Melissa T. Buelow is a Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at the Newark campus of The Ohio State University. She attended the University of Richmond for her undergraduate studies and Ohio University for her graduate studies, earning her B.S. in 2003, her M.S. in 2005, and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology (emphasis in neuropsychology, health psychology, and applied quantitative psychology) in 2009. After her graduate studies, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. At the Newark campus, Dr. Buelow teaches courses in clinical psychology and neuropsychology.

Dr. Buelow's research program focuses on decision making and other executive functions. Specifically, she investigates emotionally-based decision making, its predictors, and its outcomes. For example, why do individuals make risky decisions, such as engaging in underage alcohol use or illicit drug use? How can we improve decision making, shifting a focus to long-term versus immediate outcomes? 

Awards, Honors and Recognition

2021 – Present: Fellow, American Psychological Association
2019 – Present: Fellow, Midwestern Psychological Association
2018: Research Mentor Award, The Ohio State University at Newark
2016: Scholarly Accomplishment Award for Junior Faculty, The Ohio State University at Newark 
2015: The Thomas J. Evans Teaching Excellence Award for Junior Faculty, The Ohio State University at Newark
2014: Service Award for Junior Faculty, The Ohio State University at Newark 
2014: Best New Research Mentor Award, The Ohio State University at Newark
2008: Snyder Scholarship, Ohio University Department of Psychology
2002: Dickinson Award, University of Richmond Department of Psychology

Recent Publications

Buelow, M.T., Barnhart, W.R., Crook, T., & Suhr, J.A. (in press). Are correlations among behavioral decision making tasks moderated by simulated cognitive impairment? Applied Neuropsychology: Adult.

Buelow, M.T., Okdie, B.M., & Kowalsky, J.M. (in press). Ecological validity of common behavioral decision making tasks: Evidence across two samples. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology. 

Buelow, M.T., Wirth, J.H., & Kowalsky, J.M. (in press). Poorer decision making among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence for “pandemic-brain.” Journal of American College Health. 

Clark, P., Brunell, A.B., & Buelow, M.T. (in press). False cognitive feedback affects decision making and other executive functions. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology. 

Jaggars, S.S., Rivera, M.D., & Buelow, M.T. (in press). Transfer shock and resilience: How transfer-related GPA drop and rebound predict student departure from a flagship university campus. Journal of College Student Retention. 

Kowalsky, J.M., Buelow, M.T., & Brunell, A.B. (in press). One size fits all? Evaluating differences in an integrated social cognition model to understand COVID-19 vaccine intention and uptake. Social Science & Medicine. 

Robinson, D., Suhr, J.A., & Buelow, M.T. (in press). Academic self-handicapping as a mediator of the relation between imposterism and academic goal orientation: Testing invariance by gender and underrepresented status. Journal of American College Health.

Wirth, J.H., Hales, A.H., & Buelow, M.T. (in press). Ostracism negatively impacts working self-perceptions of personality. European Journal of Social Psychology.

Buelow, M.T., Kowalsky, J.M., & Okdie, B.M. (2024). Test-retest reliability of common behavioral risky decision making tasks: A multi-sample, repeated measures study. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 39, 378-382.

Buelow, M.T., Moore, S., Kowalsky, J.M., & Okdie, B.M. (2023). Cognitive chicken or the emotional egg? How reconceptualizing decision-making by integrating cognition and emotion can improve task psychometrics and clinical validity. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1254179.

Cepeda, R., Covarrubias, I., Jaggars, S.S., & Buelow, M.T. (2023) Navigating competitive transfer pathways: Transfer student experiences in health and IT majors. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 23, 129-142.

Robinson, D., Suhr, J., Buelow, M., & Beasley, C. (2023). Factors related to academic self-handicapping in Black students attending a predominantly white university. Social Psychology of Education, 26, 1437-1454.

Barnhart, W.R., & Buelow, M.T. (2022). The performance of college students on the Iowa gambling task: Differences between scoring approaches. Assessment, 29, 1190-1203.

Buelow, M.T., Jungers, M.K., Parks, C., & Rinato, B. (2022). Contextual factors affecting risky decision making: The influence of music on task performance and perceived distraction. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 818689.

Buelow, M.T., Kowalsky, J.M., & Brunell, A.B. (2022). Stability of risk perception across pandemic and non-pandemic situations among young adults: Evaluating the impact of individual differences. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 840284.

Swigger, N., Buelow, M.T., Wirth, J.H., & Okdie, B.M. (2022). Partisans hear, but they don’t listen: Partisanship affects decisions on the Iowa gambling task. American Politics Research, 50, 464-478.