451b Southwestern University: Profile

Psychology

Jacqueline Muir-Broaddus

Professor of Psychology

Education

PhD, Florida Atlantic University
BA, MA, University of Guelph, Canada

Teaching Philosophy

Good teaching doesn't just happen. Instead, it is based on a deep understanding of the topic one is attempting to communicate, thorough preparation, and perhaps most important of all, infectious enthusiasm for the subject. It is also based on an understanding of the learner and the learning process, including truisms such as that it is difficult to learn concepts that seem uninteresting or irrelevant, and that explicit relationships must be drawn between novel information and that which is known. Happily, the subjects that I teach seem to naturally lend themselves to these requirements. Through class discussions, application papers, simulations, and collaborative activities, I challenge students to draw connections between course materials and their present, past, and future lives. In these ways the theoretical becomes the practical and the general becomes the personal. I also believe in the value of research experience, and some of my favorite teaching moments occur outside of the classroom working alongside student colleagues on meaningful research projects. Through these experiences, students transition from consumers of knowledge to emerging scholars and problem solvers who trust themselves to produce and apply the knowledge of their discipline.

Previous Courses

Principles of Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Educational Psychology, Research in Developmental/Cognitive Psychology, Honors Research

Research

My research interests include the development of memory and the executive functions among typically developing children as well as children with special needs.  Executive functions are the processes involved in the allocation of mental resources such as attention, inhibition, working memory, and planning, and as such they underlie much of what we think of as intelligence. Children with attention deficit disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are often among those who exhibit deficiencies in the executive functions.  Recent research projects have been conducted in collaboration with the Ride on Center for Children (R.O.C.K.), a local non-profit provider of therapeutic horseback riding for individuals with cognitive, emotional, and physical challenges.  Although equine-assisted activities and therapy (EAA/EAT) has become increasingly popular as a treatment modality, it has received relatively little research attention to date.  Our research is designed to assess the changes in behavioral, cognitive, linguistic, sensory and social functioning of children with ASD who participate in EAA/EAT in order better understand the efficacy of this treatment modality.

Publications

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

Bogs, K., Garcia, M., Kurth, K., & Muir-Broaddus, J. E. (manuscript in preparation). Healing through horses: Changes in sensory and social functioning of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder during 22 weeks of equine-assisted activities and therapy.

Bogs, K., Garcia, M., Kurth, K., & Muir-Broaddus, J. E. (March, 2011). Shifting in the saddle: The effects of equine-assisted therapy on social and behavioral symptoms of children with disabilities. Poster presented at the Southwestern Student Works Symposium, Georgetown, TX.

Coffman, J., Lopez, D., Ertel, C., & Muir-Broaddus, J. E. (April, 2010). Riding through the spectrum: The effects of equine-assisted therapy on the cognitive, behavioral, and linguistic functioning of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Poster presented at the Southwestern Student Works Symposium, Georgetown, TX.

Anderson, E. L., McWhorter, K. N., Hlavinka, C., & Muir-Broaddus, J. E. (April, 2009). Embrace the pace: Factors affecting self-regulation. Poster presented at the Southwestern Student Works Symposium, Georgetown, TX.

Mingle, L., Redden, S., Tang, S., & Muir-Broaddus, J. E. (April, 2007). ZZZs to As: The effects of limited sleep on executive functioning. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association, Fort Worth, TX.

Chalmers, C., Borrego, S., Stockton, C., & Muir-Broaddus, J. E. (April, 2006). Autism and executive functions: The effects of motivational/ attentional accommodations. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association, Austin, TX.

Muir-Broaddus, J. E., Rosenstein, L. D., Medina, D., & Soderberg, C. (2002). Neuropsychological test performance of children with ADHD relative to test norms and parent behavioral ratings. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 17 (7), 671-689.

Muir-Broaddus, J. E. (2002). Name seven words: Demonstrating the effects of knowledge on rate of retrieval. In R. A Griggs (Ed.), Handbook for teaching introductory psychology. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum


Honors & Awards

2007 Exemplary Teaching Award from the Board of Higher Education and Ministry of The United Methodist Church

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