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RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
Biopsychology | Clinical | Cognition and Perception
Developmental | Education and Psychology | Health
Organizational | Personality | Social
Complete List
Project Director:
Bridget Ammon
Email: bammon@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Martin Maehr or Stuart Karabenick
Email:bammon@umich.edu, Phone: 734-647-3103
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Education and Psychology
Project Description:
Our research focuses on the development of tools to assess motivation-related outcomes in mathematics and science classrooms. Assessing these motivation-related constructs is important because considerable research demonstrates that students and teachers motivational beliefs and strategies can influence student learning and performance. Research also indicates that changes in these beliefs can precede or even occur in the absence of changes in cognitive outcomes. Undergraduates can be involved with many different areas of this project, depending on interest and experience. Opportunities include conducting interviews with elementary and secondary students to explore their interpretation of and response to survey items, coding data, and data management. Interested students may also take leadership roles in the processing of large amounts of survey data with our new high-speed optical scanning machines. For more information, please see our website at http://www.mspmap.org/.
Time commitment requested:
10-15 hours per week
Dates of project:
Fall 2007
Qualifications of student:
Knowledge of MS Word and Windows is required. Some experience in using SPSS is preferred, but not required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
| Submitted: 8/16/2004 |
Project Director:
Kathryn Larson
Email:
Alternate Contact:
Kathryn Larson
Email:um.autism@umich.edu, Phone: 734-936-8600
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Clinical
Project Description:
Students working at the UofM Autism and Communication Disorders Center (UMACC) will be involved in a variety of research projects and have the opportunity to be involved in both of these research projects as well as a working psychological clinic specializing in the assessment and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders. For more information about specific projects, please see http://www.umaccweb.com/research/index.html.
Time commitment requested:
at least 9 hours/week
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Ashley Chen
Email: cnchen@umich.edu
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Biopsychology
Project Description:
Degrees of self-relatedness can affect how people do and react to things, making some things harder, some things easier. So can the ability of ones cognitive ability to act on things at that particular moment. The goals of the current projects are to try to understand the neural mechanism under which self-related materials can affect ones thinking and behavior; In addition, were interested in learning how stress can affect the above mechanism.
Time commitment requested:
At least 3 credits (9 hours) per week.
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
Research assistants will be involved in multiple aspects of the projects, ranging from conducting studies, collecting data, to analyzing results. Therefore, RAs should be reliable, punctual, detail-oriented, highly motivated to gain from research experience and genuine interest in the research topics. Basic skills with Microsoft Word and Excel are required. Experience with basic statistics and SPSS are preferred, but not required.
Students who would like to make at least 2 semester commitment are strongly encouraged to apply.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Preferred | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Katherine Sledge Moore
Email: mooreks@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Daniel Weissman
Email:danweiss@umich.edu, Phone:
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognition and Perception
Project Description:
Our research lies at the intersection of visual memory and attention. Our attention often wanders to people and objects that relate to our current thoughts. For example, when we are hungry we often stare at someone else's pizza. Although such interactions between attention and our current thoughts are well documented, there are remaining questions regarding the influence of memory on attention. In this series of computer-based attention studies, we will explore whether the number and nature of pieces of information that we are keeping in mind influences the degree to which our attention is captured by people and objects that resemble those bits of information. Our hypothesis is that attentional capture will be reduced as the number of pieces of information we are thinking about increases because it's very difficult to keep many things in mind at the same time.
Undergraduates working on the project will schedule and run participants and attend weekly lab meetings. Additionally, there are opportunities to be involved in any and all of the following aspects of the project, based on experience and interest: data analysis, design and programming of new experiments, and literature review. Students will learn how to conduct research, work as part of a team, and will be encouraged to think creatively and independently. Those working for course credit will receive guidance on writing a paper and/or preparing a poster presenting the results.
Time commitment requested:
6-15 hours per week
Dates of project:
2008 - 2009 Academic year
Qualifications of student:
The most successful students will be those interested in the project and in learning about psychological research. Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills are required, as is general computer proficiency in MS office. Additional computer skills (programming, SPSS, etc) are preferred but not required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Matt Jans
Email: mattjans@isr.umich.edu
Frederick Conrad
Email: fconrad@isr.umich.edu
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Psychology of Language and Social Interaction
Project Description:
Conversational partners manage to communicate despite or perhaps with the help of information conveyed by vocal qualities (e.g., changes in voice pitch) and paralinguistic cues (e.g., disfluencies such as ums and uhs). Little research has evaluated the role of conversational partners speech cues and vocal qualities in one of the most important types of interactions in the social sciences, the survey interview. Because survey interviews produce highly visible and influential statistics, the impact of speech cues and vocal qualities on the accuracy and completeness of survey data has far reaching implications. The proposed research will investigate how respondent and interviewer speech cues (e.g., filled pause like um and uh, reports, and repairs) and vocal qualities (e.g., pitch) predict item nonresponse and response inaccuracy for sensitive questions. Survey respondents often refuse to answer questions on sensitive or threatening topics. When respondents answer sensitive questions, they may be inaccurate, particularly when an accurate response is socially undesirable. This project examines the ability of speech cues and voice qualities, both within and before target sensitive questions, to predict item non-response and response inaccuracy for those questions. Analyses of speech and voice phenomena preceding the target question will track the presence of these warning signs at several earlier points in the interview, making use of longitudinal statistical techniques. This research has implications for social psychological models of survey response as well as interviewer training, and follows closely in the tradition of research established by Charles Cannell at the Institute for Social Research. My dissertation chair and academic advisor is Frederick Conrad, Research Associate Professor in Survey Methodology at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan.
Time commitment requested:
10-15 hours per week
Dates of project:
Fall 2008 with possibility for extension to Winter 2009
Qualifications of student:
-Interest in human communication or survey research is a plus, but not required.
-Experience and comfort with computers. Ability to sit and work on a computer for long periods of time. Mac use a plus but not required.
-Ability to listen to audio recordings and apply codes following a strict protocol.
-Willingness to work independently, but also have work checked regularly. Orientation to detail is plus.
-Ability to be accountable for work assigned.
| Credit Offered: | yes | Money: | $10.00/hour |
| Experience only: | yes | Workstudy: | no |
Project Director:
Jerome Prado
Email: jprado@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Daniel Weissman
Email:dweissman@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
A behavioral investigation of decisional conflict
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognition and Perception
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Neuroscience
Project Description:
Every day we spend a considerable amount of time trying to make the best decisions possible. These decisions could be trivial, such as choosing which movie to see, or necessary to survival, such as choosing a mate or finding a place to live. The ability to choose between conflicting decisions is often celebrated as one of the most fundamental capabilities of the human brain. The goal of the current project is to learn more about the factors that influence how we make such decisions. We will be investigating these factors by comparing behavioral and brain imaging data between conditions that vary the degree of decisional conflict. Students will schedule and run participants and attend weekly lab meetings. Additionally, there are opportunities to be involved in any and all of the following aspects of the project, based on experience and interest: data analysis (behavioral and physiological), design and programming of new experiments, and literature review. Students will learn how to conduct research, work as part of a team, and will be encouraged to think creatively and independently. Those working for course credit will receive guidance on writing a paper and/or preparing a poster presenting the results.
