Biography
Dr. Matthew C. Bell
AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow
Office of the Director (NSF)
Class of 2023-2024
Dr. Matthew C. Bell is a professor of experimental psychology (specifically, the experimental analysis of behavior) at Santa Clara University (SCU). He earned his B.S. in Psychology from the University of New Mexico and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of California, San Diego. He joined SCU in 2001 following a rotation as a postdoctoral scientist at the Center for Behavioral Teratology at San Diego State University. He has studied conditioned reinforcement, choice behavior and persistence using pigeons as subjects. More recently, he has been studying environmental factors that affect remembering in both older adults and college students, with the goal of providing strategies for improving memory. He takes a research-informed approach when teaching a wide range of undergraduate courses, including introductory psychology, statistics and research methods, psychology of learning, and ethics in psychology. His service activities range from serving as department chair, serving as an associate editor for the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, and a term as an experimental analysis of behavior area co-coordinator for the Association for Behavior Analysis International.
In his free time, you can find Bell on long walks with his family, on his mountain bike, or playing board games.