Brian Ayotte

faculty

Brian Ayotte, PhD

Associate Professor

Psychology

508-999-9206

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Liberal Arts 391

Education

2010West Virginia UniversityPhD

Teaching

  • Health Psychology
  • Methods
  • Statistics
  • Developmental Psychology

Teaching

Programs

Teaching

Courses

Students will learn how to be an informed consumer of information and make more informed decisions. Topics include distinguishing good arguments from bad ones, interpreting the likelihood of outcomes, understanding the psychology underlying cognitive bias and error, recognizing our own biases and blind spots, and understanding how statistics and illustrations are used to sway opinion. 

Prerequisite for Honors APEX. The course leads students through project development and explores creative and critical thinking in the context of American culture, politics, economics and society; research ethics; time management; and public presentation. They will identify their project supervisor and submit their initial APEX proposal. This is scheduled as a blended course. In addition to meeting for one hour and forty minutes each week, you will be asked to complete weekly online assignments and provide peer feedback to other students. Students will earn three credits for completing this course.

A broad survey of principles underlying the systematic study of behavior. Using examples from basic research and applied settings, a variety of perspectives are explored, including findings associated with the physiological, behavioral, cognitive, developmental and social approaches.

An introduction to analysis of quantitative data in psychology, including probability, descriptive statistics, correlation and regression, analysis of variance and data analysis by computer.

Independent pursuit of an individual research project under the supervision of a faculty sponsor.

Independent pursuit of an individual research project under the supervision of a faculty sponsor.

Student develops and executes an independent research thesis under the direction of a faculty advisor. Graded A-F.

Student develops and executes an independent research thesis under the direction of a faculty advisor. Graded A-F.

Research

Research interests

  • Health behaviors
  • Social support
  • Relationships
  • Health attitudes

Dr. Ayotte is interested in the role of individual and interpersonal factors on health-related attitudes, behaviors, and outcomes through the lifespan. His work includes the examination of health behaviors in married couples, health-related outcomes in healthcare employees, independent living skills in younger and older adults, health-related decision making, and other related work. In his life outside of work, he loves to swim, bike, run, and hike with his wife and dog.