dr. Van Sickle is a Florida licensed psychologist and credentialed by the National Register of Health Service Psychologists. She is also a registered public accountant in the state of Illinois and a National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA) Patient-Centered Medical Home Certified Content Expert (PCMH CCE).  Project Director, HRSA Graduate Psychology Education (GPE) Grant, which provides qualified students with $12,500 stipends/semester (2 semester max.) to complete clinical training experience in one of two integrated primary care practica sites.

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Frank Webbe earned his Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Florida and was on the faculty of the University of Mississippi before joining the Florida Institute of Technology, where he is professor of psychology. The Research Director at the East Central Florida Memory Disorder Clinic, Dr. Webbe has studied standard and computerized methods of early assessment of Alzheimer's disease, and also Applied Behavior Analysis interventions with family caregivers and Alzheimer patients. Through the Florida Tech Sport-Related Concussion Project he has studied the risk factors for concussion in sport, as well best practices for assessing and managing concussion. Dr. Webbe teaches courses in Physiological Psychology, Learning and Motivation, and Cognitive-Affective Bases of Behavior.

He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the National Academy of Neuropsychology, chairman of the State of Florida's Alzheimer's Disease Advisory Committee, and chair-elect of the Technology Professional Interest Area of the International Society to Advance Alzheimer Research and Treatment. He is a former president of the Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Webbe is the NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative at Florida Tech, and is the president-elect of the national Faculty Athletics Representatives Association.

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Gary Burns earned his Ph. D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Central Michigan University in 2006. Gary’s research focuses on measuring and predicting individual differences and developing a better understanding of how these differences are related to organizational behavior and decision making. Applied projects focus on refining and developing performance management systems, developing leader-culture fit, and calibrating trust in human-machine teams. Gary is the director of the Social Cognitive and Sociotechnical Behavior Modeling Laboratory and the Workplace Personality Project. The purpose of the Workplace Personality Project is to promote research into the diverse roles of personality in the workplace to better inform practitioners about how to measure and account for personality. Gary currently serves as an associate editor with the European Journal of Psychological Assessment and is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Business and Psychology and the Journal of Personnel Assessment and Decisions.

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Dr. Che graduated from University of South Florida with a Ph.D. degree in I/O Psychology. Her work focuses on organizational citizenship behaviors, leadership in teams, team development and performance, occupational stress, and workplace safety. She has lead and contributed in many workplace safety improvement projects on safety leadership, leadership in healthcare teams, organizational safety culture and simulation-based leadership training. She currently teaches Introduction to I/O Psychology and a Seminar in Leadership.

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Dr. Converse’s research interests include motivation, particularly self-regulatory processes, personality measurement, and cognitive ability and the ability requirements of occupations. He teaches Personality Psychology, Industrial Training, and Personnel Selection. Dr. Converse received his Ph.D. in I/O Psychology from Michigan State University.

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Dr. Gabrenya received his degree in Psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Dr. Gabrenya's research interests include cross-cultural differences in social interaction and values, social class, Chinese behavior, and cultural differences in sexuality. He is currently the Undergraduate Psychology Chair and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses including cross-cultural psychology, culture and psychology, research methods and social psychology.

Dr. Gabrenya is Secretary-General of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (www.iaccp.org) and editor of the Cross-Cultural Psychology Bulletin (www.iaccp.org/bulletin).

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Dr. Gutman conducts research and consults in the area of EEO law. Dr. Gutman is the author of EEO Law and Personnel Practices.

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Dr. Merlini is the Academic Program Chair for the Master's in Organizational Leadership program. Her research interests include: leadership, self regulation, organizational culture and training. She received her Ph.D. in I/O psychology from Florida Institute of Technology.

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Dr. Steelman's conducts research in the areas of feedback processes, performance management, and employee engagement. She teaches courses in Performance Appraisal, Organizational Change and Transformation, and Advanced Research Methods & Professional Development. She is the Chair of the I/O psychology program and the Director of the Center for Organizational Effectiveness, a campus based consulting group affiliated with the I/O program. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Akron.

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