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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 and Rural Studies-Box 2120
University Station
Brookings, SD 57007

Biography

I began my career at South Dakota State University in January 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

  • B.S. | University of Maryland
  • M.S. | University of North Carolina
  • Ph.D. | University of North Carolina
  • Postdoctoral research | NIDA, Hopkins Medical School Division of Behavioral Biology, Rutgers University

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

Committees and Professional Memberships

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

Areas of Research

  • Psychopharmacology
  • Human operant behavior
  • Principles of learning

Department(s)