While many psychologists and counselors devote their careers to helping people overcome addictions and patterns of undesirable behavior, decades of research have not led to a permanent cure other than abstinence fot the most harmful addictions, such as alcoholism, drug abuse and smoking. Decades after quitting, the smell of a cigarette or alcohol still triggers old cravings in many former smokers or heavy drinkers.

In the effort to discover a way to help people permanently correct undesirable or addictive behavior, medical authorities are looking to basic science for clues. Some of those clues may come from research at Auburn, where behavioral psychologist Martha Escobar is leading a team of student researchers in a study of the concept of extinction, with extinction referring to behaviors, not species.

In layman's terms, Escobar's research team is using lab rats in a study to determine if it is possible for animals to permanently change patterns of behavior so that conditions that once led to a certain response no longer do so. With humans, this could involve a reformed alcoholic being able to take a drink or a former smoker to be around cigarettes without craving another; with white mice in the laboratory, the behavior could involve not fearing a light that previously triggered fear because in the past it signaled a mild electrical shock.

The Auburn study is funded by an NIH grant as part of a federally supported program to bridge the gap between basic and applied research concerning mental health. The project in Auburn's Department of Psychology is intended to help provide the clues that other scientists for studies involving humans and eventually to more effective counseling and medical treatments for addictions.

In announcing the recent NIH grant, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama said, "This fascinating research will help doctors understand certain physiological and behavioral conditions that may help us better understand theories behind extinction. Research resulting from groundbreaking studies such as this will benefit the lives of people across our nation."

"Everything we learn is the beginning of something new," said Escobar who has been conducting laboratoy studies into behavior modification for more than a decade. An Auburn faculty member since 2002, the associate professor notes that such studies are part of a scientific tradition established by Nobel Prize Winner Ivan Pavlov more than a century ago.

Escobar said may people mistakenly believe that animals are harmed in the tests, but the ethical standards that characterize behavioral research ensure the animals' safety and comfort even when they are trained to fear a stimulus. She noted that the voltage is set so low that the animals feel only a tingling sensation that is just enough to produce a response but not to produce pain.

Not all the research assistants will be graduate students, and they may not all be psychology students. Escobar will enlist three graduate students and six to eight advanced undergraduates in this, the first stage of a multi-year research project. The students are in academic fields as diverse as English, pre-medicine and chemical engineering. Part of a movement in higher education to involve undergraduate students in major research, Escobar said this grant, housed in the College of Liberal Arts, will give undergraduates their first taste of potential scientific career fields and an introduction to work they may want to pursue in graduate school.

Citing both the direct benefits of adding to the knowledge base in psychology and neuroscience and the training of future scientists, Escobar said, "This is an excellent way to help good students develop into good researchers, who, I expect, will go on to the top graduate schools in their fields."

Auburn Report, August 25, 2008

Kyes Stevens, director of the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project, said the NEA grant will provide for additional educational programs and materials used in correctional facilities, and will fund a pilot project with Space One Eleven to offer studio instruction for previous APAEP participants and those participating in community corrections in Birmingham. In the last six years, the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project, now housed in the Psychology Department, has enabled more than 900 prisoners to learn poetry, creative writing, drawing, multi-media art, photography and to develop critical thinking skills.

"I would say there is at least one person in every class who undergoes a huge transformation,'' Stevens said. "Our program is very much hinged upon art in education. That's the driving force. "We want people to believe they can learn."

Stevens says that all the major studies done by the Department of Justice and other nationally recognized research organizations have shown that the more education someone has while they are incarcerated, the less likely they are to come back.

The NEA grant, one of five that the APAEP has received since the spring, will help fund new art classes, pay for supplies and provide compensation for artists and scholars who teach the courses. "We would like to develop some more painting classes, possibly pastel and pottery,'' Stevens said. "We have a prison that has a ceramics shop and they have kilns. If we can get potter wheels, then we can have a pottery class. It takes more funds to get art classes like that going. Art supplies are extraordinarily expensive.''

