Department of Psychology

Sandra McFadden

Sandra McFadden, Ph.D.

Professor & Graduate Program Coordinator: General Experimental Psychology

Education

Dr. McFadden earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Psychology/Neuroscience and Behavior from Northern Illinois University, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in the Developmental Auditory Physiology Laboratory at Boys Town National Research Hospital in Omaha, NE. Her master’s thesis (“Responses of inferior colliculus neurons in young adult C57BL/6J mice as a function of stimulus azimuth”) and dissertation (“Hearing in a noisy environment: Effects of noise location and sensorineural hearing loss on the responses of inferior colliculus neurons in C57BL/6J mice”) were completed under the mentorship of Dr. James F. Willott, a pioneer in the use of mice for auditory research.

Teaching Areas

Dr. McFadden has taught both undergraduate courses (Psy 100 Introduction to Psychology, Psy 223 Research in Psychology I: Statistical Methods and Design, Psy 343 Physiological Psychology/Behavioral Neuroscience, Psy 344 Perception, Psy 427 Health Psychology) and graduate courses (Psy 501 Advanced Psychological Statistics; Psy 550 Current Research in Psychology Seminar, Psy 592 Child Neuropsychology, Psy 600 Brain and Behavior Seminar).

Research Interests

Dr. McFadden’s research explores brain-behavior relationships with both human and rodent subjects. Diverse methodologies are employed to measure overt behaviors and electrophysiological responses (e.g., ERPs, ABRs, fEMG, EDR).

Recent Thesis Projects

Kathleen Hodges, “Anxiolytic Effects of Fluoxetine and Anxiogenic Effects of d-Amphetamine on Associative and Non-Associative Memory Tasks in Zebrafish” (2021; committee member).

Matthew Alwood, “A systems level analysis of hippocampal involvement in second-order fear conditioning” (2021; committee member).

Kyle Reterstoff, “A resource control account of vigilance decrement effects using stress states and event related potentials” (2020; advisor).

Lindsey Robinson, “Distinguishing the effects of fatigue and malingering of traumatic brain injury symptoms using event-related potentials” (2017; advisor).

Alicia Vallorani, “Neural processing differences in alexithymia and autism spectrum disorder: An event related potential study of social exclusion” (2016; advisor).

Dugan O’Connor: “Event-related potentials and recovery from ego depletion” (2014; advisor).

Sarah Adams: “Neurobiological contrasts between anxiety and depression using acoustic startle response” (2014; advisor).

Elizabeth M. Kiebel: “A neuroscientific approach to the assessment of attitudes about homosexual intimacy” (2013; advisor).

Recent Publications and Presentations

Robinson, L.K. & McFadden, S.L. (2019). Distinguishing TBI malingering and fatigue using event-related potentials. Journal of Psychophysiology. https://doi.org/10.1027/0269-8803/a000248

McFadden, S.L., & Hooker, B.L. (2019). Comparing Perika St. John’s wort and sertraline for treatment of PTSD in mice. Journal of Dietary Supplements.  https://doi.org/10.1080/19390211.2019.1572040

Kiebel, E.M., McFadden, S.L., & Herbstrith, J.C. (2017). Disgusted but not afraid: Feelings toward same sex kissing reveal subtle homonegativity. The Journal of Social Psychology, 157(3), 263-278. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1080/00224545.2016.1184127

Maldonado, J., Robinson, L. K., & McFadden, S.L. (2017). Distinguishing behavioral performance of fatigue and malingering. Oral presentation at the Fourth Annual WIU Graduate Research Conference, March 3.

Nielsen, S.E., McFadden, S.L, & Kittleson, M. (2017). Dark chocolate augments permanent hearing loss in C57BL/6 mice. Poster at the 89th annual Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, Il.

Robinson, L. K. & McFadden, S. L. (2016). Perceived self-control, coping, and sensation seeking following brain trauma. Paper presentation, 88th annual Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, Il.

