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Faculty/Staff Directory

Dr. Heather Ness-Maddox

Office Hours:	Monday/Wednesday: 2:00 – 4:00 PM Tuesday/Thursday: 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM Virtually by appointment
Locations: (Campus & Office)	Macon - SOAL - 208A
Biography:	Heather Ness-Maddox is an assistant professor of psychology (Educational Psychology Ph.D., Georgia State University, 2022). Her area of research includes comprehension of narrative media, including graphic narratives (comic books, graphic novels) and video games. She is particularly interested in the understanding of emotion within narratives. Dr. Ness-Maddox also serves as the Director of the MGA Honors Program. Across her courses and mentorship, Dr. Ness-Maddox emphasizes critical thinking, effective learning strategies, and understanding psychology as a scientific discipline.
Syllabi:	Ness-Maddox-Heather-PSYC1001_FA25_01A_85562 _Ness-Maddox_H.pdf Ness-Maddox-Heather-PSYC1001_FA25_01B_85563 _Ness-Maddox_H.pdf
Teaching and Research Interests:	Discourse comprehension Visual/graphic narratives Psychology of media Science of teaching & learning
Courses:	PSYC 3002: Psychological Research Methods PSYC 3201: Cross-Cultural Psychology PSYC 4100: Capstone PSYC 4900: Directed Research
Education: (All institutions attended and degrees or credentials earned)	PhD Georgia State University, Educational Psychology December 2022 Dissertation: “’Nuff Said”: Understanding Comprehension Processes and Products for Reading Text and Non-Linguistic Graphic Narratives Certificate in Quantitative Research in Education, Georgia State University, 2023 Certificate in Advanced Language and Literary Science, Georgia State University, 2023 MS Clayton State University, Clinical Psychology May 2015 BS Middle Georgia State College, Psychology May 2013 Graduated Summa Cum Laude, Honors Program Graduate
Professional Experience:	�鶹��Ƶ, Macon, GA January 2024 – currently Honors Program Director �鶹��Ƶ, Macon, GA Aug 2022 – currently Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology and Criminal Justice Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 2018 – 2022 Graduate Research Assistant, Dr. Sarah E. Carlson Center for the Advancement of Research and Education, Macon, GA 2016 – 2017 Research Analyst �鶹��Ƶ, Macon, GA Aug 2015 – Dec 2018 Lecturer, Department of Psychology and Criminal Justice Mercer University, Atlanta, GA Fall 2015 Graduate Research Assistant, Dr. Meghan Cody Clayton State University, Atlanta, GA Sept 2014 – July 2015 Teaching Assistant, Department Clayton State University, Atlanta, GA 2014 – 2015 Graduate Research Assistant, Dr. Pearl Chang
Publications and Scholarships: (Last 5 Years)	Ness-Maddox, H., & Magliano, J. P. (2025). Processing of facial information related to emotional inferences during reading of text and graphic narratives. Media Psychology, 1–28. Ness-Maddox, H., Öncel, P., Hu, S., Lingfei, L., Magliano, J.P., & Allen, L.K. (2025). Think-aloud verbal protocols and natural language processing to capture coherence building across narrative media. Discourse Processes. Carlson, S. E., Clinton-Lisell, V., Taylor, T., Ness-Maddox, H., Dahl, A.C., Davison, M.L., and Seipel, B. (2025). Developing and validating a reading comprehension assessment for college students: Preliminary findings. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research. Öncel, P., Hu, S., Ness-Maddox, H., Allen, L.K., & Magliano, J.P. (2024). Exploring the affordances of text and picture stories. Discourse Processes, 61(4-5), 203-221, DOI: 10.1080/0163853X.2024.2352814 Clinton-Lisell, V., Carlson, S. E., Ness-Maddox, H., Dahl, A., Taylor, T., Davison, M. L., & Seipel, B. (2024). Identifying clusters of less-skilled college student readers based on cognitive processes. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 54(2), 125–141. https://doi.org/10.1080/10790195.2024.2359513 Ness-Maddox, H., Carlson, S.E., Seipel, B., Clinton, V., Taylor, T., Bajpayee, S., Kennedy, P., Davison, M. (2023). Emotional factors of causal coherence in text comprehension. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 72. Ness-Maddox, H. (2022). Question, discover, apply, disseminate: My journey from honors student to educator. Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, 23(1), 85–87. Ness-Maddox, H., Dahl, A., Reynolds, E., Carlson, S.E., Seipel, B., Clinton-Lisell, V., & Davison, M. (2020). Exploring the differences between college students’ think-aloud responses for narrative and expository texts (No. 3825). EasyChair. https://easychair.org/publications/preprint/RmQ5
Professional Affiliations:	Society for Text and Discourse, 2019-Present Member Doctoral Student Association – Department of Learning Sciences, 2018-2023 Member, Social Media Manager RCALL: Language and Literacy Initiative, 2018-2022 Member
Awards and Honors:	Governor’s Teaching Fellow 2025-2026 2025-2026 GTF Academic Year Program Outstanding Student Researcher in Educational Psychology 2022 Georgia State University

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