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About
- Friday, May 17, 6 p.m.
- Saturday, May 18, 11 a.m.
Commencement
Celebrating the Class of 2024
About
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Academics
- Friday, May 17, 6 p.m.
- Saturday, May 18, 11 a.m.
Commencement
Celebrating the Class of 2024
Academics
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Admission & Financial Aid
- Friday, May 17, 6 p.m.
- Saturday, May 18, 11 a.m.
Commencement
Celebrating the Class of 2024
Admission & Financial Aid
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Student Life
- Friday, May 17, 6 p.m.
- Saturday, May 18, 11 a.m.
Commencement
Celebrating the Class of 2024
Student Life
- Athletics
Dr. Kristin Jay
Associate Professor of Pyschology
Bio
I am a cognitive psychologist. My training is in cognitive neuroscience, an interdisciplinary field that seeks to understand how the nervous system supports mental processes like perception, attention, memory, cognitive control, and language. I initially became interested in psychology through the field of psycholinguistics—as someone who has always appreciated the power of language and enjoyed writing and playing with words, I was delighted to learn that researchers were trying to systematically understand how people use language to do things to each other. As a graduate student and postdoc, I studied other mental processes, like attention and executive function, in terms of how they are influenced by emotion. My dissertation addressed these issues in the context of mind-body relationships involving maladaptive coping and functional physical (chronic, no obvious organic cause) disorders. After years of studying maladaptive coping, pain, and offensive language, coinciding with a deepening personal interest in yoga philosophy and practice, I started to become very aware of the need to better understand adaptive coping. Right now, I am especially interested in yin yoga and how mindfulness practices involving attention to the body impact health, creativity, sensory acuity and phenomenological experience.
Education
BA, Psychology, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, 2004
PhD, Psychology (Cognitive Neuroscience), University of California, Los Angeles, 2009
Research Interests / Areas of Focus
Yin yoga, mindfulness, attention to sensory experience, the fascial system
Selected Publications
Jay, K.L., & Jay, T.B. (2015). Taboo word fluency and knowledge of slurs and general pejoratives: Deconstructing the poverty-of-vocabulary myth. Language Sciences. doi: 10.1016/j.langsci.2014.12.003
Jay, K.L., & Jay, T.B. (2013). A child’s garden of curses: A gender, historical, and age-related evaluation of the taboo lexicon. American Journal of Psychology, 126(4), 459-475. doi:10.5406/amerjpsyc.126.4.0459
Chan, M. Y. P.,† Hamamura, T., & Janschewitz, K. (2013). Ethnic differences in physical pain sensitivity: Role of acculturation. Pain, 154, 119-123
Jay, T.B., & Janschewitz, K. (2012). The science of swearing. APS Observer, 25(5), 21; 40-41
† indicates graduate student
Selected Publications
*Hicks, E. C., & Jay, K. L. (2017). Investigating the relationship between trait-mindfulness and implicit racial bias. Poster presented at Eastern Psychological Association Annual Convention (Boston, Massachusetts)
*Hicks, E. C. & Jay, K. L. (2017). The effect of meditation and mindfulness on various components of attention. Poster presentated at Fifth World Congress on Positive Psychology (Montréal, Quebec, Canada)
*Miller, L., & Jay, K. (2017). The effect of suppression strategies on intrusive thoughts, anxiety, and pain tolerance. Poster presented at Eastern Psychological Association Annual Convention (Boston, Massachusetts)
*Poinan. M., & Jay, K. (2017). A mindful touch: Somatosensory perception and mindfulness. Poster presented at Eastern Psychological Association Annual Convention (Boston, Massachusetts)
Jay, K., *Bellante, L., *Clark, K., *Hicks, E., & *Milligan, K. (2016). Sentence context influences the generation of euphemisms for common taboo words. Poster presented at New England Psychological Association Annual Meeting (Worcester, MA)
*Poinan, M., Levering, K., & Jay, K. (2016). Auditory perceptions and attention. Poster presented at New England Psychological Association Annual Meeting (Worcester, MA)
*Davis, A. & Jay, K. (2015). Thought suppression and working memory capacity. Poster presented at Eastern Psychological Association Annual Convention (Philadelphia, PA) and Eastern Colleges Science Conference (Niagara, NY)
*Bridges, R. & Jay, K. (2014, 2015). Construal level and self-control: An analysis of IAT performance. Poster presented at New England Psychological Association Annual Meeting (Lewiston, ME) and Eastern Psychological Association Annual Convention (Philadephia, PA). Paper presented at Eastern Colleges Science Conference (Niagara, NY)
Donelan, J.,* Bridges, R.,* & Jay, K. (2014). Emotional and hemispheric differences in attentional blink. Poster presented at Eastern Psychological Association Annual Convention (Boston, MA)
Duncan, S.* & Jay, K. (2014). The comorbidity of binge eating and compulsive buying. Poster presented at Eastern Psychological Association Annual Convention (Boston, MA)
Frank, L.* & Jay, K. (2014). Sensory integration in flavor perception. Poster presented at Eastern Colleges Science Conference (Poughkeepsie, NY)
Sobolewski, L.* & Janschewitz, K. (2014). Adult recall of childhood memories for skill development. Poster presented at Eastern Psychological Association Annual Convention (Boston, MA)
* indicates undergraduate student
