CCM Lab

Michael Ross

Born in and raised in Toronto, I attended the University of Toronto for my undergraduate degree. For my final two years, I worked as a research assistant in Abe Amsel's Lab. Abe studied the effects of rewards on rats running down alleys. I loved the research and probably would have continued to study with Abe for my graduate degree except for two things. I noticed that students who obtained Ph.D.s in rat psychology found it difficult to obtain academic positions. Also, I became allergic to rats. I had to wear a mask when conducting research and, even then, I sneezed, my nose ran, and my eyes itched. Because I was enthusiastic about my social psychology course with John Arrowood, I chose to become a social psychologist instead. When John Thibaut called in mid-March of my graduating year to describe the dogwoods and magnolias then blooming in Chapel Hill, I looked at the snow outside my window and agreed to attend the University of North Carolina (UNC) to work with him. After four delightful and intellectually stimulating years at UNC, I accepted a position at the University of Waterloo where I have enjoyed working with outstanding colleagues and students.

Jillian Banfield

Jillian obtained her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Waterloo in 2006. Jillian is now a third-year PhD student at the University of Waterloo, where she studies a variety of justice issues. Her primary advisor is Aaron Kay, but she also hangs out in the Ross lab. With Mike Ross, Jillian explores how feeling responsible for causing and solving the problems of minority groups affects people’s support for affirmative action programs. In collaboration with Mike Ross and Craig Blatz, Jillian is also exploring the role of conservatism in support for redress for historical harms.

Karen Choi

Karen is a fifth year doctoral student who received her B. A. in Psychology from the University of Waterloo in 2004. Karen is interested in all things cross-cultural. Karen’s research with her supervisor, Mike Ross, mainly focuses on cultural differences in praise and criticism. Her research has found that Asian-Canadian mothers are less accepting of compliments about their children than European-Canadian mothers, Korean golfers are less accepting of praise for their tournament wins than Western golfers, and Asian-Canadian undergraduates are more likely than their European counterparts to criticize a friend’s poor fashion choice. The goal of her research is to examine why these cultural differences exist and what impact they have on achievement and interpersonal outcomes.

Martin Day

Martin is a 4th year social psychology graduate student with Mike Ross as his principal supervisor.

Martin researches how people rationalize and behave when faced with situations of injustice, inequality, and unfairness, and the downstream consequences of these thoughts and actions. With Mike Ross, this research has delved into apologies and forgiveness for personal and intergroup transgressions.  With Aaron Kay and John Holmes, Martin has investigated how people’s motivations to defend their system (e.g., the government) influences people’s endorsement of seemingly unrelated ideologies (e.g., the institution of marriage). While his primary passion is research, he is also excited by teaching psychology to university students. Martin is originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he obtained his Bsc. in Psychology from Dalhousie University.

Daniel Nadolny

Daniel Nadolny received his BA Honours in Psychology and English in 2007. Daniel is currently a third year PhD student primarily working with Grainne Fitzsimons and Aaron Kay. He is working on a project with Dr. Ross examining how modern racism, target group and group history interact to shape support for apology and compensation.

Emily Schryer

Emily received her B.A. Honours in Psychology from the University of Waterloo in 2006. Emily is currently a third-year PhD student working with Mike Ross. Her research primarily focuses on the areas of aging and memory. In collaboration with Mike Ross and Myra Fernandes, Emily examines the age-related positivity bias in older and younger adults’ recall of autobiographical memories. She also examines how adults of different ages use memory aids and strategies to cope with memory tasks in everyday life.

Karina Schumann

Karina completed her B.A. Honours in Psychology at the University of Guelph in 2006. Now a third-year PhD student at the University of Waterloo, her work concerns responses to harmdoing. With Dr. Ross, she is investigating whether and how religious groups differ in their endorsement of revenge, the effects of religion primes on revenge behaviour, and the association between beliefs in the afterlife and tendencies to desire and take revenge. She is also examining how interpersonal and political apologies are structured and what effects these apologies have on the apologizers and apology recipients.

Amy Yeung (Lab Manager)

Amy completed her B.A. in Psychology and minor in Women's Studies at the University of Waterloo in 2007. After working and traveling in Asia for two years, she returned to UW and joined the CCM Lab. Amy is interested in research on stereotyping and prejudice, social justice, gender, and culture. She plans to pursue graduate studies in September 2010.