DR. SANTHA KUMARI

Professor

Program Chair

PhD in Psychology, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India

Professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, Bhadson Road, Patiala-147004, Punjab

santha@thapar.edu

A dedicated, detailed and capable academic with 35 years of experience in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching  and research in the field of Experimental Cognitive and Neuropsychology. Hardworking, honest and sincere, and value personal and professional integrity. Willing to learn new things and adapt easily to new environments. A person with a high level of empathy and concern for the students’ intellectual, psychological and emotional needs. As a teacher, Dr Santha’s fundamental responsibility is to communicate information to her students so that they can make informed decisions. Dr Santha Kumari is a proponent of active learning and use of a variety of methods and modern technology to encourage discussion and interaction on the issues the course presents.
Dr Santha is very committed to providing a learning environment that is both exciting and rigorous, one that empowers both the student and teacher in pursuing learning. She devises various assessment strategies that allow her to fairly assess student learning regardless of student’s learning styles. Above all, Dr Santha treats her students with utmost respect creating an environment where students feel safe to candidly discuss topics, which they might otherwise, hesitant to address. In addition, she brings in her research output in the classroom and follows a research focussed practical oriented teaching style. Finally, she is a learner, and learns new things from her students in each class.

Research Projects

• Personal and Familial Handed ness and performance on spatial abilityTasksRef No.SP/YS/ MO5/88), Sponsoring Agency : DST, Duration : 1990-92, Status : Completed
• Masculinity- Femininity: A life span developmental approach (Ref.No1-55/95 RP-II), Sponsoring Agency : ICSSR, Duration : 1994-95, Status : Completed
• Educational implications of sex and age differences in spatial ability and hemispheric specialization (Ref.No.F5-94/95), Sponsoring Agency : UGC, Duration : 1996-98, Status : Completed
• Accuracy in arm positioning as a function of handedness and time sense (minor Project), Sponsoring Agency : UGC, Duration : 1996-97, Status : Completed
• Hemispheric specialization for motor skills: Effect lateralization, handedness and sex. (Ref No. SP/SO/BO8/97), Sponsoring Agency : DST, Duration : 1997-99 , Status : Completed
• Speed of information processing , intelligence and creativity(minor project ), Sponsoring Agency : UGC , Duration : 2000-2001, Status : Completed
• Time course in Stroop effect: An experimental investigation in cognitive microgenesis (Ref. No.SP/SO/B38/2000), Sponsoring Agency : DST, Duration : 2001-2003, Status : Completed
• Effects of extended video stimulation on visual cognition (Ref.No.SP/SO/B48/2001), Sponsoring Agency : DST , Duration : 2004-2006, Status : Completed
• An experimental Investigation of the Psychological determinants of Financial decision making: A prospect theory approach, Sponsoring Agency: ICSSR, Duration: 2013-2015, Status: Completed.
• Project In pipeline: Development of intelligent system for emotion recognition: Speech and micro-expression., Submitted to DST, Awaiting the call for presentation.

Membership of Professional Institutions, Associations, Societies

• Member ,American Psychological Association (APA)
• Member , International Association of Applied Psychology IAAP

Publications and other Research Outputs
SCI

• Berring, L., Santha Kumari, & Ahuja, S. (2017) Impact of personality traits and personal values on curriculum choice of young adults. Journal of Beliefs & Values, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13 617672.2017.1293930
• Soni A., Santha Kumari (2015). The Role of Parental Math Anxiety and Math Attitude in Their Children’s Math Achievement. International Journal of Science and mathematics Education. DOI 10.1007/s10763-015-9687-5
• Arora, M., Santha Kumari (2016). Self-Esteem as Determinant of Investors' Stock Market Participation: Mediating Role of Risk Preferences and Behavioral Biases, Psychologia, 58(3), 115-126.
• Santha Kumari (2003). Comparing adolescent and middle-age groups on spatial task performance: A developmental differentiation approach, Psychologia, 46, 54-61.
• Santha Kumari, Kurian,G.(1997). Handedness, familial sinistrality, & spatial task performance, Psychologia, 40, 22-28.
• Santha Kumari,K., Kurian,G. & Rao,V.K. (1994) .Cross-gender identity, familial non-right-handedness, and hand preference. Psychologia, 37,34-38
• Kurian,G.& Santha Kumari,K(1994). Effect of sex & familial sinistrality on handedness. Psychologia, 37, 30-33.
• Kurian G., Sharma, N.K.& Santha Kumari (1989). Left-arm dominance in active positioning. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 68, 1312-1314.

Non-SCI

• 1.Arora, M.& Santha Kumari (2015).Risk Taking in Financial Decisions as a Function of Age, Gender: Mediating Role of Loss Aversion and Regret, International Journal of Applied Psychology, 20, 5(4): 83- 89.
• Soni, A. & Santha Kumari (2015). The Role of Parental Math Attitude in Their Children Math Achievement, International Journal of Applied Sociology, 5(4), 159-163.
• Santha Kumari & Ahuja,S.(2010). Video Viewing and Cognitive Development in Preadolescents, Social Science Computer Review, 28(2), 15-21.
• Ahuja, S & Santha Kumari (2009). Prolonged video viewing and emotional intelligence: an experimental investigation among preadolescents, Europe’s Journal of Psychology. DOI www.ejop.org
• Ahuja, S. & Santha Kumari (2008). Impact of extended video viewing on emotional stability among preadolescents, Psychological Studies, 53, 294-297.
• Santha Kumari (2000). Cross gender identity and spatial task performance, International Journal of Psychology, 35, 394.
• Kurian,G., Sharma, N.K. & Santha Kumari (1987). Cognitive strategies in KBDT performance, Psychological Studies, 32, 29-32.
• Santha Kumari, Sharma, N.K (1988). Lateralization of function in the human brain, Psychological studies, 18, 56-60.
• Santha Kumari, Kurian, G. & Sharma, N.K. (1988). Cognition in women, Psycho-Lingua, 18, 59-66.
• Santha Kumari, Sharma, N.K. (1989). Hemispheric involvement in field articulation, Psychological Studies, 32, 17-22.
• Kurian, G., Santha Kumari (1990). Consciousness and the left hemisphere, Journal of Indian Psychology, 8, 33-36.
• Kurian,G., Santha Kumari (1991). Femininity & Cross-gender identity, Psychological Studies, 36, 70-72.

Deion of Research Interests

• Currently working in the area of Emotion recognition; Night vision ; Hemispheric specialization; Maths Anxiety; Behavioral Finance; Value orientation; Narcissistic personality.
• Presented papers in the various international conferences (Total: 11).
• Supervised PhD candidates (Awarded: 3, Ongoing: 2).
• Delivered invited lecturer on Biological basis of sexual orientation and sex typical behaviour, North Dakota, USA.
• Participated in the Embedding Entrepreneurship in engineering Education program at University of Groningen, Netherlands.
• Carried out Consultancy Project which includes testing of Personality, Intelligence, Memory, Differential aptitudes, Social skills training, Language dimensions , Emotional intelligence, Moral reasoning etc. This Programme was started in 1997 and runs throughout the year. The assessment procedures and guidance programme are fine-tuned to suit individual requirements and linking them to career plans, aspirations, achievement levels and educational and socio-economic status. And intelligence and memory testing for patients referred from Psychiatry department, Government Medical College Hospital, Patiala, India