Rate My Professor Kelly Curtis

Kelly Curtis is an Associate Professor of Psychology at High Point University. She earned a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2000, an M.S. in Applied Biopsychology from the University of New Orleans in 2005, and a Ph.D. in Applied Biopsychology with a specialization in Clinical Neuropsychology from the University of New Orleans in 2012. Curtis teaches a range of undergraduate and graduate courses, including Introduction to Psychology, Biopsychology, Health Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Lifespan Development, Physiological Psychology, Statistics, Research Methods, and Measurement of Intelligence. She serves as an active member of the university's Institutional Review Board. Her academic recognitions include the 2008 Andrew S. Wensel Distinguished Graduate Student Award and the 2007 Certificate of Commendation from the University of New Orleans, the 2006 Louisiana Board of Regents Travel Award, and induction into the Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Curtis's research focuses on psychosocial factors contributing to a failure to recover after injury or illness. She investigates symptom exaggeration, performance validity, and malingering on neuropsychological and psychological measures in traumatic brain injury and chronic pain populations. Her current work examines psychological factors such as somatization, anxiety, and depression that contribute to persistent cognitive problems, including working memory and processing speed deficits. Key publications include Thompson, L.K., Curtis, K.L., Greve, K.W., & Bianchini, K.J. (2011). Memory in traumatic brain injury: The effects of injury severity and effort on the Wechsler Memory Scale-III. Journal of Neuropsychology, 5, 114-125; Curtis, K.L., Greve, K.W., Brasseux, R., & Bianchini, K.J. (2010). Criterion groups validation of the Seashore Rhythm Test and Speech Sounds Perception Test for the detection of malingering in traumatic brain injury. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 24, 882-897; Greve, K.W., Bianchini, K.J., Etherton, J.L., Meyers, J.E., Curtis, K.L., & Ord, J. (2010). The Reliable Digit Span Test in chronic pain: Classification accuracy in detecting Malingered Pain-Related Disability. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 24, 137-152; and Curtis, K.L., Greve, K.W., & Bianchini, K.J. (2009). The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III and malingering in traumatic brain injury: Classification accuracy in known groups. Assessment, 16, 401-414. Future research will continue exploring relationships between psychosocial factors and chronic illness or disease.