One of the eight new role-playing rooms within the Observation Roleplay Suite is housed within Bryant University’s new Psychology Research Center.
Building minds, changing lives: Bryant opens cutting-edge Psychology Research Center
Sep 04, 2025,
by
Emma Bartlett
Bryant University’s Psychology Research Center is officially open — recently welcoming the inaugural Doctor of Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.) cohort to campus in August. A cutting-edge facility, the center, which occupies 3,440 square feet, is located on the third floor of the Unistructure by the Physician Assistant Studies wing.
Catering to both undergraduate and doctoral students, Bryant’s Psychology Research Center will house labs that span the field’s disciplines — including developmental, cognitive, physiological, social, and clinical psychology. The space is supported by a $1.5 million federal appropriation secured by United States Senator Jack Reed.
Here's a look inside the innovative center:
Walking into the research center, visitors find themselves in a reception/waiting room. This is the spot where undergraduate and graduate researchers will greet individuals who are participating in forthcoming research studies. Additionally, the space will host outreach events that bridge academics with the Rhode Island community.The Child Play Area can be configured either as a classroom or a child play space for observational research or instructional observations. The modular and flexible furniture comes with both adult- and child-sized pieces. The suite also has an adjacent room fitted with a reversible opaque window — as well as sophisticated audio-visual educational tools — to assist in research observations.The new Observation Roleplay Suite houses a central classroom and eight small role-playing rooms. Each room is equipped with a reversible opaque observation window from the central classroom and includes state-of-the-art audio-visual recording equipment. These tools make it so instructors can observe participants’ role play, interaction, or exercise in real time, while being able to simultaneously provide feedback to students. Excited for the launch of the inaugural Psy.D. cohort, faculty members include Joseph Trunzo, Ph.D., Psychology professor and associate director of the School of Health and Behavioral Sciences who also serves as president of the Rhode Island Psychological Association; Christina Tortolani, Ph.D., associate professor and program director of the Psy.D. program; Lindsay Amper, Ph.D., Psychology lecturer and Psy.D. director of clinical training; and Roselyn Peterson, Ph.D., clinical faculty member and Psy.D. research director.
