Principal Investigator

Photo of Ken Abrams
Ken Abrams Bio
Professor of Psychology
Off Campus: Spring 2025, Winter 2025
Office: Olin Hall 133
Phone: 507 222 5024

Ken Abrams (B.A., Dartmouth College; Ph.D., University of Minnesota; LP, State of Minnesota) is the principal investigator in the laboratory. He teaches courses in psychopathology and statistics, and a seminar on science and pseudoscience in psychology. He also leads every other fall the Carleton Cross-Cultural Psychology in Prague off-campus studies program. Other research of his has examined the association of nicotine withdrawal and carbon-dioxide hypersensitivity (a risk factor for experiencing panic), treatments for pathological gambling, and the self-medication of social anxiety and panic disorder with alcohol. Beyond campus, he enjoys biking, cross-country skiing, playing board games with his daughters, and following international soccer. Go Sparta Praha!

Research Assistants

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Marta Bacon ’25

Marta is a psychology major and neuroscience and French double minor. She joined the lab in the winter of 2024 to help with the PTSD prevention project. She has previously worked as a research assistant in both the TRiCAM and Speech fluency laboratories at the University of Minnesota. She plans to obtain her MD-PhD in clinical neuroscience or neuropsychiatry and is interested in researching how early life adversity affects how the adult brain learns and makes decisions as well as how it influences the development of neuropsychiatric disorders. She is passionate about serving underrepresented communities and making the medical field a more inclusive and diverse space. In her free time she enjoys reading, listening to music, dancing and baking.

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Harrison James ’26

Harrison is a prospective psychology major and music and Spanish minor. He joined the PTSD prevention lab in the winter of 2024 and has an interest in the role of trauma in the etiology of mental disorders. After Carleton, he hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and eventually work in both research and clinical roles. Harrison is certified in Mental Health First Aid and enjoys singing with the Carleton Choir, learning piano, building puzzles, and playing games with his friends.

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Ike Smalley ’25

Ike is a psychology major and cognitive science minor who joined the PTSD prevention lab in the winter of 2024. He is interested in clinical psychology, especially examining the origins of mental disorders, and using statistics and data analysis in a psychological context. Ike has interned at SMC psychology clinic in Madrid and as a science writer for the Concussion Alliance, where he created their webpage on concussions in workers and the workplace. Ike is planning to attend graduate school for clinical or cognitive psychology after graduation, and in his free time he likes to discover new music, write, and play board games.

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Emerald Wang ’25

Emerald is a psychology major with interests in clinical and counseling psychology. She joined the lab on PTSD prevention in the winter of 2023. Over the summer of 2022, she was an intern at University of Washington, researching and working with children with ADHD. Outside of class, Emerald enjoys alpine skiing, swimming and equestrian. After Carleton, she hopes to attend graduate school for further study in clinical psychology.

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Ashley Ye ’26

Ashley is a prospective psychology major and educational studies minor. She joined the PTSD prevention lab team in winter 2024 and has a particular interest in clinical psychology. Her extracurricular activities include participating in MUN, creative writing, and tinkering around with digital voice synthesis. After Carleton, Ashley is planning to take a gap year before likely pursuing further study of psychology at the graduate level.