FACULTY PROFILE
"I have been teaching at GSU since 2014, and before that at California University of Pennsylvania as the Frederick Douglass Scholar, and University of Chicago. Teaching is my first passion, and even the research I conduct is aimed at helping people better learn and remember. As a first-generation college student, I understand that our students need guidance in more than course content, and my door is always open to help advise you.
I love everything psychology and will aim to convince you how everything is understood through psychology, from our own minds to the cosmos. Psychology is a broad science and I hope to help our students realize the full breadth of opportunities in the study of psychology and with a psychology degree: from the hospital and the laboratory to the office place and in their own homes.
I earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley, a master's degree at New York University, and both a master's and doctorate at the University of Chicago in the area of cognitive psychology with a minor in neurobiology. I am strongly involved in the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority students to higher education and the professoriate, and mentor at both the undergraduate and graduate level, here and in the community.
I currently serve as a Faculty Advisor for our GSU chapter of the Psi Chi Honor Society, co-chair for the Office of the Provost’s Faculty Professional Development Committee, a Faculty Senator for the College of Education, GSU’s Representative for the Midwestern Psychological Association, and member of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology’s Diversity Committee.
My research interests include changes in normal aging, such as shifts in perception, subjective experience, and biases that affect older adults’ memory performance; the role of memory in creativity; the role of different sensory modalities in perception and memory; student engagement in co-curricular activities; as well as the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, such as effective practices in the instruction of Online Courses. My research is currently supported with grants from the Center for the Junior Year and Psi Chi Psychology International Honor Society."
- Sasha Cervantes, Ph.D.
GOVSTATE COURSES TAUGHT:
Cognitive Psychology
Biopsychology
Psych Issues & Social Values Capstone
Principles of Psychology
Research Methods
Learning & Behavior
Topics in Psychology: Memory & the Law
Topics in Interdisciplinary Studies: Learning & Memory
Cognitive-Educational Psychology for School Psychologists
GRANTS & AWARDS
Psi Chi Faculty Research Grant 2019-2020
GSU Center for the Junior Year Grant 2019-2020
Psi Chi Model Chapter Award 2018-2019
PUBLICATIONS
Cervantes, S.N. (2019). Actively using online discussion in introductory psychology courses. In R. L. Miller (Ed.) Teaching Tips: A Compendium of Conference Presentations on Teaching, 2017-18. Retrieved from the Society for the Teaching of Psychology website: http://teachpsych.org/ebooks/
Cervantes, S.N. & Robey, P.A. (2018). Aligning reality therapy and choice theory psychology with cognitive psychology. International Journal of Choice Theory and Reality Therapy, 38(1), 13-20.
McDonough, I.M., Cervantes, S.N., Gray, S.J., & Gallo, D.A. (2014). Memory's aging echo: Age-related decline in neural reactivation of perceptual details during recollection. NeuroImage, 98, 346-358.
Sazma, M., Gallo, D.A., Cervantes, S.N., Siegel, J., & Yonelinas, A.P. (in prep). Does post-encoding arousal and novelty exploration benefit episodic memory?
Cervantes, S.N. & Gallo, D.A. (in prep). Information processing style and reality monitoring.
Cervantes, S.N. & Gallo, D.A. (in prep). Information processing style and false memories: The roles of activation and monitoring.
CONFERENCE TALKS/PRESENTATIONS
Cervantes, S.N. (October, 2018). Communicating the significance of academic engagement to first-generation college students. American Psychological Association, Division 2: Society for the Teaching of Psychology Annual Teaching Conference.
Cervantes, S.N. (August, 2018). Using online discussion boards to maximize student learning and satisfaction (cross-discipline). Lilly Teaching Conference.
Cervantes, S.N. (June, 2018). Actively using online discussion in introductory psychology courses. Psychology One Conference.
Cipra, A., Azmy, S., & Cervantes, S.N. (April, 2018). Maternal Parenting and Kindergarten Behavior Problems. Midwestern Psychological Association Conference.