معرفی
Angela Mackey serves as Associate Professor of Psychology and Chair of the Social Sciences Division at Kentucky Wesleyan College, where she has taught since 2015. She specializes in experimental psychology with a focus on creating intimate learning environments that foster student-professor relationships, contrasting her own large-class undergraduate experience.
Her academic foundation includes:
- Bachelor of Science in Biology (emphasis zoology) from San Diego State University
- Master's and Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi
Mackey's research centers on comparative animal cognition across diverse species, with documented fieldwork on bottlenose dolphins in Mississippi Sound and Utila, Honduras, plus collaborations with the San Diego Zoo on elephant cognition and Malagasy fossa studies. Her methodology integrates wild observation with controlled zoo environments to explore cognitive mechanisms.
She champions psychology's breadth beyond clinical applications through courses like Animal Behavior (co-taught with Zoology) and Animal Cognition, emphasizing how psychological principles permeate all careers. Her mentoring philosophy prioritizes helping students discover passions, whether they enter college with defined goals or undergo transformative academic shifts.
Research operations involve annual summer collaborations with San Diego Zoo keepers and curators, where she designs cognitive studies on exotic species. This partnership extends to international field sites in Honduras, demonstrating a globally integrated approach to comparative cognition research.
