April 15, 2019
Alaia Singh ’21
Professor Kelley publishes with four students
Sam Curry '19 (from left), Nicole Hueng '18, Magdalen Kroeger '18, and Madison Copeland '18 were co-authors on their first...
Professor of Psychology Matt Kelley and four students in his research lab have published an article in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology—a first for the students but Kelley’s 30th published paper.
Magdalen Kroeger ’18, Nicole Hueng ’18, Samuel Curry ’19, and Madison Copeland ’18 co-authored the article, “On the composition of part-set cues,” showing that, whereas hints often hurt memory on standard recall tests, certain types of hints are more disruptive than others.
“The students were involved with every aspect of the study—from initial conception of the research question to experimental design and implementation, to data collection and analysis, to the writing of the article,” Kelley said. “It represents roughly two years of work in the lab.” This is a successful approach Kelley has used to help 31 students at Lake Forest College become published authors.
Curry, who is a majoring in neuroscience and minoring in chemistry, began working with Kelley during the four-week Summer Richter Scholar Program in 2016. Continuing in Kelley’s lab during his sophmore and junior years, Curry gained much experience in research design, data collection, and data analysis. “Working in Dr. Kelley’s lab has been one of the major highlights of college for me,” Curry said. “He is an amazing professor, and has been a wonderful mentor for me throughout my college career.”
Kroeger credits working in Kelley’s lab with helping her get to where she is today: Working on her master’s in social work at Washington University.
“Being part of Professor Kelley’s research projects gave me confidence and reassurance that research is something I was good at and interested in,” Kroeger said.
Kroeger also worked in Associate Professor of Psychology Susan Long’s research lab and completed a senior thesis under her direction. This combination of laboratory experiences influenced Kroeger in her decision to apply for graduate-school programs highly focused on research.
“I would not have applied to the program at Washington University if I had not been so immersed in research in Lake Forest College,” she said. Being published for the first time “is a great reference to show my ability to carry out effective research. This will help me move forward in my pursuit of research-related jobs.”