Scenario: Two children get into a fight at school; both are suspended for three days. This intervention (suspension) is not research-based, and it may not be appropriate for the children involved. Instead of suspending the children, psychologists can conduct assessments in the fields of aggression, emotional regulation, language development, impulsivity, and other areas that lead to behavioral conflicts. With this data, psychologists can select empirically-based interventions to help deal with children’s underlying problems. In the long term, finding the root of the problem and matching it to an appropriate intervention can work much better than just removing the children from school.
The primary purpose of our research is to improve assessment and intervention practices, specifically in the field of social-emotional/behavioral skills with a particular emphasis in the use of emerging technologies. The end goal of this research is to a) improve the tools that school psychologists use to identify underlying problems in aggressive children and b) explore interventions that may help with these problems.
We conduct three overarching areas of research to meet these goals:
- Identify causes of aggression in all children with a focus on those who are culturally and linguistically diverse.
- Develop and critique technology-based tools for conducting assessments to identify these causes.
- Develop and critique technology-based tools for social, emotional, and behavioral interventions.
Current Faculty Members
Kathleen Krach, Ph.D. is an assistant professor at Florida State University. Prior to her work at FSU, she was faculty at both Troy University (in Alabama) and UNLV (in Nevada). At each of the three universities, she has a history of publishing with students. The current information on this website regarding publications only applies to students at Florida State University on her research team. For more information on publications with other student members at other universities, please see her CV here.
Michael P. McCreery, Ph.D. is an assistant professor at UNLV. He has been a faculty member at the University of Arkansas Little Rock prior to his current appointment. Dr. McCreery was one of Dr. Krach’s doctoral students when she was faculty at UNLV. From this early work, Dr. McCreery has gone on to publish over a dozen works with Dr. Krach over the past decade. Please see his CV here.
Current Student Members (2021 – 2022)
Catherine Bacos (UNLV, Ph.D. program)
Jessica Rene Bagneris (FSU, Ph.D. program)
Travis Brown (FSU, Game and Tech guru)
Patricia Dunn (FSU, Ph.D. program)
Joey Fiorentini (UNLV, Ph.D. program)
James Gardiner (FSU, Ed.S. program)
Jessika Guerard (FSU, Ph.D. program)
Danielle Head (UNLV, Ph.D. program)
Dasha Highsmith (FSU, Ph.D. program)
James Howell (FSU, Ph.D. program)
Jeff Laferierre (UNLV, Ph.D. program)
Sabrina Quiroga (FSU, Ph.D. program)
Malaya Monk (FSU, Ed.S. program)
Madison Woodall (FSU, Ph.D. program)
Current or Previous FSU Students with Peer-Reviewed Publications
Christen Cirks (Ed.S. program)
Shannon Focaracci (Ed.S. program)
Jessika Guerard (Ph.D. program)
Erica Harris (Ed.S. program) [submitted]
Dasha Highsmith (Ph.D. program) [submitted]
James Howell (FSU, Ph.D. program)
Lori Kern (FSU, Ed.S. program)
Houra Mohammadiamin (Ph.D. program)
Malaya Monk (FSU, Ed.S. program)
Sarah Navarro (Ed.S. program)
Hillary Rimel (Ed.S. program)
Ye Wang (Ph.D. program)
Raven Wilcox (undergraduate)
Current or Previous FSU Students with National Presentations
Jessica Rene Bagneris (FSU, Ph.D. program)
Latoya Brown (FSU, Ph.D. program)
Tiffany Brown (FSU, Ph.D. program)
Patricia Dunn (FSU, Ph.D. program)
Danielle Eftaas (Ph.D. program)
James Gardiner (Ed.S. program)
Jessika Guerard (Ph.D. program)
Erica Harris (Ed.S. program)
Dasha Highsmith (Ph.D. program) [submitted]
Lori Kern (FSU, Ed.S. program)
Malaya Monk (FSU, Ed.S. program)
Brian Mullin (Ed.S. program)
Hillary Rimel (Ed.S. program)
Erica Vazquez (Ed.S. program)
Madison Woodall (FSU, Ph.D. program)
