Tracy Peña's Vita

Tracy M. Peña, M.A.
Part Time Faculty, Psychology Department
University of North Carolina Wilmington
penat@uncw.edu

EDUCATION:

  • M.A. Psychology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2004
  • B.A. Psychology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, 1999
  • A.A.  General Studies, Cape Fear Community College, 1997

TEACHING EXPERIENCE:

  • Currently teaching three sections of General Psychology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington
  • Courses taught for the University of North Carolina Wilmington: General Psychology in the Cornerstone Learning Community, General Psychology, Lifespan Human Development, and Child Psychology
  • Adjunct faculty at Cape Fear Community College 2006-2013
  • Courses taught for Cape Fear Community College:  General Psychology, Developmental Psychology, and Abnormal Psychology
  • Taught multi-level GED classes through Cape Fear Community College to students of varying ages.  Subjects included high school level math, science, literature, writing, and social studies.  Responsibilities also included administering CASAS pre-tests, which assessed students’ competence for taking the Pre-GED, March 2005-August 2005. 
  • Taught Challenging Decisions class through UNCW CROSSROADS for students cited with alcohol and marijuana violations on campus, Fall 2001- Spring 2002
  • Taught Summer Enrichment Courses for incoming UNCW Freshmen through UNCW CROSSROADS, Summer 2002
  • As a research assistant taught computer skills to participants ranging in ages 3 years to college age

RESEARCH:

  • Peña, T., Pitts, R.C., & Galizio, M.  (2006).  Identity matching-to-sample with olfactory stimuli in rats.  Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 85, 203-221. 
  • Galizio, M. & Peña, T.M. (2003, May).  Relational Responding in the Rat: Matching-to-Sample with Olfactory Stimuli.International Symposium presented at the Association for Behavior Analysis Conference, San Francisco, California.
  • Peña, T.M., Galizio, J.M., Pitts, R, & Keith, J.  (2002, October).  Generalized Identity Matching-to-Sample in Rats Using Olfactory Stimuli.Poster presented at the Southeastern Association for Behavior Analysis conference, Charleston, South Carolina. 
  • Peña, T.M. & Galizio, J.M. (2001, October).  Generalized Match-to-Sample with Olfactory Stimuli in Rats.  Poster presented at the Southeastern Association for Behavior Analysis conference, Wilmington, North Carolina.
  • Schomer, H.S., Peña, T.M., Pilgrim, C. & Galizio, J.M.  (2001, October).  Some Developmental Trends in Equivalence Class Flexibility.  Poster presented at the Southeastern Association for Behavior Analysis conference, Wilmington, North Carolina.
  • Peña, T.M., Curl, B., Miller, L., Nelson, D., Wagner, J., Keith, J., Pitts, R., & Galizio, J.M.  (2001, May).  Repeated Reversals of Olfactory Discriminations in Rats.  Poster presented at the Association for Behavior Analysis conference, New Orleans, LA.
  • Peña, T.M., Bartholomew, T., Harris, R., Morgan, H., Pilgrim, C., & Galizio, J.M.  (2000, October).  Typicality Effects in Generalized Equivalence Classes.  Poster presented at the Southeastern Association for Behavior Analysis Conference, Chattanooga, Tennessee. 
  • Curl, B., Miller, L., Nelson, D., Peña, T.M., Wagner, J., Keith, J., Pitts, R., & Galizio, J.M.  (2000, October).  Olfactory Discriminations and Functional Stimulus Classes in Rats.  Poster presented at the Southeastern Association for Behavior Analysis Conference, Chattanooga, Tennessee.
  • Schomer, H.S., Bartholomew, T., Peña, T.M., Harris, R., Morgan, H., Bauman, W., Cordor, J., Galizio, J.M., & Pilgrim, C.  (2000, October).  A Developmental Analysis of the Acquisition of Conditional Discriminations.  Poster presented at the Southeastern Association for Behavior Analysis conference, Chattanooga, Tennessee.
  • Peña, T.M., Schomer, H.S., Morgan, H., Madden, A., Hogan, E., Harris, R., Dhayer, A., Bartholomew, T., Pilgrim, C., &Galizio, J.M. (2000, February).  Stimulus Equivalence in Children: Effects of Baseline Reversals.  Poster presented at the North Carolina Association for Behavior Analysis conference, Asheville, North Carolina.
  • Harris, R., Bartholomew, T., Dhayer, A., Hogan, E., Madden, A., Morgan, H., Peña, T.M., & Schomer, H.S.  (2000, February).  Developmental Differences in Acquisition of Conditional Discriminations. Poster presented at the North Carolina Association for Behavior Analysis conference, Asheville, North Carolina.

