I am a first-generation college student, who never wanted to stop learning. I pursued a Ph.D. with the intent of being a researcher first, and teacher second. When I was a teaching assistant in my first year as a graduate student, I was assigned to teach students how to write in APA format for a research methods class. This was my first real exposure to teaching and assisting students and I developed a passion for teaching. My career plan changed and while I still cared about research, I began to look for jobs that would allow me to focus more on teaching than research. I was offered a job at CBC in 2014, and have been teaching here since. What I hope students take away from my courses are a better understanding of themselves and others, the ability to navigate legitimate sources, and the development of critical thinking skills.
Ph.D., M.A., University of North Dakota
B.A., Saint Cloud State University
Virtual Campus Grant (2019): Received to take a course on OER resources and to further develop/locate sources for my Social Psychology and Forensic Psychology courses.
Exceptional Faculty Award (2019): Received money to conduct research on mTurk.
Virtual Campus Grant (2017): Received with Kay Lynn Stevens for designing supplemental learning tools to accompany a OER textbook for General Psychology.
Exceptional Faculty Award (2017): Received with Kay Lynn Stevens, Michael Reynolds, Wilikinia Vasquez and Terry Rueckert for advising students in the creation of original research and presentation of research at the Western Psychological Association Convention, Portland, Oregon.
Virtual Campus Grant (2016): Received to develop online recordings to use in my online classes.
Teaching and Learning Grant (2015): Received to develop a low-cost reader or OER material for Forensic Psychology.
Exceptional Faculty Award (2016): Received with Kay Lynn Stevens and Terry Rueckert for advising students in the creation of original research and presentation of research at the Western Psychological Association Convention, Long Beach, California.
Virtual Campus Grant (2015): Received for the development of an online Social Psychology class and locating/designing OER sources to use in the class.
Teaching and Learning Grant (2015): Received with Kay Lynn Stevens to conduct a study examining differences in discussion between a face-to-face class and an online class.
Exceptional Faculty Award (2015): Received with Kay Lynn Stevens for advising students in the creation of original research and presentation of research at the Western Psychological Association Convention, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Christina Maslach – Philip Zimbardo Research Award in Social Psychology (2014): Received for outstanding research in the field of social psychology.
Walker Award (2013): Received for teaching, research and service at the University of North Dakota
My research interests blend social psychology and forensic psychology together. I apply concepts from social psychology (schemas, stereotypes, conformity, etc.) into legal situations (assaults, juror decision-making processes, etc.). My main focus is on extralegal factors and how they influence sexual assault cases. Extralegal factors are elements that are present, but have no legal implication such as the physical appearance of a victim or defendant. I have also done side projects on sports fandom, hate crimes and sexual fetishes.
Plumm, K. M., Terrance, C. A. and Austin, A. (2014). Not all hate crimes are created equal: An examination of the roles of ambiguity and expectation in perceptions of hate crimes. Current Psychology, 33(3), 321-364.
Plumm, K. M., Austin, A. and Terrance, C. A. (2013). Perceptions of sex offenses: Effects of gender of perpetrator and victim. Journal of American Forensic Psychology, 31(4), 55-72.
Austin, A. C., Plumm, K.M., Terrance, C.A. and Terrell, H.K. (2013) No halo effect for sex offenders: An examination of the effects of appearance and gender on the public's perception of sex offenders. Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice, 9(2), xx-xx.
Austin, A., Crothers, H., & Ferraro, F. R. (2013). Memory. In K. D. Keith (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Cross-Cultural Psychology (pp. 868-869). New York, NY: Wiley-Blackwell.
Poster Presentations
Logan Jara-Iniguez, McKinzie Peterson, Brett Jakubek, Claudia Madrigal, Eva Morfin and Adam Austin. The effect of gender and age of victim on school employee misconduct. Poster presented at the 2019 Western Psychological Association convention, Pasadena, CA.
McKinzie Peterson, Logan Jara-Iniguez, Sabrina Persinger, Jonay Torres and Adam Austin. The effect of race and compliance with police force. Poster presented at the 2019 Western Psychological Association convention, Pasadena, CA.
