DR. KRISTIN D BIONDOLILLO

The science of psychology has benefited much from the data collected on non-human animals in highly controlled laboratory settings. These studies typically rely on deliberate and careful control over subject factors as well as extraneous variables in the environment, neither of which are very well controlled (if at all) in psychology studies used to collect data from humans. The number of animal laboratories investigating psychological phenomena is steadily declining. Importantly this decline has had the most negative impact on the undergraduate psychology student who rarely has access to an experimental laboratory using the methods of single subject behavioral methodology, research design and data analysis – not to mention the foundational appreciation of experimental control and power. The contemporary science of psychology has become somewhat lost in a plethora of unconnected constructs that are often treated as true variables. The purpose of our lab is to provide students with an experience that focuses on reliably and validly measuring behavior for its own sake within a framework that emphasizes experimental control over the behavior of individuals rather than statistical analyses based on mean scores of groups of individuals. We work with the species Blaberus discoidalis for several reasons. They are amazing creatures that are well-suited to living in a terrarium in a laboratory. They adjust well to routine handling and tend to prefer not to climb vertical services which makes apparatus preparation and data collection much easier than with other roach species. They are underrepresented in the comparative psychology literature and to our knowledge non-existent in the experimental psychology literature. Overall, undergraduate students recognize them as a delightful organism with which to work.

Domjan, M., & Purdy, J. E. (1995). Animal research in psychology: More than meets the eye of the general psychology student. American Psychologist, 50(7), 496.

Discoid’s were supplied by Luna Roaches, Hastings, FL

Learning And Behavior Lab

About Me

_

PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY

Education
Ph.D. Psychology, Southern Illinois University - Carbondale

MA - Experimental Psychology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale

BS - Psychology, West Virginia University

My Work

Teaching Specialties

Experimental Psychology
Experimental Research Design and Methods
Learning Processes
Comparative Psychology

biondolillo_vitae_2022.docx
File Size:	31 kb
File Type:	docx

Download File

Research Interests

Non-human Learning and Behavior
Experimental Analysis of Behavior
Experimental Models of Voluntary Drug Consumption
Environmental Enrichment

My Focus

To work closely with motivated undergraduate students to replicate basic principles of behavior using Blaberus discoidalis and to develop a better understanding of this remarkable species.

Learning And Behavior Lab

About Me_​

PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY

My Work

My Focus

About Me

_