Associate Professor of Psychology; Psychology Department Chair
Psychology / Academic
- Office:
- Hopkins Center 328
- Mailbox:
- 61639
- Email:
- Phone:
- 903.813.2017
Education:
Ph.D., Child Psychology, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN
B.A., Psychology, Pomona College, Claremont, CA
Faculty Bio:
I joined the faculty of Austin College in 2011, and I am the primary instructor within the psychology department for classes focusing on development across the life course. In addition to my regular courses listed on this page, past C/I and JanTerm courses have addressed such topics as Adolescent Popularity and Adolescence in Film. I have advised and supervised several independent study and thesis students, generally on student-directed research topics that fit within my broad area of expertise; many of these students have presented their work at the Austin College Student Scholarship Conference and at the annual conference of the Southwestern Psychological Association.
Beyond my direct work with students, I am a member of the Austin College Institutional Review Board (IRB) and chair of the Psychology Department as of fall 2018.
Teaching and working with students is a lifelong passion of mine, and I am dedicated to the principles of liberal arts education. I am a regular and active participant in Johnson Center discussions and programs, in which Austin College faculty discuss best practices for teaching, advising, and relating to students within a liberal arts environment. I have also received a Mellon Course Partnership grant to collaborate with a member of the media studies department, Dr. Erin Copple Smith, as part of my seminar on Parent, Peer, and Media Socialization Across the Life-Span. This collaboration with Dr. Copple Smith has been immensely rewarding for both myself and my students, and embodies a central tenet of the liberal arts experience—that students learn best when multiple disciplines and perspectives can be brought together to address academic topics.
Courses Taught:
- Psychology 101: General Psychology
- Psychology 201: Research Methods
- Psychology 296: Life-Span Psychology
- Psychology 350: Psychology of Aging
- Psychology 350: Adolescence
- Psychology 350: Psychology of Media
- Psychology 496: Parent, Peer, and Media Socialization
Research Interests:
My primary research area is in child and adolescent peer relationships, particularly adolescent status and popularity. I want to know what popularity is, why it is so important to adolescents, and how it affects adolescent thinking and behavior. As part of my interest in popularity and peers, I have been involved in research analyzing aggression, physical attractiveness, friendship, and academic achievement. More recently, my published research has been focused on methodology, measurement, and analysis of peer relationships and interpersonal behavior, with a goal of improving the quality of future investigations.
Selected Publications:
Marks, P. E. L., Babcock, B., van den Berg, Y. H. M., & Cillessen, A. H. N. (in press). Effects of including versus excluding nonparticipants as potential nominees in peer nomination measures. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 42.
Babcock, B., Marks, P. E. L., van den Berg, Y. H. M., & Cillessen, A. H. N. (2018). Implications of systematic nominator missingness for peer nomination data. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 42, 148-154.
Marks, P. E. L. (2017). Introduction to the special issue: 20th-century origins and 21st-century developments of peer nomination methodology. In P. E. L. Marks & A. H. N. Cillessen (Eds.), New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development: No. 157. New directions in peer nomination methodology (pp. 7-19). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Cillessen, A. H. N., & Marks, P. E. L. (2017). Methodological choices in peer nomination research. In P. E. L. Marks & A. H. N. Cillessen (Eds.), New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development: No. 157. New directions in peer nomination methodology (pp. 21-44). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Marks, P. E. L., Cillessen, A. H. N., & Babcock, B. (in press). Relations between alphabetized name order and nomination counts in peer nomination measures. Social Development.
Marks, P. E. L., Babcock, B., & Cillessen, A. H. N. (2015). On the empirical identification and evaluation of “expert nominators.” International Journal of Behavioral Development, 39, 186-193.
Babcock, B., Marks, P. E. L., Crick, N. R., & Cillessen, A. H. N. (2014). Limited nomination reliability using single- and multiple-item measures. Social Development, 23, 518-536.
Marks, P. E. L., Babcock, B., Cillessen, A. H. N., & Crick, N. R. (2013). The effects of participation rate on the internal reliability of peer nomination measures. Social Development, 22, 609-622.
Marks, P. E. L., Cillessen, A. H. N., & Crick, N. R. (2012). Popularity contagion among adolescents. Social Development, 21, 501-521.
Cillessen, A. H. N., & Marks, P. E. L. (2011). Conceptualizing and measuring popularity. In A. H. N. Cillessen, D. Schwartz, & L. Mayeux (Eds.), Popularity in the peer system (pp. 25-56). New York: Guildford Press.