Our Team
Principal Investigator
Anjolii Diaz, Ph.D.
Dr. Diaz is an assistant professor of Psychological Science. She is a developmental psychologist with a background in infant and child behavioral and physiological development. Through the use of various methodologies (e.g. EEG, ECG, Actigraphy, observations, and questionnaires), her research program focuses on the role of temperament (individual difference in emotion regulation and emotion reactivity) and executive functioning in developing social competence and academic achievement throughout development. She is also interested in exploring how parenting and culture might influence these associations.
Dr. Diaz is currently accepting students for the 2023-2024 school year. For more information about the master’s in clinical psychology program at Ball State, please use this link.
Graduate Research Assistants
Lab Manager: Arash Assar, M.S. (he/him)
Arash is a second-year graduate student in the Clinical and Quantitative Master programs at Ball State University. He is the lab manager of the Developmental PACE Lab where physiological measures such as EEG and actigraphy are used to examine emotion regulation, sleep, and their effects on cognition, academic performance, and psychological-well-being. His research interests include self-compassion and mindfulness-based interventions’ therapeutic capacity in helping individuals manage anxiety and stress reactivity and sleep behavior in both athlete and non-athlete populations. In his free time, Arash likes to play basketball, go hiking, play board games, and spend time with family and friends.
Graduate Assistant: Allison Sederlund, B.S. (she/her)
Allison is a second-year graduate student in the Clinical Psychology Master’s of Arts program and Quantitative Psychology Master’s of Science program at Ball State University. She currently works as a graduate research assistant in Dr. Diaz’s Developmental PACE Lab and is the lab manager for Dr. Holtgraves’s Communication and Pragmatics Lab. Her research interests include computational linguistic analysis of language used to report dreams, longitudinal impacts of various psychosocial factors on development, and program evaluation. After graduation, her goal is to obtain a PhD in either Clinical or Counseling Psychology. In her spare time, she enjoys baking, jigsaw puzzles, and rock climbing.
Graduate Assistant: Olivia Hovermale, B.S. (she/her)
Olivia is a second-year student in the Clinical and Quantitative Psychology Master’s Program at Ball State. She currently works as a graduate research assistant in Dr. Diaz’s Developmental PACE Lab and volunteers in Dr. Luttrell’s Luttrell Attitudes & Behaviors Lab. Her research interests include morality, forensics and the justice system, psychopathology, and assessment. After graduation, her goal is to obtain a PhD in Clinical Psychology. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her two dogs, three cats, and two horses, spoiling her niece and nephews, and reading true crime.
Graduate Assistant: Emmanuella Asiama-Sampong, B.S. (she/her)
Emmanuella (Ella) is a first-year graduate student, currently in the Clinical Psychology MA program. She is particularly interested in resilience and trauma studies. Currently she is a research assistant at the PACE lab as well as the Communication lab. She is pursuing a PHD program after graduation and potentially working as a professor and a researcher. She also loves to make clothes, brainstorm, and try out new recipes.
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Trent Nobbe (he/him)
Trent Nobbe is a senior who is majoring in psychological science and minoring in interpersonal relations, peace studies and conflict resolution, and history. He is working in the PACE lab on a study of Personality and Sleep. His current research interests include cognitive dissonance in relationships, the effects of group perceptions, and methods of social control. Goals after graduation include attending graduate school for counseling and traveling the world. When not in school he likes to spend time with his friends, work out, watch tv, experience new things, and travel to new places.
Natalie Mitchem (she/her)
Natalie is currently a senior majoring in psychological science and pre-medical science. She is working in Dr. Diaz’s Developmental PACE Lab. Currently, her research interests are behavior and personality. After graduating, she plans on becoming a clinical psychologist. When she is not studying, she plays volleyball at Ball State and likes to paint!