Time commitment requested:
10-20 hours per week
Dates of project:
Summer 2008/Fall 2008
Qualifications of student:
The most successful students will be those interested in the project and in learning modern cognitive neuroscience research. Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills are required, as is general computer proficiency in MS office. Additional computer skills (programming, SPSS, etc) are preferred but not required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Patricia Gurin
Email:pgurin@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
A Multi-University Evaluation of the Educational Benefits of Intergroup Dialogue
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social Psychology, Biopsychology, Education and Psychology
Project Description:
Ever wondered whether intergroup dialogue really works? Does interacting with members of different race, ethnic or gender groups actually change the way we think about the world? The Program on Intergroup Relations is seeking research assistance during the fall term for a 10-university intergroup dialogue research project. This large-scale randomized-controlled evaluation utilizes both quantitative and qualitative assessments to examine not only whether intergroup dialogue really works but also which psychological processes are most influential in producing positive intergroup outcomes. Research assistants will work closely with Professor Patricia Gurin (Principal Investigator) and her research team on the qualitative coding of student final papers and videotaped dialogue sessions and/or the quantitative analysis of longitudinal survey data obtained from intergroup dialogue participants across 9 universities. For a brief description of the research project, please see our webpage: http://www.igr.umich.edu/experiments.html.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours per week throughout the term, for 2-3 credits. Must also attend a two-hour seminar on intergroup relations.
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
Interested students must be motivated, punctual, organized and possess a genuine interest in intergroup dialogue or intergroup relations more generally. No previous research experience is required.
| Credit Offered: | yes | Money: | no |
| Experience only: | no | Workstudy: | yes |
Project Director:
Carmela Alcntara
Email: calcan@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Joseph P. Gone
Email:jgone@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Acculturation, nervios, and ataque de nervios in Mexican immigrant women
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Clinical
Project Description:
Through the use of qualitative and quantitative methods this research study explores how acculturation to US American and Latino ways of life respectively modulates the expression and experience of nervios and ataque de nervios in a community sample of Mexican/Mexican-American immigrant women. The interrelationships between these cultural descriptors, anxiety sensitivity, proneness to anxiety, and other psychiatric conditions will also be explored.
Student responsibilities will include: weekly participation in lab group meetings, data management and transcription, coordination of and participation in data collection at community agency, references management; and other minor clerical and library research responsibilities. This is an exciting opportunity to participate in a research project from start to finish and learn about community-based research with Latinas.
Students will garner an understanding of mixed methods research and the field of culture and psychopathology. Students will also learn the principles of research design and strategies for managing data collection in a community agency. In addition, students will learn about qualitative interviewing techniques and analyses.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours
Dates of project:
Fall 2008-Summer 2009. Preference will be given to students who are available for two consecutive semesters.
Qualifications of student:
Looking for students who are: 1) bright with a strong academic record, 2) self-motivated, conscientious, and independent; 3) an interest in culture and mental health; and 4) an interest in future graduate study. Please note that proficiency/fluency in Spanish is desired, but not required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Kent Berridge
Email: berridge@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Kent Berridge
Email:berridge@umich.edu, Phone: 3-4365
Overall Title of Project:
Affective neuroscience & biopsychology lab: Reward wanting and liking
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Biopsychology
Project Description:
Our research tackles fundamental questions like:
How is pleasure generated in the brain? What are the neural bases of wanting rewards and liking rewards? How are rewards learned? What causes addiction? How does the neurobiology of fear relate to neurobiology of desire? How is real behavior produced by brains?
Time commitment requested:
10 hours per week for a full-semester or equivalent
Dates of project:
ongoing
Qualifications of student:
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Brad J. Bushman
Email: bbushman@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Brad J. Bushman
Email:bbushman@umich.edu, Phone: 734-615-6631
Overall Title of Project:
Aggression and violence
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Violence and Aggression
Project Description:
Students will be experimenters in laboratory studies of violence and aggression.
Time commitment requested:
At least 2-3 credits
Dates of project:
ongoing
Qualifications of student:
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Nina Strohminger
Email: humean@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Prof. Rick Lewis
Email:rickl@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
An eyetracking investigation of social emotions and moral decisions
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognition and Perception
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Social
Project Description:
How do we reason about moral problems? To what extent does moral reasoning rely on deliberative processing versus snap judgments? What can we learn about morality based on the influence of emotion, and what can we learn about emotion based on its influence upon morality? These are a few questions we address in our lab, using both behavioral and eyetracking methods. Undergraduates working on the project will schedule and run subjects, assist with conference/written reports, and meet regularly with the project director. Additionally, students are encouraged to be involved in any of the following aspects of the project, based on experience and interest: data analysis, design and programming of new experiments, and literature review/theoretical discussions of the topics under consideration. Students will learn how to conduct research, work as part of a team, and think creatively and independently. Those working for course credit will receive guidance on writing a paper and/or preparing a poster presenting the results.
Time commitment requested:
10-20 hours per week
Dates of project:
Spring/Summer 2008, and potentially ongoing
Qualifications of student:
The most successful students will be bright, highly-motivated individuals interested in working on the project and learning about psychological research. Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills are required, as is general computer proficiency. Additional computer skills, in particular with programming (Python, Medialab, HTML) and statistical software (SPSS, R), are preferred but not required. Interested applicants should submit a resume to Nina (humean@umich.edu).
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Shanta Nishi Kanukollu
Email: snishik@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Ramaswami Mahalingam
Email:ramawasi@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Attitudes Towards Child Sexual Abuse and Help-Seeking amongst South Asian College Students
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Clinical
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Personality & Social Contexts
Project Description:
This study will examine the relationship between ethnicity, gender, Model Minority Myth, acculturation and perceived social support of South Asian undergraduate students and their attitudes toward child sexual abuse and help-seeking. The purpose of this study is to better understand how these factors impact perceptions of child sexual abuse and the social support systems these students utilize if in distress.
