MTSU Department of Psychology

Middle Tennessee Psychological Association Conference

Middle Tennessee Psychological Association

Spring 2026 Meeting

April 25, 2026

Middle Tennessee State University will be hosting the Middle Tennessee Psychological Association’s 2026 spring meeting. The meeting provides an excellent opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to present their research projects.
Download the 2026 Abstracts Book

Schedule

Note: All times listed are for the U.S. central time zone.
The live event will be in the Academic Classroom Building (ACB) on MTSU’s campus (campus map)

Grab some breakfast and visit with your colleagues before the sessions start.

1001

Trauma Versus Behavioral Disorders in Children: A Literature Review and Proposed Clinical Framework for Trauma-Informed Assessment. Zarin (she/her), University of Texas Arlington
Tracy Gayle (she/her) faculty advisor, Purdue University

1002

More Than Correct or Incorrect: Exploring Correlated Scoring Methods in Spelling Assessments. Cameryn Vongphachanh (she/her) and Wiebke Meyer (she/her), Middle Tennessee State University
Stuart Bernstein (he/him) faculty advisor, Middle Tennessee State University

1003

Sleep, Family Context, and Academic Functioning in Community Youth: Extending an Ongoing Boys & Girls Club Partnership. Trinity Johnson (she/her), Middle Tennessee State University
Megan Zeringue (she/her) faculty advisor, Middle Tennessee State University

1004

Investigating the Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Engagement with App-Based Treatment Among Older Adults. Sophia Hession (she/her) and Margaret C. Fahey (she/her), Middle Tennessee State University
Margaret C. Fahey (she/her) faculty advisor, Middle Tennessee State University

1005

Prosperity Beliefs Under Stress: Relations with Religious Doubt and Well-Being. Claire R. Simmons1 (she/her), Shiann A. Roker1 (she/her), Mckenna Buz’Zard1 (she/her), Mary Evans Cooper1 (she/her), Grace Henry1 (she/her), Aaron Barnes1 (he/him), Douglas S. Krull2 (he/him), Joseph J. Horton3 (he/him), and Jonathan P. Miller1 (he/him)

1Lipscomb University, 2Northern Kentucky University, 3Grove City College
Douglas S. Krull2 (he/him), Joseph J. Horton3 (he/him), and Jonathan P. Miller1 (he/him) faculty advisors

1006

Does Structure Building Predict Pyramid Power Belief Formation? Cody Kimbrell (he/him) and William Langston (he/him), Middle Tennessee State University
William Langston (he/him) faculty advisor, Middle Tennessee State University

1007

Internalizing Issues and Sleep Disturbances in Children. Karlee Cantrell (she/her) and Megan A Zeringue (she/her), Middle Tennessee State University
Megan A Zeringue (she/her) faculty advisor, Middle Tennessee State University

1008

Aging, Creativity, and Brain Microstructure: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Investigation. Erika E. Prante1 (she/her), Ashlyn B. Miller1 (she/her), Gamze Mert1 (she/her), Sara N. Hauter1 (she/her), Karen M. Botros1 (she/her), Tara M. Kirkpatrick1 (she/her), Michelle L. Houston2 (she/her), and James R. Houston1 (he/him)

1Middle Tennessee State University, 2Vanderbilt Health
James R. Houston1 (he/him) faculty advisor

1009

Exploring the Associations among Pain and Normative Age-Related Cognitive Decline: Resting-State Power Spectral Density & N-Back Performance. Gamze Mert (she/her), Karen M. Botros (she/her), Karim Al-Amin (he/him), Mallory G. Smith (she/her), Erika E. Prante (she/her), Ashlyn B. Miller (she/her), Sara N. Hauter (she/her), Talia W. Sanford (she/her), Maya El Said (she/her), and James R. Houston (he/him), Middle Tennessee State University
James R. Houston (he/him) faculty advisor, Middle Tennessee State University

1010

Exploring the Associations among Pain and Normative Age-Related Cognitive Decline: Visual Search Performance and Event-Related Potentials. Talia W. Sanford (she/her), Sara N. Hauter (she/her), Maya El Said (she/her), Ashlyn B. Miller (she/her), Erika E. Prante (she/her), Mallory G. Smith (she/her), Gamze Mert (she/her), Karen M. Botros (she/her), Karim Al-Amin (he/him), and James R. Houston (he/him), Middle Tennessee State University
James R. Houston (he/him) faculty advisor, Middle Tennessee State University

ACB Room 104

Olfactory information is critical in our navigation of the world, but much olfactory information is processed below the level of conscious awareness. Despite our lack of direct attention, the sense of smell and its interactions with other types of sensory input can influence our social interactions, decision making, wellbeing, and enjoyment of food, beverages, and environmental odors. In this talk I will discuss current and past research from my lab into how the sense of smell affects social judgments, impacts taste and flavor perception, and is associated with other types of sensory processing. Listeners may begin to consider how much importance they attribute to the sense of smell in their everyday lives.

