Brian C. Cronk, Ph.D.

Dr. Cronk earned his doctoral degree in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee with minor concentrations in Quantitative Methods and Computer Science. His Masters degree from Bradley University is where he first learned the powerful combination of statistics and quality faculty who could help students understand the importance of statistics. Dr. Cronk spent 28 years at Missouri Western State University before coming to Buffalo State in 2021 to be the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. He joined the Psychology Department in the Spring of 2024.

Dr. Cronk enjoys students who come up with their own novel research ideas - and then he has a gift for helping them to both design studies to collect data and analyze that data to gain an understanding of the answer. He is an advocate for undergraduate research to strengthen skills gained in the traditional classroom plus to broaden students' experience through travel to professional conferences to present their research. He was active in planning the Great Plains Regional Psychology Convention.

Dr. Cronk is often called upon by the media regarding his interest in cognitive biases and why people believe strange things (for example, why do so many people believe in Big Foot or the Lock Ness Monster). His favorite courses to teach are those that involve statistics, research methods, or critical thinking in everyday life. He is also very interested in technology in teaching and was the recipient of two National Science Foundation grants for integrating technology into the Psychology curriculum.

His online undergraduate journal, the National Undergraduate Research Clearinghouse, was mentioned in both Nature and Science. It recently shut down after a 25 year run.

Representative Publications and Presentations

Google Scholar address https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LnMXu9oAAAAJ

Books & Publications

• Cronk, B.C. (2024). How to use IBM SPSS Statistics: A step‐by‐step guide to Analysis and Interpretation (12th edition). Oxford: Routledge. ISBN 9781032585192
• Cronk, B.C. (2021). Back to Normal? Habtic Standard, 9. https://www.thehabticstandard.com/opinion/back-to-normal
•  Cronk, B.C. (2021). A Psychological Buffet of Business Tools. Habtic Standard, 7. https://www.thehabticstandard.com/opinion/a-psychological-buffet-of-business-tools.
• Cronk, B.C. (2020). System Alarms: Mobbing and Multigenerations. Habtic Standard, 1. https://www.thehabticstandard.com/opinion/system-alarms
• Campbell, A.M., Eckdahl, T., Cronk, B.C., Andresen, C., Frederick, P., Huckuntod, S., Shinneman, C., Wacker, A., & Yuan, J. (2014). pClone: Synthetic Biology Tool Makes Promoter Research Accessible to Beginning Biology Students. CBE: Life Sciences Education, 12, 285-296.
• Bechert, U. & Cronk, B.C. (2013). Applied Learning at the Graduate Level – Professional Science Master’s Lead the Way. Journal of Applied Learning in Higher Education, 4, 23‐33.
• Still, J. & Cronk, B.C. (2010). Putting the spotlight on Human Factors. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Bulletin.
• Cronk, B.C. (2007). The OUR-IRB Project: A Necessary Tool for Risk Management and Ethics Education. CUR Quarterly, 27(4), 142-146.
• Cronk, B.C. (2007). Prejudice. Article in the World Book Encyclopedia.
• Cronk, B.C., & West, J.L. (2002). Personality research on the Internet: A comparison of web based and traditional instruments in take-home and in-class settings. Behavior Research Methods Instruments and Computers, 34, 177-180.
• Cronk, B.C. (2001). Phonological, semantic and repetition priming with homophones. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 30, 363-375.
• Cronk, B.C. (2001). Issues in Computer Dissemination of Undergraduate Research: The National Undergraduate Research Clearinghouse. Social Science Computer Review, 19, 94-99.
• Cronk, B.C. & Faulkner, E.E. (1995). Instructor's Guide to Accompany Schweigert's Research Methods and Statistics (2nd Printing). Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole.
• Cronk, B.C., Lima, S.D., & Schweigert, W.A. (1993). Idioms in sentences: Effects of frequency, literalness, and familiarity. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 22, 59-82.
• Cronk, B.C. & Schweigert, W.A. (1992). The comprehension of idioms: The effects of familiarity, literalness, and usage. Applied Psycholinguistics, 13, 131-146.
• Godley, M.D., Cronk, B.C. & Landrum, E. (1992). Alcohol-drug programs. In Crimando, W. & Riggar, T.F. (Eds.) Utilizing Community Resources: An Overview of Human Services (pp. 49-58). Orlando: Paul M. Deutsch Press.
• Schweigert, W.A. & Cronk, B.C. (1992). Ratings of the familiarity of idioms' figurative meanings and the likelihood of idioms' literal meanings among U.S. college students. Current Psychology: Research & Reviews, 11, 325-345.

