Research Mission
The research mission for Dr. Lawyer's laboratory is to apply laboratory methodologies to the study of decision-making, anxiety, and trauma, broadly speaking. Although some non-laboratory methodologies are used from time-to-time, an effort is made, when possible, to use laboratory-based behavioral methods for understanding clinically- and socially-relevant phenomena
Decision-Making Interests
Dr. Lawyer's most recent research efforts have focused on the development and use of laboratory- behavioral methodologies for eliciting decision-making behavior in a laboratory setting. Such methodologies allow for a better understanding of the behavioral mechanisms that underlie socially-relevant problem decisions (e.g., sexual risk-taking, impulsiveness). He currently uses the delay and probability discounting paradigms and the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) in his laboratory.
Anxiety Interests
Dr. Lawyer has studied anxiety-related phenomena for over ten years and continues to maintain an interest in anxiety-related research. Recent research conducted in his lab concerned the validation of a self-report measure of erotophobia-erotophilia using the eyeblink startle paradigm. Dr. Lawyer continues to be interested in various anxiety-related foci, including anxiety sensitivity, cognitive errors, and experimental psychopathology in general.
Trauma Interests
Dr. Lawyer's interests in trauma research have been consistent throughout his career, leading him to his postdoctoral fellowship at the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center (NCVC) at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). His research there focused on two large national probability sample datasets that led to an improved understanding of the predictors of mental health symptoms in adults and adolescents, but also among those affected by the September 11th terror attacks on the World Trade Center. His current trauma interests are broad, but he is currently conducting research concerning the link between trauma experiences and the tendency to endorse a variety of beliefs in paranormal phenomena.