Thank you for exploring the possibility of becoming involved in the Mood and Emotion Laboratory! The success of this laboratory depends upon the involvement of bright and motivated undergraduates and recent graduates, and we welcome your interest.

Our ongoing research projects all focus on emotion and its dysfunction. A number of these studies recruit patients with diagnosable psychiatric disorders such as depression, and involve the administration of clinical interviews. Many of our projects use multiple methods to study emotion such as physiological measures, behavioral measures, and measures of emotion experience.
 

Undergraduate Training


Overview

An important facet of the MEL training experience is to mentor undergraduate students at the University of South Florida so that they can better understand research in clinical psychology. The MEL is designed to provide direct one-on-one mentoring regarding graduate school training and professional development. Typically, undergraduate students are paired with a doctoral level student and work with that doctoral student under the overall supervision of Dr. Rottenberg. Responsibilities often include attending weekly research meetings and gaining formal introduction and training into the ethical conduct of research. During the research meetings, we take care of administrative tasks, talk about conceptual and methodological issues related to work in progress, and check-in with various projects. Activities in the MEL may include running psychological experiments, being trained in clinical interviews, scheduling and running participants, entering data, helping with data reduction using customized physiological data reduction software, data analysis, behavioral coding, preparing stimuli for projects, doing literature searches, designing studies, maintaining lab equipment, screening potential study participants over the phone, and contacting recruitment sites. Undergraduates in the MEL have conducted independent senior honor's projects, attended professional conferences to present projects that have been run in the laboratory, and published their scholarly contributions. Importantly, students who work in our laboratory have been successful in ultimately pursing advanced training in graduate school.


Commitment

Research assistant positions are typically volunteer rather than paid (though paid positions are possible in the future). Because of the extensive training involved in becoming an RA in our laboratory, we ask for a minimum of a 9 hour commitment per week for at least two consecutive semesters, but many RAs end up working in our laboratory for several years. Applications from sophomores and juniors are especially welcome. Past USF research assistants have found it useful to register for directed study credit (3 units). Students from other home institutions are also welcome


Application Process

Students must apply to work in the MEL. These RA positions can be quite competitive and only mature, reliable, and hard working persons should consider applying. For example, most students who are successful in working in our laboratory typically maintain a 3.5 GPA or higher and have a specific interest in pursuing graduate education in clinical psychology or related fields. Previous research experience is also desirable but is not necessary. It is advisable to submit your application one semester ahead of the time that you want to actually start work ( e.g., in the Spring prior to the fall you want to work). If you are interested in applying to be an undergraduate research assistant in the lab,  please fill out this online application and send to Dr. Rottenberg:  Download Application  Please note, that you will also have to include with your application the following:  a copy of your transcript, a copy of your CV or resume, and a writing sample (e.g., research paper written for a class). 

Undergraduates in the MEL have been successful at receiving awards and scholarships, presenting at conferences, co-authoring manuscripts, and getting into graduate school.  For the past 3 consecutive years, MEL undergraduates have received awards at the USF Undergraduate Research Symposium for their honors theses:  Vanessa Wolvin in 2007, Bethanne Bower in 2008, and Laurie Dempsey in 2009 (for her work with Dr. Marc Karver).

Bethanne Bower received a 1st Place Award for the Social Sciences Division at the USF Research Symposium, April 2008

Recent Publications and Presentations Authored or Co-Authored by MEL Undergraduates:

Bower, B., Bylsma, L.M., Morris, B.H., & Rottenberg, J. (under review). Poor sleep quality predicts low positive affect in daily life among healthy and mood disordered persons.

Rottenberg, J., Bylsma, L.M., Wolvin, V., & Vingerhoets, A. J.J.M. (2008). Tears of sorrow, tears of joy: An individual differences approach to crying. Personality and Individual Differences, 45, 367-371.

Bower, B., Bylsma, L.M., Morris, B.H. & Rottenberg, J. (2008).  The Impact of Sleep Duration on Emotional Reactivity in Major and Minor Depression.  Poster presented at the 6th Annual USF Undergraduate Research Symposium, Tampa, FL, April, 2008.

Malchow, A., Bylsma, L.M., Rottenberg, J., & Salomon, K. (2007).  The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Cardiovascular Reactivity. Poster presented at the 6th Annual USF Undergraduate Research Symposium, Tampa, FL, April, 2008.

Brauer, L., Long, M. K., & Rottenberg, J. (2007). Does depressed persons’ overgeneral autobiographical memory generalize across memory tasks? Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research in Psychopathology, Iowa City, Iowa, October, 2007

Wolvin, V., Bylsma, L.M., Vingerhoets, A. J. J. M., & Rottenberg, J. (2007), Personality and post-crying catharsis. Poster presented at the fourth international conference on 'The (Non)Expression of Emotions in Health and Disease,” Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands, October, 2007.

Wolvin, V., Bylsma, L.M., Vingerhoets, A. J. J. M., & Rottenberg, J. (2007), Personality and post-crying catharsis.  Poster presented at the 21st National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR(r) 21) at Dominican University of California on April 12 - 14, 2007.

Wolvin, V., Bylsma, L.M., & Rottenberg, J. (2007), Personality and post-crying catharsis.  Poster presented at the 5th Annual USF Undergraduate Research Symposium, Tampa, FL, April, 2007.