Dr. Jessica Gaby

Dr. Jessica Gaby, MTSU Department of Psychology

Jessica Gaby is an assistant professor of Psychology at MTSU. She received her PhD (2016) in Psychology from Cornell University and completed postdocs in Food Science at Rutgers and Penn State Universities. Her work focuses on the ways that the chemical senses and sensory processing impact our everyday lives. She is especially interested in how body odor influences social interactions.

Each spoken paper will run for 12 minutes (including questions) and will break for three minutes to change speakers and allow attendees to switch rooms, if desired.

Spoken papers Room 1

ACB Room 110

(11:15)

Comparing the Self-Reference Experience Component to Global Experience Measures in Predicting Belief Formation. Selvia Ibrahim (she/her), Acacia Zuniga (she/her), Meaghan Bynum (she/her), Evan Kirk (he/him), and Tyla Tyrell (she/her), Middle Tennessee State University
William Langston (he/him) faculty advisor, Middle Tennessee State University

(11:30)

A Linear Regression Analysis of Experience Scene Components. Liz Parolini (she/her), Autumn Cadieux (she/her), Moriah Thomas (she/her), and Vanshika Jaikumar (she/her), Middle Tennessee State University
Williiam Langston (he/him) faculty advisor, Middle Tennessee State University

(11:45)

Implicit and Explicit Components in Belief Models. Rhys Stephens (they/them), Evan Crouse (he/him), Cecilia Bush (she/her), Shariya Jackson (she/her), and Alex Chukas (she/her), Middle Tennessee State University
William Langston (he/him) faculty advisor, Middle Tennessee State University

(12:00)

Religious, LGBTQ+, Gender, And Racial Prejudice in Traditional Religious, Spiritual but not Religious, and Witch Populations. Jada Collier (she/her) and William Langston (he/him), Middle Tennessee State University
William Langston (he/him) faculty advisor, Middle Tennessee State University

Spoken papers Room 2

ACB Room 112

(11:15)

Social Preference in Dominant versus Submissive Rats. Sophie Duffy (she/her) and Dr. Annie Galizio (she/her), Middle Tennessee State University
Dr. Annie Galizio (she/her) faculty advisor, Middle Tennessee State University

(11:30)

Rhythms in Syllable Emphasis: Exploring Lexical Stress Sensitivity in Older Adults with Links to Speech-in-Noise Perception, Rhythm Skills, and Musical Training. Elizabeth Lawrence1 (she/her), Will Hiser2 (he/him), Jeffrey Eum3 (he/him), Terrin Tamati4 (she/her), Srishti Nayak2 (she/her), and Cyrille Magne1 (he/him)

1Middle Tennessee State University, 2Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), 3Vanderbilt University, 4The Ohio State University
Terrin Tamati4 (she/her), Srishti Nayak2 (she/her), and Cyrille Magne1 (he/him) faculty advisors

(11:45)

What’s Out There, and Will It Replicate? Using Existing Data to Predict Outcomes for a Study of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena. James W. Lowe (he/him) and William Langston (he/him), Middle Tennessee State University
William Langston (he/him) faculty advisor, Middle Tennessee State University

(12:00)

Affective Resonance and Cognitive Conflict: Empathy’s Role in Alpha and N400 Responses to Incongruent Music-Language Priming. Madison Ramsby (she/her), Middle Tennessee State University
Cyrill Magne (he/him) faculty advisor, Middle Tennessee State University

Guidelines and Information

  • The 2026 conference will be live. The live event will be on MTSU’s campus in the Academic Classroom Building (ACB).
  • The submission deadline is April 17, 2026. All submissions received by the deadline will be accepted for presentation.
  • Presentations on completed research, ongoing research, research proposals, or replications of classic studies are encouraged.
  • The research should have been conducted by an undergraduate or graduate student. If a faculty member is a co-author, the student should be first author. The student researcher will be expected to make the presentation.
  • Please register for the event. People attending live should be prepared to pay the appropriate cash registration fee.
Online Registration Form

(Register by April 17, 2026)

Oral Presentations
  • Use the submission form and indicate that you will be making an oral presentation.
  • There will be a limited number of slots available for oral presentations. If we cannot accommodate your presentation, we will offer you the chance to make it a poster presentation.
  • Presenters will have 12 minutes to present, including time for questions.
Online Submission Form

(Submit by April 17, 2026)

Poster Presentations
  • Use the submission form and indicate that you will be presenting a poster.
  • Plan your presentation for a 2-minute drill and engage the audience in conversation if they want to ask questions. Please do not freeze the audience for a long talk; we want people to be able to visit multiple posters, so they need to be able to leave your poster after a few minutes.
Online Submission Form

(Submit by April 17, 2026)

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Contact Information

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