EDUCATION
Ph.D., Experimental Psychology (Concentration: Biopsychology)
Kent State University, Kent, OH, August 2000 – August 2002
Doctoral Dissertation: The Sand Maze: An Appetitive Alternative to the Morris Water Maze.
M.A., Experimental Psychology
Kent State University, Kent, OH, August 1997 – August 2000
Masters Thesis: The Effects of Pretraining and Reminder Treatments on Retrograde Amnesia in Rats: Comparison of Lesions to the Fornix or Perirhinal and Entorhinal Cortices.
B.S., Psychology
University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, August 1992 – December 1995
A.A., General Studies
Northland Community College, Thief River Falls, MN, August 1990 – May 1992
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Psychological Society (APS)
Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN)
Psychonomic Society
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
Society for Neuroscience (SFN)
Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP)
The Pavlovian Society
Virginia Psychological Association (VPA)
PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, Lynchburg, VA – Assistant Professor
(July 2004 – Present)
Psyc 101 Introduction to Psychology
Psyc 102 Introduction to Psychology
Psyc 213 Abnormal Psychology
Psyc 216 Psychopharmacology
Psyc 305R Research Problems in Psychology
Psyc 307 Experimental Psychology: Learning
Psyc 307L Experimental Psychology: Learning Laboratory
Psyc 309 Experimental Psychology: Sensation and Perception
Psyc 309L Experimental Psychology: Sensation and Perception Laboratory
Psyc 313 Experimental Psychology: Physiological Processes
Psyc 313L Experimental Psychology: Physiological Processes Laboratory
Psyc 344 Memory and Amnesia
Psyc 493/494 Seminar in Advanced General Psychology
Carleton College, Northfield, MN – Visiting Assistant Professor (September 2002 – June 2004)
Principles of Psychology
Memory and Amnesia
Laboratory Research Methods in Behavioral Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience
Topics in Physiological Psych: Multiple Memory Systems of the Brain
Psychology of Learning
Laboratory Research Methods in Learning
Clinical Neuropsychology
Senior Tutorial
Carleton Summer Teaching Institute (Psychology)
Kent State University, Kent, OH – Graduate Teaching Fellow (August 1998 – December 2001)
Honors General Psychology
Basic Learning Processes
Basic Learning Processes Laboratory
Comparative Psychology
Writing in Psychology
RESEARCH TRAINING
Kent State University, Kent, OH – Graduate Research Assistant (August 1997 – May 2002)
I worked with Dr. David C. Riccio, Dr. Michael D. Bunsey, and Dr. Steven B. Fountain on a variety of learning, memory, and biopsychological experiments involving animal subjects (i.e., rats and mice). I also supervised and trained several undergraduate research assistants, designed new experiments based on literature reviews, and presented findings at regional and national conferences. During my graduate training I collected data using the following behavioral tasks and paradigms and acquired the following skills and techniques:
· Behavioral tasks and paradigms: sand maze (I developed this task while working with Dr. Michael Bunsey), Morris water maze, T-maze, Bunsey digging task (odor discrimination task), serial pattern learning, and conditioned morphine tolerance.
· Biopsychological techniques: stereotaxic neurosurgeries in rat subjects (including radiofrequency, electrolytic, and neurotoxic lesion methods), non-stereotaxic neurosurgeries in rodent subjects (including the aspiration lesion method), histological preparation of neural tissues (including perfusions, brain slicing and mounting, and staining techniques), lesion analysis of prepared brain slices, and electrical brain stimulation.
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN – Undergraduate Research Assistant (January 1996 – July 1997)
I assisted Dr. J. Bruce Overmier in a number of experiments involving the Differential Outcomes Effect in animal subjects (i.e., pigeons and rodents). My responsibilities included collecting data using operant chambers (pigeons) and the radial arm maze (rats), analyzing data, and participating in the design of new experiments.
University of North Dakota – Undergraduate Research Assistant (January 1995 – December 1995)
I assisted Dr. Joseph J. Plaud with an experiment involving the effects of misinformation in human subjects. My major responsibility was data collection.
FACULTY/STUDENT RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS
Randolph-Macon Woman’s College (July 2004- present)
Alexandra Knoppel (’10), Katherine Janson (’10), and Sonnet White (’09): Effect of cycloheximide on extinction of odor discrimination learning in rats
Ashley R. Smith (’06): State dependent effects of cannabinoids on learning and memory in the sand maze (senior research project)
Sarah Linderman (’06) and Mary Marr (’06): Examination of the amnesia-attenuating effects of pretraining in odor discrimination learning in rats given cycloheximide (protein synthesis inhibitor) (senior research project)
Elizabeth Nguyen (’09), Anne Shila Waritu (’07), and Ashley Self (’07): Role of reminder treatments in recovery from cycloheximide-induced amnesia in an odor discrimination task
Alyson Borneman (’06), Kim Ramlow (’06), and Marja-Gay Smith (’06): Examination of the differential outcomes effect (DOE) in preschoolers’ spatial learning and memory abilities (senior research project)
Katie Radke (’06), Brittany Hagar (’08), and Morgan Froy (’08): Effect of reinforcer salience on sand maze performance
Carleton College (Sept. 2002 – June 2004)
Edaeni Hamid: Comparison of water maze and sand maze on acquisition and retention.
Katie Stem: Memory Retention in the Sand Maze Following Post-training Administration of
MK-801.
April Anderson, Jade Bender, Bree Nordenson, and Annie Olinick: Alternation Behavior in the
Sand Maze.
