Maureen Chorney and Joy Reistad, Montana Tech students, recently presented at the 2014 Society for Research on Adolescence (SRA) Biennial Meeting in Austin, TX. SRA is an international organization of both research and clinical psychologists that has a major impact on K-12 and higher education and public policy across the world.
Chorney, a Metallurgical and Materials Engineering student from Townsend, MT, and Reistad, a Computer Science student from Deer Lodge, MT, worked on the research as part of their Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) project last summer. Montana Tech's Undergraduate Research Program engages students in all majors in research projects mentored by faculty. These research experiences add to knowledge and help prepare the students for careers or graduate study after they get their bachelor's degrees from Tech.
Chorney and Reistad’s research was titled, “Parental Abuse, Risky Behavior, and Psychopathic Traits in Adolescents and Early Adults.”
Dr. Scott Risser, associate professor of psychology at Montana Tech and project advisor noted, “Ms. Chorney and Ms. Reistad’s research was impactful enough that we submitted a portion of it for presentation at the SRA meeting. Much to our delight, the poster was accepted. The majority of professionals that present at this conference are either PhDs or doctoral candidates in psychology, so it was quite impressive for two (non-psychology majors) undergraduates to attend, let alone have their research accepted. We are very proud of these students.”