Mandy Hamilton Studies The ‘Effects’ of Summer Research

PORTLAND, Ore. - Women’s Varsity Swimmer, Mandy Hamilton spent a good part of her summer working with her psychology professors and other students on a research project on the Lewis & Clark campus. An abstract of the research project is presented here followed by some of Mandy’s insightful comments about this incredible summer opportunity available to Lewis & Clark students.

*The Effect of Message Framing as a Function of Place*
PI: Brian Detweiler-Bedell, Associate Professor of Psychology
Student RAs: Amanda Hamilton-Cave, Allison Sweeney
Abstract: Attitudes and decisions are often shaped by context quite dramatically and in ways that violate the principles of rationality. One such contextual influence is how decisions are framed. Individuals think and act differently depending on whether they focus on the advantages of a course of action (i.e., a gain frame) versus the drawbacks of inaction (i.e., a loss frame). In this project, we will apply past research concerning psychological message framing to environmental attitudes and decisions. We hypothesize that the concreteness of place will influence the effectiveness of gain-framed versus loss-framed appeals.

As far as my summer research goes: There were a great number (50 or so) of stellar students working under our Lewis & Clark faculty this summer. Not only was it a pleasure to work under Brian & Jerusha Detweiler-Bedell, it was also great to be a part of this little "community" of academic pursuits. In my mind summer research is an invaluable experience. Even though some students will not pursue research as a career, immersing yourself in 10 weeks of 40 hours plus certainly builds intimate relationships with peers and faculty in contingency to equipping students with practical skills that can be applied in and out of the classroom.

This summer also taught me a lot about the value of collaboration. In the scholarly sense, (especially in psychology) collaboration is vital to successful research. Not only does it make things a lot easier, it also generates better quality and is much more rewarding. As an athlete, I think collaboration is very similar (if not analogous) to teamwork. When you are part of a group that is working towards a goal so much more can be accomplished when you work off of each other’s strengths. To summarize, in academia or athletics we all have so much to offer and at the same time so much to learn from each other and I really believe we are most successful when those things come together.