Vallorani, A., McFadden, S. L., Sunami, N., Berg, P. C., Sizemore, S. J., Sullivan, M. K., & Winter, M. A. (2016). Loneliness and alexithymia traits decrease early attention to inclusion. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.

Vallorani, A., McFadden, S. L., Sunami, N., Nielsen, S. E., Kittelson, M. A., Lebed, A., Robinson, L. K., & Speidel, R. T. (2016). Autism related social motivation deficits decrease attention during exclusion, but not inclusion.Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Social and Affective Neuroscience, New York, NY.

Lurquin, J.H., McFadden, S.L., & Harbke, C.R. (2014). An electrophysiological investigation of the effects of social rejection on self control. The Journal of Social Psychology, 154, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2014.881768

Vallorani, A., Sunami, N., McFadden, S. L., & Omura, M. (2015). The effects of autism communication skills deficits and alexithymia on positive affect recognition. Poster presented at the 2015 Iowa State University Neuroscience Research Day, September 2015.

Vallorani, A., Sunami, N., & McFadden, S. L. (2015). Communication skills and positive affect recognition: The roles of alexithymia and autism traits. Poster presentation at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Neuroscience, Chicago, IL.

Sunami, N., Vallorani, A., McFadden, S., Omura, M., et al. (2015). Rejection sensitivity is related to altered neural processing of fear. Poster presented at the 2015 Meeting of the Social and Affective Neuroscience Society conference.

Vallorani, A., Sunami, N., McFadden, S. L., & Kelly, K. M. (2015). Emotionally blind with a social mind: Exploring the paradox of alexithymia. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago.

Vallorani, A., Sunami, N., & McFadden, S. L. (2015). Early neural processing of positive affect in individuals high in autism spectrum disorder communication skills deficits is mediated by level of alexithymia traits. Poster presented at the Social and Affective Neuroscience Society conference.

Sunami, N., Kelly, K.M., Vallorani, A., Kiebel, E., Wilson, A., Palumbo, N., Robinson, L., Berg, P. Hester, C., Hammersley, J. J., & McFadden, S. L. (2015). Loneliness moderates N1 response to aggressive words following ostracism. Poster presented at the Social and Affective Neuroscience Society conference.

Kiebel, E.M., McFadden, S.L., & Herbstrith, J.C. (2015). Comparison of bias among low and high prejudiced individuals. Poster presented at the Midwestern Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.

Sunami, N., Vallorani, A., McFadden, S., Omura, M., et al. (2015). Rejection sensitivity is related to altered neural processing of fear. Poster presented at the 8th annual Social and Affective Neuroscience Society conference.

Vallorani, A., Sunami, N., McFadden, S., Omura, M., et al. (2015). Attention versus recognition: Differences in emotion processing deficits in autism spectrum disorder and alexithymia. Poster presented at the 8th annual Social and Affective Neuroscience Society conference.

Omura, M., Sunami, N., Kiebel, L., Stiger, K., Prahler, C., Barwegen, K., Sotozaki, H., & McFadden, S.L. (2014). Examining emotion processing differences in individuals with Alexithymia using psychophysiological measures. Poster presented at the Midwestern Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.

Garceau, G., Jefferson, M., Simmons, A., McFadden, S., Dopheide, M., & Morgan, R. (2014). Does the administration of oxytocin (OT) to induce parturition produce autism spectrum disorder (ASD)-like deficits in Long-Evans rats? Poster presented at the Midwestern Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.

Adams, S. L., McFadden, S. L., Kiebel, E. M., Sunami, N., Barker, D. D., Belcher, K. E., Lueschow, S. R., Ooi, S. J., & Randazzo, B. K. (2014). Acoustic startle response profile of individuals with comorbid depression and anxiety. Oral presentation at the Midwestern Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.

McFadden, S.L., & Kiebel, E.M. (2013). A parametric study of auditory event-related potentials recorded from cortex of CBA/CaJ mice. Poster presented at Association for Psychological Science conference, Washington, DC.