About the Authors

B. Michael Thorne
Professor of Psychology
Mississippi State University
E-mail address: bmt2@ra.msstate.edu.

B. Michael Thorne is originally from Shreveport, Louisiana. He attended Louisiana State University between 1959 and 1969, earning a B.A. in sociology (1964), M.A. in psychology (1967), and Ph.D. in psychology (1969). Thorne taught for a year at LSU before coming to MSU in 1970. In his more than 30 years at MSU, Thorne has taught a variety of undergraduate courses, including introductory psychology, comparative psychology, sensation and perception, physiological psychology, introductory statistics for psychology, and history of psychology. Since 1970, Thorne has directed more than 20 theses and has published more than 80 articles, encyclopedia entries, invited chapters, etc. In addition, he has authored or co-authored a number of textbooks and ancillaries, including Introductory Statistics for Psychology , Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, and Connections in the History and Systems of Psychology. Thorne is currently working on a revision of a biological psychology textbook.

J. Martin Giesen
Professor of Psychology
Mississippi State University
E-mail address: jmg1@ra.msstate.edu.

J. Martin Giesen is originally from Cleburne, Texas. He attended the University of Texas at Austin between 1966 and 1969, earning a B.A. with honors in mathematics and psychology. He also attended Kent State University between 1970 and 1973, earning a M.A. in psychology (1972) and Ph.D. in experimental social psychology (1973). Giesen taught for a summer at Kent State University before coming to MSU in 1973. In his more than 25 years at MSU, Giesen has taught a variety of courses, including introductory psychology, social psychology, applied psychology, theories of personality, developmental psychology, social intervention, environmental psychology, psychophysiology and biofeedback techniques, computer applications in behavioral science, advanced social psychology, introduction to psychological statistics, psychometrics, introduction to statistical inference, educational and psychological statistics, graduate quantitative methods in psychology, psychological research, graduate sociological statistics, and advanced quantitative and multivariate methods.

In addition, he is Senior Research Scientist and has served as research director and interim co-director of the at the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision at MSU. He has over 28 years of experience in research, including project direction, grants management and administration, research design, statistical analysis, and large-scale database management. Dr. Giesen has conducted research in applied social psychology and rehabilitation research in the field of blindness and visual impairment for more than 17 years. He has over 163 publications, reports, and presentations. He has served as principal investigator for 52 funded grants totaling over $5,250,000 in the areas of rehabilitation outcomes, evaluation of independent living services to blind elders, participation of African Americans in the profession of blindness services, enhancement of employment outcomes for African Americans who are blind, racial identity and rehabilitation outcomes of African Americans, and acculturation and cultural sensitivity in counselor-client interaction.