Brady Phelps

Title

Professor Emeritus of Psychology

Office Building

Hansen Hall

Office

029H

Mailing Address

Hansen Hall 029H
Psychology-Box 670A
University Station
Brookings, SD 57007

Education

• Ph.D. | Utah State University | 1992

Academic Interests

• Behavior analysis

Academic Responsibilities

• Learning and conditioning
• Biological psychology
• Physiological psychology
• Critical thinking
• Behavior modification

Committees and Professional Memberships

• Association for Behavior Analysis-International
• Association for Psychological Science

Grants

1. Research and Scholarship Support Fund, 2017, in collaboration with Dr. Shafiq Rahman, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, SDSU, $2,250.
2. Faculty Excellence Fund, 2016, in collaboration with Dr. Shafiq Rahman, Department. of Pharmaceutical Sciences, SDSU, $1,500.
3. Research and Scholarship Support Fund, 2015, in collaboration with Dr. Shafiq Rahman, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, SDSU, $1,100.
4. Governor's Award for Teaching with Technology, 2000, $15,000.
5. Governor's Award for Teaching with Technology, 2001, $15,000.

Areas of Research

• Basic and applied behavior analysis
• Behavioral neuroscience

My research has been focused on assessing the abuse potential of alkaloid compounds found in tobacco and metabolites of nicotine consumption through the use of an animal model. We successfully published a paper in the journal Neuroscience Letters showing that cotinine, the major metabolite of nicotine consumption, may be contributing to nicotine's effects. Our next upcoming projects will focus on assessing the behavioral properties of a novel psychoactive compound known as MEAI in comparison to ethanol, amongst other research directions.

In my laboratory, we use the planaria invertebrate as an animal model. Planarians have been shown to be an animal model with great utility in pharmacology and toxicology research. These organisms have most of the neurotransmitters and neuromodulators of the mammalian brain and their primitive "brain" shares over 80% of the genes responsible for the structure of the human brain.

Publications

1. Phelps. B. J., Miller, T. M., Arens, H., Hutchinson, T., Lang, K. A., Muckey, L. M., Thompson, N., Stanage, S., Rahman, S. and Rawls. S. M. (2019). Preliminary evidence from planarians that cotinine establishes a conditioned place preference. Neuroscience Letters, 703, 145-148.
2. Phelps, B. J. (2018). And we are the easiest to fool: A Review of Franz de Waal’s Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? The Psychological Record, December 2018, Volume 68, Issue 4, pp 561–566.
3. Phelps, B. J. (2016). Brady J. Phelps defines habituation [Streaming video]. Retrieved from SAGE Video.
4. Phelps, B. J. (2015). Book review of Psychology gone astray: A selection of racist and sexist literature from early psychological research by Charles Abramson and Caleb Lack (Eds.). Journal of Mind and Behavior, 36(3-4), 189-194.
5. Phelps, B. J. (2015). Behavioral perspectives on personality and self. The Psychological Record, 65(3), 557-566.
6. Phelps, B. J. (2014). Operant rodent manipulanda applied with the goldfish. Innovative Teaching, 3, 1-5.
7. Phelps, B. J. (2012). How close to real can a non-real cyber rat behave? Behavior and Philosophy, 39/40, 309-313.
8. Phelps, B.J., Doyle-Lunders, L. Harsin-Waite, A., Hofman, N., and Knutson, L. (2012). Demonstrating habituation of a startle response to loud noise. The Behavior Analyst Today, 13(1), 17-19.
9. Phelps. B. J. (2011). Anosmia. In the Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development; Springer-Verlag Publishing, New York.
10. Phelps. B. J. (2011). Avoidance Learning. In the Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development; Springer-Verlag Publishing, New York.
11. Phelps, B. J. (2011). Dishabituation. In the Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development; Springer-Verlag Publishing, New York.
12. Phelps, B.J. (2011). Extinction. In the Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development, Springer-Verlag Publishing, New York.
13. Phelps. B. J. (2011). Habituation. In the Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development; Springer-Verlag Publishing, New York.
14. Phelps, B. J. (2011). Response Generalization. In the Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development, Springer-Verlag Publishing, New York.
15. Phelps, B. J. (2008). Testbank to accompany Garrett’s Brain and Behavior, Sage Publishing.
16. Phelps, B. J. (2007). Why we are still not cognitive psychologists: A review of why I am not a cognitive psychologist: A tribute to B. F. Skinner. Behavior Analyst, 30(2), 217-226.
17. Weatherly, J., and Phelps, B.J. (2006) The pitfalls of studying gambling behavior in a laboratory situation. In P. Ghezzi, C. Lyons, M. Dixon, and G. Wilson (Eds.) Gambling: Behavior theory, research and application (pp. 105-126). Reno, NV: Context Press. 
18. Hosek, C. A, Phelps, B.J, and Jensen, J. (2004). Sleep patterns among undergraduate college students. Psi Chi, Journal of Undergraduate Research, 9(2), 57-61.
19. Phelps, B.J., Wogen, E.C., and Pedersen, S.C. (2003). Dead silence: Attending a live John Edward seminar, Skeptic, 10(2), 15-17.
20. Phelps, B.J. (2002). Personality, personality theory and dissociative  identity disorder: What behavior analysis can contribute and clarify. The Behavior Analyst Today, Volume 2, No. 4, 325-335
21. Phelps, B. J. (2000). Dissociative identity disorder: The relevance of behavior analysis.  The Psychological Record, 50, 232-249.
22. Phelps, B.J. & Cheney, C.D. (1996).  Memory rehabilitation techniques with the brain-injured.  In W. Ishaq and J. Cautela (Eds.) Contemporary issues in behavior therapy: Improving the human condition, (pp. 123-136).  New York: Plenum.
23. Exum, M.E., Phelps, B.J., Nabers, K.S., & Osborne, J.G. (1993). Sundown syndrome: Is it reflected in the use of PRN  medications for nursing home residents? The Gerontologist, 33, 756-761.
24. Phelps, B.J. & Exum, M.E. (1992).  Subliminal tapes: How to get the message across. The Skeptical Inquirer, 16, 282-286.