Resident named Stonehill SURE Scholar

EASTON, MA --  A total of 50 Stonehill College students will work with 32 faculty members on a variety of research projects over the coming summer of 2013 and West Hartford native Sarah Pearson, a junior at the College, will work with another student and Christopher Poirier, Associate Professor of Psychology, on The Effects of Social Categorization and Motivation on the Own-Age Bias in Face Recognition Memory.

In his previous research and during his participation in past SURE programs, Poirier has found support for the hypothesis that people are better able to recognize faces of people their own age. During this summer, the research group will test how other variables may affect recognition. Pearson and the other student, both psychology majors, will design experiments that will determine if social categorization and motivation affect people's ability to recognize faces. They hope to prepare submissions for a conference.

The scholars and their faculty mentors are the 18th group to work under the Stonehill Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program, which provides students with an opportunity to perform significant, publishable research under the guidance of an experienced faculty researcher. The research experience will help to provide students with a competitive advantage in graduate and professional school applications and in post-college employment opportunities, as well as to provide assistance to faculty in research activities.