Linda Doss Chrosniak

Linda Doss Chrosniak

Linda Doss Chrosniak

Emeritus Faculty

Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience: learning and memory processes in both humans and animals

Dr. Chrosniak has been the director of the Honors Program in Psychology at GMU since 2003. She received a B.S. degree in psychology from the University of Texas at Dallas and her Ph.D. in experimental psychology from The George Washington University. Her areas of research interest include implicit and explicit memory, cognitive aging, stress and health. More recently her interests have included the interaction effects of stress and cognitive processes and their effect on health and health behaviors.

Her published work has appeared in journals such as the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, Psychology and Aging, Journal of Geochemical Exploration, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and Military Medicine.

She was nominated for a University Teaching Excellence Award in 1992 and 1999 and was a recipient of the University Teaching Excellence Award from George Mason University in 2000. She also received the Teacher of the Year Award from the GMU chapter of Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in Psychology in 2003 and 2005. She was the recipient of the BIS Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award in 2010.

Current Research

Her more recent research, which has been in collaboration with Dr. Jane Flinn, has examined effects of trace metals on memory processes in animals. In addition, she has been involved in some research investigating the effects of behavior change and cognitive processes on stress reduction and cardiovascular health in military personnel

Selected Publications

Kashani, M., Eliasson, A., Chrosniak, L. D., Vernalis, M. (2010). Taking aim at nurse stress: A call to action. Military Medicine, 175, 96-100.

Chrosniak, L. D., Smith, L. N., Flinn, J. M., McDonald, C. & Jones, B. F. (2006). Effects of enhanced zinc in drinking water on spatial memory and fear conditioning. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 88, 91-94.

Riskind, J. H., Williams, N. L., Gessner, T. G., Chrosniak, L. D., & Cortina, J (2000). A cognitive vulnerability to anxiety and danger: Looming maladaptive style. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 29, 837-852.

Courses Taught

PSYC 301 Research Methods

PSYC 317 Cognitive Psychology

PSYC 372 Biopsychology

PSYC 461/592 Stress, Cognition and Health

PSYC 461/592 Psychopharmacology

PSYC 461/592 Cognitive Neuroscience

PSYC 702 Biological Bases of Behavior

Recent Presentations

Davidson, D. R., Chrosniak, L. D, Wanschura, P., Flinn, J. M. (2009, Oct.). Prefrontal cortical function in chronically homeless adults. Poster presented at the 39th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Chicago, IL.

Dissertations Supervised

Brittany Mann Lindon, Advice from Social Referents and its Relationship to Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness: A Study from the Perspective of People with Mental Illnesses (2011)