Mike Mensink
Currently I manage the animal facility at Macalester College, as well as teach Psychology 100L: Intro Lab. I recieved my B. A. in Psychology from St. Olaf College in 2002, where I worked as a research assistant with Dr. Howard Thorsheim on introducing high school students to neuroscience and psychophysiology. Due to my interest in the research of emotions and psychophysiology,I was invited to work with Dr. Chuck Huff and University of Minnesota Social Psychology graduate student Andy Hertel researching the recruitment of disgust and handgun moralization. I am also applying to graduate schools in Psychology, and am volunteering my time to finish the work I started with Dr. Thorsheim and the St. Olaf College Psychophysiology Laboratory in 2001.
Mike graduated in 2002 with a B.A. in Psychology and a Historical Perspectives minor.
Research Interests
Professor Howard Thorsheim first interested me in psychophysiology during my sophmore year here, and then in teaching during my junior year. Our NSF grant to investigate these things together has been extremely exciting and interesting to me.
Facial EMG and Disgust
In 1998 Andy Hertel and Professor Chuck Huff created a questionare to determine subjects morality levels as it related to their disgust of handguns. Using facial EMG placement, we can record the physiological reflections of disgust and other emotions in the face.
Psychology of Pursuasion During War
Stanley Miligram was surprised that his 'innocent' subjects would shock people to 'death' during his experiments. Yet this type of obedience is precicisely what our military expects from soldiers. Obedience becomes even more important during times of war, as an entire society must be encouraged to fight an enemy. Pursuasion and propoganda are nothing new, but how is it that it works for some wars (World War II) and utterly fails for others (Vietnam)?
Time Perception and Task Engagement
For some reason, many college students lose track of time while playing computer games. However, when sitting in the classroom, these same students are constantly glancing at the clock, wondering how time could drag on so much. This was the focus of a pilot study by Aaron Gibbons and myself on video games and task engagement. The preliminary results suggested that the more entertaining the game, the more time perception was distorted.
