(Posted March 19, 2007)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- David Widman, associate professor of psychology at Juniata College, will give a talk on how he uses video games in his research in the lecture "The Use of Video Game Technology in Psychological Science" at 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 28, in Neff Lecture Hall in the von Liebig Center for Science on the Juniata campus.
The lecture is free and open to the public. The talk is part of the Bookend Seminar Lecture Series, a series of monthly lectures by Juniata faculty.
Widman will summarize current research on the benefits and drawbacks of video games. In addition, he will discuss how, by modifying the video games, he has been able to study in his laboratory human spatial navigation, behavioral endocrinology, and religion.
Video games have become a large entertainment venue for many people. So large, in fact, that the video game industry rivals the movie industry in terms of annual sales. Just as film became a topic of interest to psychologists as well as a tool for use in the laboratory, video games have started to interest to psychologists within the last two decades.
Widman came to Juniata in 1999 as assistant professor of psychology. He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Wyoming and went on to earn a doctoral degree in biopsychology from the University at Albany, State University of New York.
Widman started his academic career as an assistant professor at Kalamazoo College. He has also served as an assistant professor and postdoctoral research associate at Indiana University and a graduate research assistant at the University of Albany, State University of New York. He has taught courses ranging from general psychology and experimental methods to physiological psychology, motivations and research methods.
His research has been published in such journals as Physiology and Behavior, Society for Neuroscience, and Journal of Comparative Psychology. He has also presented at multiple conferences including the annual meeting of the Animal Behavior Society, Tri-State Conference on Animal Learning and Behavior, and numerous appearances at the annual meeting of the Eastern Psychology Association.
He is a member of several professional organizations, including the Eastern Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.