Rottenberg, J., Clift, A., Bolden, S., & Salomon, K. (2007). RSA fluctuation in major depressive disorder. Psychophysiology, 44, 450-458.

Salomon, K., Rottenberg, J., Clift, A., & Bolden, S. (2007). RSA in major depressive disorder: Sleep quality, physical activity and respiration account for deficits in RSA level but not deficits in RSA reactivity and rebound. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society, Budapest, Hungary, March, 2007.

Bolden, S., Clift, A., Salomon, K., & Rottenberg, J. (2006). Blunted RSA reactivity and recovery in major depressive disorder. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research in Psychopathology, San Diego, California, October, 2006.

Note: Bold denotes a current or former undergraduate in the MEL.
 

Ashley Malchow presenting her poster at the USF Research Symposium, April 2008

Graduate Training

Graduate students join the Mood and Emotion Laboratory via the clinical doctoral program in psychology.  Graduate students pursue a range of topics in the areas of mood and emotion and have the opportunity to work with clinical populations.  Refer to the publications and current projects section of this website for more information about current and recent projects.  If you are interested in the Clinical Psychology PhD program at USF, see the psychology department website for more information about the program and how to apply:

http://psychology.usf.edu/grad/program/

Recent Publications and Presentations Authored or Co-Authored by MEL Graduate Students:

Bower, B., Bylsma, L.M., Morris, B.H., & Rottenberg, J. (under review). Poor sleep quality predicts low positive affect in daily life among healthy and mood disordered persons.

Bylsma, L. M., Morris, B. H., Rottenberg, J. (2008). A Meta-analysis of Emotional Reactivity in Major Depressive Disorder.  Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 676-91. 

Salomon, K., Bylsma, L.M., Karlsdóttir, M. & Rottenberg, R.  (2008) Brief Slow-Breathing Training Over 1 Week Decreases Heart Rate and Blood Pressure Responses During Stress.  Paper presentation at the Annual Scientific Conference of the American Psychosomatic Society, Baltimore, Maryland.

Vingerhoets, A., Bylsma, L. & Rottenberg, J.  (2008). Crying:  a biopsychosocial phenomenon.  In:  Thorsten Fögen (ed.), Tears in the Graeco-Roman World. Berlin & New York: de Gruyter.

Brauer, L., Long, M. K., & Rottenberg, J. (2007). Does depressed persons’ overgeneral autobiographical memory generalize across memory tasks? Poster
presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research in Psychopathology, Iowa City, Iowa, October, 2007.

Clift, A., Morris, B. H., Drobes, D. J., Rottenberg, J. (2007). Emotion-modulated startle in major and minor depression. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research in Psychopathology, Iowa City, Iowa, October, 2007.

Karlsdottir M., Clift A., Rottenberg. J., Salomon, K. (2007). Cardiovascularly healthy depressed persons exhibit attenuated cardiovascular reactivity to
laboratory stressors. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research, Savannah, Georgia, October, 2007.

Rottenberg, J., Clift, A., Bolden, S., & Salomon, K. (2007). RSA fluctuation in major depressive disorder. Psychophysiology, 44, 450-458.

Salomon, K., Rottenberg, J., Clift, A., & Bolden, S. (2007). RSA in major depressive disorder: Sleep quality, physical activity and respiration account for deficits in RSA level but not deficits in RSA reactivity and rebound. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society, Budapest, Hungary, March, 2007.

Vingerhoets, A. & Bylsma, L. (2007). Crying and health: Popular and scientific conceptions. Psychological Topics, 16, 275-296.

Vingerhoets, A. & Bylsma, L. (2007).  Crying as a multifaceted health psychology conceptualisation: crying as coping, risk factor, and symptom.  The European Health Psychologist, 9, 68-74.

Bylsma, L. M., Vingerhoets, A. J.J.M & Rottenberg, J. (2007). When is crying cathartic?: An international study. Invited talk as part of a symposium at the 4th International Conference on The (Non) Expression of Emotions in Health and Disease, Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Bylsma, L. M., Karlsdottir, M., Rottenberg, J. & Salomon, K. (2007).  Slow-breathing training and stability of resting and stressor task changes in rsa over one week.  Poster presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research, Savannah, GA.

Wolvin, V., Bylsma, L.M., Vingerhoets, A. J. J. M., & Rottenberg, J. (2007). Personality and post-crying catharsis. Poster presented at the fourth international conference on The (Non)Expression of Emotions in Health and Disease, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands, October, 2007.

Bolden, S., Clift, A., Salomon, K., & Rottenberg, J. (2006). Blunted RSA reactivity and recovery in major depressive disorder. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research in Psychopathology, San Diego, California, October, 2006.

Bylsma, L.M., & Rottenberg, J. (2006). A meta-analysis of emotional reactivity in major depressive disorder. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the
Society for Research in Psychopathology, San Diego, California, October, 2006.

Salomon, K., Rottenberg, J., Clift, A., & Rieger, K. (2006). Blunted RSA reactivity and recovery in major depressive disorder. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society, Denver, Colorado.

Clift, A., Gotlib, I. H., Gross, J. J., & Rottenberg, J. (2005). Facial EMG reactivity to emotional stimuli and the severity and course of major depression. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research in Psychopathology,Coral Gables, Florida, October, 2005.
 

Note: Bold denotes a current or former graduate student in the MEL.