Department of Psychology

Faculty Research Interests

Viviette Allen, Ph.D., Assistant Professor. (vallen@uncfsu.edu) Dr. Allen’s background is in counseling psychology and in the study of organizational leadership. She is professionally licensed as a Licensed Psychological Associate (LPA) and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). Her research interests involve: ethics, moral reasoning/moral decision making and resultant behavior, psychopathology, psychotherapy and help seeking, stress, adult development, antisocial and asocial behavior, I/O psychology, psycho-social aspects of leadership, organizational behavior, motivation, and psycho-social aspects of religion and spirituality.

Susan H. Franzblau, Ph.D., Professor. (sfranzblau@uncfsu.edu) Dr. Franzblau is a developmental psychologist. Her research interests are in sex and gender studies. She is also interested in the healing effects of yoga. She is co-investigator on a project examining the effects of testimony and yogic breathing on depression, self-efficacy, and the psychophysiology of battered women.

Doreen Hilton, Ph.D., Professor. (dhilton@uncfsu.edu) Dr. Hilton is a counseling psychologist. Her research focuses on substance abuse, risky behaviors, parenting, adverse childhood experiences, and career development. Her current research projects focus on 1) the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of college students, and 2) the impact of adverse childhood experiences on adult behaviors.

Chris Ike, Ph.D., Professor. (cike@uncfsu.edu). Dr. Ike is a developmental psychologist. Dr. Ike’s research interests are in the following areas: variations in psychopathology across cultures for children, adolescents, and adults; behaviors and self-concepts; adjustment behaviors in migrant populations; beliefs in and attitudes toward traditional versus orthodox medicine and health care; minority education, including retention, attrition, and performance; cultural relativism in psychological disorders, treatment, and prognosis; and mentoring studies.

Daniel Montoya, Ph.D., Assistant Professor. (dmontoya@uncfsu.edu). Dr. Montoya is a biopsychologist. His research interest is focused around the central issue of learning and memory. Currently, his lab is involved in refining techniques that would lead to the study of cognitive processes and their concomitant changes in brain activity using electroencephalography.

Pius N. Nyutu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor (pnyutu@uncfsu.edu). Dr. Nyutu’s background is in counseling psychology. His research interests have been focused on assessments, school mental health, school counseling and guidance, and multiculturalism. He is interested in development of counseling methods applicable to minority populations, development of school counseling in Africa, and international psychology. Dr. Nyutu is an active member of the American Psychological Association.

Maxwell Twum-Asante, Ph.D., Associate Professor (twum@unfsu.edu).  Dr. Twum-Asante area of interest is in cognitive psychology. His research interests span a wide range of topics in basic and applied cognitive psychology: 1) a primary interest is to understand the basic architecture of the human memory system and the processes that operate within it: 2) another facet of his research interest is the investigation into the neural mechanisms underlying learning and recognition of human faces; and 3) on the applied level, he is interested in how people integrate multiple, incomplete, and sometimes conflicting information to determine their subjective state of health, and the cues they rely on to make meaningful decisions about their health.

Thomas E. Van Cantfort, Ph.D., Professor. (tvancantfort@uncfsu.edu). Dr. Van Cantfort is a biopsychologist.  He approaches the study of behaviors from an evolutionary and biopsychological prospective.  Currently, his areas of research are: 1) language in cross-fostered chimpanzees; 2) culture in nonhuman primates; 3) human mating strategies; and 4) the effects of yogic breathing and testimony on depression, self-efficacy, and the psychophysiology of women who have experienced intimate partner violence. Link to my webpage.

David Wallace, Ph.D., Assistant Professor. (dwallace@uncfsu.edu) Dr. Wallace is a social psychologist. His research interests rest mainly in the study of attitudes, and attitude-behavior consistency. Currently he is pursuing two main lines of research. One area of research involves the impact of perceived minority or majority status on how consistently attitudes are applied to actual behavior. A second line of research explores spiteful behavior. Little research has been done in social psychology exploring the causes and implications of behavior that harms another even though it also harms oneself (spite).  David is an active member of the Scientific Researcher Inventory (SRI) Project. 

Mei-Chuan Wang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor. (mwang@uncfsu.edu) Dr. Wang’s background is in counseling psychology. Her primary research interests focus on positive psychology. She is interested in how coping strategies, psychological well-being, reason for living, and self-efficacy prevent individuals from depression and committing suicide when facing adverse life situations. Her other research interests involve: intimate partner violence, body image, and education satisfaction among international students.