Donigan Linder and Jamie Uejima: The Effects of Cholecystokinin-8S (CCK-8S) on Memory
Performance in the Sand Maze. (Conducted along with Larry Wichlinski)
Kent State University (Aug. 1999 – May 2002)
Dawn Carissan: Massed versus Spaced Learning in the Sand Maze.
Chrissy Hall: Spatial Characteristics of the Sand Maze. (Summer REU Program)
Manal Farhan: Spatial Learning and Memory in the Sand Maze.
PUBLICATIONS
Gotthard, G.H. (2006). The sand maze. In M.J. Anderson (Ed.), Tasks and techniques: A sampling of the methodologies for the investigation of animal learning, behavior, and cognition (pp. 87-95). New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Hanson, G.R. (2003). The sand maze: An appetitive alternative to the Morris water maze (Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2003). Dissertation Abstracts International, 63, 4958.
Hanson, G. R., Bunsey, M. D., and Riccio, D. C. (2002). The effects of pretraining and reminder treatments on retrograde amnesia in rats: Comparison of lesions to the fornix or perirhinal and entorhinal cortices. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 78, 365-378.
PRESENTATIONS AT REGIONAL AND NATIONAL CONFERENCES
* Denotes Student Co-Author
Randolph-Macon Woman’s College
Knoppel, A.* and Gotthard, G.H. (April, 2008). Protein synthesis inhibition and extinction: Does cycloheximide produce amnesia for extinction of an odor discrimination in rats? Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Virginia Psychological Association, Charlottesville, VA.
Knoppel, A.*, Janson, K.*, White, S.*, and Gotthard, G.H. (April, 2007). Effect of cycloheximide on extinction of odor discrimination learning in rats. Poster presented at the annual meeting of SYNAPSE, Davidson, NC.
Linderman, S.*, Marr, M.*, Self, A.*, Nguyen, E.*, and Gotthard, G.H. (April, 2006). Protein synthesis is not required for extinction of paired-associate odor discriminations. Poster presented at the annual meeting of SYNAPSE, Davidson, NC.
Smith, A. R.*, and Gotthard, G. H. (April, 2006). Examination of the state dependent properties of WIN-55-212-2 on spatial learning and memory in rats in the sand maze. Poster presented at the annual meeting of SYNAPSE, Davidson, NC.
Smith, A. R.*, and Gotthard, G. H. (Nov, 2005). Examination of the state dependent properties of WIN-55-212-2 on spatial learning and memory in rats in the sand maze. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Washington, DC.
Smith, A.R.*, and Gotthard, G.H. (April, 2005). Spatial learning and memory in the sand maze: Does WIN-2 produce state dependent retention in rats? Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Virginia Psychological Association, Williamsburg, VA.
Carleton College
Gotthard, G. H., and Hamid, E.* (Nov, 2004). Comparison of spatial behavior in the sand maze and the water maze. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Minneapolis, MN.
Gotthard, G. H., Carissan, D.*, and Riccio, D. C. (May, 2003). Comparison of alternation behavior in spatial and non-spatial versions of the Sand Maze. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Anderson, A.*, Bender, J.*, Olinick, A.*, Nordenson, B.*, and Gotthard, G. H. (April, 2003). Alternation Behavior in the Sand Maze: The Effects of Spatial versus “Less” Spatial Training. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Minnesota Undergraduate Psychology Conference, Bethel College, St. Paul, MN.
Kent State University
Hanson, G. R. and Riccio, D. C. (May, 2002). The effects of massed and spaced training trials on acquisition, retention, and extinction in the Sand Maze. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Hanson, G. R., and Riccio, D. C. (October, 2001). The Sand Maze: An appetitive alternative to the Morris Water Maze. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Pavlovian Society, New Brunswick, NJ.
Hanson, G. R., Farhan, M.*, and Riccio, D. C. (May, 2001). The Sand Maze: An appetitive alternative to the Morris Water Maze. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Hanson, G. R., Kaut, K. K., and Bunsey, M. D. (May, 1999). Comparison of retrograde amnesia following lesions of the fornix versus perirhinal and entorhinal cortices. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Hanson, G. R., and Bunsey, M. D. (November, 1998). Comparison of retrograde amnesia following lesions of fornix versus perirhinal and entorhinal cortices. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 24, 929. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Los Angeles, CA.
RESEARCH GRANTS AND AWARDS
Randolph-Macon Woman’s College
Professional Development Grant to present research with Alexandra Knoppel ’10 at SYNAPSE conference in Davidson, NC (April, 2007).
Faculty Development Grant to attend Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Exploration of Teaching and Learning in Cocoa Beach, FL (Oct. 13-15, 2005).
Summer Research Grant to conduct study with Ashley Smith (’06) concerning state dependent properties of WIN-55-212-2 (Summer, 2005).
Professional Development Grant to present research at Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society in Minneapolis, MN (Nov., 2004).
Carleton College
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Grant for research entitled “Effects of Neuropeptide Cholecystokinin-8S (CCK-8S) on Spatial Memory Processes in Rats” (2003). Co-awarded with Larry Wichlinski.
Faculty Development Endowment (FDE) Grant for research entitled “Behavioral and Neural Components of Spatial Learning and Memory in the Sand Maze” (2002-2004).
Kent State University
Graduate Student Senate Research Grant for research entitled “The Sand Maze: An Appetitive Alternative to the Morris Water Maze” (2001).
Michael D. Bunsey Memorial Book Award (2001).
University of Minnesota
Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) Grant for research entitled “Differential Outcomes and Effort” (1996).
COMMITTEE SERVICE
Animal Research Committee (2005-present)
Admissions Committee (2006-present)
Summer Research Committee (2006-present)
I will Chair the Summer Research Committee in the 2007-2008 academic year while Elizabeth Perry is on sabbatical.