Faculty

Michele Acker is chair of the department and an associate professor of psychology, with emphases in social psychology, industrial organizational psychology, and personality. She received her doctorate in social psychology from the University of Michigan. Dr. Acker's areas of expertise are in close personal relationships, social stereotyping, the scholarship of teaching, and social influences involving the internet. Some of her research examines perceptions of intimacy between relationship partners and the role that suspicion and trust play in relationships. She teaches courses in general psychology, social psychology, industrial and organizational psychology, psychology of women, personality, and research methods. In 2000, she won the junior faculty teaching award. E-mail: macker@otterbein.edu.

Meredith Frey is a Assistant Professor of Psychology. Dr. Frey is an experimental psychologist with research interests in human intelligence. Her work focuses on identifying basic processes which contribute to overall intellectual functioning. She also enjoys teaching classes in research design and data analysis. Dr. Frey earned her Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University.

Laura Bennett Murphy is an associate professor of psychology with a focus on pediatric psychology and a specialization in children's adaptation to traumatic events. She completed her doctorate in clinical psychology from Duke University and her clinical psychology internship and a post-doctoral fellowship at Columbus Children's Hospital, Ohio State University. As a licensed psychologist, Dr. Bennett Murphy's areas of expertise are developmental and clinical psychology, and her research program integrates these two areas, including studies of unintentional injury among young children. She teaches courses in general psychology, child development, adult development, pediatric psychology, developmental psychopathology, and psychology of women. In 1997, she won the junior faculty teaching award. E-mail: lbennett-murphy@otterbein.edu.

Denise Y. Hatter-Fisher is a professor of psychology. She received her doctorate from The Ohio State University's Department of Psychology in the area of counseling psychology. As a licensed psychologist, Dr. Hatter-Fisher has provided service for a diverse clientele, including the elderly. Her academic research addresses alexithymia and self-regulation as well as quality of life issues for people of color. Her areas of expertise include women's issues, multicultural psychology, and psychophysiology. She teaches courses in abnormal psychology, psychotherapy, personality, human stress, advanced research, and multicultural psychology. E-mail: dhatter@otterbein.edu.

Robert Kraft is a professor of cognitive psychology. After receiving his doctorate from the University of Minnesota, he conducted a fifteen-year research program investigating perception and recall of filmed narratives. More recently, Kraft has studied traumatic memory and its aftereffects, publishing a book on his findings in October of 2002 entitled, Memory Perceived: Recalling the Holocaust. His ongoing research program includes investigations of accuracy in long-term memory, the relationship between attitudes and memory, the recollection of traumatic events, and the psychology of emotion. He teaches seminars on memory and classes in cognition, learning, personality, decision making, and research methods. In 2005, he won the award for Teacher of the Year. E-mail: rkraft@otterbein.edu.

Marjorie Bagwell Kukor is a Visiting Assistant Professor. Dr. Kukor is a licensed clinical psychologist whose areas of interest include: 1) disaster mental health (with a focus on individual/community preparedness, response and recovery), 2) women’s issues, and 3) assessment and treatment of professional religious (priests, nuns, ministers, deacons, etc.). Current research interests involve identifying strategies for conducting field research in a disaster affected area, identification of best practices in the field of disaster mental health, and working with the leadership of religious congregations around issues of diminishment and change. Dr. Kukor earned her Ph.D. from Miami University.

Cynthia Laurie-Rose is an associate professor of experimental psychology, with expertise in perception, physiological psychology, research methods, and the history of psychology. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati in the area of experimental psychology, with an emphasis in perception and cognition. Dr. Laurie-Rose has published articles in the areas of form perception and sustained attention and is currently pursuing research in factors associated with both adult and childhood attention. She teaches courses in general psychology, experimental methods, physiological psychology, perception, advanced research, and history & systems. E-mail: claurie-rose@otterbein.edu.

Noam Shpancer is an associate professor of psychology. He received his Ph.D. at Purdue University, with specialty areas in clinical and developmental psychology. Dr. Shpancer's research interests center on various dimensions of the home-daycare link, including parent-caregiver relations, people's childcare attitudes and perceptions, and children's adaptation across contexts. He is a licensed, practicing clinical psychologist, with a clinical specialty in the assessment and treatment of anxiety disorders. He teaches introductory psychology, child development, personality, abnormal psychology, human sexuality, assessment, advanced research, and health psychology. In 2001, he won the junior faculty teaching award. E-mail: nshpancer@otterbein.edu.