Category: Faculty Partner Research

Sooyeon Jeong – Natural and idiomatic expressions are essential for fluent, everyday communication, yet many second-language learners struggle to acquire and spontaneously use casual slang despite strong formal proficiency. To address this gap, we designed and evaluated an LLM-powered, task-based role-playing game in which a GPT-4o-based Game Master guides learners through an immersive, three-phase spoken narrative.

Xinran Lehto – This article offers a critical reappraisal of contemporary research at the intersection of aging, technology, and travel, drawing on tourism studies and interdisciplinary advancements in assistive technology, human factors engineering, and public health. It identifies key conceptual gaps in how tourism and hospitality have addressed the evolving needs, capacities, and aspirations of older travelers.

AJ Schwichtenberg – Sleep is a common concern raised at well-child visits, which may stem in part from parental uncertainty around what is expected for toddler sleep. Despite recent attempts to classify normative sleep using large samples, there are notable gaps in existing studies and how they inform parental sleep expectations.Sleep is a common concern raised at well-child visits, which may stem in part from parental uncertainty around what is expected for toddler sleep. Despite recent attempts to classify normative sleep using large samples, there are notable gaps in existing studies and how they inform parental sleep expectations.

Arielle Borovsky – We tested the hypothesis that Parkinson’s disease (PD) impairs verbs’ event structures and/or sensory-motor semantic features, as suggested by theories of grounded cognition. Nineteen participants with PD and 16 age-matched Controls produced verbs and used a Likert scale to rate verbs’ event-based association with instruments (e.g. fork – eating versus bathing) and locations (e.g. airport – waiting versus singing).

Sooyeon Jeong – While the efficacy of social robots in supporting people in learning tasks has been extensively investigated, their potential impact in assisting students in self-studying contexts has not been investigated much. This study explores how a social robot can act as a peer study companion for college students during self-study tasks by delivering task-oriented goal reminder and positive emotional support.

Leanne Nieforth – Many organizations are seeking innovative options to promote workplace mental health and wellbeing, including the integration of employees’ pets into the workplace. While empirical research exists, there has not yet been a systematic analysis focused on the outcomes of pets in the workplace.

Kim Updegraff – Parent-child communication is vital in preventing pre-adolescent health risk behaviors such as substance use and sex, yet little is known about these dynamics in Hispanic families.

Kristine Marceau – Adolescents exposed to traumatic events, including physical and sexual abuse, are at higher risk of developing problematic substance use behaviours. This study investigates associations between traumatic experiences and trajectories of substance use in adolescence and young adulthood, focusing in particular on differences in neuroendocrine and subjective stress reactivity as potential explanatory mechanisms.

Chris Agnew – Some people are single despite desiring a committed romantic relationship. Past research has revealed relationship maintenance strategies—thoughts and behaviors that couple members enact to fuel overall relationship satisfaction and commitment—associated with relationship stability.

Leigha MacNeill – The scope of the pediatric mental health crisis in the United States, coupled with clinical manifestations prior to school age, necessitates a systematic approach to early detection of mental health problems in public health settings.