Expertise

Clinical Psychology, Mindfulness, Meditation, Clinical Neuropsychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Statistics

Biography

Dr. Mervis’ career spans both the arts and sciences. He earned a BA in Theater with honors, produced and directed plays and musicals, and worked in artist management for Broadway, television, and film. He later transitioned to clinical psychology, completing a postbaccalaureate certificate at Columbia University.

Dr. Mervis earned his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Minnesota, where he studied under Angus W. MacDonald III, PhD. His work focused on translating clinical cognitive neuroscience into practice through neuromodulation and cognitive training. He completed his clinical internship at the Indianapolis VA Medical Center under the supervision of Paul Lysaker, PhD, where he studied metacognition and trained in psychotherapy for veterans with psychosis.

He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Temple University with Lauren Ellman, PhD, researching psychosis risk syndromes. Dr. Mervis also served as a postdoctoral trainee at the Psychosis Evaluation and Recovery Center in the Department of Psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Mervis has taught at Temple since 2023 and is a visiting faculty member at Temple University’s Japan Campus, where he has taught both in Tokyo and remotely in Philadelphia.

Website

Selected Publications

• Mervis, J. E., Kuhney, F. S., Russell, M. T., Kinney, K., Kuhney, T., Olino, T. M., Mittal, V. A., Schiffman, J., & Ellman, L. M. (2025). Persons at risk for psychosis overestimate social functioning compared to persons with major depressive disorder and community controls. Journal of Psychiatric Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.02.004
• Wannan, C. M. J., Nelson, B., Addington, J., Allott, K., Anticevic, A., Arango, C., Baker, J. T., Bearden, C. E., Billah, T., Bouix, S., Broome, M. R., Buccilli, K., Cadenhead, K. S., Calkins, M. E., Cannon, T. D., Cecci, G., Chen, E. Y. H., Cho, K. I. K., Choi, J., … Mervis, J., … Shenton, M. E. (2024). Accelerating Medicines Partnership® Schizophrenia (AMP® SCZ): Rationale and study design of the largest global prospective cohort study of clinical high risk for psychosis. Schizophrenia Bulletin, sbae011. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbae011
• Wolny, J., Moussa-Tooks, A. B., Bailey, A. J., MacDonald, A. W., Mervis, J. E., & Hetrick, W. P. (2024). Measurement invariance of the Revised-Green Paranoid Thought Scale across Black and White Americans. Schizophrenia Research, 226, 227–233.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2024.02.024
• Mervis, J. E., Vohs, J. L., & Lysaker, P. H. (2022). An update on clinical insight, cognitive insight, and introspective accuracy in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders: Symptoms, cognition, and treatment. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 22(3), 245–255. https://doi.org/10.1080/14737175.2022.2049757
• Mervis, J. E., Bonfils, K. A., Cooper, S. E., Weisepape, C., & Lysaker, P. H. (2021). Co-occurring deficits in clinical and cognitive insight in prolonged schizophrenia-spectrum disorders: Relationship to metacognitive deficits. Schizophrenia Bulletin Open, 2(1), sgab034. https://doi.org/10.1093/schizbullopen/sgab034
• Mervis, J. E., Fischer, J., Cooper, S. E., Deckert, A. C., Lysaker, P. H., MacDonald, A. W., & Meyer-Kalos, P. (2021). Introspective accuracy for substance use across a year of treatment for first episode psychosis. Schizophrenia Research: Cognition, 26, 100200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scog.2021.100200
• Mervis, J. E., Xuan, L., & MacDonald, A. W. (2020). Strengthening cognitive training and neuromodulation studies with blinded designs. In SAGE Research Methods Cases: Medicine and Health. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529733297
• Mervis, J. E., Capizzi, R., Boroda, E., & MacDonald, A. W. (2017). Transcranial direct current stimulation over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in psychosis: A quantitative review of cognitive outcomes. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 11, 44. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00044
• Mervis, J. E., Fiszdon, J. M., Lysaker, P. H., Nienow, T. M., Mathews, L., Wardwell, P., Petrik, T., Thime, W., & Choi, J. (2017). Effects of the Indianapolis Vocational Intervention Program on defeatist beliefs, work motivation, and work outcomes in serious mental illness. Schizophrenia Research, 182, 129–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2016.10.036
• Mervis, J. E., Lysaker, P. H., Fiszdon, J. M., Bell, M. D., Chue, A. E., Pauls, C., Bisoglio, J., & Choi, J. (2016). Addressing defeatist beliefs in work rehabilitation. Journal of Mental Health, 25(4), 366–371. https://doi.org/10.3109/09638237.2016.1139069
• Bisoglio, J., Michaels, T. I., Mervis, J. E., & Ashinoff, B. K. (2014). Cognitive enhancement through action video game training: Great expectations require greater evidence. Frontiers in Psychology: Cognition, 5, 136. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00136 

Courses Taught

• PSY 3014: Mindfulness and Meditation
• PSY 3602: Clinical Neuropsychology
• PSY 3096: Conducting Psychological Research
• PSY 2201: Foundations of Psychopathology
• PSY 2502: Foundations of Cognitive Neuroscience
• PSY 1003: Statistics for Psychology
• PSY 1001: Introduction to Psychology