John Christensen
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Biography
John L. Christensen received Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Southern California, where he is currently pursuing a doctorate in Social Psychology. He has held a fellowship with the American Psychological Association's Minority Fellowship Program as well as research traineeships from the National Institutes of Health, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the RAND Corporation. His research focuses on the processes that underlie the impact of emotion on decision-making and persuasion in risky social situations. He is interested in how technology such as artificially intelligent autonomous agents, video games, and interactive film might facilitate, attenuate, or otherwise influence these processes. Other research interests include socially optimized learning in virtual environments (SOLVE), the development of realistic personality in intelligent virtual agents, the production and personalization of media-based interactive behavioral interventions, and the use of loss/gain frame messages in persuasive health communications designed for ethnic and sexual minority populations.
Personal Webpage
Research Experience
May 2008 – present
Graduate Research Assistant
Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California
“SOLVE-IT: Real Risk Reduction” - Internet-based HIV-Prevention Video Game Intervention
Funded by: NIMH, National Institutes of Health
Dr. Lynn Carol Miller, Dr. Stephen J. Read, Dr. Paul Robert Appleby,
Dr. Leslie Clark, Dr. Stacy Marsella
May 2008 – present
Summer Associate
The RAND Corporation
Dr. Martin Iguchi
January 2005 – May 2008
Research Consultant
CHI Systems
Air Force Research Laboratory, U.S. Air Force
August 2004 – May 2008
Graduate Research Assistant
Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California
“Socially Optimized Learning in Virtual Environments (SOLVE)” - Interactive Video HIV-Prevention Intervention
Funded by: NIAID, National Institutes of Health
Dr. Lynn Carol Miller, Dr. Stephen J. Read, Dr. Paul Robert Appleby
June 2003 – August 2004
Project Specialist (full-time staff researcher)
Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California
“Socially Optimized Learning in Virtual Environments” - Interactive Video HIV-Prevention Intervention
Funded by: NIAID, National Institutes of Health
Dr. Lynn Carol Miller, Dr. Stephen J. Read, Dr. Paul Robert Appleby
January 2003 – May 2003
Research Assistant
Department of Psychology, University of Southern California
Dr. Paul Robert Appleby
January 2003 – May 2003
Research Assistant
Department of Psychology, University of Southern California
Dr. Brian Lickel
May 1999 - August 1999
Research Fellow
National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology
Dr. Nouri Neamati, Dr. Yves Pommier
May 1997 – August 1998
Research Fellow
Student Intern Program
Howard Hughes Medical Institute & National Institutes of Health
Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology
Dr. Nouri Neamati, Dr. Yves Pommier
Professional Development
September 2008
Virtual Humans Toolkit Workshop
Institute for Creative Technologies
Marina del Rey, CA
May 2007
Annenberg Workshop on Games for Learning, Development, & Change
Annenberg School for Communication
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
Research Interests
Computational Psychology & Social Technology
• Interactive Media as an Unobtrusive Behavioral Measure
• Online Learning Applications
• Public Policy of e-Learning
• Realistic Personality in Intelligent Virtual Agents
• Socially Optimized Learning in Virtual Environments (SOLVE)
• Using Interactive Media to Drive Social Behavior Change
• Virtual Humans as Pedagogical Tools
• Web-Based Psychological Assessment
The Impact of Emotion on Persuasion, Judgment, & Decision-Making
• Affective Forecasting
• Affect-Based Social Influence & Persuasion
• Anticipatory Negative Emotion & Subsequent Behavior Change
• Cognitive Neuroimaging (fMRI) of Emotional States
• Developmental Factors in Risk-Taking
• Loss/Gain Message Framing Effects
• Personalization of Belief & Attitude Change
• Persuasive Message Design & Evaluation
Health Psychology & Persuasive Health Communications
• Behavioral Intervention Design & Evaluation
• HIV/AIDS Education & Prevention
• Methamphetamine’s Link to Sexual Risk-Taking
• Substance Abuse Treatment & Prevention
Race, Ethnicity, & Culture
• Cultural Differences in Social Attitudes & Beliefs
• Cultural Targeting and Personalization of Interactive Media
• Racial & Ethnic Health Disparities
Gay & Lesbian Social Issues
• Healthy Identity Formation
• Internal & External Sources of Homophobia
Collaborators
- Lynn Carol Miller
- Stephen Read
- Paul Robert Appleby
- Carlos Godoy
- Charisse Corsbie-Massay
Publications
Miller, L. C., Christensen, J. L., Godoy, C. G., Appleby, P. R., Corsbie-Massay, C., & Read, S. J. (2008). Reducing Risky Decision-Making in the Virtual and in the Real-World: Serious Games, Intelligent Agents, and a SOLVE Approach. In U. Ritterfeld, M. Cody, P. Vorderer (Eds.) Serious Games: Mechanisms and Effects. Routledge/LEA Press.
