at The University of Utah
Welcome to Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in psychology.
You are eligible to join Psi Chi if you are a psychology major, minor, or pursuing a degree in a related field.
Psi Chi holds social events for students, networking events with professionals, and educational opportunities to further the study of psychology at the U.
The purpose of Psi Chi is to encourage, stimulate, and maintain excellence in scholarship of the individual members in all fields, particularly in psychology, and to advance the science of psychology.
Our goal is to create an active and engaging community for Psi Chi members by hosting intellectually stimulating events, and presenting members with meaningful ways to give back to their community.
Community service is an essential aspect of the Psi Chi experience. We hold service events to encourage our members to find meaningful ways to give back to their community. We also encourage active learning by presenting students with professional networking opportunities.
Psi Chi was founded in 1929 for the purposes of encouraging, stimulating, and maintaining excellence in scholarship, and advancing the science of psychology. Psi Chi is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies and is an affiliate of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Association for Psychological Science (APS).
Students of all social science fields are encouraged to join, and must meet eligibility requirements for official membership. In order to join, some academic requirements must be met.
Undergraduate students must:
Transfer students or students that are new to the university can still join and participate as members, but they can only become full-fledged members if they meet the eligibility requirements by the end of the semester. If you participate we can backtrack your membership, so you will receive acknowledgment for everything you do.
Graduate students must:
Dr. Merenstein is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department. She is currently developing the Utah Cognition, Lifespan, and Multimodal Brain Imaging (U-CLIMB) Lab. The U-CLIMB lab studies how age-related cognitive decline can be attributed to age-related differences in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of brain structure and function in healthy individuals across the adult lifespan. A new direction of the lab is to identify moderating factors that may contribute to cognitive and brain aging, such as environmental exposures (e.g., air pollutants, extreme heat) and cardiovascular health. The vision of the lab is that identifying targetable differences in brain structure and function will ultimately help inform future interventions aimed at delaying cognitive decline. More information about Dr. Merenstein and the U-CLIMB lab is provided on the U-CLIMB Lab website . If you remain interested in their current projects, the lab is inviting applications for undergraduate research assistants. Applications will be reviewed once per semester.
Dr. Payne runs the Language and Memory Aging (LaMA) lab is housed in the Department of Psychology at the University of Utah. His research is focused on understanding the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying human language and memory systems across the adult lifespan. We adopt an interdisciplinary and multi-method approach to this work. We draw on theories and methods in cognitive science, gerontology, neuroscience, linguistics, and quantitative and experimental psychology. We use a combination of techniques, including the study of human brain functioning (e.g., event-related brain potentials, transcranial magnetic stimulation), eye tracking, human performance, and peripheral physiology (e.g., pupillometry, heart-rate variability). Current projects in the lab include: 1. characterizing the neural mechanisms of "listening effort” in speech comprehension among older adults with hearing loss, 2. studying naturalistic reading via simultaneous eye tracking and electroencephalography (EEG), and 3. using non-invasive brain stimulation to probe the human language network and enhance verbal memory. You can learn more about the lab, our research, and possible opportunities to participate by visiting lama-lab.com.
Hello everyone, my name is Daren Riddle, and I am honored to serve as Psi Chi President for 2025–2026. I was born in Chicago, raised in Tucson, Arizona, and transferred to the University of Utah from Middlesex University Dubai in 2023. I am currently a junior majoring in Psychology on the pre-med track. After graduation, I plan to work as an EMT before pursuing either medical school with a focus on neurology or an M.D./Ph.D. joint program to combine clinical training with my research interests in the brain. I joined Psi Chi in 2023 to connect with like-minded peers and become more engaged with psychology and health care at the U. Being part of Psi CHi has given me the opportunity to collaborate with peers and faculty, and grow both personally and professionally. Research has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my undergraduate career. I began as a research assistant in the TORCH Lab, where I presented on post-traumatic epilepsy, and I am currently writing my thesis on how social support and self-esteem affect substance use disorder in transgender and non-binary populations. I am also newly involved with the Utah Cognition Lifespan & Multimodal Brain Imaging (U-CLIMB) lab. These opportunities have allowed me to present at conferences, create posters, and strengthen my skills as a researcher. Outside of academics, I enjoy fishing, camping, skiing, playing darts, working out, cooking, and watching sports and TV with my roommates. I look forward to serving Psi Chi and getting to know our new members.
Hello everyone! My name is Becca and I'm so excited to be serving as Vice President of the U of U chapter of Psi Chi this year. I am most excited to meet new people who love this field as much as I do! I am majoring in Psychology and Sociology with a certificate in Quantitative Research Analytics. I am a research assistant in the Social Cognition and Intergroup Perception lab, and my dream is to get a PhD in social psych and hopefully have a career in research and teaching. In my free time, I love to mountain bike, hike, and rock climb.
Hey everyone, My name is Kyle and I am a senior here at the U. I am majoring in psychology and minoring in human development and family studies. My goal is to get either a Psy.D or masters in social work so I can eventually become a therapist. I am a California boy but chose to come to Utah due to my love of the mountains. I look forward to meeting and connecting with you all!
Hello, My name is Petr Horgos, and will be serving as the Treasurer. I am a 4th year undergraduate researcher and Psychology student in the Honors College at the University of Utah, with a minor in Cognitive Science. Over the course of three years, I have conducted research in multiple areas including memory and cognition, neurolinguistics, pathogenic personality and emotion, and the clinical study of psychedelic substances. My academic interests center on the cognitive mechanisms underlying psychopathology and the development of psychedelic-assisted therapies for treatment-resistant conditions. After graduating I intend to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, with the aim of contributing to innovative, evidence-based approaches to mental health care. Outside of academics, I enjoy playing hockey and guitar, rock climbing, snowboarding, backpacking, and watching my cats hunt grasshoppers.
