Dr. Melisa Barden joined the Walsh faculty in August 2010. Born and raised outside of Buffalo, NY, she attended Niagara University where she earned her BA in Psychology with minors in Mathematics and Sociology in 2005. She yearned for a break from the intense Buffalo winters, so she moved down to the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) for graduate school. It was there that she realized she had a passion for teaching. She always enjoys teaching how the concepts within psychology can be applied to our everyday experiences. She taught a variety of courses at UTA and at some local community colleges while working on her doctorate. She earned her MS in Psychology in 2008 and her PhD in Experimental Psychology in 2010. Since joining the Cav Nation in 2010, she commonly teaches Principles of Psychology, Human Development, Social Psychology, Forensic Psychology, I/O Psychology, and the Senior Research capstone class. On a personal note, you can find her reading, swimming, attending Walsh sporting events, and shuttling her kids to their many sports/activities (and being their #1 fan in the stands—tied with her husband).
Publications:
Kenworthy, J. B., Barden, M. A., Diamond, S., & del Carmen, A. (2011). Ingroup identification as a moderator of racial bias in a shoot—no shoot decision task. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 14, 311-318.
Popan, J. R., Kenworthy, J. B., Barden, M.A. & Griffiths, J. (2010). Intergroup bias in weight controllability attributions. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 13, 319-328.
Peer-Reviewed Poster Presentations:
2019-2020
Jawo, M., Wettengel, K., Fete, Z., Adams, J., Long, K., Lucid, T., Barden, M.A., & (accepted). Developing and testing social media posts that vary in degree of depression conveyed. Poster accepted for at the annual meeting of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, New Orleans, LA.
2018-2019
Akula, S., Barker, M., Colbert, K., Morgan, A., Barden, M. & Knack, J.M. (2019, February). Detecting depression from mock social media posts: Effect of post creator’s age on expressing concern and offering help. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, Portland, OR.
Barker, M., Colbert, K., Akula, S., Barden, M., Iyer-Eimerbrink, P.A., & Knack, J.M. (2019, February). Forming impressions from mock social media profiles: Influence of profile content, mental health, and empathy. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, Portland, OR.
2017-2018
Barden, M. A. (2018, January). Tips for helping students complete an original experiment in a one-semester course. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology, St. Pete Beach, FL.
Faculty Supervisor for the following Peer-Reviewed Students Poster Presentations:
2018-2019
Lybarger, S., Koehler, A., Thompson, N., & Barden, M.A. (2019, April). Examining the Effects Vocal Tone has on the Perception of Time. Poster accepted for presentation at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
2017-2018
Fahey, A., Baker, A., Knight, C., & Barden, M. A. (2018, March). Levels of Relaxation Associated with Varying Types of Background Noise. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Philadelphia, PA.
Valle, M., Llanes, P., Jackson, M., Shaw, M., Turner, R., & Barden, M. A. (2018, March). College Students’ Memory Recall in Task Categorization. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Philadelphia, PA.
