Loyola University Maryland

Department of Psychology

Matthew W. Kirkhart, Ph.D.

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Matt KirkhartAssociate Professor of Psychology

Office: Beatty Hall, Room 222D
Telephone: 410-617-5498
Email: MKirkhart@loyola.edu

Education:

  • B.A. (Magna Cum Laude),
    West Virginia University, 1987
  • M.A. (Clinical Psychology),
    West Virginia University, 1991
  • Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology),
    University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1997
  • Pre-doctoral Internship, Department of Clinical
    and Health Psychology
    Shands Hospital, University of Florida
    College of Health Professions
  • Licensed Psychologist in Maryland

Teaching Awards:

Mentor of the Year Award (2007)
Awarded by the Maryland Psychological Association for Graduate Students (MPAGS)

Scholarly Interests:

I have two primary research interests and several secondary interests. My first primary research interest is in medical/health psychology, primarily focusing on those who have a serious or chronic medical condition. This includes such things as factors that affect general adaptation and adjustment to the medical conditions (i.e., adjustment to chronic pain conditions, adaptation to lifestyle changes necessary to manage diabetes, etc.), and in the prediction of adjustment and adaptation to future medical procedures (i.e., predicting adjustment post organ transplantation).

My second primary research interest is in basic research examining learning and memory. Primarily my interest in this area lies in conscious and unconscious learning and memory, rule-governed behavior, and a functional analysis of language in efforts to understand how verbal behavior affects other behavior.

I have several secondary research interests some of which include mentoring and teaching in psychology, adult psychopathology, and interpersonal psychotherapy models and methods.

Representative Publications:

Konig, A., Lating, J., & Kirkhart, M. W. (2007). Content of disclosure
     and health: Autonomic response to talking about a stressful
     event. Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention,
     doi: 10.1093/brief-treatment/mhm012.

Stapleton, A. B., Lating, J., & Kirkhart, M., Everly, G. S. Jr.
     (2006, September 6). Effects of Medical Crisis Intervention on
     Anxiety, Depression, Posttraumatic Symptoms: A Meta-analysis.
     Psychiatric Quarterly, published on:
     http://www.springerlink.com/content/e660376273175657/

Christopher, M. S., Skillman, G. D., Kirkhart, M. W., & D'Souza, J. B.
     (2006). The effect of normative and behavioral persuasion on
     help seeking in Thai and American college students. Journal of
     Multicultural Counseling and Development, 34, 80-93.

Kirkhart, M. W. (2002). Validation of an explicit learning paradigm.
     Psychology and Education, 39, 40-45.

Sentz, D. S., Kirkhart, M. W., LoPresto, C., & Sobelman, S. (2002).
     Intrusive effects of implicitly processed information on explicit
     memory. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 94, 241-250.

Kaminsky, K. J., & Kirkhart, M. W. (2001). A step beyond: Adding
     behavior analysis to the discussion of evolution, natural selection,
     and the law. Florida Law Review, 53(5), 947-964.

Kirkhart, M. W. (2001). The function of declarative knowledge in 
     implicit and explicit learning. Journal of General Psychology, 128(4),
     447-461.

Eyler, V. A., Diehl, K. W., & Kirkhart, M. (2000). Validation of the
     Lees-Haley Fake Bad scale for the MMPI-2 to detect somatic
     malingering among personal injury litigants. Archives of Clinical
     Neuropsychology, 15(8), 834-835.

Kirkhart, M. W. (2000). The effects of schizotypal thinking content
     on implicit and explicit learning. Psychology: A Journal of Human
     Behavior, 37(2), 10-28.

Course Offerings:

PY101: Introduction to Psychology
PY221: Psychology of Learning
PY222: Cognitive Psychology
PY622: Interpersonal Psychotherapy
PY707: Introduction to Clinical Experiences-Adult Intake Rotation
PY820: Cognition and Learning Theory
PY845: Therapy Models-Interpersonal Psychotherapy