...at Gettysburg College

The following profile of Dr. Martha Arterberry, Gettysburg College Psychology Department, appeared in the Gettysburgian on April 2, 1998.

A Quilt of Psychology, Travel, Children, and Life
by Andrea Quarracino, '01

When a student thinks of the word "professor", a very one-sided image often comes to mind. For some reason many students have a difficult time perceiving that their teachers have lives outside of the classroom. In reality, professors possess a wealth of knowledge just because they are not one-sided individuals.

Martha Arterberry is a fantastic example of a woman who goes far beyond being a professor. During the eight years she has spent teaching at Gettysburg College, she has managed to actively pursue a career in science, and maintains many of her diverse interests as well. Arterberry studies the science of perception in young children. Her research focuses on learning about what aspects of perception are inborn versus what aspects of perception are learned, something known to psychologists as the nature/nurture debate. Through her work in the Infant and Child Study Center at Gettysburg College, Arterberry studies young children to try to determine the answer to these questions.

Arterberry makes it very clear that her studies are intended only to address very specific questions. "I am looking at the perceptual abilities of the child," she said. "I don't study intelligence. Nothing I am doing tells me about how smart a child will be or what they will become."

One might wonder what would inspire an individual to pursue this particular field of study. As it turns out, as an undergraduate Arterberry held strong interests in both children and art. Having attended art classes throughout her childhood, studies in art perception always caught her interest. But it was not until her college years that she discovered her love for the baby lab

Arterberry grew up in southern California, and attended Pomona College in her home state. Pomona College has an exchange program that allows students to study at other universities, one of which was Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. Arterberry spend a year at Swarthmore as a visiting student, and while there, volunteered her time in the baby laboratory. it was there that she discovered how her love for art and children could be combined in studies on how babies perceive the third dimension.

In 1983, Arterberry graduated from Pomona College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology, and went on to see about pursuing her dreams.

Finally, her diligence paid off and she received an answer from a laboratory in Minnesota. Working in this laboratory for a year became an extremely positive experience, so Arterberry went on to graduate school at the University of Minnesota and graduated with a doctorate in Child Psychology.

After graduate school, Arterberry wanted to find a job that would allow her to combine teaching and research. She also found the atmosphere of a small, liberal arts school appealing. In 1989, Arterberry came to Gettysburg College.

While teaching, Arterberry likes to keep her students up to date on the latest scientific advances in her field. This benefits both the students and the teacher at the same time, as the students are constantly immersed in current science while the teacher can keep up with research.

Though she has "only been a scientist for eight years," Arterberry told me about a book that she has co-authored with a fellow scientist from the University of California in Los Angeles. The Cradle of Knowledge by Kellman and Arterberry has been a project in the making since 1990, and is now due for publication in 1998.

When Arterberry is not teaching, conducting experiments, or writing, she is pursuing some of her other interests, one of which is quilting.

Travel is something else that has caught Arterberry's attention. She was the 1996 resident director of the Gettysburg College Interdisciplinary Study Abroad Program in England, teaching a course at the University of Essex, and while in England was able to work in trips to Scotland and Spain as well.

It is evident that Arterberry is a person with many interests, and has managed to lead a successful career life while staying actively involved in the things she loves to do.

Arterberry is certainly the picture of someone who has achieved her career goals, in every aspect of the word.

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