Dr. Dana Brown during the Association for Psychological Science (APS) convention in Washington DC. PHOTO: Courtesy

By Diana Meso

Associate Professor of Psychology Dr. Dana Basnight-Brown in collaboration with two other scholars, presented research papers at the 31^st annual convention for the Association for Psychological Science (APS) that took place in Washington DC from 23 to 26 May.

The first paper titled “The Universality of Emotion Representations: An Investigation of Color and Emotion Associates in a Non-Western Population" which was in collaboration with Psy.D (Doctor of Psychology, Clinical Psychology) graduates Bernice Nderitu and Joyce Ngugi was based on the cognitive association between color and emotion and its important implications for many areas of psychology. It further examined the link between words that differed in valence and emotion type, in a Sub-Saharan African population. The results revealed that color association in Sub-Saharan Africa is different from that of Western countries.

Dr. Dana’s second paper titled “Clinical Implications of Multilingualism: An Exploration of Language Selection in Sub-Saharan African Therapists" sought to find out the important implications the use of multiple languages during psychotherapy has for both therapists and clients. It focused on the quantitative and qualitative data obtained on language selection processes for Sub-Saharan African therapists. The results revealed that language switching behaviors were dependent on the valence of the emotion being expressed.

The APS Convention brings together psychological scientists from disciplines across the globe, to learn about research and trends from world-renowned psychological scientists, improve skills and deepen knowledge, and forge life-long collaborations with colleagues.