Students are required to complete a research project during their senior year at Monmouth College.  The topic is self-selected, and students receive guidance and feedback from the faculty and fellow students.

While a research project is not required until the senior year, some students become interested in research at an earlier stage in their career and that is also encouraged.

When possible, research is submitted for publication at conferences or in journals.  All seniors are encouraged to present their research at ILLOWA. Some students have also had research presented at MPA.  ILLOWA is a regional undergraduate Psychology conference held annually, and MPA (Midwestern Psychological Association) is an annual professional conference held in Chicago.  In addition to these conferences, students also present their research to the Monmouth College community at the annual Senior Science Poster Session, held near the end of Spring semester.

Justin Fox ('04) presenting his 202 project to interested onlookers at ILLOWA in April, 2003.

Megan Sudholt ('02) presents her senior project, "Effects of Looking at Magazine Advertisements on Self-Esteem," at the 2002 Senior Science Poster Session.

Carmen Alvarado ('02) explains her project entitled "Physical Attractiveness and Its Effect on Jury Verdicts in a Date Rape Case" to Randi Shedloski ('03).

Also at the Senior Science Poster Session, Brenda Mottaz ('02) talks about her study, "Adult Children of Alcoholics and Non-alcoholics: A Comparison of Codependency and Coping Responses."

Heidi Kimball ('02) and Jon McClain ('02) present their senior projects at the poster session, while Dr. Chris Fasano (Physics Dept) looks on.  Heidi and Jon also presented their research with talks at the ILLOWA conference held at Knox College in May, 2002.  Heidi's project examined social perception skills in college students and local nursing home residents, and was titled "Does Age Affect the Social Perception of Others: Using the Interpersonal Perception Task."  Jon's project (conducted using the internet to recruit subjects) examined communication and perception of emotion in email, and was titled "Norms in Computer-Mediated Communication: A Naturalistic Study of Electronic Societies." (Both did a great job giving their conference talks, by the way.)

Other recent student project titles include:

"You Are the Apple of My Eye: Perceived Parental Favoritism in Relation to
      Self-Esteem and Locus of Control," Carrie Gerardi ('03)
"The Effect of Procrastination on Sensation Seeking, Self-Handicapping, and
      the Five Factor Model," Rachel Hulick ('03)
"Shyness and Life Satisfaction: Can Role Playing Change Social Anxiety?" Jon
      Peterson ('03)
"Mommies Wear Dresses and Daddies Wear Ties: Sex-Role Stereotypes of
      Preschoolers," Catrina Pullen ('03)
"The Combined Effects of Music Tempo and Exercise on Mood, Anxiety, and
      Relaxation," Tiffany Robison ('03)
"Speech Therapy and the Initiation of Communication in a Child with Down
      Syndrome," Shanah Thompson ('03)
"The Effects of Parental Marital Status on Intimate Relationships," Amanda Cox
      ('02)
"Social Dominance and Status as Predictors of Drug Use," Regina Mangieri ('02)
"Who is Bluffing? An Analysis of the Effect of Accuracy and Personality Traits
      in Competitive Play," Mac McLaughlin ('02)
"Frustration in Organizations: Effects on Performance," Jennifer Paris ('02)
"Possible Impacts of Abstinence Effects From Smoking on Productivity," A.J.
      Nixon ('02)
"The Restorative Effects of Nature: Does it Help?" Dan Sparks ('02)
"Neurological Theories of Why Dreams Occur," Rebecca Evans ('01)
"Gender and Accuracy: Predictions in Verbal and Spatial Tasks," Rebecca
      Leisher ('01)
"Communication Styles: Comparing Computer-Mediated and Face-to-Face
      Interaction," Heather Mabee ('01)
"A Person-Perception Study of Smokers and Non-Smokers," Marissa Vishnu
      ('01)
"Ambiguous Racial Identity," Vanessa Armstrong ('01)
"How Does love Affect Performance in a Task Situation?" Sara Bliss ('01)
"Misinformation, Priming, and Its Effect on Memory Conformity," Jessica Carson
      ('01)
"How Gesture Affects Word Retrieval," Erin Fink ('01)
"Self-Predictions Among Pool Players: How Accurate Are We?" Amber Fowler
      ('01)
"Physiological Responses of Individuals with High and Low Neuroticism to
      Violent Pictures," Amy Neal ('01)