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Richard R. J. Lewine

PLEASE NOTE: DR. LEWINE IS NO LONGER ACCEPTING GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICANTS. He is available to work collaboratively with students accepted by other faculty                                                                   Lewine Photo

 

 


 

Professor                                                                         
Office: Room 343, Life Sciences Building
Phone: (502) 852-3243
Email: rich.lewine@louisville.edu

                                   Lab location:  Davidson 317B
                                   Lab phone: (502) 852-8395
                                   Lab website:

 

Education

  • NIMH Post-Doctoral Fellowship, 1975-1978
  • Ph.D. Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, 1975
  • A.B. Psychology, Harvard, 1969

 Current Students-Graduate

  • Rachel Waford-5th year; interning at Mass Mental Health Center
  • Catherine Robertson- 4th year; lab coordinator
  • Mara Hart- 2nd year

Current Students-Undergraduate
  • Ariel Briggs- Honors Study


Research Interests

       "Sometimes my feelings are so hot that I have to take a pen and put them on paper to keep them from  setting me afire inside; then all that ink and labor are wasted because I can't print the results" ~ Mark Twain

       "I'm against sloppy, emotional thinking" ~ Harman Kahn

Emotions have often been viewed as the obstacles to effective thinking. Conversely, both clinicians and critical thinkers have viewed core negative beliefs as causing "irrational" thinking. As reflected in serious mental and emotional disorders, the interplay between affect and cognition is complex. Further, that some of us have serious thinking problems and others of us do not, grossly simplifies the reality. We are all subject to "impaired cognition" and to moments of lucid and critical thinking, the former occurring far more than than we like to believe and the latter far less frequently.

Our group's interests lie at the interface of affect and cognition. Serious mental and emotional disorders affect one's ability to meet life expectations and requirements, in part by subverting the cognitive tools needed to assess self and others accurately and, as a consequence, adjust expectations and behaviors. We are currently addressing how affect influences thought disorder in schizophrenia, thereby potentially opening novel paths for cognitive improvement via affect intervention. Such an approach is not, however, limited to psychiatric patients.

Critical thinking, a focus of major pedagogical efforts across colleges and universities in the United States, represents in many respects the opposite end of the thought disorder continuum and is subject to the same questions about the influence of affect.

Whether in the clinic or in the classroom, we seek to understand the phenomenon of thought, its positive and negative effects in carrying out life's tasks, and how affect might be used to improve our thinking.

Current Activities

  • The role of affect intensity and valence in thought disorder in schizophrenia- R. Waford
  • Personality differences in schizophrenia and their relation to thought disorder- C. Robertson
  • The role of family history in the expression of thought disorder in schizophrenia- M. Hart
  • The relationship of clinician-rated and self-rated depression on positive and negative thought disorder in schizophrenia- A. Briggs

Representative Publications of Current Research

  • Lewine, R. Self Knowledge. APS Observer, in press.
  • Lewine, R., Sommers, A., Waford,R., Bustanoby, H., Robertson,C., Hall, R., & Eisenmenger, K. (2011). Sex, affect and academic performance: It's not what you think. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, July Volume 5, Number 2.
  • Waford, R., & Lewine, R. (2010). Is perseveration uniquely characteristic of schizophrenia? Schizophrenia Research, available online, doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2010.01.031; print available June, 2010.
  • Thurston-Snoha, B. & Lewine, R. (2010). Sex, affect, and cognitive perseveration in schizophrenia. The Internet Journal of Mental Health, Volume 6 Number 2.
  • Thurston-Snoha, B. & Lewine, R. (2007). Intact Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance: Implications for the role of executive function in schizophrenia. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 46, 361-369.

Current Courses 
    • PSYC 201: Introductory Psychology
    • PSYC 375: Personality
    • PSYC 404: Self Knowledge
    • PSYC 689: Clinical Psychopathology

 

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