Psychology Department News

Recognized as champions for justice, civil rights and world peace, four West Virginia University undergraduate students are the recipients of the prestigious 2025 Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship. Selected by the Center for Black Culture based on an essay and letters of recommendation, Tysa James, Janelle LaBarbera, Cheyenne Torres and Gabrielle Williams were honored at the annual MLK Unity Breakfast on Jan. 18 in the Mountainlair Ballrooms.

Audrianna Shifflett, from Craigsville, is a freshman majoring in neuroscience and psychology in the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, and a recipient of the Andrew S. Good scholarship.

Providing support to West Virginia University student parents working toward graduation is Student Family Resources, a unit within Student Life dedicated to helping students with families achieve their higher education goals.

West Virginia University has recognized five outstanding seniors as the 2024 Mountaineers of Distinction, celebrating their academic achievements and dedication to volunteerism. These students, selected from over 70 nominees, include Haley Bockius, Laasya Chennuru, Mary G. Roush, Christopher J. Smith, and Dakota Swiger. Their contributions to service, leadership, and research, alongside their exemplary academic performance, earned them recognition during the WVU vs. Baylor football game. The Mountaineers of Distinction honor highlights students making significant impacts both on campus and within the community.

Applications are now being accepted for a new West Virginia University microcredential designed to boost support for Mountain State educators and their students via an innovative teaching method pioneered by late WVU alumna Vicci Tucci.

As Jayla Boyd and Lillian Floyd would describe it, they were in uncharted territory when they arrived on the West Virginia University campus for Brain Camp. By the end of the week, the soon-to-be high school seniors had discovered the complex world of neuroscience and were hooked.

Every year, students from across Eberly College are selected as Outstanding Seniors and Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistants. Eberly Scholars are also chosen annually for a monetary award to help offset the cost of their education as they work to achieve their academic goals. Read about all three groups below.

Five exceptionally talented incoming West Virginia University freshmen whose academic interests span the fields of humanities, medicine and science are eager to use their curiosity, creativity and problem-solving skills to generate new ideas and innovative solutions for a better future as the 2024-25 WVU Foundation Scholars, the highest academic scholarship the University awards.

Mariya Cherkasova, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, will spend the next two years reverse engineering certain structural characteristics of slot machines to find out what makes them an immersive product. Her research is supported by the International Center for Responsible Gaming.