Other grants include $8,500 from the Alabama Humanities Foundation, $6,080 from the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, $6,000 from the Alabama Arts Car Tag and $3,000 from the Alabama Civil Justice Foundation. Federal grants are particularly rewarding because recipients are selected from a national pool of applicants. "That's a big deal for the college,'' Stevens said.

College of Liberal Arts Dean Anna Gramberg added that APAEP is a consistent source of pride for the college. "Under Kyes' leadership, this program has flourished and continues to provide a significant and meaningful service to the community. We are thankful for Kyes' outstanding dedication and grateful to the funding agencies for recognizing what a valuable program this is. These grants ensure that even more will be done to introduce education and humanities to those who appreciate and need them." They will help bring some big plans to life as well.

Stevens said the APAEP will continue to publish its annual anthology of the photos, drawings, paintings, photos and essays prisoners produce in their classes. Other projects have included "Art on the Inside,'' an exhibit hosted by Space One Eleven in Birmingham. Next spring, the APAEP will hold evening classes at the studio for program participants who have been released from prison. Stevens said such offerings dovetail with what the APAEP and the Department of Corrections each hope to achieve - rehabilitation through education.

''Everybody has got an ability inside of them to create and communicate,'' Stevens said. "Somebody has to open the door for them. "

They are Barb Bondy, Art; Brigitta Brunner, Communication and Journalism; Jeff Jakeman, History; Jim Johnston, Psychology; and Carole Zugazaga, Sociology. The program is designed to support superior faculty in the college, and, through the quality of the recipients' work, to strengthen student and faculty engagement in the local community as well as nationally and internationally. Each chosen faculty member will hold the title of CLA Engaged Scholar for a three-year appointment and will receive an annual supplement of $5,000. A committee selected the five recipients based on exemplary professional citizenship and participation in promoting the college's commitment to civic engagement.

Roger Blashfield, Professor in the Department of Psychology, received one of this year's Competitive Summer Research and Humanities Grants. He received his PhD from Indiana University in 1972. Since that time, he has been on the psychology faculty at Penn State, the psychiatry faculty at University of Florida, and the psychology faculty at Auburn (since 1996). His research interest is the classification of psychopathology. He also does quantitative studies of scientific literatures. Among graduate students, he is primarily known for his psychotherapy supervision.

Peter E. Harzem, renowned behavioral psychologist, died peacefully at his home Monday, May 26, 2008, following a long illness. He was 78 years old. A memorial service for him is planned for 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 29, at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Auburn, Ala. The service will be followed by a reception in the parish hall. Dr. Harzem's ashes will be interred at Memorial Park Cemetery in Auburn at a later date.

Dr. Harzem was born around midnight on Dec. 31, 1929, or Jan. 1, 1930, in Istanbul, Turkey. Due to the holidays, his birth wasn't registered until Jan. 5, 1930, which is his official birthday, though he preferred to celebrate it over several days. He was the only child of Sukru and Saime Harzem.

His professional life began in his teens when he became a newspaper reporter in Istanbul. During this time, he also published poetry and short stories. His passion for writing never waned throughout his life, and he was working on another book at the time of his death.

Dr. Harzem moved to London, England, in the 1940s following World War II to attend the university. After his first year, he took work at a hospital as a registered nurse to support himself, eventually becoming a teacher of nursing. A few years later, he received a First Class Honours degree in psychology from the University of London-one of only three out of more than 350 graduates to receive this distinction. He was invited to do graduate work at Oxford, but chose to go to the University of Wales, where he finished his education and joined the faculty, becoming a senior professor and the director of the psychology program. It was there that he met, and ultimately married, Anne Laaja Rausberg. This beautiful and equally intelligent Estonian woman remained the love of his life for more than 44 years, attending and nurturing him until his death. On Sept. 24, 1971, the Harzems welcomed their only child, Emma Elvira-Anne Harzem.

