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Nancy Steblay: Psychology chair and science shepherd Graduating seniors last May chose psychology Professor Nancy Steblay as the honored faculty person from the Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Steblay says that students appreciate her enthusiasm and love for her discipline. Marissa Hutterer, a 1999 psychology graduate, concurred. "Dr. Steblay's constant smile and words of encouragement have been an inspiration to her students. Her vast amount of knowledge in the discipline at first intimidated me, but also led me to a greater appreciation and love of psychology." Steblay, a social psychologist, has focused her own research on the application of psychology to law - examining how human behavior can inform the legal assumptions that build the base of law. One example is research she published concerning police line-up procedures. Through both behavioral experimentation and meta-analysis (the study of results across a wide body of research literature), Steblay and student researchers were able to demonstrate effects of eyewitness behavior from different kinds of instruction. Her findings contributed to a set of recommendations for court and police policy. Steblay has effectively shaped research that student projects can build on from year to year. This year she published a study that was carried out and co-authored by 1997 graduates Jasmina Besirevic and Belia Jimenez-Lorente. Their findings supported the legal assumptions that pre-trial publicity has negative effects on how jurors judge a defendant, but it also showed that the legal remedies prescribed (for instance, jury selection) do not neutralize the negative effects. This past year, Steblay encouraged senior Heather Klempp to build on the Besirevic and Jimenez-Lorente project by testing the cognitive processes of mock jurors prior to and during a trial. "I'm just astounded how the students take it and run with it," said Steblay, adding that it's all part of the department's focus to expose students to the widest options in psychology. Besirevic and Jimenez-Lorente were both sociology majors working with Steblay. Their work contributed to the development of a concentration in social psychology, an interdisciplinary effort between the two departments that begins this fall. In 1998, academic Dean Marie McNeff asked Steblay to serve as the "shepherd" for a new science building - the person who coordinates the visioning process, leads planning and articulates the process to the campus and community. McNeff explained that Steblay is a respected faculty member who can effectively help the College shape a comprehensive and inclusive curriculum, making the sciences accessible to all students, not just the science majors. Steblay describes the vision as a comprehensive science complex that will house the physical and behavioral sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, math and psychology), and also provide facilities to support general education science courses, K through 12 science teacher training and many research endeavors of the social sciences and professional studies. For psychology, she hopes for several much-needed laboratories: biopsychology, for biological experiments; social psychology, for observation of group processes; memory and learning, for computer lab simulations; and developmental psychology, to study children's behaviors. Steblay especially anticipates a new building with "a very inviting look, that will attract community people for events and activities, as well as research." The new science building is an integral part of the strategic planning process and Augsburg's Vision 2004. |
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