office: Blodgett Hall 227
phone: (845) 437-7370
Contact N. Jay Bean
N. Jay Bean earned his B.A. from San Diego State University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He has been teaching courses in physiological psychology at Vassar College since 1979.
His research focus has been primarily directed toward the analysis of pharmacological and chemosensory mediation of social behavior. Mr. Bean's interest and early training in the role of the chemosenses in mediating the behavior of rodents has expanded greatly in the past few years to include a novel approach to controlling the behavior of wild animals using smell and taste cues. This research has involved an attempt at developing non-lethal techniques for the control of different pest species. One unique aspect of this research is that the studies are designed to exploit natural preferences and sensory functioning in order to directly manipulate the animals' behavior.
Recently, he has also developed an interest in the psychology of sports behavior. He has been able to develop a course in this area of interest and has been working directly with a number of individual athletes and several athletic teams at Vassar as well as the local high school and regional Empire State Games athletic teams.