Recent Conference Presentations

• Henry, K.B., England, B.D., & Cronk, B.C. (2018, March). Right writing across the psychology curriculum. Paper presented at the Southwestern Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Houston, TX.
• Drake, A., England, B., & Cronk, B.C. (2017, November). Social comparison and attentional focusing in problem solving. Poster presented at the Psychonomic Society Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC.
• Still, M.L., Langley, M.M., & Cronk, B.C. (2017, May). Trumped up: Is election night 2016 a new flashbulb memory event? Poster presented at the American Psychological Society Annual Meeting.
• Cronk, B.C. (2017, March). Assessing the effects of curriculum on the ETS Major Field Test. Southwestern Psychological Association. San Antonio, TX.
• Cronk, B.C. (2017, March). Assessing the effects of curriculum on performance on the ETS Major Field Test in Psychology. International Convention of Psychological Science. Vienna, Austria.
• Henry, K.B., Gerhart, A., & Cronk B.C. (2014, April). Student Use of Lecture Capture in Online Psychology Courses. Southwestern Psychological Association, San Antonio, TX.
• Cronk, B.C. (2013, June). Using the Student Clearinghouse for Revenue and Efficiency. UBTech, Orlando, FL.
• Wated, G., Szuchman, L., Micklet, A., Webster, S., Larson, S., Cronk, B. (2010). What every undergraduate psychology major should know: The knowledge, skills and values of psychological research. Council on Undergraduate Research National Conference. Ogden, UT.
• Cronk, B.C. (2010). Do you have any more homework for me to do? Utilizing automated online homework tied to your specific text to improve student performance in introductory statistics. National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology. St Petersburg Beach, FL.
• Cronk, B.C. & Cronk, R.C. (2009, January). Establishing a Collaborative Relationship with a Community Organization to Teach Statistics: Advantages and Disadvantages to Students, Faculty, and the Organization. 31st Annual National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology. St. Petersburg, FL.
• Cronk, B.C. (2006, February). The National Undergraduate Research Clearinghouse: Dissemination of Student Research over the World Wide Web. Paper presented at the 1st annual statewide conference on Applied Learning, St. Joseph, MO.
• Cronk, B.C. (2005, May). Automating IRB review and submission at an undergraduate institution. Paper presented at the 77th annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
• Cronk, B.C. (2004, October). Utilizing Microsoft Excel to ease computational burden in introductory statistics. Paper presented at the Best Practices in Teaching Research Methods and Statistics Convention, Atlanta, GA.
• Wann, P.D. & Cronk, B.C. (2002, June). Teaching skepticism about pseudoscientific claims. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Society, New Orleans, LA.
• Wann, P.D. & Cronk, B.C. (2002, May). Educating psychology majors to think critically about pseudoscientific claims. Paper presented at the 74th annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL. NOTE: This presentation won the CTUP Creative Classroom award.
• West, J. & Cronk, B. C. (2001, November). Personality research on the Internet: A comparison of web based and traditional instruments in take‐home and in‐class settings. Presentation at the 29th annual Society for Computers in Psychology Convention. Orlando.
• Wann, P.D. & Cronk, B.C. (2001, May). Outlets for dissemination of undergraduate research. Presentation at the 73rd annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
• Wann, P.D., & Cronk, B.C. (2000, June). Teaching critical thinking and research skills using a computerized Psychology laboratory. Paper presented at the 8th annual conference of the Council of Undergraduate Research, Wooster, Ohio.

Courses Usually Taught

• PSY 101 Introduction to Psychology
• PSY 350 Statistics in Psychological Research
• PSY 360 Evaluating Psychological Science
• PSY 471 History and Systems

Awards

• APA Dissertation Research Award
• Jesse Lee Myers Excellence in Teaching Award, Missouri Western State University
• Board of Governors Distinguished Professor, Missouri Western State University
• Office of Disability Services Outstanding Instructor, Missouri Western State University