David Compton joined Palm Beach Atlantic University in
2000. Currently, he is a professor of Psychology as well
as the coordinator of the Behavioral Neuroscience major.
Before coming to Palm Beach Atlantic University, Dr.
Compton taught in the psychology department at Georgia
College (& State University), where he served as
director of the graduate programs in psychology. During
his tenure there, he was twice awarded the Georgia
College & State University Research and Publication
Award and was a five-time finalist for the Distinguished
Professor Award.
Currently, he is the coordinator
of the department of psychology and chair of the Office
of Academic Research with oversight of the IRB and
IACUC. With a passion for research, he is the Conference
Coordinator for PBA's annual Interdisciplinary Research
Conference and director of the Donnelley Behavioral
Neuroscience Laboratory.
Dr.
Compton's research interests include the long-term
consequences of drugs of abuse to learning and memory
function, the neuroanatomical substrates of learning and
memory processes, and pharmacological interventions in
memory dysfunction. Additional research interests
include the community perception of animal research,
animal cognition, and the psychology of aging.
Dr.
Compton is a member of the New York Academy of Sciences,
International Society for Infectious Diseases, the
Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology and the
Florida Academy of Sciences. He has published research
in a number of peer-reviewed journals including
Physiology & Behavior, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews,
NeuroReport, Psychology and Neuroscience,
Psychological Reports,
Neurobiology of Learning & Memory,
The Journal of Phytopharmacology,and the
International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Dr. Compton, his wife, Maria, and his three
step-children live in Wellington, with three cats and an
occasional rescued squirrel.
Biology
Faculty