Time commitment requested:
10 hours per week
Dates of project:
Fall-Winter 2008
Qualifications of student:
Knowledge of MS Word is required. Some experience in using SPSS is preferred, but not required. We are looking for students who are ideally psychology majors with a 3.4+ GPA.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Israel Liberzon
Email: liberzon@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Shaun Ho
Email:hosh@umich.edu, Phone: 734-232-0197
Overall Title of Project:
Behavioral and/or fMRI study in cognition emotion interaction
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognition and Perception
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Decision making, emotion, attention, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder
Project Description:
A couple of multidisciplinary studies involved in this project focus on behavioral and/or neuroimaging of cognition-emotion interaction in stress or normal state. The tasks for the student(s) of this position after appropriate training include running behavioral experiments, data entry and/or analysis, and contacting potential participants.
Time commitment requested:
10 to 20 hours per week
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
None.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Amanda Brandone
Email:brandone@umich.edu, Phone: 764-8557
Overall Title of Project:
Childrens Language and Conceptual Development
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Project Description:
This project explores language and conceptual development in preschool aged children. Specifically, we examine how children and adults reason about people, animals, and objects, and how language both reflects and influences thought.
Research assistants are needed to help with data collection with adults and young children, as well as with stimuli preparation and data coding and entry. Hours are fairly flexible and training will be provided. This opportunity will provide valuable hands-on research experience for any students interested in the development of young childrens thinking.
Time commitment requested:
3-9 hours/week
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
Required: GPA of 3.5 or above; coursework in psychology; previous experience working with preschool children. Any of the following are desirable (though not required): psychology lab course, statistics course, prior research experience.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Igor Grossmann
Email: igrossm@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Communication Styles and Well-Being
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social Psychology
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Culture, Interpersonal Communication
Project Description:
This project examines the impact of culture on the perception of the social world, interaction with other members of the society, and finally on the general well-being. Using a cross-cultural methodology, we compare various cultures ( e.g. USA, Germany or Russia) to find out more about the dynamic interplay between socio-cultural and psychological processes. We are looking for dedicated research assistants to join the lab to work on this project. Responsibilities may include recruiting participants, collecting data and data entry. There are also regular lab meetings (weekly or biweekly) that research assistants are required to attend.
Time commitment requested:
8-12 hours per week (3-4 credits)
Dates of project:
Winter 2008
Qualifications of student:
Research assistants should be flexible in the amount of time they can commit. The demands of a research lab require a somewhat greater time investment in the middle of the term, and less at the end. Also, applicants should be willing to help out on other projects in the lab (if needed). Applicants should be responsible, organized and capable of working as a part of a team of researchers. They should be detail-oriented and invested in the project.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Susan Gelman
Email: gelman@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Concepts and Theories in Human Development
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Psycholinguistics
Project Description:
This project examines language and thought in preschool children. We have a variety of ongoing studies that involve: videotaping parent-child interactions, administering experimental tasks in preschool settings, and administering tasks to adults. Responsibilities would include any of the following: testing children and/or adults, transcribing videotapes, coding, entering data into the computer, preparing experimental materials.
Time commitment requested:
10-15 hours per week
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
Required: GPA of 3.5 or above; coursework in psychology; previous experience working with preschool children; ability to work well with others. Any of the following are desirable (though not required): psychology lab course, statistics course, or prior research experience.
| Credit Offered: | yes | Money: | no |
| Experience only: | no | Workstudy: | no |
| Submitted: 12/10/2003 |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Jennifer Crocker, Ph.D.
Email:crocker.admin@umich.edu, Phone: 734-615-3626
Overall Title of Project:
Contingencies of self-worth, egosystem vs. ecosystem goals, stress, adjustment to college
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
The Self and Social Motivation research laboratory explores the costs and benefits of adopting goals to construct and maintain desired images and goals to support others for relationships, learning, motivation, self-regulation, and mental health. The goal of our research is to provide a framework, grounded in psychological research and theory, to understand how people inadvertently create what they don't want in their lives when they are driven by the ego or self-esteem concerns, how shifting to a different framework focused on what they want to create, contribute, or learn can help people clarify what they want and don't want in their lives, and empower them to create what they want by putting those choices into action. Ultimately, our research aims to provide conceptual and practical tools that can help people clarify and accomplish their most inspired and inspiring goals, in a sustainable way that is good for others as well as the self. In doing so, we hope to help people become more healthy, constructive, and effective human beings, connected to their inner resources, to other people, and to their passion. Several research projects examining these ideas are ongoing in our laboratory. The projects use a variety of methodologies, from laboratory experiments, to web-based surveys, to daily report studies. Students can participate in many ways, including recruiting participants and running experiments, coding, entering and analyzing data, and participating in lab meetings. If you are interested in researching with us, please visit our lab website for more specific information on our current projects and for the application:
http://rcgd.isr.umich.edu/crockerlab/RA%20Recruitment/research_ops.htm
Time commitment requested:
At least 6-9 hours a week
Dates of project:
Fall 2008, Winter 2009 with possibility to continue. Preference given to students who are available for two consecutive semesters.
Qualifications of student:
Upper-level psych majors with 3.0 GPA or higher preferred. Must be highly motivated, reliable, detail-oriented, organized, and have a genuine desire to learn more about the research process.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Frederick Conrad
Email: fconrad@isr.umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Conversations between people and virtual humans about race and gender in survey interviews
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognitive
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Social
Project Description:
As virtual humans (avatars, animated agents) become increasingly common in our environment, it is important to understand how people interact with non-human conversational partners and to what extent they bring their practices from everyday conversation with other people to these interactions. The current project is concerned with the way people interact with virtual survey interviewers, talking heads embedded in web surveys. Is this like being interviewed by a live human, like completing the questionnaire in private, or some of each? In particular, we will explore whether the race and gender of the virtual interviewer affect the answers to survey questions in the same way these attributes have been shown to affect answers to questions asked by human interviewers (e.g., more feminist opinions reported to female interviewers).
Time commitment requested:
10 hours per week
Dates of project:
Fall08-Winter09
Qualifications of student:
Committed, organized, conscientious; some background (classes or research) in the study of social interaction, psycholinguistics, human-computer interaction or research methodology would be helpful but not essential.Some background with computer animation and video/speech editing will be helpful; basic statistical skills will also help.
| Credit Offered: | No | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Xuezhao Lan
Email: xuezhao@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Cultural Differences and Gender Differences in Multi-tasking
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Cognitive
Project Description:
The studies compare performances of Easterners and Westerners while they are doing multiple tasks simultaneously. It is hypothesized that Easterners are better at attending to multiple tasks and picking up more information from each task than their Western Counterparts. Additionally, girls are hypothesized to have better multi-tasking performances.
