Research

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Culture and Behavior
My research questions include:
*Do people from different cultures behave differently as they engage in their daily activities? For example, do students in Mexico in fact behave differently than students in the US?
*How can we measure people’s behaviors across cultures without relying on self-reports and/or obtrusive observational studies?
In order to answer these questions we used the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR). The EAR is an unobtrusive tool that can capture every day behaviors and social interactions of people. My research focuses on comparing behaviors of Americans, Mexicans, and Mexican-Americans.

Activities
*To learn more about the EAR click here
*Listen to a sample file captured by the EAR of a Mexican student during class, and compare it with your experience of an American student during class.
*Listen to a sample file of a Mexican student in her apartment, and compare it with a sample file of an American student in her apartment.

Language, Culture, and Health
For over a decade Dr. Pennebaker, his students and colleagues have explored the psychology of word use in the English-speaking world. Presently, we are starting to explore word use across cultures. My research focuses primarily on the study of word use in the Spanish-speaking world. My research questions include:
*Do people who speak Spanish use words in the same way as people who speak English?
*How do people describe themselves when using Spanish?
*What is the word choice of people who write about illnesses in Spanish? And, how does this choice differ from people who write in English?

Activities
*To learn more about LIWC (the tool that we use to count words) go to
Dr. Pennebaker's web page. For the information in Spanish click here. To read a manuscript about the Spanish LIWC click here.
*To learn more about language in the Spanish-speaking world go to research online.