LAMP Lab Alumni
Timothy Odegard, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair of Excellence in Dyslexia Studies, Middle Tennessee State University
B.A., Hendrix College, 1999
M.A., University of Arkansas, 2001
Ph.D. University of Arkansas, 2004
Tim Odegard, Ph.D., CALP is a professor of psychology and holds the Katherine Davis Murfree Chair of Excellence in Dyslexic Studies at Middle Tennessee State University, leading the efforts of the Tennessee Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia. He has worked with students with reading disabilities, having completed a two-year dyslexia specialist training program at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas during his postdoctoral fellowship. His research in the area of reading strives to identify factors that predict the response of individuals with dyslexia and related specific reading disabilities to intensive interventions and leverage this information to improve intervention efforts. He has received the Innovator Award as an Outstanding MSLE Professional from the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council and the Luke Waits Service Award from the Academic Language Therapist Association. He is a past member of the board of directors of ALTA. He also served ALTA as a past Vice President of Membership and a past Vice President of Programs. He is a past Vice President of the Texas Licensure Advisory committee. Currently, he serves as a member of the research advisory board of the AIM Institute, is a member of the Understood parent advisory committee, is the Associate Editor of Annals of Dyslexia and serves on the editorial board of Perspectives on Language and Literacy.
Juliana K. Leding, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, University of North Florida
B.A., Hendrix College, 2002
M.A., University of Arkansas, 2004
Ph.D. University of Arkansas, 2007
Dr. Juliana Leding is an Associate Professor of psychology at University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida. Dr. Leding is an experimental psychologist with a focus on human memory. She is interested in factors that lead to the creation and avoidance of true and false memories and has explored the relationship between false memories and individual differences such as working memory capacity and Need for Cognition. She is also interested in evolutionary explanations for human memory processes, including the survival processing advantage and the animacy effect. She collaborates with graduate and undergraduate students on her research, often resulting in presentations and publications co-authored with her students. She regularly teaches Cognitive Psychology, Experimental Cognitive Psychology, and Introduction to Psychology and serves on many committees, including her institution’s Institutional Review Board.
Jack Arnal, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, McDaniel College
B.S., Baldwin-Wallace College, 2003
M.A., University of Arkansas, 2005
Ph.D. University of Arkansas, 2008
Dr. Jack Arnal is an Associate Professor of psychology at McDaniel College in Westminster Maryland. Dr. Arnal is a cognitive psychologist with special interests in memory processes. He collaborates with students on studies of false memory and prospective memory, particularly in forensic settings such as prospective person memory for missing and wanted persons. Dr. Arnal is a member of the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science Executive Committee.
Lindsey Robidas, Ph.D.
Director the Learning Experience, 2016-2017
Director of Operations, Primrose School, 2014-2016
B.A. University of South Carolina, Columbia, 2008
M.A. University of Arkansas, 2011
Ph.D. University of Arkansas, 2013
After graduation I stayed home with my son for almost two years. Everyone jokingly called me Dr. mom. After Dylan turned two, I decided he need more social interaction, so I enrolled him in a private preschool. I am a pretty overprotective mom and I actually took a job in the infant class to be near him. The Director confided in me that the school was having enrollment and financial issues. Very long story short, I moved my was up from infant teacher Office Manager to Curriculum Coordinator to Director of Operations (the head of this school) in five months. In my first year I increased enrollment by 22% profits by $15,000/month. I went on to be the Director for a new school and I built that school from the ground up. I recently had another baby and am now staying home with him. I believe the experience of mentoring undergraduates in the LAMP lab and teaching gave me the confidence and skills to run successful businesses. Managing a staff of 30 or more would not have been possible without my experience at Uark. Not to mention the knowledge I was able to bring to my staff and students. Additionally, having a Ph.D after my name made me a desirable employee.
Christopher Peters, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Western Kentucky University
B.S. University of North Texas, 2004
M.A. Western Carolina University, 2007
Ph.D. University of Arkansas, 2013
Dr. Peters is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Western Kentucky University. He heads the Forensic and Applied Cognitive Theory in Society (FACTS) lab, which performs research on a number of Psychology and Law related issues including Jury Decision Making and Eyewitness Testimony. Representative projects include juror decisions based on types of eyewitness testimony and the effectiveness of therapy dogs on reducing eyewitness anxiety. He currently lives in Bowling Green, Kentucky along with his wife Noma, daughter Evelyn, and fur-baby Kairi.
