​Graduate Student(s)

Mercedes Ball

One of the greatest experiences in both my undergraduate and graduate studies has been participating in research. I joined the lab in Fall 2017 as an undergraduate student. I am expected to graduate with my Master's in 2021. My long term career goal is to become a counselor and to be an advocate in increasing mental health resources for first responders and to rural america. My research interest is in the impact of personal control beliefs on cognitive and health outcomes.


​Undergraduate Students

Priscilla Hu (she/her)

Year and major(s)/minor(s): Second Year Pre-Dental Student
Favorite part(s) of being a Pacific Psychology student: I'm not exactly a psychology student, but I really enjoyed taking Developmental Psychology with Dr. Strickland Hughes. My experience with the class led me to join the ACT lab, and I found myself applying so much knowledge from class and in lab to my everyday life. I fully believe that the knowledge from psychology is beneficial for all aspects of life, and will help me in my career within the dental field. 
Research interests: N/A
Role(s): 
  • Notetaker
  • Data collection
  • Data entry
Favorite part(s) of the lab: One of my favorite parts about being in the ACT lab is the friendly environment and flexibility of the individuals in the lab. Everyone is very amicable, and usually very punctual when it comes to getting work done.
Hobbies: Tennis, embroidery, anything creative in general

Matthew Tineo (he/they)

Year and major(s)/minor(s): Third Year Psychology Major
Favorite part(s) of being a Pacific Psychology student: The professors!
Research interests: Shyness and moral development
Role(s):
  • Death Over Dinner Facilitator
  • Data analyst
  • Presented findings from relevant literature 
Favorite part(s) of the lab: Working with the other the RAs!
Hobbies: Reading, watching movies, playing the piano, video games

Nancy Vo (she/her) 

Year and major(s)/minor(s): Third Year Psychology Major and Biology Minor
Favorite part(s) of being a Pacific Psychology student: I honestly enjoy the professors! It has been my experience that each professor has their own interesting view on psychology, so when you put it all together I think they leave you well-rounded.
Research interests: Developmental Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Abnormal Psychology
Role(s):
  • Notetaker
  • Recruited participants
  • Ran participants
  • Conducted literature searches and reviews
  • Data entry
Favorite part(s) of the lab: Everyone is extremely willing to help their colleagues and they're really friendly!
Hobbies: Eating, reading, taking walks, shopping, listening to music, watching movies

Angel Zhong (she/her) 

Year and major(s)/minor(s): Second Year Psychology and English Double Major, Writing and Ethnic Studies Double Minor
Favorite part(s) of being a Pacific Psychology student: The teacher-scholar model that defines Pacific's pedagogy is truly one of the best aspects of being a student at Pacific. In the psychology department especially, this means that professors are always looking to involve students in their research, whether as participants or RAs. As a result, I've come to perceive my professors as not only authority figures, but also reliable and insightful mentors. Moreover, my peers in the psychology department consistently impress and inspire me!
Research interests: Cognition, learning, social ecology, the intersection(s) of the humanities and psychology
Role(s):
  • Webmaster
  • Recruited participants through email and social media
  • Conducted extensive literature searches and reviews
  • Created and gave presentations on academic self-efficacy, mortality salience, and the theory of planned/intended behavior
  • Data entry for the COVID-19 News Study
  • Created recruitment materials 
  • Found and programmed measures into Qualtrics 
Favorite part(s) of the lab: I am constantly learning new information, forging closer working relationships with my fellow RAs, and developing novel and/or building off of preexisting skills during each lab meeting! 
Hobbies: Writing, drawing, reading, and jamming out to my favorite Spotify playlist!


​Post-Baccalaureate Researchers 

Carmen Huang (she/her)

Year and major(s)/minor(s): Class of 2021, Psychology Major and Chinese Minor
Favorite part(s) of being a Pacific Psychology student: I enjoy the smaller classes and appreciate that the professors genuinely care for the students. In addition, I have learned a lot from my Psychology courses because professors do a great job of teaching the material while making it fun. I appreciate the many opportunities I have in labs. Because of smaller labs, I like that I am able to be in direct contact with professors. I feel like I have definitely created strong relationships with some of my professors, and I am happy knowing they want the best for me. 
Research interests: Race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status; Developmental Psychology
Role(s):
  • Contact participants through phone and email
  • Regularly update participant lists
  • Create survey/questionnaire packets for Death Over Dinner participants
  • Data entry for participants' past activities
  • Death Over Dinner facilitator
  • Found measures for COVID-19 News study
  • Gave short presentations on future time perspective and self-control, mortality salience, and academic self-efficacy
Favorite part(s) of the lab: I enjoy the plethora of tasks and activities I am able to engage in: from being in contact with participants, to doing behind-the-scenes work of data entry, to directly working with participants. In addition, I admire everyone's dedication to completing tasks and how passionate everyone seems to be about activities. We have definitely built strong relationships within the lab, and all lab meetings are enjoyable. Each lab meeting is also a learning experience, which is why I look forward to them every week. 
Hobbies: Going to concerts, watching movies

Jarrod Vargas (they/them) 

Year and major(s)/minor(s): Class of 2021, Psychology Major
Favorite part(s) of being a Pacific Psychology student: I love the small class sizes, which offer me a chance to get to know not only my professors better but better collaborate with my fellow students. There are a lot of opportunities to develop your interests and the opportunities to explore Behavioral Psychology are exciting.
Research interests: Memory, developmental psychology, behavioral psychology
Role(s):
Favorite part(s) of the lab: My favorite part of being in ACT Lab is the chance to develop skills that help me further my academic and research goals.
Hobbies: Art, Piano, learning languages.