Kay Lynn Stevens, Brett Jakubek, Hunter Rodgers, Diosalen Valdez, Xochitl Rodriguez, Catherin Rily, Morgan Gosch, Cynthia Garcia, Elias Chavez, Adam Austin, Wilikinia Vasquez and Terry Rueckert. Perceptions of victims of sex trafficking. Poster presented at the 2019 Western Psychological Association convention, Pasadena, CA.
Theresa Lee, Gina Ramirez, Miranda Seal, Briana Plewman, Ariel Brammer and Adam Austin. Does police demeanor and victim sex change the public’s perception of sexual assault. Poster presented at the 2018 Western Psychological Conference, Portland, Oregon.
April Wright, Adam Austin and Kay Lynn Stevens. Parasocial interaction and relationships in college-aged adults. Poster presented at the 2018 Western Psychological Conference, Portland, Oregon.
Tamzin Johanson and Adam Austin. Examining the public perception of fetishes as sexual assault. Poster presented at the 2017 Western Psychological Conference, Sacramento, California.
April Wright, Tyler Magid, Fernando Munoz, Adam Austin, Kay Lynn Stevens and Terry Rueckert. Variables that influence attitudes towards gender-fluidity. Poster presented at the 2017 Western Psychological Conference, Sacramento, California.
Quentin Wood, Crystal Cline, Gwendolyn Dennis, Carly Rang, Adam Austin, Kay Lynn Stevens and Terry Rueckert. Examining the relationship between extra-curricular activities and problem-solving. Poster presented at the 2017 Western Psychological Conference, Sacramento, California.
Kay Lynn Stevens and Adam Austin. Examination of peer learning and the benefits of online and face-to-face peer discussions. Poster presented at the 2016 Western Psychological Conference, Long Beach, California.
Danyel Anastasiou, Kevin DeHart, Jared Peterson, Gregory Rose, Eric Smithson, Kay Lynn Stevens, Adam Austin and Terry Rueckert. Video games, personality, and sexism. Poster presented at the 2016 Western Psychological Conference, Long Beach, California.
Gregory Rose, Tyler Magid, Melody McLeod, Lindsay Klein, Kay Lynn Stevens, Adam Austin and Terry Rueckert. Reactions to an Astrological predication in relation to religiosity. Poster presented at the 2016 Western Psychological Conference, Long Beach, California.
Adam Austin and Karyn Plumm. Does attractiveness matter for sex offenders? Poster presented at the 2015 Western Psychological Association Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Kaylee Stone, Adam Austin and Karyn Plumm. Public perceptions of sexual assault: Military vs. civilian. Poster presented at the 2014 Western Psychological Association Conference, Portland, Oregon.
Adam Austin and Karyn Plumm. Impact of location on acceptance of fan-related violence at sporting events. Poster presented at the 2014 Western Psychological Association Conference, Portland, Oregon.
Louis Pagano, John McCullagh, Adam Austin, Lauryn Fuller and Dustin Williams. Development and initial validation of the scale of atheist microaggressions (SAM). Poster presented at the 2013 American Psychological Association convention, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Adam Austin, Karyn Plumm, Cheryl Terrance and Heather Terrell. No halos for sex offenders: An examination of the effects of appearance and gender on the perception of sex offenders. Poster presented at the 2013 Society of Personality and Social Psychology Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Adam Austin. Effects of physical attractiveness and gender on the perceptions of a sexual offense. Poster presented at the 2012 Western Psychological Association Conference, San Francisco, California.
Adam Austin, Karyn Plumm and Cheryl Terrance. Perceptions of sex offenses: Effects of gender of perpetrator and victim. Poster presented at the 2012 Western Psychological Association Conference, San Francisco, California.
Adam Austin, Shea Thomas, Karyn Plumm and Cheryl Terrance. Factors influencing perceptions of bias-motivated crime based on sexual orientation. Poster presented at the 2011 Midwestern Psychological Association Conference, Chicago, Illinois.
Adam Austin. Effects of empathy, self-compassion, and social behavior on compassion for others. Poster presented at the 2010 Midwestern Psychological Association Conference, Chicago, Illinois.
Chris Jazwinski, Jodi Illies, Gerald Mertens and Adam Austin. Counterfactual thinking, dispositional empathy, and monetary victim compensation. Poster presented at the 2010 Midwestern Psychological Association Conference, Chicago, Illinois.