Jonathan Butner

About

Jonathan Butner, Ph.D., is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Utah. His research focuses on developing tools for studying dynamical systems theory, which originated in mathematics and physics. He works on adapting these methodologies for psychology, where measuring complex behavior often involves different challenges compared to physical sciences. Dr. Butner collaborates with interdisciplinary teams to examine complex behaviors and is dedicated to creating both cutting-edge and accessible methods for systems analyses. He completed his Ph.D. at Arizona State University in 2002, earned an M.A. from San Francisco State University in 1996, and a B.A. from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1992. His academic and research interests include systems theory, dynamical systems, and their applications in social psychology. Dr. Butner is involved in teaching courses related to dynamical systems at the University of Utah and actively contributes to research in this area.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Clinical psychology
• Medicine
• Psychiatry
• Computer Science
• Gerontology
• Medical emergency
• Epistemology
• Management science
• Endocrinology

Selected publications

• The Binge Eating Genetics Initiative (BEGIN): study protocol

  BMC Psychiatry · 2020 · 43 citations

  BACKGROUND: The Binge Eating Genetics Initiative (BEGIN) is a multipronged investigation examining the interplay of genomic, gut microbiota, and behavioral factors in bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder. METHODS: 1000 individuals who meet current diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa or binge-eating disorder are being recruited to collect saliva samples for genotyping, fecal sampling for microbiota characterization, and recording of 30 days of passive data and behavioral phenotyping rela…

  DOI

• The Impact of Complexity on Methods and Findings in Psychological Science

  Frontiers in Psychology · 2021 · 27 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  The study of human behavior is severely hampered by logistical problems, ethical and legal constraints, and funding shortfalls. However, the biggest difficulty of conducting social and behavioral research is the extraordinary complexity of the study phenomena. In this article, we review the impact of complexity on research design, hypothesis testing, measurement, data analyses, reproducibility, and the communication of findings in psychological science. The systematic investigation of the world…

  DOI

• Dynamics of mother‐infant parasympathetic regulation during face‐to‐face interaction: The role of maternal emotion dysregulation

  Psychophysiology · 2023-01-13 · 17 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract The dynamics of parent‐infant physiology are essential for understanding how biological substrates of emotion regulation are organized during infancy. Although parent‐infant physiological processes are dyadic in nature, research is limited in understanding how one person's physiological responses predict one's own and as well as the other person's responses in the subsequent moment. In this study, we examined mother‐infant respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) dynamics during the Still‐Fac…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Age differences in reactivity to daily general and Type 1 diabetes stressors.

  Psychology and Aging · 2020 · 12 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Older adults often report less exposure to and less affective reactions to daily stressors. However, older adults with a chronic illness such as Type 1 diabetes may experience more daily stressors due to the complications of diabetes and may be more affected by those stressors. The study examined (a) age differences in reported exposure to general and diabetes stressors, (b) whether daily general and diabetes stressors relate to daily positive and negative affect, self-care, and blood glucose, a…

  DOI

• Executive Functioning, Daily Self-Regulation, and Diabetes Management while Transitioning into Emerging Adulthood

  Annals of Behavioral Medicine · 2023-05-10 · 9 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Executive functioning (EF) predicts better Type 1 diabetes (T1D) management in the high-risk years after high school, but the daily self-regulation processes involved are unclear. PURPOSE: To examine whether EF is associated with daily self-regulation that minimizes one's exposure or buffers adverse reactions to daily diabetes problems, and to determine whether these patterns become stronger during the transition out of high school. METHODS: A measurement burst design with convenienc…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Predicting Binge and Purge Episodes from Passive and Active Apple Watch Data Using a Dynamical Systems Approach

  NIH · $2.8M · 2019–2024

Frequent coauthors

• Cynthia A. Berg

  79 shared

• Deborah J. Wiebe

  University of California, Merced

  61 shared

• Jorie Butler

  University of Utah

  21 shared

• Ascher K. Munion

  East Carolina University

  17 shared

• Brian Baucom

  University of Utah

  17 shared

• Peter Osborn

  Queen Alexandra Hospital

  15 shared

• Craig J. Bryan

  The Ohio State University

  15 shared

• Cynthia M. Bulik

  Karolinska Institutet

  14 shared

Labs

• Behavioral Medicine Research GroupPI

  Engage with a dynamic interdisciplinary group of researchers including core Health Psychology faculty, affiliated faculty in the U of U Medical Center, and health-focused graduate students across all areas of the department.

Education

• Ph.D., Social Psychology

  The University of Utah

  2000

• M.A., Social Psychology

  The University of Utah

  1995

• B.A., Psychology

  University of California, Santa Barbara

  1993

Similar researchers at University of Utah

• Bruce J. Ellish-51
• Lisa G. Aspinwallh-43
• Sarah Creem-Regehrh-40