Neuroscience Major Presented at Student Technology Forum

Westminster College sophomore neuroscience major Justin King presented his psychology research project at the Consortium for Computing in Undergraduate Education (C-CUE) Student Technology Forum March 19 at Waynesburg University.

King won a third-place certificate and cash award in the student competition for "Effects of Color on Emotion," research that was conducted under the supervision of Dr. Sandra Webster, Westminster professor of psychology and faculty development officer.

King designed and conducted an experiment on the way background color influences the perception of emotional adjectives. His research took a recent psychology paradigm and extended to computerized measurement. His results showed that, with more sophisticated measurements, the hue of the color as well as its saturation and luminance had effects on ratings of emotional arousal. Previous research failed to show any effect of hue on emotion ratings.

"Justin has done an excellent experiment and used current technology at a very high level on his sophomore methods class project," Webster said. "Most of the other student submissions at the forum were senior capstone projects and/or team submissions."

King is a son of Donald and Lauran King of Fombell and a graduate of Riverside High School.

Contact Webster at (724) 946-7359 or e-mail websters@westminster.edu for more information.

More Stories