Contact: Aga Haupt
Top, Randy Brou with associate professor Stephanie Doane center, Isaac Shields (r) with associate professor Gary Bradshaw and bottom, Kevin Harris (r) with associate professor Gary Bradshaw
Mississippi State students from Hancock and Clay counties and Jackson, Tenn., are the first to receive research honors given by the university's psychology department.
Randy J. Brou of Bay St. Louis, Isaac S. Shields of West Point and Kevin R. Harris of Jackson, all majors in the department, recently were recognized by the 2002 Psychology Research Forum. Established this year, the forum honors majors whose research hypotheses are most clearly supported by the findings of their investigations and whose research goals are most successfully accomplished.
As the top winners, each received a plaque and $100 gift certificate to the MSU Bookstore.
Brou, a doctoral student, examined the effects of disorientation on a human's ability to locate objects in a virtual environment. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Brou, he earlier received bachelor's degree in psychology at MSU.
Shields, a senior and the son of Dr. and Mrs. John Shields, completed a study related to Stroop Effect, a cognitive phenomenon (first described in 1935 by Tennessee psychologist J.R. Stroop) that illustrates humans' ability to read words faster than they can name colors.
Harris, who graduated from MSU in May with a master's degree and begins study toward a doctorate in the fall, demonstrated how some individuals better comprehend directions for prescribed medications when receiving a "time of day" list for which the medicine is to be taken. He also holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee. [Parents not listed.]