Multi-tasking experiments will provide evidence for explaining cross-cultural differences in human perception, attention, and reasoning. Nisbett and Kitayama and their colleagues have produced substantial evidence indicating that Westerners perceive and reason in ways that can be called analytic, that is to say, they focus on some salient object, identify its attributes, categorize the object and adduce rules to model and explain the objects behavior; rules employed include formal logic. In contrast, East Asians perceive and reason in ways that can be called holistic, that is to say, they attend to the broad field in which an object is located and the relation between the object and the field; relationships and similarities are used to organize the world, and dialectical reasoning substitutes for formal logic. We contend that the reason for these differences lies in the fact that Westerners are independent and have the luxury of focusing on some object with respect to which they have a goal whereas Easterners must attend to the complicated social worlds they live in. Multi-tasking experiments will further explain those cross-cultural differences.
Time commitment requested:
6-10 hours per week
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Jinkyung Na
Email: jinna@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Cultural effects on self and cognition
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Social/Cultural/Cognitive
Project Description:
What role does culture play in people's behaviors and thoughts? Do people in different cultures and societies perceive themselves in the same way, or in different and unique ways? For example, our previous studies suggested that Americans tend to view themselves as an independent entity whereas Asians and Asian Americans tend to view themselves in relation to others. Our research program explores such cultural differences of selves and their effects on basic psychological processes. We conduct experimental studies primarily comparing people of various cultural backgrounds on a variety of tasks.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
Research assistants will be involved in all phases of a project and take responsibility for (i) conducting studies, (ii) collecting data, and (iii) analyzing results. Research assistants are expected to attend weekly lab meetings. Research assistants should be responsible, punctual, and motivated to gain research experience.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Sasha Kimel (Faculty Advisor: Shinobu Kityama)
Email: skimel@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Culture and Choice
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
Do people in different cultures see the world in the same way, or in different and unique ways? Our previous research suggested that European-Americans seek to maintain their independence from others whereas Asians and Asian-Americans value attending to others and fitting in. Broadly, our research program explores such cultural differences and their effects on basic psychological processes.
In this particular series of studies we focus on cultural differences in cognitive dissonance. When having made a choice between two equally attractive items, people
tend to justify their choice by increasing their liking for the chosen item and decreasing the liking for the rejected item. This "dissonance effect" is caused by one's unconscious effort to reduce the threat involved in making a choice. Choice may be threatening because it raises questions about the self, such as: "Was it stupid of me to choose A over B?" However, recent research suggests that this experience is not universal. East Asians participants only experienced the dissonance effect when appraisals by others were primed.
This series of studies will use a variety of methodologies including questionnaires, behavioral observations, computer-based tasks and fMRI. In taking part in the present research project you will learn how to conduct social and cultural psychological research as well as gain invaluable hands-on lab experience.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours per week (2-3 credits)
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
We are looking for research assistants with a range of experiences and qualifications. You should have an interest in psychological science and an interest in pursuing graduate studies in psychology. You do NOT need to have previous research experience; however, research assistants will start with responsibilities and duties that match their previous experiences in research. You should be intellectually curious, diligent, and conscientious; be interested in cultural psychology; work well with others; and be able to make the requisite time commitment. Because we use multiple methods in our research, we are also looking for research assistants who have training in computer programming, who speak different languages, and who have backgrounds in anthropology, physiology, or biology.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Xuezhao Lan
Email: xuezhao@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Culture and individual differences in self-regulation and executive functions in China and the U.S.
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Educational
Project Description:
The current research aims to investigate the relationship between individual variability in executive functioning, self-regulation and classroom behavior in two different cultural contexts, namely, the United States and China. In order to do so cultural differences in the development of executive functioning and self-regulation will be assessed, both through cognitive and behavioral measures of executive functioning and self regulation and through naturalistic videotaped observation of classroom behavior and practices. The results of this study will make several important contributions to the literature on the development of executive functioning. First, it will investigate individual differences in executive functioning and its relationship to behavior in educational settings. Second, it will contribute to a greater understanding of cultural similarities and differences in the development of executive functioning. We look for undergraduate research assistants.
Time commitment requested:
6-10 hours per week
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
You are: Motivated and detail oriented, able to commit 6-10 hours each week, good with children, able to use excel, word and other Microsoft applicants, in addition, speaking Chinese is a plus, data analysis skills are desirable, research experience is desirable.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | Maybe |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Nicholas Sorensen
Email: nsorense@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Culture and Intergroup Relations
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
Have you ever wondered what we can do to improve relations between members of different groups social groups (e.g. race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation etc). The present research project explores psychological processes to improve intergroup relations. In particular, we are examining the influence of individualistic and collectivistic mindsets on cognitive and emotional processes that may be critical for reducing prejudice and discrimination and improving intergroup relations more generally. This project involves multiple components including laboratory studies, randomized field experiments across nine universities and a meta-analytic review of relevant literature. Tasks and responsibilities vary for each available position. However, students may be responsible for administering a lab-based study to subject pool participants. Specifically, the student will recruit subjects from a predetermined list, schedule lab appointments with participants, book lab space, administer each study, debrief subjects and issue subject pool credit to participants. Additional opportunities will be provided to assist with data analysis and gain experience with SPSS.
Time commitment requested:
8-10 hours per week (negotiable)
Dates of project:
1/01/08-12/31/08
Qualifications of student:
Students cannot be enrolled in intro psychology during the Winter 2008 term. Student must be dependable, punctual and motivated and have an interest in culture, diversity and intergroup relations. Academic credit can be earned through Psych 323 (credit/no credit), Psych 327 (graded credit) or Psych 423 (graded upper level independent study requiring a final paper).
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Jinkyung Na
Email: jinna@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Jinkyung Na
Email:jinna@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Culture and Intrinsic Motivation
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
Previous studies found people across culture have different sources for intrinsic motivation. For example, Americans have higher motivation when they choose their task or when they succeed in their task. In stark contrast, Failure and choice made by friends or family tend to boost ones intrinsic motivation for East Asians. Is it possible to get the opposite result through the experimental manipulation? This project investigates the factor that can affect ones intrinsic motivation and examine cross-cultural differences in the effect of those factors.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours per week
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
Students can participate in every phase of research ranging from data entry to data analysis. Any special skill is not necessary for participation. However, students should be reliable and responsible.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Cheri Chan
Email: chancc@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Culture and Knowledge Acquisition: How do children learn from other people?
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Project Description:
To find out more about the world, we frequently depend on two important sources of knowledge: 1) our own observations and reasoning, and 2) what other people tell us.
Particularly in this information age, there is an escalating need to trust in the expertise of others. Thus, it becomes more crucial to become wise consumers of information. But how does this ability develop in the first place?
In this project, we will conduct studies to discover the factors (for example, how children perceive their own knowledge) that shape childrens tendency to trust what other people tell them.
