At the University of Kansas, Dr. Madden and his graduate student colleagues are conducting studies designed to explore economic and neurochemical factors that may impact addictive decision making. Recent work has focused particularly on gambling and this research is supported by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Students interested in being a part of this innovative, productive lab should contact Dr. Madden to see if he will be recruiting graduate students in the fall (gmadden@ku.edu). Graduate students are supported with a full tuition waiver and a stipend to cover your living expenses.

Graduate Students:

  • Adam Brewer (wvupsc@ku.edu) Adam began his graduate study at KU in the fall of 2006. Adam is co-advised by Dr. Madden and Dr. Dean Williams of the Parsons Research Center. Adam earned his undergraduate degree from the Psychology department at West Virginia University where he conducted research with Phil Chase, Andy Lattal, and Michael Perone. In his first year, Adam started three experiments in the Behavioral Economics lab and learned to program in Visual Basic. Adam's interests include maladaptive behavior accompanying transitions from relatively rich to relatively lean periods of reinforcement, D3 agonist effects of decision making, and film (i.e., going to the movies). Adam is shown above holding a pigeon intellligence panel which contains a key, feeder, and touch sensitive video monitor.
    •
  • Monica Francisco (mtfranci@ku.edu) Monica earned her Master's degree at the University of the Pacific with Dr. John Borrero. There she developed a strong interest in behavioral economics. Monica joined the Behavioral Economics lab at KU in the Spring of 2008 and she is currently helping to conduct experiments designed to study strain differences in impulsive decision making. Her upcoming projects include writing a literature review on the applied utility of behavioral economics (Drs. Madden & Borrero as co-authors) and examining price elasticity of demand of gambling-like outcomes. Here is a link to Monica's vita.
  • Patrick Johnson (circadia@ku.edu) Patrick joined the lab in the fall of 2006. He earned his B.S. degree in Psychology from the University of Florida where he worked in the laboratories of Drs. Tim Hackenberg and Clive Wynne (to name a few). In his first few years at KU he has started three experiments and learned to program in the Med State Notation language. Patrick's interests include relative reinforcer efficacy, selection by consequences, and intense Germanic board games. Here is a link to Patrick's vita.

  • Jeff Stein (jsstein1@gmail.com) Jeff joined the lab in January 2008 after winning the Donald Baer Outstanding Achievement Award in Basic Research & Conceptual Foundations. Jeff is undertaking two studies. One is examining the effects of training delay tolerance on impulsivity in rats. The other is examining delay discounting rates in Lewis and Fischer 344 rats using an adjusting amount procedure. He is also interested in the effects of unreliable environments on subsequent tolerance for delayed reinforcers. Here is a link to Jeff's vita.

Undergraduate Students:

  • We are currently supervising some outstanding undergraduate students as they help us conduct research. These students attend weekly lab meetings where articles are discussed and data are evaluated. We couldn't run the lab without their help. Thanks to all of them.
     
    Jessica Danon: Jessica is a sophomore majoring in Applied Behavioral Science. After graduation, she hopes to pursue graduate school.
     

    Caitlin Klinzman: Caitlin is a junior majoring in Applied Behavioral Science. After graduation, she would like to pursue  graduate school and conduct early childhood intervention research.
     
    Sarah Stegman: Sarah is a senior majoring in Applied Behavioral Science. After graduation, she plans to work for a few years, take a break, then apply to graduate school.
      
    • Jason Hartman: Jason is a junior majoring in Applied Behavioral Science. After graduation, he plans to apply to graduate school.
    • Austin Cardwell
    • Amos Christner
    • Shannon Tierney