Dr. David F. Tolin

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1. Where are you from originally? Where did you grow up?
I grew up in a suburb of Seattle.

2. Where did you do your undergraduate work and when did you get your degree?
I received a BA in psychology at the University of Washington in 1990, and an MS in psychology at Western Washington University in 1992.

3. When did you get your Ph.D.?
I received by Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas in 1997.

4. Who was your faculty mentor and what kind of projects did you work on while at the University of Arkansas?
Jeff Lohr was my mentor at UA. Right off the bat he got me involved in a variety of projects.  We started with some studies of perpetrators of domestic violence, and I also did a bit of work with him on body image and disordered eating.  Jeff and I also did some preliminary investigations of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, and followed that up with a series of critiques of that treatment.  When it came time for me to start developing my own research projects, I became interested in information-processing aspects of anxiety disorders, as well as the involvement of disgust in conditions such as blood-injection-injury phobia.  In subsequent years, some other students picked up on the latter line of research and have come out with very impressive studies.

5. What was the title of your dissertation?
The title of my dissertation was "Cognition and Emotion in Specific Phobia".

6. Describe some of the work you published (i.e., Representative publications)

These are publications from my days in Fayetteville:

7. Why did you choose the U of A to do your graduate work?
When I was at Western Washington, my mentor there, Ronald Kleinknecht, told me about a colleague of his who was doing some interesting research in anxiety and PTSD.  That colleague was Jeff Lohr, whom I later met at a continuing education seminar.  We started talking about research ideas.  Then everything went dark and I woke up in Fayetteville. OK, I'm kidding about that last part.  But as I got to learn more about Jeff's research ideas and plans, I realized that UA would be a great fit for my interests.

8. What did you think of the U of A campus and the Fayetteville area?
Coming from so far away, I had no idea what to expect.  I even had to look up Arkansas on a map to remind myself where it was.  But I was delighted when I got there to find such a great campus in a wonderful, vibrant town. 

9. What sorts of things did you do for fun as a graduate student?
I have great memories of the outdoor activities around Fayetteville: exploring the caves at Devil's Den, hiking and camping in the Ozarks, bass fishing on Beaver Lake.  Used to love browsing around the Farmer's Market and then hitting the coffee shops on Dickson Street.  I played intramural softball and basketball for the psych department, and would like to take this opportunity to publicly apologize to my teammates for my lack of athletic skill.

10. What sorts of research, teaching and clinical experience did the UA program give you?
UA was my first serious research experience and I was hooked immediately.  I got to study a lot of different clinical phenomena from a lot of different angles.  Jeff was also extremely influential in shaping my critical thinking skills, and I definitely look at research differently now.  I also got the opportunity to teach Introductory Psychology and Abnormal Psychology.

11. What are some of your fondest memories of being a graduate student?
I really loved the sense of possibility.  At UA I had the sense that all doors were open and I could determine the direction of my future. 

12. What are you doing right now?
In 2000 I started the Anxiety Disorders Center at the Institute of Living, one of the country's oldest psychiatric hospitals.  As Director, I spend most of my time conducting research, and am principal investigator on two research grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).  I am also co-investigator on two other NIMH grants with colleagues from Smith College and Boston University.  The Anxiety Disorders Center also houses a thriving outpatient clinic specializing in cognitive-behavioral therapy for adults, adolescents, and children.  I also supervise graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and teach courses in cognitive-behavioral therapy.  I also have two books that will be coming out this fall.  You should buy several copies.

13. What are your plans for the future?
As I write these responses, I'm taking a break from working on several large-scale NIMH grant proposals that will (hopefully) keep me plenty busy for the next several years. 

14. What advice would you give someone thinking of going to graduate school in psychology?
Mentor, mentor, mentor.  Pick the right person to work with and life will go very well.

15. Anything else you'd like to tell us about your time at the University of Arkansas?
What can I say?  It's a great school in a great town. 

Dr. Jason Scofield

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1. Where are you from originally? Where did you grow up?
I'm originally from Flint, Michigan but also lived in Siloam Springs, Arkansas and Greenwood, South Carolina.