More interestingly, by exploring similarities and differences across young learners in US and Chinese cultures, we will better understand how the values and meanings salient in a culture shape the way we acquire knowledge about the world.
Interested? Send an email to chancc@umich.edu with a copy of your resume, and we can set up an informational meeting to explore the possibilities!
What student will do: (1) Be actively involved in designing study and creating stimuli, (2) Interact with 4- and 5-year-olds in local preschool classrooms, (3) Run experiments at local preschools, (4) Review scholarly literature, (5) Analyze and present data.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours/week
Dates of project:
Qualifications of student:
- Honest, responsible, organized, and with a heart of discovery
- Interested in learning about the way children think and learn
- Enjoy interacting with preschoolers (prior work experience with children is a plus!)
- (Preferred: students of at least junior standing, and majoring in Psychology or Education)
| Credit Offered: | yes | Money: | possibly |
| Experience only: | yes | Workstudy: | no |
Project Director:
Norbert Schwarz
Email:
Spike Lee
Email: spikelee@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Dirty Socks, Dirty Talk, Dirty Thoughts: Psychological Cleanliness and Morality
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
Lady MacBeth had the compulsion to keep washing her hands--perhaps for good reasons. Recent psychological research shows that hand washing reduces moral guilt (Zhong & Liljenquist, 2006). It literally means that physical cleaning and moral cleansing are effectively similar, both of which make you feel "cleaner". Indeed, we often use words such as "dirty" and "disgusting" to stress our derogation of moral transgressors or transgressions (e.g., "I don't do any dirty stuff", "you're a disgusting person") and their need to be "cleaner". Our current project aims to establish this concept of "psychological cleanliness/dirtiness" at physical, moral, and symbolic levels. Physical examples include actual dirts, mud, and vomit; moral examples include bribery and cheating; symbolic examples include money and aesthetics. Experiments will be run in lab to test how these levels relate to each other. Popular media will be reviewed to deepen our understanding of these concepts and their psychological effects. Indeed, personal experience would be of paramount importance too in refining such understanding and developing hypotheses to be tested in experiments.
We are looking for students dedicated to generating knowledge through research. We offer training and research experience that pave the way for writing an Honors Thesis or applying to graduate school. Joining this project means you will
(1) collaborate with the project director to design experiments
(2) run experiments
(3) review popular media
(4) review scholarly literature
(5) analyze media, literature, experimental data, and personal experience
You will learn:
(1) how to turn a thought ("my insight") into an experiment ("my project")
(2) how to to deepen understanding of a concept
(3) how to use personal experience to inform research ideas
(4) how to apply research ideas to daily experience
(5) practical skills necessary for research at both undergraduate and graduate levels (e.g., measurement of human characteristics, statistics, conceptualization)
(6) graduate school application
Time commitment requested:
8-12 hours per week (3-4 credits; negotiable
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
Students should be psychology majors who are highly motivated, organized and reliable, detail-oriented, hard-working, passionate about the topic, genuinely interested in gaining research experience, and capable of working as a part of a team of researchers. Students who want to make a 2-semester commitment are especially encouraged to apply. Some previous research experience is preferred.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Bud Gibson
Email: fpgibson@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Dynamic decision making in Internet bargaining environments
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognition and Perception
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Decision making
Project Description:
The position will be here at the business school. No credit is offered, but competitive pay is available for 20+ hours per week. The successful candidate will: 1. Run Internet bargaining experiments in one of several business school computer labs. 2. Manage subjects who sign up over the Internet. 3. Engage in library research.
Time commitment requested:
20+ hours per week
Dates of project:
ongoing
Qualifications of student:
Students with prior experience as RAs or comparable are welcome to apply. ALL APPLICATIONS for this position should consist of the following: 1. A cover email sent to Professor Bud Gibson (fpgibson@umich.edu ) explaining the applicant's interest and qualifications for the position. 2. A **text** version of the resume (saved with the .txt extension as a text file from Word; see the "save as..." menu item) OR an acrobat (pdf) version of the same. 3. At least two recent references who can vouch for the applicant's work.
| Credit Offered: | no | Money: | yes |
| Experience only: | no | Workstudy: | no |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Leah James
Email:leahej@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Effects of future uncertainty on productive and destructive behavior choice
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
This lab consists of several ongoing projects concerning the effects of uncertainty about the future on productive behaviors such as goal-setting and potentially self-destructive behaviors such as substance abuse and risk-taking. Related research concerns the influence of cultural factors on resiliency to trauma. Students interested in laboratory experimentation and the application of such research intervention development to help at-risk and traumatized populations are encouraged to consider this position. Students will have the opportunity to engage in a variety of research methods, including online survey experimentation using subject pool, collection and analysis of secondary data concerning behavior before and after large disasters, and participation in a field-based deception study. An alternative research area focuses on the role of nostalgia as a coping mechanism and students will also be invited to participate in data collection on this topic.
Time commitment requested:
Minimum 6 hours/week
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
Students should be motivated, responsible, and organized and possess an interest in gaining varied research experience in the field of psychology. The research assistant may be responsible for 1) recruiting subjects, running experiments, and assigning credit for subject pool studies, 2) organizing and coding previously collected data, 3) acting in a deception study in real-world contexts, and 4) attending weekly meetings. Prior research experience is appreciated but not required. Training will be provided. Experience gained in the position can be beneficial in applying for graduate studies in the fields of psychology and social work.
| Credit Offered: | yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Twila Tardif
Email: twila@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Daniel Kessler
Email:kesslerd@umich.edu, Phone: (248) 753-1838
Overall Title of Project:
Emotion Regulation as a Complex System
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Cultural/Social, Clinical
Project Description:
The Emotion Regulation as a Complex System Project (PI: Twila Tardif) is currently seeking research assistants for this spring and summer. Research assistants will watch videos of four-year-old American, Japanese, and Chinese children and code expression of emotion. We are recruiting native-born Japanese speakers. Qualifying candidates will be invited to participate in a 2 week, partially paid training period that will be followed by an evaluation. Training pay is contingent on completion of the training period and evaluation. Candidates who perform well on the evaluation will be offered a position as a research assistant on the project. At this time we are offering course credit with the potential for pay dependent on performance and prior research and video-coding experience. We're seeking people able to commit to work 20 hours per week through BOTH the spring and summer terms and possibly into August. If you are interested, please contact Daniel Kessler, the study coordinator, at kesslerd@umich.edu.
