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School of Psychology, Sociology and Rural Studies

Debra Spear

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Title

Professor

Office Building

Psychology, Sociology and Rural Studies

Office

231

Mailing Address

Ag Engineering 231
School of Psych, Soc & Rural Studies-Box 2120
University Station
Brookings, SD 57007

Biography

I began my career at SDSU in January of 1995. At that time, I began studying the effects of drugs on schedule-controlled behaviors in rats. For 15 years I conducted drug research and trained students in the lab. Currently, I am conducting research on human behavior with respect to the principles of learning. My courses include the biologically-based psychology courses in Domain 1 of our curriculum.

Education

University of Maryland, B.S.
University of North Carolina- Greensboro, M.S., Ph.D.
NIDA- Postdoctoral Research
Hopkins Medical School, Division of Behavioral Biology- Postdoctoral Research
Rutgers University- Instructor, Postdoctoral Research

Academic Interests

Behavior Analysis
Behavioral Pharmacology
Human Operant Behavior

Academic Responsibilities

Psyc 101- General Psychology- Honors
Psyc 301- Sensation and Perception
Psyc 411- Physiological Psychology
Psyc 414- Drugs and Human Behavior

Professional Memberships

Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI)
Experimental Analysis of Human Behavior (ABAI SIG)

Area(s) of Research

Psychopharmacology
Human Operant Behavior
Principles of Learning

Department(s)