Dr. Alva T. Hughes
Education:
Professor of Psychology, Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Va., 1991 - current
Professor of Psychology, at Manhattan College, White Plaines, NY, 1988 - 1991
Ph.D. University of Maryland, 1988
M.S. University of Maryland, 1985
B.S. Randolph-Macon College, 1981
Areas of interest:
Everyday Memory, Language, Culture and Cognition.
Research for Dr. Alva Hughes has gone to the dogs. Literally. Her fascination for how living things think as well as her passion for all things canine has merged into an exploration of how dogs solve problems and the impact of humans and dogs on each other. It's research she is collaborating on with one of her students who shares her passion for animals. And it's just one of many reasons why she loves being part of Randolph-Macon.
During my junior year as a student at Randolph-Macon, I took a class in cognitive psychology. I had been interested in psychology well before college and always knew I wanted to spend my time doing research. But it wasn't until that class that I began asking questions that have guided my research throughout the rest of my career: How do humans store information? When presented with information which parts are we most likely to store? What is it that we actually store? As I prepared for my career, I made an important discovery: I found I also wanted to be a college professor and combine my love of research with my interest in working with students. That included collaborating with them in their own undergraduate research.
Being at a small liberal arts college, I've found I can do that. I have the chance to interact with students and support them as individuals. And they have the amazing opportunity to do research often reserved for graduate students in larger universities. My goal is to help them gather information and analyze it and uncover the truth. They start out knowing nothing about a topic, and in the end they have mastered the material. Being part of that discovery is exciting. And because students are interested in a variety of topics, I get to research and make discoveries right along with them in many different areas. I'm happy to be part of the connection we talk about here at the College. I get to connect with students and see that they get connected to new and thought-provoking ideas that will make them lifelong learners.
Take my research with dogs, for example. They aren't my only subjects. But they are my favorite. As part of a Randolph-Macon program called Schapiro Undergraduate Research Program (SURF), a student and I have been carrying out several studies with dogs. We want to know if introducing an artificial cat to a dog under consideration for adoption in a shelter is a reliable way to predict a dog's attitude toward a real cat in someone's home. We are also studying the effects on children's attitude toward reading when they read to a dog. And we are looking at other ways dogs and humans relate. My student will have the rare opportunity to present her findings at a conference at the end of her project and can add this as an impressive experience to her resume.
Beyond research and dogs, I care about people and want to help them as students to develop their character and sense of integrity as well as accomplishments. And no matter where they end up after college -- graduate school or a career -- I want them to take skills they have developed here, like oral presentation, reading and writing, and apply them in their future. Randolph-Macon requires very hard work. But there are great opportunities to take advantage of. As long as a student is willing to do that hard work, lots of people are willing to help him or her succeed.
Whether it's with animals or people, I care about knowledge and how it's stored and what ways of presenting information -- teaching -- work best. That's part of the fun of being in psychology. I can study what I do while I'm doing it! And at Randolph-Macon I can bring my students right along with me in the process.