Profile image for Shannon House

Shannon House Dobson, PhD

Professor, Psychology
Department Chair, Psychology
864.977.7699
shannon.dobson@ngu.edu
Unit: College of Humanities and Sciences, School of Health and Wellness, Psychology
Location: Tigerville

“Psychology, generally, is the study of people. There are a multitude of applied careers in psychology that help people with education, business, mental illness, family life, healthcare, relationships, and church.”
  • Teaching & Education

    You will learn with me when taking courses in General Psychology, Cognitive and Developmental Psychology, Research Methods, Biological Psychology, and Junior and Senior Seminar. Other courses I teach are Honors Seminar and Project courses, and various other health and research related courses.

    Degrees

    • BA, University of South Carolina
    • MA, University of South Carolina
    • Graduate Certificate in Gerontology, University of South Carolina
    • PhD, University of South Carolina
  • Professional Experience

    My experience includes receiving my Ph.D. at the University of South Carolina where I developed an extensive background in scientific research in Psychology. My doctoral dissertation was in the area of problem solving throughout the adult lifespan (cognitive aging). My research since coming to NGU has been varied as I generally help students with their research ideas now. For example, I have taken a number of students to regional and national conferences to present research posters of projects we completed in the Psychology department. One area of research I have pursued has been in helping students with math anxiety in my statistics course. I have been teaching at NGU since 2006.

  • Selected Publications
    • Norris, M. & Dobson, S. H. (2016, May). The contributing factors of satisfaction and engagement in the workplace and their effect on subjective well-being. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, Il.
    • Wilson, K. & Dobson, S. H. (2016, May). The effect of study technique on test performance. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, Il.
    • Davis, M., & Dobson, S. H. (2016, May). Self-forgiveness and personality. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, Il.
    • Dobson, S. H., & Hayes, W. M. (2015, January). Math anxiety and expressive writing in a psychology statistics course. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the National Institute for the Teaching of Psychology, St. Petersburg, FL.
    • Dobson, S. H., & Norris, M. (2015, May). It Is Not Just Math Anxiety: Expressive Writing Themes for Statistics Students Reveal Individual Differences. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, New York, NY.
    • McCartney, E. D. & Dobson, S. H. (2012, May). No time to sleep: Do sleep habits affect academic performance? Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, Il.
    • Kraus, K. R. & Dobson, S. H. (2012, May). Altruism benefits college students’ psychological well-being. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, Il.
    • Kahl, S.F. & Dobson, S. H. (2011, March). College seniors’ perceptions of success and ‘calling’ to a career. Paper presented by first author, Susan Kahl, at the Southeastern Council on Family Relations, Birmingham, AL.
    • Kahl, S.F. & Dobson, S. H. (2009, April). Gender perceptions of success and calling to a career in academia: Influence of shared religious commitment. Paper presented by first author at Southern Sociological Society Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA.
    • Kirasic, K. C., Allen, G. L., Dobson, S. H. & Binder, K. S. (1996). Aging, cognitive resources, and declarative learning. Psychology and Aging, 11, 658-670.
    • Allen, G. L., Kirasic, K. C., Dobson, S. H., Long, R., L. & Beck, S. (1996). Predicting environmental learning from spatial abilities: An indirect route. Intelligence, 22, 327-355.
    • Dobson S. H., Kirasic, K. C. & Allen, G. L. (1995). Age-related differences in adults’ spatial task performance: Influences of task complexity and perceptual speed. Aging and Cognition, 2, 19-38.
  • My Network

    I will gladly involve you in my circle that includes:

    Several professional organizations in psychology (the Association for Psychological Science, APA Division 38 on Health Psychology, APA Division 2 on the Teaching of Psychology, and APA Division 36 on the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality). Theses memberships connect me to people and best practices in teaching undergraduate psychology courses. The also afford me the opportunity to take students with individual research projects to regional and national conventions where they can see preeminent psychologists in person and become a part of the professional efforts of psychologists to answer questions about people through sharing cutting edge research studies.

    I am also the faculty advisor for our Psi Chi chapter which is The International Honor Society in Psychology. As such I have also served on the regional Steering committee for Psi Chi in the southeastern region which allows me to judge undergraduate and graduate research for inclusion in the Southeastern Psychological Association annual convention.

    I am a graduate of the University of South Carolina where several of our graduates have attended for their graduate education.

    On campus, I serve on our NGU Institutional Review Board which oversees local research with human subjects on the undergraduate and graduate campuses. I also currently teach in the Honors program facilitating senior honors theses.

  • My Story

    Right before I finished my dissertation, my husband and I moved our family back to Greenville from Columbia. I decided to stay home with my daughter instead of finding a job in higher education. My mother was horrified that I had spent so much time getting my degree only to stay home. As a developmental psychologist, it was like having my own little research subject everyday (she turned out fine). But seven years later at a Wednesday night supper at my church, a friend who taught English at NGU asked me if I was interested in teaching at in the Psychology department. And that is how God moves in our lives. He had a plan to bring me to NGU and He needed me to spend some time at Bible study and church to get me ready for this job. Fourteen years later I am blessed to be department chair and able to serve my colleagues and university in so many ways that I never really envisioned.

    Favorite Course to Teach:

    I enjoy teaching statistics the most. Why? Because it is a hard class and it is rewarding to see a student who thinks they can not master the material really get it. It is the joy of teaching and sharing my discipline with students.

  • Related Links

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