Joy Zheng is an undergraduate in the class of 2026 studying psychology. One of her favorite things to do in her spare time is cooking and baking, bringing the concept of nutrition and macromolecules to the playing field. Initially, this piece was born in the University Writing Program 001 with Professor Monterrey and examined the relationship between junk food and a student’s academic performance.
I was involved with Dr. Charan Ranganath’s Dynamic Memory Lab since shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic. I performed remote work since 2020 on multiple projects with the lab. I was very excited to begin working on my own project with the support of my mentor, James Antony, who has performed examinations on event segmentation in naturalistic contexts in the past.
I wrote this paper for PSC103A: Statistical Analysis of Psychological Data with Rohit Bantra. As an avid coffee connoisseur, I was interested in finding whether or not my caffeine consumption was good for my mental health. I hope this paper interests those who also enjoy their coffee, even if they are a tad disappointed with the results (as I was). This was my first experience coding in R and engaging with quantitative psychology, which both came in handy when I used the same skills/concepts to complete my honors thesis.
The racist history of the mental health field, exemplified by figures like Samuel A. Cartwright, has led to a persistent mistrust among Black Americans towards mental health professionals. Addressing this mistrust requires race-conscious providers who understand and empathize with the unique challenges faced by Black patients, thus fostering a more inclusive and effective mental health care environment.
The Reggio Emilia Approach, rooted in social constructivism, emphasizes child-centered learning through creativity, collaboration, and flexible, aesthetically stimulating environments, integrating theories from Piaget, Vygotsky, Gardner, and Bruner. This paper explores the approach's benefits, such as enhanced critical thinking and empathy, and its limitations, particularly its applicability beyond early childhood education.
I wrote this paper for my PSC 142: Social & Personality Development class with Dr. Paul Hastings. As a whole, in this article, I wanted to focus on how the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected marginalized communities throughout the U.S. in terms of mental and social-emotional health.