Read, S. J., Miller, L. C., Kostygina, A., Chopra, G., Christensen, J. L., Corsbie-Massay, C., Zachary, W., LeMentec, J. C., Iordanov, V., & Rosoff , A. (2008). The Personality-Enabled Architecture for Cognition (PAC). In I. Horswill, E. Hudlicka, C. Lisetti, and J. D. Velasquez, (Cochairs) Emotion, Personality, and Social Behavior: Papers from the AAAI Spring Symposium. Technical Report SS-08-04. Cambridge, MA: AAAI Press/MIT Press.
Read, S. J., Miller, L. C., Kostygina, A., Chopra, G., Christensen, J. L., Corsbie-Massay, C., Zachary, W., LeMentec, J., Iordanof, V., Rosoff, A. (2007). The Personality-enabled Architecture for Cognition (PAC). Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction. New York: Springer.
Hong, H., Neamati, N., Winslow, H., Christensen, J. L., Orr, A., Pommier, Y., & Milne, G. (1998). Identification of HIV-1 integrase inhibitors based on a four-point pharmacophore. Antiviral Chemistry and Chemotherapy, 9(6), 461-472.
Neamati, N., Hong, H., Owen, J., Sunder, S., Winslow, H., Christensen, J. L. et al. (1998). Salicylhydrazine-containing inhibitors of HIV-1 integrase: Implication for a selective chelation in the integrase active site. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 41(17), 3202-3209.
Neamati, N., Turpin, J., Winslow, H., Christensen, J. L., Williamson, K., Orr, A. et al. (1999). Thiazolothiazepine inhibitors of HIV-1 integrase. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 42(17), 3334-3341.
Manuscripts Under Review
Appleby, P. R., Storholm, E. D., Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., & Ayala, A. (under review). Disconnecting to Connect: The paradox of methamphetamine use and high-risk sex among men who have sex with men.
Manuscripts in Preparation
Miller, L. C., Christensen, J. L., Appleby, P. R., Read, S. J., & Godoy, C. G. (in preparation). Socially Optimized Learning in Virtual Environments (SOLVE): Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial for Reducing Risky Decision-Making.
Christensen, J. L., Appleby, P. R., Ananias, D. K., Miller, L. C., Corsbie-Massay, C., & Read, S. J. (in preparation). Expecting the Worst: The Link Between Risky Decision-Making and the Perceived Probability of Feared Future Selves.
Christensen, J. L., Godoy, C. G., Miller, L. C., Appleby, P.R., Read, S. J., & Corsbie-Massay, C. (in preparation). Guilty Pleasures: How guilt following virtual risk-taking predicts change in subsequent behavior.
Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., Appleby, P. R., Godoy, C. G., Corsbie-Massay, C., & Read, S. J. (in preparation). When It's Good to Feel Bad: How Affect-based Responses to Virtual Environments Predict Real-Life Risk-Reduction.
Talevich, J., Christensen, J. L., Godoy, C. G., Appleby, P. R., Miller, L. C., & Read, S. J. (in preparation). Inside Outside: The relationship between immersive tendencies and sense of presence in changing risky behavior via virtual environments.
Godoy, C., Appleby, P. R., Miller, L. C., Christensen, J. L., & Read, S. J. (in preparation). Using Virtual Environments to Unobtrusively Measure Real-Life Risk-Taking: Findings and Implications for Health Communication Interventions.
Godoy, C., Miller, L.C., Appleby, P. R., Christensen, J. L., & Read, S. J. (in preparation). Been There, Done That: Virtual Risk-Taking and the Theory of Planned Behavior.
Appleby, P. R., Christensen, J. L., Storholm, E. D., Ayala, A., & Miller, L. C. (in preparation). Physiological effects of Methamphetamine on Risk-Taking.
Appleby, P. R., Christensen, J. L., Godoy, C. G., Miller, L. C., & Read, S. J. (in preparation). Adult Attachment Style and Risk-Taking Among MSM.
Appleby, P. R., Corsbie-Massay, C., Read, S.J., Christensen, J., & Godoy, C. (in preparation). The intersection of gay and ethnic identity and their role in social support and reducing risk-behavior.
Conference Papers
Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., Appleby, P. R., Corsbie-Massay, C., Godoy, C. G., Read, S. J. (May, 2007). Negative Affective Reactions to an HIV-Prevention Intervention: Impact on Subsequent Sexual Risk-Taking. International Communication Association. San Francisco, CA.
Godoy, C. G., Appleby, P. R., Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., & Read, S. J. (May, 2007). Using Virtual Environments to Unobtrusively Measure Real Life Risk-Taking: Findings and Implications From a Health Communication Perspective. International Communication Association. San Francisco, CA.
Conference Talks
Christensen, J. L., Appleby, .P. R., & Godoy, C. G. (June, 2006). “Towards a Coherence of Multiple Identities.” Creating Safe Interactive Media Spaces for Gay and Bisexual Men. International Communication Association. Panel Session. Dresden, Germany.
Godoy, C. G., Christensen, J. L., & Appleby, P. R. (June, 2006). “Future Directions: Improving Gay and Bisexual Male Identities Through Media.” Creating Safe Interactive Media Spaces for Gay and Bisexual Men. International Communication Association. Panel Session. Dresden, Germany.
Appleby, P. R. & Christensen, J. L. (July, 2005). “The Virtual Sex Project: An Interactive Video HIV-Prevention Intervention.” HIV Among Young People: Reaching the “Not Me” Generation. Center for HIV Identification, Prevention, and Treatment. UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.
Appleby, P. R., Christensen, J. L., & Godoy, C. G. (May, 2005). “Planning, Administrating, Producing, and Editing Interactive Video: The Devil’s in the Details.” Designing Effective Interactive Video Interventions for HIV-Prevention: A Template of the Interdisciplinary Process. International Communication Association. New York, NY.
Christensen, J. L., et al. (May, 2005). “Beginning the Interactive Video Process: Laying the Groundwork Before Production.” Designing Effective Interactive Video Interventions for HIV-Prevention: A Template of the Interdisciplinary Process. International Communication Association. New York, NY.
Christensen, J. L. (May, 1998). “The Role of Metals in the Inhibition of HIV-1 Integrase.” National Institutes of Health Symposium. Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Chevy Chase, MD.
Poster Presentations
Christensen, J. L., Appleby, P. R., Ananias, D. K., Miller, L. C., Corsbie-Massay, C., & Read, S. J. (To be presented February, 2009). Expecting the Worst: The Link Between Risky Decision-Making and the Perceived Probability of Feared Future Selves. Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Tampa, FL.
Godoy, C. G., Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., Appleby, P. R., Corsbie-Massay, C., Read, S. J. (March, 2008). Guilty Pleasures: Using Virtual Environments to Reduce Risk-Taking. Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Meeting. San Diego, CA.
Godoy, C. G., Appleby, P. R., Miller, L. C., Christensen, J. L., Read, S. J., Corsbie-Massay, C. (March, 2008). Been There, Done That: Virtual Risk-Taking and the Theory of Planned Behavior. Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Meeting. San Diego, CA.
Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., Appleby, P. R., Corsbie-Massay, C., Godoy, C. G., Read, S. J. (February, 2008). When It’s Good to Feel Bad: How Responses to Virtual Environments Predict Real-Life Risk-Taking. Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Albuquerque, NM.
Read, S. J., Miller, L. C., Kostygina, A., Chopra, G., Christensen, J. L., Corsbie-Massay, C., Zachary, W., LeMentec, J., Iordanof, V., Rosoff, A. (September, 2007). The Personality-enabled Architecture for Cognition (PAC). International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction. Lisbon, Portugal.
Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., Godoy, C. G., Appleby, P. R., Corsbie-Massay, C., Read, S. J. (May, 2007). Using Virtual Environments to Reduce Real-Life Risk-Taking: The Impact of Interactivity and Negative Affect. Annenberg Workshop on Games for Learning, Development, & Change. Annenberg School for Communication. University of Southern California. Los Angeles, CA.
Godoy, C. G., Appleby, P. R., Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., & Read, S. J. (May, 2007). Measuring Risk-Taking in Virtual Environments: A New Method for Predicting Past and Future Real-Life Risk-Taking Behavior. Annenberg Workshop on Games for Learning, Development, & Change. Annenberg School for Communication. University of Southern California. Los Angeles, CA.
Interactive Media Productions
August 2004
Producer, Writer, Assistant Editor, Assistant Programmer
The Virtual Sex Project: Culturally Tailored for an African-American Audience
Culturally Tailored HIV-Prevention Interactive Video Intervention for MSM
Funded by: NIAID, National Institutes of Health. $3.6 million grant.
August 2004
Producer, Writer, Assistant Editor, Assistant Programmer
The Virtual Sex Project: Culturally Tailored for a Caucasian Audience
Culturally Tailored HIV-Prevention Interactive Video Intervention for MSM
Funded by: NIAID, National Institutes of Health. $3.6 million grant.
June 2004
Producer, Writer, Assistant Editor, Assistant Programmer
The Virtual Sex Project: Culturally Tailored for a Latino Audience
Culturally Tailored HIV-Prevention Interactive Video Intervention for MSM
Funded by: NIAID, National Institutes of Health. $3.6 million grant.
Fellowships
2007 – 2008
American Psychological Association (APA) Minority Fellowship Program (MFP)
HIV/AIDS Research Training Program
2006 – 2007
American Psychological Association (APA) Minority Fellowship Program (MFP)
HIV/AIDS Research Training Program
Awards & Honors
2008 - Society for Personality and Social Psychology Diversity Award
2007 - Travel Award: International Conf. on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction. Lisbon, Portugal
2006 - Travel Award: American Psychological Association Annual Meeting: New Orleans, LA
2003 - Science Educator’s Award, California Science Center
2003 - Dean’s List, University of Southern California
2002 - Dean’s List, University of Southern California
2001 - Dean’s List, University of Southern California
2000 - Dean’s List, University of Southern California
1998 - Invited to meet Vice President Al Gore, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Symposium
1998 - HIV/AIDS Research Achievement Award, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
1998 - Governor’s Academic Citation, State of Maryland
Doctoral Coursework
• Analysis of Variance and Experimental Design (Dr. Rand Wilcox)
• Directed Research I (Dr. Lynn Carol Miller)
• Directed Research II (Dr. Paul Robert Appleby)
• Directed Research III (Dr. Lynn Carol Miller)
• Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Dr. Zhong-Lin Lu)
• Grant Writing for the Social Sciences (Dr. Lynn Carol Miller)
• Historical Foundations of Psychology (Dr. David Lavond)
• Learning and Cognition (Dr. Joseph Hellige)
• Regression and Multivariate Communication Research III (Dr. Lynn Carol Miller)
• Research Techniques for Non-Experimental Social Science (Dr. Stephen J. Read)
• Seminar in Advanced Social Psychology: Intergroup & Interpersonal Relations (Dr. Norman Miller)
• Seminar in Advanced Social Psychology: Social Cognition (Dr. Stephen J. Read)
• Seminar in Advanced Social Psychology: Subjective Well-Being (Dr. Brian Lickel)
• Seminar in Social Psychology (Dr. Norman Miller)
• Statistics in Psychological Research (Dr. Rand Wilcox)
• Structural Data Analysis in Psychological and Epidemiological Research (Dr. John J. McArdle)
• Studies for the Masters Thesis (Dr. Lynn Carol Miller)
• Studies for the Qualifying Exam (Dr. Lynn Carol Miller)
Analytic Skills
• Analysis of Variance
• Canonical Correlation
• Computer Simulation
• Content Analysis
• Crosstabulation
• Data Imputation
• Discriminant Function Analysis
• Factor Analysis
• Latent Class Analysis
• Log Linear Models
• Standard and Logistic Regression
• Meta-Analysis
• Multivariate Analysis of Variance
• Structural Equation Modeling
Other Skills & Experience
• Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
• Gel Electrophoresis
• Human Subjects Certification
• Media Production: DVD Studio Pro, Final Cut, Sony SDR-PD 170 Digital Video Camera
• Mixed-Method Semi-Structured Interviewing (approximately 250 hours)
• Scale Development
• Statistical Packages: SPSS (quantitative methods), NVIVO (qualitative methods)
• Survey Design
Professional Societies
• American Psychological Association
• Association for Psychological Science
• HUMAINE (Human-Machine Interaction Network on Emotion)
• International Communication Association: Division of Health Communication; Division of Game Studies; Division of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, & Transgender Studies
• Society for Personality and Social Psychology
• Society for Behavioral Medicine
