Computer Attitude Research
My main research interest in past has been in the area of computer attitudes or computer phobia. John Pinto at Morningside College and I developed and published the Computer Attitude Scale (CAS) (Nickell & Pinto, 1986) in the 1980's. This scale has been used by numerous researchers in the U.S. and in other countries to measure people's attitude and feelings about computers. The web page below includes a copy of the CAS and a list of studies that have used the scale.

Computer Attitude Scale (CAS), scoring key, references and reviews (PDF Format)

Helping Attitude Research
One of my past/current areas of research was the development of a new scale to measure helping attitudes. The Helping Attitude Scale (HAS) is a multidimensional scale which measures beliefs, feelings, and behaviors related to helping. A number of studies have been conducted to evaluate the reliability and validity of the HAS. Several of these studies are described in abstract and summary of paper that has been accepted for presentation at the APA national convention in August 1998 in San Francisco. A copy of the scale and a summary of the presentation can be viewed below.

Helping Attitude Scale (HAS) (20 item scale), scoring and citations

The Helping Attitude Scale - Summary of APA convention presentation in PDF format

Food Safety Research
One of my current areas of research is applying psychological principles to the challenge of food safety. In collaboration with Dr. Verllin Hinsz at North Dakota State University, we have been conducting studies with food processing workers, food service workers and home food preparers.  A couple of recent published and research studies and chapters are can be found below.

The Role of Work Habits in the Motivation of Food Safety Behaviors