William Blake Erickson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University at San Antonio
B.S., Henderson State University, 2009
M.A. University of Arkansas, 2012
Ph.D. University of Arkansas, 2016
William Blake Erickson, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Texas A&M University in San Antonio. After graduating from the University of Arkansas, Dr. Erickson went to work as a post-doctoral fellow in Dr. Moshe Naveh-Benjamin’s Memory and Cognitive Aging Laboratory at the University of Missouri. Following that, he taught for one year at Texas A&M University – Commerce where he also collaborated in Curt Carlson’s Applied Cognition Laboratory. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Texas A&M University – San Antonio, the youngest school in the A&M system and the only one located in a major metropolitan area. His research focuses on face recognition, including eyewitness memory, the efficacy of forensic art, and how both relate to border security. He is also a regular contributor to the Popular Culture & Psychology series by Sterling Publishers, writing essays about how cognitive science is portrayed in science fiction and fantasy series like Game of Thrones, Star Trek, and Westworld.
Kara Moore, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Oklahoma State University
B.A. University of Texas, Arlington, 2012
M.A. University of Arkansas, 2014
Ph.D., University of Arkansas, 2017
Kara Moore graduated from the University of Arkansas with her Ph.D. in 2017. She is on the faculty at Oklahoma State University. Her primary research interest is the malleability of human memory—the cognitive processes that cause memories to change over time. Her research focuses on theoretical issues in cognitive psychology and the application of memory in the legal system. With regards to application, she aims to understand how to improve human memory and attention in order to make the legal system function more efficiently. Her two major lines of research are: (1) children’s and adults’ use of metacognitive strategies to prevent false memories and (2) the role of memory and attention in the search for missing and wanted persons.
Brittany Race, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor, Binghamton University
B.A. University of Arkansas, 2011
M.A. University of Arkansas, 2016
Ph.D., University of Arkansas, 2019
Brittany is a visiting Assistant Professor at Binghamton University. She is interested in eyewitness identification and testimony and the effects of social variables on witness metacognition. She joined the LAMP lab as an undergraduate in Fall 2008. Brittany is originally from Arlington, Texas. She has taught a large number of courses at the University and is excited to be graduating with her doctorate this year. Her hobbies include cross-stitch, watching movies, theatre, comics, and the Texas Rangers.
Arabella Provenzano, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Penn State Scranton
B.S. University of North Florida, 2013
M.A. University of North Florida, 2015
Ph.D., University of Arkansas, 2021
Bella is an assistant professor at Penn State Scranton. She is interested in how jurors perceive deceptive behavior in eyewitnesses, as well as more broad interests on the topics of prospective persons memory and juror decision making. Bella was born and raised in Jersey City, NJ before moving to Jacksonville, FL. Her hobbies include travel, coffee, playing her PS5, fantasy hockey and watching sports (Forza Juventus!). You can learn more about her research at: https://scranton.psu.edu/person/bella-provenzano-phd
Nia I. Gipson, Ph.D.
B.A., McDaniel College, 2016
M.A., University of Arkansas, 2019
Ph.D., University of Arkansas, 2022
Nia Gipson works as a Senior Learning Analyst at Western Governors University. Through this work, she is able to leverage the statistics and data analysis skills she cultivated in grad school to understand student success. While in graduate school, she studied facial recognition and cases of familiar eyewitnesses. She is most pleased of her efforts to set up materials for the coffee shop study, which will be an ongoing research program for the LAMP lab. Nia is originally from Baltimore, Maryland and returned to her home state upon graduation. She is a lover of theatre, a dedicated foodie, a brunch connoisseur, and a timid adventurer.
Amber M. Giacona, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Western Kentucky University
B.S., Sam Houston State University, 2016
M.A., Sam Houston State University, 2018
Ph.D., University of Arkansas, 2023
Amber is currently an Assistant Professor at Western Kentucky University. She is interested in the relationship between confidence and accuracy in eyewitnesses, as well as broader interests on the topics of eyewitness testimony and false memories. Amber was born and raised in Texas. Her hobbies including playing tennis, knitting, and decorating cupcakes. You can find more info about her research at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Amber-Giacona-2