Four undergraduate research students from the Department of Psychology Center for Applied Behavior Systems are the first authors of four research articles to be published in the Virginia Journal of Business Technology and Science (VaJBTS). The authors revised their articles following feedback from the Editor. Each of the articles addresses the prevention of COVID-19 with naturalistic observations of COVID-prevention behavior in 2020 and 2021. Professor Geller and his students have been collaborating with faculty and students from four other universities—Appalachian State, University of Kansas, University of Florida, and Western Michigan University—who also focus their research on observable behavior rather than opinion surveys. This applied research from Virginia Tech is the first from these universities to be completed for publication and dissemination.
The titles of these publications reflect the COVID-prevention research topic. All of the coauthors except Zachary Mastrich and Scott Geller are undergraduate students. All of the other students will be conducting research and creating scholarship in our Center for Applied Behavior Systems next year. Such scholarship will speak volumes for these students’ applications to graduate school, as it already has for two of the authors (i.e., Nolan Barrett and Samuel Browning) who will be attending graduate school in the Fall. The title of each article defines the COVID-prevention focus of the applied psychology research. If you want to have access to any of these publications please contact Scott Geller at esgeller@vt.edu.
Pandemic Preparedness: A Community Assessment of Compliance with Infection-Control Guidelines
Authors: Nolan Barrett, Jessie Yu, Loralee Hoffer, Samuel L. Browning, and E. Scott Geller
Community-Wide Prevention of COVID-19: A Systematic Analysis of Hot vs. Cold Spots
Authors: Mackenzie Davis, Zachary Mastrich, Rachel Tuosto, Samuel L. Browning, and E. Scott Geller
Facemask Wearing and Social Distancing: A Test of Risk Compensation Theory
Authors: Myriam Oliver, Samuel Browning, Mackenzie Davis, and E. Scott Geller
Studying Subjective Well-Being during a Quarantine: How does a weekly gratitude letter affect daily mood states?
Authors: Samuel L. Browning, E. Scott Geller