2. Where did you do your undergraduate work at and when did you get your degree?
I graduated from Grand Valley State University (Michigan) with a B.S. in Psychology in 1998.

3. When did you get your Ph.D.?
I graduated from UA with a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology in 2003.

4. Who was your faculty mentor and what kind of projects did you work on while at the University of Arkansas?
Dr. Doug Behrend was my faculty mentor and we studied children's language development.

5. What was the title of your dissertation?

My dissertation was entitled: Word Learning in the Absence of Joint Attention

6. Describe some of the work you published (i.e., Representative publications)
I research the conditions in which children learn, or fail to learn, new words.  I've conducted projects that vary the accuracy of a speaker, the presence of a speaker, the presence of supporting cues, the presence of previously learn words, and the intentions of a speaker.  Here's a recent sample of some of those projects:

Scofield, J., Behrend, D. A., Foster, K., & Miller, A. (2006). Word Learning from Reliable and Unreliable Speakers. Presented at the International Conference on Infant Studies. Kyoto, Japan.

Scofield, J., Williams, A., & Behrend, D. A. (2006). Word learning in the absence of a speaker. Manuscript under review, First Language.

Scofield, J. & Behrend, D. A. (2006). Word learning in the absence of joint attention. Manuscript under review, Language Learning and Development.

Scofield, J. & Behrend, D. A. (2006). Two-year-olds differentially disambiguate words and facts. Manuscript under review, Journal of Child Language.

Behrend, D. A. & Scofield, J. (2006). Verbs, actions, and intentions. In K. Hirsh-Pasek & R. Golinkoff (Eds.) Early verb learning: Action meets words. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

7. Why did you choose the U of A to do your graduate work?
I chose UA because I enjoyed meeting Dr. Behrend on an earlier visit to campus and was interested in his work.

8. What did you think of the U of A campus and the Fayetteville area?
I thought UA had a beautiful campus and Fayettevill e was the perfect college town - I still miss it.

9. What sorts of things did you do for fun as a graduate student?
For fun I played golf with Dr. Behrend and Dr. Schroeder, went to football games, played golf, went to basketball games, played golf, went to baseball games, played golf, jogged at Wilson Park with my future wife, played golf, spent all night on Dickson Street, and played golf.  Also, I played golf.

10. What sorts of research and teaching experience did the UA program give you?
The UA Psychology Department gave me many different research and teaching opportunities.  In addition to Dr. Behrend's research lab, I was at different times able to participate in Dr. Schroeder's lab, Dr. Lampinen's lab, Dr. Stripling's lab, Dr. Levine's lab, Dr. Murray's lab, and Dr. Bering's lab.  With time, I'm sure I would have invaded Dr. Beike's lab too (if she would have let me!).  I was also able to teach 4 different classes including Introductory Psychology, Infancy and Early Childhood, Childhood and Adolescence, and Statistics.  Statistics was easily the most fun, seriously.

11. What are some of your fondest memories of being a graduate student?
I have lots of fond memories from my graduate student days, many of which involve other graduate students (e.g., late night studying, late nights on Dickson Stree t, lots of discussions about lots of things, and playing basketball at the HYPR).  And some involve my professors (e.g., playing golf with Dr. Behrend and Dr. Schroeder, shooting pool with Dr. Stripling, watching hockey with Dr. Levine, hoping for a sticker in Dr. Beike's class, discussing statistics teaching with Dr. Freund, seeing Dr. Westendorf at the Brew Pub, and laughing, with/at Dr. Bonge).

12. What are you doing right now?
I am currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Alabama and director of the Bama Cognitive Development lab.

13. What are your plans for the future?
My plans are to continue researching the conditions under which children learn new words.

14. What advice would you give someone thinking of going to graduate school in psychology?
Choose a place, and a faculty mentor, that will genuinely care about your graduate school experience.

15. Anything else you'd like to tell us about your time at the University of Arkansas?
I was happy with everything about UA: the training, the opportunities, the support, the campus, the town, and, most certainly, the people.