Biography
I have been married for over 17 years and we have two children and fur babies. After graduating high school I was a declared broadcast communications major, but my life journey took me in a different direction. I became involved with helping military soldiers and their spouses learn resilience skills in 2012 as part of the Ready and Resilient Campaign. A new passion was sparked and I decided to go back to college to earn a degree in Psychology.
I received my B.S. in Psychological Science at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville Tennessee, between Nashville Tennessee and the Kentucky border. I also received my M.A. and Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee, right beside the Great Smoky Mountains and Dollywood.
Although people tend to think all psychologists are clinicians or therapists, I am a researcher. At the beginning of my graduate program, I focused on quantitative psychology and open science practices. More recently, my research focuses on academic underachievement and best practices for postsecondary retention.
While I am still new to West Liberty, I have previously taught a variety of psychology courses since 2016, including Behavioral Statistics, Intro Psychology, and Research Methods.
Education
2012-2016 Master Resilience Instructor, Conducted resilience training classes to military personnel and military spouses- pre/post deployment
2020-current TN Promise, TN Achieves Mentor
CITI Training Certified (Research Compliance Training)
Quality Matters (QM) Online Course Development, National Certification
HOLI 103 Online Course Instruction Certification
HOLI 110 Online Course Development Certification
ADOS Assessment Certified
Professional Experiences
2022 PhD, Experimental Psychology
May Dissertation: Individual Characteristics of Postsecondary Underachievement
East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee
2020
August M.A, Experimental Psychology
Thesis: Jangle Fallacy: Is Grit Distinct from other Psychological Constructs
East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee
2017 B.S., Psychological Science, Cum Laude
May Senior Thesis: A behavioral Measurement for Assessing Grit
Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tennessee
Most Recent Publications and Presentations
Publications
Hall, B., Wagge, J. R., Chartier, C. R., ……. Godkin, N., Grahe, J. Registered Replication Report: Turri, Buckwalter, and Blouw (2015) (AMPPS-18-0074.R2)
Preprints
McBee, M., Peters, S., and Godkin, N. (2019, May 19). A Method and R package for calculating the conditional distribution of ability for identified students. EduArXiv.
McBee, M., Makel, M., and Godkin, N. (2018, April 15). On the Origin of the Matthew Effect: Insights from a Quantitative Theoretical Model. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/8a5qs
Presentations
McBee, M., Peters, S., and Godkin, N. (2019, April). A Method and R Package for Calculating the Conditional Distribution of Ability for Identified Students. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association (AERA), Toronto, Canada.
McBee, M., Godkin, N., Makel, M. C., and. (2018, April). On the Origin of the Matthew Effect: Insights from a quantitative theoretical model. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), New York, NY.
Godkin, N. (2018, November). What’s a Preprint? Talk delivered to the Department of Psychology, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN.
Godkin, N. (2022, November). Matthew Effects. Talk delivered to the Honors College, West Liberty University, West Liberty, WV.
Godkin, N. (2023, October). Hunt the Good Stuff. Paper presented at annual meeting Society for Teaching Psychology (STP), Seattle Washington.
Godkin, N. (2024, April). Individual Characteristics of Postsecondary Underachievement. Paper presented at annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Philadelphia, PA.
Godkin, N. (2024, November). Identity and Common Similarities. Invited talk delivered to the 2024-2025 Freshman class for College 101.
Godkin, N. (2025, November). Resilience Training. Invited talk delivered to supervisors and department heads at West Liberty University.
Kayla Hall, Katie Yoham, Godkin, N. (2026, March). Humility and Awe. Poster Presentation at Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA), New Orleans, Louisiana.
Laura Siler, Godkin, N. (2026, March). Gratitude in the Grind. Poster Presentation at Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA), New Orleans, Louisiana.