I am interested in people's perception of environmental statistics and how they affect judgments and decisions. One line of research examines bias in memory for how long things have taken in the past and how that relates to predictions of when tasks will be finished. Specifically, when and how prediction of duration is likely to be incorrect. A second line of research examines people's perceptions of their own abilities. Previous research indicates that people often overestimate their ability on a number of different tasks, with a majority believing themselves to be above average. I am interested in whether or not people are truly biased in their self-perceptions.

Dr. Roy joined Dr. Karendra Devroop and students from the departments of psychology and music established an instrumental music program at two disadvantaged schools in South Africa using donated instruments. These visits led to a new line of research in the psychology of music.

Primary Interests:

Applied Social Psychology
Judgment and Decision Making
Person Perception
Social Cognition

Applied Social Psychology
Judgment and Decision Making

Person Perception
Social Cognition

Journal Articles:

Chafin, S., Roy, M. M., Gerin, W., & Christenfeld, N. J. S. (2004). Music can facilitate blood pressure recovery from stress. British Journal of Health Psychology, 9, 393-403.
Getz, L. M., Chamorro-Premuzic, T., Roy, M. M., & Devroop, K. (2012). The relationship between affect, uses of music, and music preference in a sample of South African adolescents. Psychology of Music, 40, 164-178. Doi:10.1177/0305735610381818.
Getz, L. M., Marks, S., & Roy, M. M. (2012). The influence of stress, optimism, and music training on music uses and preferences. Psychology of Music. Advance online publication. Doi: 10.1177/0305735612456727
Getz, L. M., & Roy, M. M. (in press). Student leadership perspective in South Africa and the United States. International Journal of Psychological Studies.
Roy, M. M., & Christenfeld, N. J. S. (2008). Effect of task length on remembered and predicted duration. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 15, 202-207.
Roy, M. M., & Christenfeld, N. J. S. (2007). Bias in memory predicts bias in estimation of future task duration. Memory & Cognition, 35, 557-564.
Roy, M. M., & Christenfeld, N. J. S. (2005). Dogs still do resemble their owners. Psychological Science, 16, 743-744.
Roy, M. M., & Christenfeld, N. J. S. (2004). Do dogs resemble their owners? Psychological Science, 15, 361-363.
Roy, M. M., Christenfeld, N. J. S., & Jones, M. (2013). Actors, observers and the estimation of task duration. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 66, 121-137. Doi: 10.10080/17470218.2012.699973.
Roy, M. M., Christenfeld, N. J. S., & McKenzie, C. (2005). Underestimation of future duration: Memory incorrectly used or memory bias. Psychological Bulletin, 131, 738-756.
Roy, M. M., Christenfeld, N. J. S., & McKenzie, C. (2005). The broad applicability of memory bias and its coexistence with the planning fallacy: Reply to Griffin and Buehler (2005). Psychological Bulletin, 131, 761-762.
Roy, M. M., & Liersch, M. J. (in press). I am better than you think: Self-awareness of the better-than-average effect. Journal of Applied Social Psychology.
Roy, M. M., Mitten, S. T., & Christenfeld, N. J. S. (2008). Correcting memory improves accuracy of predicted duration. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 14, 266-275.
Schwab, S., Memmert, D., & Roy, M. M. (2013). The effect of motivation and attention on bias in memory for duration. Psychology, 4, 83-87. Doi: 10.4236/psych.2013.42011.
Van de Ven, N., Van Rijswijk, L., & Roy, M. M. (2011). The return-trip effect: Why the return-trip often seems to take less time. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 18, 827-832. Doi: 10.3758/s13423-011-0150-5.

Courses Taught:

Introduction to Psychology
Methods
Research in Cognition
Research in Social Psychology
Statistics

Introduction to Psychology
Methods
Research in Cognition

Research in Social Psychology
Statistics

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Michael Roy
Department of Psychology
Elizabethtown College
One Alpha Drive
Elizabethtown, PA 17022
United States

Phone: (717) 361-1331
Fax: (717) 361-1176