Eric S. Murphy
University of Alaska Anchorage
Eric S. Murphy is a Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA). He received a BA (1998) from UAA and MS (2000) and Ph.D. (2003) in experimental psychology from Washington State University under the mentorship of Dr. Fran McSweeney. Dr. Murphy has research and teaching interests in the experimental analysis of behavior. His research has primarily focused on the variables regulating short-term changes in reinforcer effectiveness and the physiological mechanisms underlying learning. More recently, Dr. Murphy and his colleagues have formed a biotech company to research, develop, and market redox defense compounds (patent pending) found in Alaska Bog Blueberries. Their preliminary research findings indicate these compounds enhance the learning abilities of aged rats, as assessed by operant conditioning techniques. Dr. Murphy has published in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behavioural Processes, Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, and other behaviorally-oriented journals. He recently co-edited (with F. K. McSweeney) the Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Operant and Classical Conditioning. Dr. Murphy is a founding member, former treasurer, and current board member of the Alaska Association for Behavior Analysis. When time allows, Eric enjoys spending time with his wife and two dogs at their cabin in the Alaska wilderness.