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS:

  • Association for Behavior Analysis, member 2001-2003
  • Southeastern Association for Behavior Analysis, member 1999-2003
  • North Carolina Association for Behavior Analysis, member 2000-2002
  • Chancellor’s Advisory Board on Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use, member 2001-2002

POSITIONS HELD:

  • Curriculum committee member at Cape Fear Center for Inquiry, 2011-present.
  • Community Based Service (CBS) Paraprofessional, August 2002-November 2002.
  • Graduate Assistant, June 2001- July 2002, UNCW CROSSROADS, University of North Carolina Wilmington
    I assisted with the coordination, supervision and programming of the Peer Education Program.  I also assisted with the organization and implementation of ongoing and special events on campus and was responsible for research and management of educational materials and resources.  My duties also involved teaching the Challenging Decisions classes to students cited with alcohol and marijuana violations.
  • Research Assistant, August 1999 to May 2000, University of North Carolina Wilmington
    Primary Researchers: Dr. Mark Galizio and Dr. Carol Pilgrim
    I was hired to work under their grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.  The topics of interest were the stability of equivalence classes and prototype or typicality effects, from a developmental perspective.  I was responsible for setting up the testing environment for participants ranging in ages from 3 years to college age, as well as data analysis, general lab upkeep and organization. 

     

AWARDS:

  • University of North Carolina Wilmington
    • UNCW Scholarship (2000-2001)
    • UNCW Research Grant (2000-2001)
    • UNCW Graduate School Presentation Funding for the Southeastern Association for Behavior Analysis conference in Charleston, SC, October 2002
    • UNCW Graduate School Presentation Funding for the Association for Behavior Analysis conference in New Orleans, LA, May 2001
    • UNCW Graduate School Presentation Funding for the Southeastern Association for Behavior Analysis conference in Chattanooga, TN, October 2000
    • Most Outstanding Poster Award on poster titled "Stimulus Equivalence in Children: Effects of Baseline Reversals”, NCABA conference Asheville, NC
  • Psi Chi National Honor Society for Psychology Outstanding Membership award (1999)
  • Dean’s List: UNCW, 1999; CFCC, 1994-1997

HONOR SOCIETIES:

  • Psi Chi: National Honor Society for Psychology, Secretary 1999, Volunteer Coordinator 1998

OTHER PSYCHOLOGY RELATED EXPERIENCE:

  • Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory, University of North Carolina Wilmington, (August 2000-May 2002).
    • Participated in weekly laboratory meetings to discuss related research publications, as well as progress of current research projects.  Daily responsibilities included testing Holtzman Sprague Dawley rats in a matching-to-sample procedure, as well as monitoring daily feeding and weight charts for each animal.
  • Stimulus Equivalence Laboratory, University of North Carolina Wilmington, (August 2000- May 2002).
    • Participated in weekly laboratory meetings to discuss related research publications, as well as progress of current research projects.  Other responsibilities included testing of junior high aged children at a local middle school, general data analysis, and data presentation.   
  • Reality Therapy Workshop Facilitator, University of North Carolina Wilmington, (1999). 
    • I participated in conducting Reality Therapy workshop at New Hanover Regional Juvenile Detention Center under the guidance of Dr. Sue Lamb and lectured on the benefits of Reality Therapy for at risk youth.    

REFERENCES:

Robert Puckett

Cape Fear Community College
Department Chair
(910)-362-7119

Richard Ogle, Ph.D.

University of North Carolina Wilmington
Department Chairperson
(910)-962-7753

Mark Galizio, Ph.D.

University of North Carolina Wilmington     
Mentor and Psychology Professor
(910) 962-3813