Butler Summer Institute Recipients

The Butler Summer Institute has been developed to provide an opportunity, and privilege, for “the best and brightest” of Butler’s students to engage in learning that is creative, experiential, and investigation oriented by collaborating with Butler faculty.

The benefits of being a Butler Scholar:

  • Meet, interact and support other students equally interested in research or other creative endeavor.
  • Establish close professional relationships with members of the faculty.
  • Work on a project that may lead to a publication in a peer-reviewed journal, a presentation at a scholarly conference, or a public performance.
  • Contribute to the Institute’s mission and tradition.
  • Explore your commitment to original research or creative activity.
  • Engage in learning that makes critical connections between the classroom, lab, different courses of study and the undergraduate and educational community.

Psychology recipients of the Butler Summer Institute Award

2024

  • Makenna Frias, Mentors: Dr. Brian Day and Dr. Candice Dreves Fear of Failure and Academic Self-Concept in Relation to Test Anxiety
  • Anna Pierce, Mentor: Dr. Stacy Wetmore Behind Bars, Behind Lies: The Role of Jailhouse Informants in Juror’s Decision-Making
  • Alyssa Potts, Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Berry Voluntary intermittent access to nicotine and alcohol in mice – consumption and withdrawal

2023

  • Amarpreet Kaur, Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Berry Sex differences in combined alcohol and caffeine consumption in adolescent mice

2021

  • Presley Fletcher, Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Berry Effects of intermittent alcohol and nicotine co-consumption in C57BL/6J mice

2019

  • Melissa Evans, Mentor:  Dr. Jennifer Berry Anxiety Inducing Effects of Alcohol and Caffeine in C57BL/6J Mice

2018

  • Shriya Vinjimoor, Mentor:  Dr. Jennifer Berry Effects of Alcohol and Nicotine Co-dependence in a Binge-like Animal Model

2017

  • Amanda Wallace, Mentor:  Dr. Neil Bohannon Matched vs. Mismatched Gender and Course Subject Effects of Learning

2016

  • Avery Charron, Mentor:  Dr. Neil Bohannon Physiological Arousal and Its Effect on Memory:  Visual vs. Verbal

2015

  • Dan Evans, Mentor: Dr. Mandy Gingerich Effects of an Exogenous Moving Cue on Reaction Time and Response Error Rates
  • Emily Farrer, Psychology and Music Mentors: Dr. Tara Lineweaver and Dr. Tim Brimmer Play It Again, Sam!  Using Individualized Music Listening to Improve the Social Interactions of Dementia Patients
  • Colleen Frank, Mentor: Dr. Tara Lineweaver If They’re Happy, Do You Know It?  An Investigation of the Emotion Recognition Abilities of Parkinson’s Disease Patients Compared to Healthy Older Adults.
  • Lauren Murphy, Mentor: Dr. Ali O’Malley Good Leaders Give Good Feedback:  How Emotional Intelligence and Implicit Theories Enable Leaders to Develop Themselves and Others

2014

  • Ian Katz, Mentor: Dr. Ali O’Malley Believing in the Change We Seek:  Implicit Person Theories and Negative Feedback
  • Anna Sutter, Mentor: Dr. Neil Bohannon Flashbulb Memories of Coming Out: Child and Parent Perspective
  • Gabrielle Tatara, Mentor: Dr. Kate Morris The Effect of Priming God Concepts on Interpersonal Interactions
  • Zach Walter, Mentor: Dr. Mandy Gingerich The Pokemon Effect: An Investigation of the Cognitive Factors that Predict Desirable Difficulties

2013

  • Kaylin Beckwith, Mentor: Dr. Tara Lineweaver The Power of Individual Art Versus Collaborative Art to Improve Mood in Grieving Children
  • Renato Puga, Mentor: Dr. Neil Bohannon The Effects of Tylenol on Non-Social Emotional Memory Effects

2012

  • Karina Hamamouche, Mentor: Dr. Neil Bohannon Memories for Traumatic Childhood injuries
  • Aimee Wilkinson, Mentor: Dr. Mandy Gingerich Using Students’ Judgments of Learning to Predict and Improve Test Performance

2011

  • Dominick Atkinson, Mentor: Dr. Neil Bohannon The Effect of Emotion on Group Recall 
  • Claire Brownson, Mentor: Dr. Brian Giesler Self-Regulation:  An “Active Ingredient” in the Spirituality-Health Relationship
  • Jasmen Rice, Mentor: Dr. Neil Bohannon Flashbulb Memories of the Resignation of Butler University’s President 

2010

  • Nicole Ehlert, Mentor: Dr. Ali O’Malley Emotional Intelligence:  Examining an Effect on Marriage Outcomes 
  • Laura Fels, Mentor: Dr. Neil Bohannon Affect and Consequentiality Effects on Remembering Important Childhood Events
  • Alissa Fritz, Mentor: Dr. Neil Bohannon Context Dependent Memory with Nonsense Words 

2009

  • Sarah Gillot, Mentor: Dr. Neil Bohannon Sweet Smooches:  The Effects of Glucose on Retrieval of Romantic Kiss Memories 
  • Samantha Meints, Mentor: Dr. Tara Lineweaver The Effects of Emotions on the Memory of Autistic Children 
  • Walter Stamp, Mentor: Dr. Tara Lineweaver An Investigation of Language Impairment in Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease and Huntington’s Disease