During his 14 or so years at the University of Wales, Dr. Harzem began working with world-renowned figures in psychology and caught the attention of B.F. Skinner, the father of Radical Behaviorism. Dr. Harzem worked with Skinner, explaining how the same data could be manipulated to generate different results, and Skinner made several return visits to Wales, even dining at the Harzem's home.

This led Dr. Harzem to begin lecturing internationally, which he did for the next 40 years, becoming a regular presenter in Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Estonia, and the United States, among others. Many of his publications have been translated into Italian, Spanish and Japanese, and he served on the editorial boards of professional journals in England, Mexico, Brazil, Spain and the United States. He made many dear and devoted friends in this international community.

Dr. Harzem came to Auburn University in 1978 and was later named Hudson Professor of Psychology, a distinguished position he held until his retirement in 2006. While at Auburn, he established the behavioral division of the psychology department and served as department head for four years. In 1997, Dr. Harzem became a naturalized citizen of the United States at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Ga. President Carter was present and personally congratulated him, saying "I am pleased to have you as a fellow member of the United States."

He belonged to the Rotary Club (twice being named a Paul Harris Fellow), a Buddhist study and meditation group and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, where he cultivated dear and lasting friendships. Dr. Harzem was an insatiable learner and constant researcher, exploring and writing about many interesting things beyond psychology, most recently studying Buddhism, string theory and the passage of time with regard to intervals between the past and the present.

Dr. Harzem was preceded in death by his father, mother, step-father and grandson, Peter Walter Slyz. He is survived by his wife, Anne; his daughter, Emma; his son-in-law, Yurij Slyz; and his two-week-old granddaughter, Tessa Katherine-Anne Slyz. He also leaves behind a legion of friends in Auburn and around the world.

In lieu of flowers, anyone wishing to make a contribution in his memory can send a donation to East Alabama Medical Center's Cancer Center, in care of the EAMC Foundation, 2000 Pepperell Parkway, Opelika, AL 36801.

On April 4th, the Department of Psychology hosted 21 psychology undergraduate students and faculty from HBCU. A group of students from Oakwood University in Huntsville, accompanied by three of their professors, were invited to visit Auburn by Dr. Barry Burkhart, Chair of the Psychology department. Another group of students -mostly from South Caroline State University- were invited by the Graduate School as part of its campaign to recruit more students from HBCU.

Dr. Garnetta Lovett, Diversity Officer of the CLA welcomed the visitors and engaged them in a lively Q&A session about Auburn's determination to increase minority enrollment at the graduate level. Faculty from each of the areas of specialization within the Psychology Department (Clinical, Experimental, Industrial/Organizational, and Applied Behavioral Analysis) introduced the visitors to the training and research possibilities that they can pursued in Auburn. During lunch the visitors had the opportunity to interact further more with Auburn psychology students as well as faculty. Finally, the visiting students toured both animal and human research labs in the Thach and RFB buildings.

According to Dr. Alejandro Lazarte from the Psychology Diversity Committee, who organized the visit, this visit has provided an unusual opportunity to develop a productive contact between the Department of Psychology at Auburn and HBCU in our state and region.

The Office of the Vice President for University Outreach has awarded more than $100,000 in competitive Outreach Schoarshop Grants to six faculty initiatives for 2007-08.

Royrickers Cook, assistant vice president for university outreach, noted that the program provides AU faculty members with resources to connect their research with pressing needs of the state.

Six projects were funded out of 23 proposals submitted for the competitive grant program.

"The Outreach Scholarship Grants Review Committee felt these proposals show enormuous potential for connecting research to the direct benefit of external audiences," said Cook. "These projects will contribute greatly to Auburn University's efforts toward improving the quality of life for individuals, organizations, counties and towns throughout the state of Alabama," he added.

One of the projects selected for funding is Jennifer Gillis' project on Providing Diagnostic Services to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Training, Tele-Health, and Sevice Demonstration Project that is going to deliver low-cost diagnostic and follow-up services to students and their families.