UCSB Close Relationships lab

 
 

 


Biography - After receiving her BA in Psychology from UCLA, Professor Collins completed her PhD in Social Psychology at the University of Southern California. She returned to UCLA for a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Health Psychology, and then served as a professor of Social Psychology at the State University of New at Buffalo from 1993 to 1997. Dr. Collins joined the Psychology Department at UCSB in 1997. Dr. Collins includes among her professional honors the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) Theoretical Innovation Prize (2007), the Harold J. Plous Award for outstanding contributions to teaching and research at UCSB (2002), and the Young Investigator Award from the Close Relationships group of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology (1991). Dr. Collins has also received numerous honors for excellence in teaching at UCSB, including an Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award (2005) and two Outstanding Faculty Member Awards (1998, 2010). Dr. Collins is currently chair of the Quantitative Methods in Social Sciences (QMSS) program. She teaches courses in close relationships, research methods, introductory statistics, multivariate statistics, and structural equation modeling. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Fetzer Foundation.

Research Interests - Dr. Collins’ research lies at the interface of close relationships, social cognition, and health psychology. Her research explores the social and cognitive processes that shape close relationships in adulthood, and the impact that these processes have on health and well-being across the lifespan. Most of this work is guided by adult attachment theory. Within these broad domains, her current research activities are focused on three main topics:

(1) social perception processes in close relationships, with emphasis on the ways in which working models (mental representations) of attachment shape how individuals construe their relationship experiences,

(2) social support and caregiving processes in couples, with emphasis on the factors that predict effective support-seeking and caregiving behavior in intimate relationships, including neuroendocrine and cardiovascular mechanisms, and

(3) psychosocial predictors of health and well-being, with emphasis on the psychological and biological mechanisms through which close relationships affect health outcomes.





Biography - Cynthia Khan received her B.S. in Biology and Psychology at Truman State University, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Kent State University.  Her dissertation, guided by Dr. Mary Ann Parris Stephens, investigated 1) daily associations between spouses’ social support and social control and patients’ management of their diabetes through physical exercise and 2) the roles of patients’ emotional responses and gender in these associations.  Much of her research has investigated cognitive and emotional processes that affect, and are affected by, spouses’ social support and social control in older adult couples living with one partner’s chronic illness.  She joined the Close Relationships Lab as a postdoctoral researcher in Fall 2010.

Research Interests - For her postdoctoral research on couples, Cynthia intends to investigate how each partner’s emotions, cognitions, and physiological responses influence, and are influenced by, social support exchanges. Her current research interests are focused on 2 topics:

1)  Ambivalent or mixed messages in social support exchanges and how such messages influence each partner’s cognitive, emotional, and physiological responses

2)  Communal or dyadic coping in couples and how this form of coping influences social support exchanges and each partner’s cognitive, emotional, and physiological responses during these exchanges








Biography -  Lisa came to UCSB in 2005 after graduating with her B.A. from SUNY Buffalo. She has been supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and a McNair Scholars graduate fellowship. She has been a teaching assistant for statistics, research methods, and close relationships, and is a co-instructor for the Psychology Department Teaching Assistant Training Program (TAAP). In addition to her research with Dr. Collins, Lisa collaborates with David Sherman, Brenda Major, Grainne Fitzsimons, and Shira Gabriel. Lisa served on the APA Science Student Council (APASSC) and has received numerous grants and awards for her research.


Research Interests - My research interests lie in the domain of interpersonal relationships and stem from three primary theoretical traditions: risk regulation theory, attachment theory, and motivational perspectives on the need to belong. My research focuses on three related areas:

  1. 1)The intersection of the self and close relationships

  2. 2)Intrapersonal and interpersonal responses to rejection and other threats to belonging

3) Stress, coping, and social support processes with an emphasis on their underlying mechanisms.

Across these three areas, I am particularly interested in the interface between physiological and psychological processes with a specialization in the endocrine and cardiovascular systems. My research also aims to capitalize on the benefits of multi-method data collection by using experimental, observational, longitudinal, and daily diary data collection techniques.






 


 

Biography and Research Interests - Molly came to UCSB in 2009 after completing her undergraduate studies in Psychology, Music, and Women's Studies at Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, during which time she conducted an honors thesis examining the relationship between relationship status, quality of social networks, and gender. Molly is currently working on several studies examining social support processes in couples. Molly is also interested in exploring attribution and relationship maintenance processes using an attachment theory framework.

Lab Alumni

 

Lisa Allard, PhD

Dr. Allard graduated (from SUNY Buffalo) in 1998 and is currently Vice President and Director of Analytical Development at PhaseOne Communications in Los Angeles, CA

Brooke Feeney, PhD

Dr. Feeney graduated (from SUNY Buffalo) in 1999 and is currently an Associate Professor of Psychology and Endowed Junior Chair at Carnegie Mellon University.

Maire Ford, PhD

Dr. Ford graduated in 2006 and is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA.

AnnaMarie Guichard, PhD

Dr. Guichard graduated in 2007 and is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychology
at California State University at Stanislaus.

Heidi Kane, PhD

Dr. Kane graduated in 2009 and is currently an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow
in Health Psychology at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)

Bianca Acevedo, PhD

Dr. Acevedo was a postdoctoral scholar in our lab from 2008-2010 and is still collaborating with us on a number of projects.

 

People in the Lab

Dr. Nancy Collins
Lab Director

Contact Information:

Phone: (805) 893-2804
Fax: (805) 893-4303
E-Mail:
ncollins@psych.ucsb.edu
Office: Psychology East (Building 251), Room 3822

Molly Metz

Contact Information:

Phone: (805) 893-2804
E-Mail:
metz@psych.ucsb.edu
Office: Psychology Building, Room 2625

Postdoctoral Fellows

 

Graduate Students

 

Lisa Jaremka

Contact Information:

Phone: (805) 893-2804
E-Mail:
ljaremka@gmail.com      Website: www.lisajaremka.com
Office: Psychology Building, Room 2239

Dr. Cynthia Khan

Contact Information:
E-Mail:
khan@psych.ucsb.edu
Office: Psychology Building, Room 2219