Time commitment requested:
20 hours per week
Dates of project:
Spring and Summer terms 2008
Qualifications of student:
Native Japanese speaker
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | Yes |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Brenda Volling
Email:
Alternate Contact:
Lauren Rosenberg
Email:lbrosenb@umich.edu, Phone: 615-4101
Overall Title of Project:
Family Transitions Following the Birth of a Sibling
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Project Description:
The goal of the Family Transitions Study is to examine changes occurring in the family before and after the birth of a baby sibling. We want to learn more from families about what changes occur, what things they worry about, and how the older sibling adjusts when the baby is brought home. To do this, we plan on recruiting 200 families in the last trimester of the mothers pregnancy with a second child and then visiting these families in their home at 5 different time points spanning approximately one year. Students will assist with data collection: conducting child assessments with older siblings, assisting parents with child behavior sorts, videotaping observational sessions with parents and children. Other duties involve data entry, preparation of study materials, and participation in lab meetings. Research assistants are asked to commit for at least two semesters.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours per week
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
Students must be responsible, reliable, and have an interest in research. Scheduling flexibility is required as data collection will frequently take place on evenings and Saturdays. Owning a car is a plus, but not required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Dr. Terri Conley
Email:conleyt@umich.edu, Phone: 5-3895
Overall Title of Project:
Gender Differences in Perceptions and Experiences of Sexuality
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social Psychology
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Psychology of Women
Project Description:
This is a series of interrelated projects designed to investigate when and why women and men differ in their perceptions or experiences of sexualityas well as finding instances in which those differences do not exist. We will examine differences in the experiences of monogamous and non-monogamous, couples (e.g., those in polyamorous relationships, open relationships, and swingers) differences in the acceptance of casual sex offers, and the negotiation of sexuality in the context of the aging process. We generally will consider both the experiences of heterosexual and lesbian and gay couples.
Time commitment requested:
6 hours/week; prefer at least a two- semester commitment
Dates of project:
9/2008 - 8/2009
Qualifications of student:
Experience with SPSS preferred but not required. Experience with online data collection software (i.e., surveymonkey.com) is a plus.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | |
| Experience only: | | Workstudy: | |
Project Director:
Dr. Terri Conley
Email: conleyt@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Gender Differences in Perceptions and Experiences of Sexuality
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Psychology of Women
Project Description:
This is a series of interrelated projects designed investigate when and why women and men differ in their perceptions or experiences of sexualityas well as finding instances in which those differences do not exist. We will examine differences in the experiences of monogamous and non-monogamous, couples (e.g., those in polyamorous relationships, open relationships, and swingers) differences in the acceptance of casual sex offers, and the negotiation of sexuality in the context of the aging process. We generally will consider both the experiences of heterosexual and lesbian and gay couples.
Time commitment requested:
6 hours/week; prefer at least a two- semester commitment
Dates of project:
Research is ongoing; students are recruited at the beginning of each semester
Qualifications of student:
Experience with SPSS preferred but not required. Experience with online data collection software (i.e., surveymonkey.com) is a plus.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Denise Sekaquaptewa
Email: dsekaqua@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Gender Stereotypes and Math Performance
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Cognitive
Project Description:
Women tend to perform worse on mathematical tasks when their performance can be interpreted in light of gender stereotypes that favor men. Women may hold stereotypes at an unconscious level, and possession of these unconscious stereotypes may influence women's performance, interest, motivation to pursue math-intensive careers. We seek research assistants to help with a study measuring unconscious stereotyping in relation to math outcomes. The experiment involves testing paticipants in the lab and/or facilitating a web-based experiment.
Time commitment requested:
9-12 hours per week for at least one semester.
Dates of project:
Spring/Summer 2007 - Winter 2008
Qualifications of student:
Students who are motivated, reliable, interested in the subject, and who have high personal standards are encouraged. Students with prior lab experience are preferred but others who are motivated and have good academic records will be considered as well. Good communication and organization skills, and some basic computer skills are required. Knowledge of computer programming is a plus! We seek 1-2 research assistants over the summer, and will need even more help during the 2007-2008 academic year.
| Credit Offered: | yes | Money: | no |
| Experience only: | yes | Workstudy: | no |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Orion Mowbray
Email:omowbray@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Gender Stereotypes in Science
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
Unfortunately, both implicit and explicit stereotypes continue to exist about gender and science. Most areas of science continue to be a male dominated field, which is reinforced by the disparate performance scores, motivation and interest between men and women. While some may argue that there are inherent abilities that differ between genders, this area of research attmepts to dismiss this belief and offer insight into how situational processes can influence gender differences in science orientations. This line of research also examines situational intervention strategies which emphasizes common, superordinate identities among groups which may ameliorate the negative effects experienced by individuals situated in sciences that typically have unequal gender representation.
Time commitment requested:
9 hours per week for at least one semester.
Dates of project:
Fall 2008 - Winter 2009
Qualifications of student:
Students who are reliable and have interest in stereotyping and prejudice are requested. Students with prior lab experience are preferred but is not necessary. Good communication and organization skills, and knowledge of some basic computer skills are also required. Students will be asked to participate in an introductory interview, prior to involvement, where they will be given the opportunity to express their qualifications, goals, and fit with the current research.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Francine Segovia
Email:segoviaf@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Implicit and Explicit Stereotypes
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Cognitive
Project Description:
Teenagers are stereotyped as being up to no good.
Iraqis are stereotyped as terrorists.
Cheerleaders are stereotyped as being the popular mean girls.
White people are stereotyped as lacking rhythm.
Black people are stereotyped as being good at sports.
Latinos are stereotyped as being illegal immigrants.
Did you know that everyone is affected by stereotypes? Stereotypes are ideas held about members of particular groups, based solely on membership in that group. It doesnt matter if youre rich or poor, White, Latino, or Black, educated or not, stereotypes about all groups exist.
The current project focuses on explicit and implicit stereotypes. We will be investigating stereotypic attitudes that people are consciously aware of and those that they are not.
Time commitment requested:
6-12 hours per week
Dates of project:
Winter 2008
Qualifications of student:
Familiarity with basic computer programs (Word, Excel, Power point) is required. Experience working with Adobe Photoshop and/or E-prime is helpful but not required. Students should be punctual, organized, responsible, mature, and hard-working. Willingness to take on a challenge will be beneficial as training with fairly complex experimental procedures is required. Students who wish to make a 2 semester commitment are especially encouraged to apply.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Richard Nisbett
Email: nisbett@umich.edu
Igor Grossmann
Email: igrossm@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Intelligence and Wisdom
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social Psychology
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Developmental Psychology, Cognition & Perception, Culture
Project Description:
There are many new findings about the heritability and modifiability of intelligence and new approaches to understanding just what it is and how it changes within the lifetime of an individual and across age cohorts. Based on these findings, in our lab we are examining and testing different concepts of intelligence and wisdom. We are looking for dedicated research assistants to join the lab to work on this project. Responsibilities may include recruiting participants, collecting data and data entry. There are also regular lab meetings (weekly or biweekly) that research assistants are required to attend.
