Education

Bachelor of Science, Psychology          Trinity College ~ Hartford, CT

May 2003                

Supplemental Coursework in Computer Science

Senior Honors Thesis: The Relationship between Individual Memory Factors and Imagination Inflation.  Advisor: Dr. Tammy Rahhal.

          This thesis examined working memory capacity, false memory susceptibility, and internal source monitoring as individual memory factors with a possible relationship to the imagination inflation effect.  Thirty older (60-75) and thirty younger (18-21) adults were tested.  There was no significant correlation between imagination inflation score, false memory susceptibility, or number of internal source monitoring errors.  Therefore, imagination inflation might not be a memory phenomenon, and it seems that personality characteristics, such as dissociability and locus of control, could be the mechanisms underlying the effect.  The thesis was completed in written form, and presented for the psychology faculty and general public at the 2003 Science Symposium at Trinity College. 

Awards received

Graduated as the Optima of the Class of 2003 (no grade below A-)

Graduated with Honors in General Scholarship - Class of 2003

Graduated with Honors in Psychology – Class of 2003

Phi Beta Kappa Society 2002-2003

Psi Chi Society 2002-2003

Pi Gamma Mu Society 2002-2003

Presidential Fellow in Psychology  2002- 2003

Faculty Honors each semester in collegiate career

PROFESSIONAL Affiliations

                             Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS)

                                Society for Neuroscience (SFN)

                                CyberPsychology and Behavior (Cybertherapy)

Research experience

Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center

Institute of Living at Hartford Hospital

May 2003 - present

Clinical Research Assistant - Virtual Reality Laboratory

§      Collection and analysis of event-related functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) data.  Experience with all aspects of research studies: recruitment, assessment, data collection, retrieval, analysis, and publication. Clinical populations studied include individuals with Schizophrenia, PTSD, Alzheimer’s disease, and various eating disorders.  Also, concentration in analyzing data involving computer-simulated virtual worlds and spatial memory in both healthy and clinical populations. Additional specialization in creation and modification of computer simulated environments. Dr. Robert S. Astur, Director, Virtual Reality Laboratory.

Trinity College Dept. of Psychology                                                          Spring 2002 – Fall 2003                                                          

Manager and Research Assistant -  Dr. Rahhal’s Laboratory at Trinity College

§         Performed all tasks associated with conducting Dr. Rahhal’s research studies in social cognition.  This included recruiting and scheduling subjects, conducting the experiment for each subject, and responding to their questions.  Analyzed data, performed literature research and drew conclusions. Dr. Tammy Rahhal, Dept. of Psychology

publications

Astur, R.S., St. Germain, S., & Constable, R.T.  (submitted).  Hippocampal activations during a virtual Morris water task and a virtual 8-arm maze.  Hippocampus.

Astur, R.S., D’Souza, D.C., Krystal, J.H., St. Germain, S, Constable, R.T., & Mathalon, D.H.. (submitted).   Hippocampal Activation During a Virtual Morris Water Task in Patients with Schizophrenia.  Biological Psychiatry.

Astur, R.S., Mathalon, D.H., D’Souza, D.C., Krystal, J.H., St. Germain, S, Constable, R.T., & Pearlson, G.P. (in press).   Using Virtual Reality to Examine Hippocampus Functioning in Schizophrenia.  International Workshop on Virtual Rehabilitation Proceedings.

St. Germain, S., Kurtz, M., Pearlson, G., & Astur, R.S. (in press).  Virtual Driving in Individuals with Schizophrenia.  Cybertherapy 2004 Proceedings.

St. Germain, S., Kurtz, M., Pearlson, G., & Astur, R.S. (in press).  Driving Simulator Performance in Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research.

PRESENTATIONS/POSTERS

St. Germain, S., Astur, R.S., Mathalon^, D.H^., D’Souza, D.C^., Krystal, J.K^., Constable^, R.T., & Pearlson, G. (2003, October) A Novel Approach of Using Virtual Reality to Examine Brain Function in Schizophrenia.  Poster session presented at the annual symposium and technology fair of BEACON (Biomedical Engineering Alliance & Consortium).  Third place award winner.

St. Germain, S., Kurtz, M., Pearlson, G., & Astur, R.S. (2004).  Investigation of Driving Behavior in Individuals with Schizophrenia Using a VR Driving Simulator.  Presentation given at Cybertherapy 2004: San Diego.

St. Germain, S., Kurtz, M., Pearlson, G., & Astur, R.S. (2004).  Virtual Driving in Individuals with Schizophrenia.  Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society 2004: San Francisco.

St. Germain, S.A., DePeau, K.M., Stevens, M.C., Tolin, D.F., Ford, J.D., & Astur, R.S. (2004).  Virtual Navigation During fMRI in Patients with PTSD.  Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience 2004: San Diego.

St. Germain, S.A., Holmes, P., Tolin, D., & Astur, R.S. (2005).  Selective attention in eating disorder populations.  Poster session to be presented at the annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society 2005: New York, NY.

PUBLISHED ABSTRACTS

Astur, R.S., St. Germain, S., Mathalon, D.H., D’Souza, D.C., Krystal, J.H., Constable, R.T., & Pearlson, G.P. (2004).  Using Virtual Reality to Investigate the Functioning of the Hippocampus in Schizophrenia. Cybertherapy abstracts.

St. Germain, S., Kurtz, M., Pearlson, G., & Astur, R.S. (2004).  Investigation of Driving Behavior in Individuals with Schizophrenia Using a VR Driving Simulator.  Cybertherapy abstracts.

Teaching experience

Trinity College Departments of Computer Science and Psychology      Academic Year 2000-2001                                                              

Teaching Assistant                        Fall Semester: Introduction to Internet Computing

                                                  Spring semester: Social Psychology

§         Performed duties associated with highly sought-after teaching assistant positions at Trinity. Duties included conducting weekly and pre-exam review sessions, assisting with lab and writing projects, monitoring lab hours, analyzing writing portfolios, and grading exams, quizzes, and projects.  Demonstrated ability to successfully convey course information to students struggling with the material. Professor G. Taylor, Dept. of Computer Science and Dr. Tammy Rahhal, Dept. of Psychology.

References

Robert S. Astur, PhD.                                     robert.astur@yale.edu

Director, Virtual Reality Laboratory                           (860) 545 - 7776

Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center at the Institute of Living

Assistant Professor Adjunct
Department of Psychiatry ~  Yale University School of Medicine

Tamara A. Rahhal, PhD.                              trahhal@psych.umass.edu

Department of Psychology                                         (413) 545 - 0488

Tobin Hall

University of Massachusetts

Amherst, MA  01003

Godfrey D. Pearlson, M.D.                               gpearls@harthosp.org

Director,                                                                     (860) 545-7757

Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center at the Institute of Living

Professor,

Department of Psychiatry   ~ Yale University School of Medicine