Krach, S. K., Paskiewicz, T. L., & Monk, M. M. (2020). Testing our children when the world shuts down: Analyzing recommendations for tele-assessment during COVID-19. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 38(8), 923-941. doi:10.1177/0734282920962839
Krach, S. K., McCreery, M. P., Dennis, L., Guerard, J., & Harris, E. L. (2020). Independent evaluation of Q-Interactive: A paper equivalency comparison using the PPVT-4 with preschoolers. Psychology in the Schools, 57, 17–30. doi:10.1002/pits.22325
McCreery, M. P., Krach, S. K., Bacos, C., & Laferriere, J. (2019). Can video games be used as a stealth assessment of aggression? A criterion-related validity study. International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations, 11, 40-49. doi:10.4018/IJGCMS.20190401
McCreery, M. P., & Krach, S. K. (2018). How the human is the catalyst: Personality, aggressive fantasy, and proactive-reactive aggression among users of social media. Personality and Individual Differences, 133, 91-95. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2017.06.037
Krach, S. K., McCreery, M. P., & Rimel, H. (2017). Examining teachers’ behavioral management charts: A comparison of Class Dojo and paper-pencil methods. Contemporary School Psychology, 21(3), 267-275. doi:10.1007/s40688-016-0111-0
Krach, S. K., McCreery, M. P., & Guerard, J. (2017). Cultural-linguistic test adaptations: Guidelines for selection, alteration, use, and review. School Psychology International, 38, 3-21. doi:10.117/0143034316684672
Krach, S. K., Doss, K. M., & McCreery, M. P. (2015). Assessing Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Problems: Use of Multilingual Versions of Tests. Trainer’s Forum: Journal of the Trainers of School Psychologists, 33(3), 3-26.
McCreery, M. P., Krach, S. K., Head, D., Leif, S., & Fiorentini, J. (2021). Examining Response Bias: Potential for Data Triangulation Through Stealth Assessment. Presentation to be given at Annual Convention, American Psychological Association (APA). Presented online due to COVID.
McCreery, M. P., Krach, S. K., Bacos, C., Laferriere, J., & Head, D. (presented 2020). Validity of using video games as stealth assessments of aggression. Poster presentation at Annual Convention, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC: Covid-19: Virtual. (National)
Krach, S. K., Brown, T. K., Highsmith, D., Howell, J. E., & McCreery, M. P. (presented 2020). Which children perform better on paper tests and digital tests? Poster presentation at Annual Convention, National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), Baltimore, MD. (National)
Krach, S. K., Doss, K. M., Highsmith, D., Brown, L. S., & McCreery, M. P. (presented 2019). Can computers teach social skills? Examining "The Social Express". Poster presentation at Annual Convention, National Association of School Psychologists, Atlanta, GA. (National)
McCreery, M. P., Krach, S. K., Bacos, C. A., & Laferriere, J. R. (presented 2018). Effectiveness of a forced-choice video game as direct assessment of aggression. Poster presentation at Annual Convention, American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA. (National)
McCreery, M. P., Laferriere, J., Bacos, C., & Krach, S. K. (presented 2018). What’s in a Test? Video Games as a Model for Assessing Learning Behaviors. Presentation at National Convention, American Educational Research Association (AERA), New York, NY. (National)
Krach, S. K., McCreery, M. P., & Rimel, H. (presented 2017). Behavioral management charts: Comparing Class Dojo and paper-pencil methods. Presentation at Convention, National Association of School Psychologists, San Antonio, TX. (National)
Krach, S. K., & Vazquez, E. (presented 2017). Multilingual Assessment: Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Scales. Presentation at Annual Convention, Florida Association of School Psychologists (FASP), Daytona Beach, FL. (State)
McCreery, M. P., & Krach, S. K. (presented 2017). Personality, Aggressive Ideations, and Proactive Aggression Among Users of Social Media. Poster presentation at Annual Convention, American Psychological Association (APA), Washington, D.C. (National)