Time commitment requested:
8-12 hours per week (3-4 credits)
Dates of project:
Fall 2007
Qualifications of student:
Research assistants should be flexible in the amount of time they can commit. The demands of a research lab require a somewhat greater time investment in the middle of the term, and less at the end. Also, applicants should be willing to help out on other projects in the lab (if needed). Applicants should be responsible, organized and capable of working as a part of a team of researchers. They should be detail-oriented and invested in the project.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Dr. Terri Conley
Email:conleyt@umich.edu, Phone: 5-3895
Overall Title of Project:
Intergroup Perceptions
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Psychology of Women
Project Description:
This is a series of interrelated projects designed investigate intergroup perceptions that have not normally been studied. We address non-White groups perceptions of White women, various Asian American subgroups (e.g. Chinese Americans, Vietnamese Americans) perceptions of one another, ethnic minority groups perceptions of lesbians and gay men, and Latinas/os, Asian Americans and African Americans perceptions of Whites and of each other. Most of these data have already been collected; the research assistants would be involved in data cleaning and analysis. This project would be especially suitable for a senior thesis or senior honors thesis. Provides an opportunity for a relatively independent research experience which could lead to conference presentations or publications.
Time commitment requested:
9-10 hours/week for at least two semesters
Dates of project:
9/2008-8/2009
Qualifications of student:
Must have previous research experience, some knowledge of statistical methods and familiarity with SPSS. Less experienced participants may contact the project director about other ways to get involved in the project.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | |
| Experience only: | | Workstudy: | |
Project Director:
Tiffany Griffin
Email: griffito@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Richard Gonzalez
Email:gonzo@umich.edu, Phone: 763-5164
Overall Title of Project:
Intersectionality, Perceptions of Context, and Policy
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
Our lab examines topics such as status, power, identity and discrimination. We explore the relationship between psychology and policy and consider context in all of our investigations. Students interested in issues of social class, race, gender, and policy are encouraged to consider this position. The research assistant will be responsible for 1) recruiting participants, 2) running subjects at scheduled lab sessions, and 3) coding and entering data.
Time commitment requested:
Flexible; 9 hours per week preferred
Dates of project:
Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall 2008
Qualifications of student:
Students should be highly motivated, detail-oriented, enthusiastic, responsible, punctual, and possess a genuine interest in gaining research experience while working on a team. It is also important for the student to feel comfortable interacting with people. All student research assistants will be trained. Students who wish to make a 2 semester commitment are especially encouraged to apply. Working in our lab would be a valuable experience to students interested in graduate school in psychology.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Twila Tardif
Email: twila@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Twila Tardif
Email:, Phone: 764-2443
Overall Title of Project:
Language Development in English and Chinese
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Psycholinguistics
Project Description:
How do children learn language? What factors influence language development, and do these factors change over time? How do language skills shape other aspects of development? Does the language learning process differ for children learning different languages? What mechanisms in this process are universal, and which vary based on linguistic or cultural differences? Our laboratory collaborates with other laboratories in China and Singapore to examine these and related questions.
Our studies look longitudinally at English-learning and Chinese-learning children, assessing various linguistic skills, as well as information about the childrenfs backgrounds, their language learning environment, literacy skills, IQ, visual spatial skills, and processing speed. We hope to use this information to develop a comprehensive model of language development.
Research assistants will gain valuable experience in the domains of language development, cross-cultural and longitudinal methodologies, statistical methods, and general research practices.
Tasks will include some data analysis (primarily in Excel and SPSS), transcribing, coding, and translating. Hours are fairly flexible, and training will be provided.
Time commitment requested:
8-12 hours per week
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
We are looking for people who are Native Mandarin speakers ipreferably from the Beijing area or other areas of northern Chinaj, majoring in psychology or linguistics. Some basic knowledge of statistics is preferred, but not required. Familiarity with Microsoft Excel and SPSS are strongly recommended.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Julie Kaplow, Ph.D.
Email:julieb@med.umich.edu, Phone: 734-615-1641
Overall Title of Project:
Life After Loss: A Longitudinal Study of Parentally Bereaved Children
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Clinical
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Clinical, Developmental, Developmental Psychopathology, Biopsychology
Project Description:
This project examines childrens functioning following the loss of a parent. We are particularly interested in acute variables, or variables measured in the immediate aftermath of the death, that may serve as risk factors for the development of posttraumatic stress as well as variables that may serve to promote resiliency after loss. Children ages 3-12 are interviewed within one month of their parents death, 6 months after the death, and one year after the death. Assessments at each time point include measures of individual (e.g., childrens coping strategies), environmental (e.g., familial support/communication), and physiological (e.g., vagal tone, salivary cortisol) functioning.
Time commitment requested:
8-15 hours per week, flexible
Dates of project:
Fall 2008, Winter 2009
Qualifications of student:
Interested students should be highly motivated, conscientious, dependable, organized, and work well both independently and with others. Students will have an opportunity to engage in a number of different tasks including behavioral coding of videotaped interviews, transcription, data management, data entry, and some data analysis, and other lab management tasks.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Frederick Conrad
Email:fconrad@isr.umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Living in History: Personal Memory and Public Events
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognition and Perception
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Autobiographical Memory
Project Description:
This project explores the relationship between autobiographical memory (memories from ones own life) and memory for historical events. More specifically we ask: when do people use political and historical events to structure the events of their lives? We focus on Americans who have lived through World War II and the degree to which they use the war to organize their memories. This is part of an international project that has asked similar questions about residents of many countries, including New Yorkers and the 9/11 terrorist attack, Bosnians and the war in Balkans, Turks and the earthquake of 1999 in Izmit, Turkey, Israelis and terrorist attacks in Israel, and Danes and the German occupation during World War II. Students will conduct laboratory sessions in which individual participants think aloud as they determine when particular autobiographical events took place. The think aloud process exposes participants recall strategies and reconstruction processes as they come up with the date. This tells us something about how they structure their autobiographical memories with respect to personal and public events. Students will also code the verbal reports for, among other things, references to personal versus historical/political events.
Time commitment requested:
10-15 hours per week
Dates of project:
Fall 2007 Spring 2008
Qualifications of student:
Knowledge of MS Word and Windows is required. Experience with Excel will be helpful. Some experience using SPSS is preferred, but not required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Catherine Lord
Email: um.autism@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Kathryn Larson
Email:um.autism@umich.edu, Phone: (734) 936-8600
Overall Title of Project:
Longitudinal and Diagnosis studies on Autism
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Clinical Psychology, Autism
Project Description:
Students working at the UofM Autism and Communication Disorders Center (UMACC) will be involved in a variety of research projects and have the opportunity to be involved in both of these research projects as well as a working psychological clinic specializing in the assessment and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders. For more information about specific projects, please see http://www.umaccweb.com/research/index.html.
