Faculty/Staff Directory

Degrees

Ph.D. Cognitive-Developmental Psychology, Louisiana State University 
M.A. Developmental Psychology, University of Texas-Austin 
B.S. Psychology, Louisiana State University

Biography

Dr. Briganti was born and raised in Louisiana. She earned both her B.S. and Ph.D. from Louisiana State University and her M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Briganti first became interested in psychology after taking a child psychology course at LSU, and she pursued her interest in child psychology while working in the Children’s Research Lab at UT-Austin under the direction of Dr. Les Cohen. Her master’s thesis focused on how infants use social cues, such as pointing and head-turning, to learn labels for novel objects. Dr. Briganti then transferred to LSU to complete her graduate school training under the advisement of Dr. Emily Elliott. Dr. Briganti’s doctorate work went in a slightly different direction at LSU, where she focused on time-of-day preferences as well as developmental changes in cognitive ability. Her dissertation topic focused on how being a morning person versus an evening person might differentially affect how we distribute our attentional resources to completing various tasks. Other topics of interest to Dr. Briganti include the effects of auditory distractions on memory and attention and whether the use of technology in educational settings can improve student learning.

Aside from her family and friends, the things that Dr. Briganti misses most about Louisiana are attending LSU sporting events/tailgating (Geaux Tigers!) and good Cajun food! However, she is excited about being at Dalton State and having the opportunity to share her passion for psychology with her students. She especially enjoys the more personal interactions with students in a small classroom environment at DSC.

Course Name/Overview