Michael A. Kisley, Ph.D.

Dr. Kisley joined the UCCS Psychology Department in 2002. Before becoming the Chairperson in 2014 - 2017, he served as the department's Director of Graduate Training for 5 years. Dr. Kisley teaches, conducts research and mentors graduate and undergraduate psychology students in their research and professional development. He was the Associate Dean for the College of Letters, Arts & Sciences from 2019-2021.

• Ph.D. Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, 2000
• M.S. Aerospace Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, 1994
• B.S. Aerospace Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, 1992

Anthro-zoology; Emotion beliefs; Human beliefs about non-human animal emotions; the relationship between humans and animals.

Professor Kisley teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Emotion, Animal Psychology, Biopsychology, and Neuroscience for the UCCS Psychology Department.

• PSY 1100 - The Profession of Psychology
• PSY 3270 - Introduction to Biopsychology
• PSY 4270 - Seminar in Biopsychology
• PSY 4470 - Social Neuroscience
• PSY 6120 - Neuroscience
• PSY 6430 - Contemporary Issues in Psychology

*Indicates a student author who was supervised by Dr. Kisley

*Holloway, A.E., & Kisley, M.A. (2026). Reading between the whines: Human perceptions and beliefs about animal emotions predict how people would intervene with cats and dogs showing challenging behaviors. Frontiers in Psychology, 17, 1-13

Kisley, M.A. (2025). Measuring human beliefs about non-human animal emotions. Anthrozoös, 38(6), 971-992.

Kisley, M.A. (2026). Beliefs about animal emotions are associated with self-reported consumer behaviors related to animal use. PLOS One, 21(7): e0354794.

Kisley, M.A., *Chung, E.J., & *Levitt, H. (2024). Investigating the reasons behind companion animal relinquishment: A systematic content analysis of shelter records for cats and dogs, 2018-2023. Animals, 14(17), 2606.

Kisley, M.A., *Shulkin, J.R., *Meza-Whitlatch, M.V., & *Pedler, R.B. (2024). Emotion beliefs: Conceptual review and compendium. Frontiers in Psychology 14: 1271135.

*Shulkin, J., Lac, A., Rudd, K.L., & Kisley, M.A. (2026). Integrating emotion beliefs and emotion regulation into the pathway from emotional awareness to affective distress. Emotion. Advance online publication.

The core of my research program addresses the psychology of the human-animal relationship. My students and I are especially interested in people’s beliefs about the emotional lives of non-human animals: what do people believe about animal emotion states, and how does that influence their attitudes and behaviors toward animals? We primarily employ self-report measures, experimental manipulation studies, and multi-variate statistical models to study these and related concepts. You can learn more about our work at the Colorado Anthrozoology Lab.

I recently published a scale intended to measure people’s beliefs about non-human animal emotions, the Beliefs about Animal Emotions Scale.

• UCCS College of Letters, Arts & Sciences, LAS Service Award 2021
• University of Colorado System, Excellence in Leadership Program, 2015-16
• Outstanding Faculty Member, PSI CHI & Psychology Club, 2013
• Outstanding Research Award for the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, 2013
• Outstanding Teaching Award for the UCCS Campus, 2011
• Outstanding Teaching Award for the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, 2006

• UCCS Psychology Department Director of Psychological Science Training, 2026-Present
• UCCS College of Letters, Arts & Sciences Associate Dean, 2019-2021
• UCCS Psychology Department Chairperson, 2014-2017
• UCCS Psychology Director of Graduate Training, 2009-2014
• Served on several NIH Grant Review Study Sections including most recently the special emphasis panel on "Social Neuroscience and Neuroeconomics of Aging"
• Served as ad hoc peer reviewer for more than 40 scientific journals

Michael A. Kisley, Ph.D.