Time commitment requested:
At least 9 hours/week
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
Students must be flexible to work on a variety of tasks and projects. An interest in psychology and especially autism is desirable. Experience with library resources (PsycInfo and Medline) is also a plus.
| Credit Offered: | yes | Money: | no |
| Experience only: | no | Workstudy: | yes |
Project Director:
Kate Rosenblum, PhD
Email:
Maria Muzik, MD
Email:
Alternate Contact:
Heather Cameron
Email:cameron.heather@gmail.com, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Maternal Anxiety during the Childbearing Years (MACY)
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Clinical
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Developmental, Clinical, Developmental Psychopathology, Infant and Maternal Mental Health
Project Description:
This project investigates how mothers who are childhood trauma survivors cope with the stress and challenge of parenting in the early postpartum period, and how this may influence the infants development of stress responses and emotion regulation. We follow trauma survivor mothers who may or may not have developed Posttraumatic Stress Disorder across pregnancy up to 18 months postpartum. We collect a multitude of information about the mother and the infant during phone interviews and in face-to-face interviews during in home visits. We also videotape mother-baby interactions for later coding, as well as biological data such as vagal tone, the stress hormone cortisol, and infant DNA.
Time commitment requested:
9-15 hours, flexible
Dates of project:
Fall 2007-Summer 2008
Qualifications of student:
Students interested in this project should be highly motivated, dependable, detail-oriented, organized, and able to work independently as well as be valued team players. Students will have the opportunity to perform a broad variety of tasks including participation in home visits for data collection, coding of videotaped home observations, data entry, transcriptions, and help with other office tasks. Research experience is helpful but not required. Students are asked to commit for at least two semesters.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Arnold Sameroff
Email: sameroff@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Lori Stark
Email:lstark@umich.edu, Phone: 734-764-2265
Overall Title of Project:
Michigan Family Study Group
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Clinical
Project Description:
Michigan Family Study Group - is an umbrella title for four longitudinal studies. The first is the original Michigan Family Study (MFS) which gathered data from families when the children were 7, 15, and 33 months of age. Data was collected in a lab setting and in the families homes at each age interval. This study recruited mothers whose infants were experiencing regulatory difficulties (crying, feeding, sleeping problems). At least 300 families participated in this study. Data includes self-report measures of mothers mental health, marital satisfaction, and other psycho-social risk indicators; video-taped mother/child interaction; an adapted Working Model of the Child interview; and salivary cortisol levels of some mothers and children at 33 months. Data is no longer being gathered for this study; in depth data analysis is the primary task at this stage. Funding for MFS comes from the National Institute of Health (NIH).
Special Moms Special Babies is a NIMH-grant funded project to examine the effectiveness of an innovative short-term treatment for depressed mothers and their infantswith some of the infants having difficulty with feeding, sleeping and/or crying. Families are recruited when babies are four to six months of age; eligible families will include a mother experiencing depressive symptoms. Those in the intervention group receive 12 sessions of a relationship-focused therapy known as Interaction Guidance. This approach is very strengths-based and family-focused. It utilizes videotape during mother-baby play sessions to encourage the nurturing capacities of the mother and the communication-effectiveness of the infant. The control group, known as our Baby Diary families, receives phone-based contacts. The caller listens to a mothers report of her babys recent activities, but does not intervene therapeutically. Pre-intervention evaluations take place at seven months of age. Post-intervention and follow-up evaluations will take place at 14 months and 30 months, respectively. Data collection for this project began in the summer of 2005.
Students on this study will have an opportunity to directly observe and interact with many mothers and babies. Through this experience, students will learn about the development of the attachment relationship and more specifically, how a mothers mental health affects the development of the infant and the development of the attachment relationship between them. Students will also gain knowledge of several data collection techniques and strategies for subject retention over time.
Research assistants observe families in their homes and in a lab setting when children are 7, 14, and 30 months of age. Activities during these visits include video taping mothers and babies in specific play interactions, conducting interviews about infants crying, feeding, and sleeping behaviors, completing an inventory of infants home environment. Due to the need for travel, graduate students are required to have access to reliable transportation, as well as a valid drivers license and proof of insurance.
Other responsibilities for research assistants may include recruitment of families from area pediatric clinics, entering data from interviews/questionnaires, video taping of playroom sessions, provision of childcare during participant contacts, and transcription of audio-recorded interviews.
Time commitment requested:
6-12 hr/week-time commitment is expected. Students working on Special Moms Special Babies need to have at least two three-hour blocks of time during regular business hours to devote to this project.
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
Project participants must be mature, responsible students interested in gaining clinical and developmental psychology research experience. Some scheduling flexibility is desirable as evening and Saturday data collection is sometimes required. Interest in the areas of infant development and parent-child relationships will make this a more meaningful experience for the student. It is critical that the student be extremely responsible.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | Yes-Grad students only |
Project Director:
Hyunjin Song
Email: hyunjins@umich.edu, phone: 734-717-8757
Overall Title of Project:
Morality and Health
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
In our everyday life, we use metaphors to explain our feelings and thoughts. The present research particularly deals with how people use metaphors related to morality. We investigate how immorality is often compared with diseases, and how these metaphors affect peoples health and food related decisions. The research will investigate peoples perception of morality, how bodily feelings can be used in these judgments, and practical applications in marketing settings. The experiments will include paper and pencil studies and behavioral measures. RAs will participate in web search to help design experiments, running studies in labs and surveying on campus, and coding and interpreting data.
Time commitment requested:
6-12 hrs/wk
Dates of project:
From Fall, 2008-
Qualifications of student:
Research assistants participate in all phases of this project and take responsibility for data collection. It is important that you are comfortable with approaching students on campus to ask them to fill out questionnaires and with meeting people in labs to run experiments. In addition, basic computer skills are helpful.
| Credit Offered: | yes | Money: | no |
| Experience only: | no | Workstudy: | no |
Project Director:
Patricia Reuter-Lorenz
Email:
Alternate Contact:
Halle Zucker
Email:hallez@umich.edu, Phone: (734) 647-3704
Overall Title of Project:
Neural systems underlying cognition across the lifespan
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognition and Perception
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Cognitive and Affective Neuropsychology
Project Description:
Our lab investigates the neural substrates of verbal and spatial working memory. We use both behavioral and neuroimaging (fMRI) techniques to develop new models of human cognition. