Degrees:
MA in Psychology (Social/Personality), Brock University
2015, BA (Honours) in Psychology, Ryerson University
Research Interests:
Elvira first began working at the CAP lab as a volunteer in 2012. Her research interests included understanding cognitive biases involved in pathological worry and examining predictors for excessive worry. Since then, Elvira maintained her involvement in the lab while broadening her research experiences: She was awarded two undergraduate student research awards by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Further, Elvira completed her undergraduate honours thesis with Dr. Becky Choma in the Social and Political Psychology lab at Ryerson University. She examined self-objectification (i.e., the habitual monitoring of one’s physical appearance) and its application to skin tone dissatisfaction and skin bleaching in ethnically diverse women. Elvira was Lab Manager at the CAP Lab from September 2015 to September 2016. In fall 2016, she started graduate studies in psychology at Brock University.
Selected Conference Presentations:
Prusaczyk, E., & Choma, B. L. (2015, July). Self-objectification, skin colour dissatisfaction, and skin bleaching: The palliative and legitimating effects of system justifying beliefs. Paper presented at the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences (ISSID) Conference, London, ON, Canada.
Prusaczyk, E., & Choma, L. B. (2015, May). “Fair and Lovely:” Self-objectification, Skin Tone Surveillance, and Skin Bleaching. Talk presented at the Undergraduate Thesis Conference at Western University, London, ON.
Prusacyzk, E., Kusec, A., Pawluk, E., Woznica, A., Taillefer, S., & Koerner, N. (2016, May). Emotional intensity and valence of autobiographical memories in individuals with probable generalized anxiety disorder. Poster presented at the meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL.