Emotions Lab

Join Our Research

Current Avila students: To apply to the lab, please complete a Research Participation form, which is available on Canvas or through your advisor.

Prospective Avila students: For more information about our programs, please visit Avila’s School of Psychology & Cognitive Science. 

Contact Us

Lab Director: Marcia Smith Pasqualini, Ph.D.
Avila University
11901 Wornall Road
Kansas City, MO 64145
USA

Avila University Emotions Lab

The Emotions research lab at Avila University is directed by Dr. Marcia Smith Pasqualini and includes undergraduate and master’s level psychology students who are either completing a research concentration for their degree or interested in gaining research experience.

If you are a current or prospective Avila student in psychology, cognitive science, or a related discipline, we would be happy for you to join us! See “Contact Us” for more information.

Lab Research

Our current lab projects focus on the assessment and treatment of public speaking anxiety (including the use of virtual reality) and emotional congruence using psychophysiological measures of anxiety and threat reactivity. For thesis projects, we are currently investigating individual differences related to the effects of Instagram use, group dynamics, and effects of emotion on jury decision-making.

Lab students have presented at APS, APA, MPA, ISRE, Society for Psychophysiological Research, and other conferences. Here are some of our presentations:

• Smith Pasqualini, M. C., Arasmith, C., & Zerr, M. (2009). Heart rate variability and emotion regulation. Presented at the International Society for Research on Emotions, Leuven, Belgium.
• Oba, Y., & Smith Pasqualini, M. C. (2011). Public speaking anxiety is common and specific. Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington D.C.
• Oba, Y., Dobbins, E., Sanford, A., Miles, S., & Smith Pasqualini, M. C. (2012). Public speaking anxiety reflects lower heart rate variability and self-esteem. Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago.
• Oba, Y., Dobbins, E., Sanford, A., Miles, S., & Smith Pasqualini, M. C. (2012). Influence of adult attachment on self-esteem during a speaking task. Presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Orlando.
• Oba, Y., & Smith Pasqualini, M. C. (2012). Public speaking anxiety and adult attachment in college students. Presented at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, Orlando.
• Brucks, M., Britton, K., & Smith Pasqualini, M. C. (2014). We hear your fear: A shaking voice reflects public speaking anxiety. Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco.
• Mahtani, S., Mavis, C., & Smith Pasqualini, M. C. (2015). The association between self-consciousness and public speaking anxiety. Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Psychological Science, New York City.
• Brown, S., Tibbetts, G., & Smith Pasqualini, M. C. (2016). Predicting public speaking anxiety from self-esteem and thrill-seeking. Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago.
• Brown, K., Dunwoody, B., Tibbetts, G., & Smith Pasqualini, M. (2017). Physiological responses that serve as predictors of public speaking anxiety. Presented at the annual conference of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago.
• Neidinger, S., Chakrabarti, M, & Smith Pasqualini, M. (2017). Public speaking anxiety is associated with lower extraversion and lower emotional stability. Presented at the annual conference of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago.
• Brown, S., Hamrick, W., & Smith Pasqualini, M. (2017). Public speaking anxiety: The fear of showing fear. Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Psychological Science, Boston.
• Chakrabarti, M., Neidinger, S., & Smith Pasqualini, M. (2017). Correlation of public speaking anxiety with neuroticism and its subdomains. Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Psychological Science, Boston.
• Smith Pasqualini, M., Krajewski, J., Schnieder, S., Brown, K., & Brown, S. (2017). The sound of fear: Acoustic-prosodic features of anxious speech. Presented at the biennial conference of the International Society for Research on Emotion, St. Louis.
• Smith Pasqualini, M., Brown, S., Tibbetts, G., Brown, K., Hamrick, W., Chakrabarti, M., Neidinger, S., Dunwoody, S., & Webber, J. (2017). Trait threat sensitivity and electrodermal responses to predictable and unpredictable acoustic stimuli. Presented at the annual conference of the Society for Psychophysiological Research, Vienna, Austria.
• Chakrabarti, M., Gleason, V., Wixon, D., & Smith Pasqualini, M. (2019). Gender differences in public speaking anxiety. Presented at the annual conference of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago.
• Ottinger, S., Poynter, M., & Smith Pasqualini, M. (2019). Public speaking anxiety in ethnic minorities. Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, D.C.
• Gleason, V., Wixon, D., Chakrabarti, M., Brewster, B., & Smith Pasqualini, M. (2019). Trait threat sensitivity and public speaking anxiety. Presented at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
• Brewster, B., Martin, L., & Smith Pasqualini, M. (April, 2020). Inhibition deficits in healthy older adults. Accepted for presentation at the annual conference of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago (conference canceled).
• Ottinger, S., Morvan, L., Morello, D., Wing, L., & Smith Pasqualini, M. (May, 2021). Effects of gender and ethnicity on public speaking anxiety. Presented at the virtual annual conference of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, D.C.
• Poynter, M., Morvan-Pereur, L., Ziglinski, S., & Smith Pasqualini, M. (April, 2022). Reappraising anxiety as excitement in public speaking: A replication. To be presented at the annual conference of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago.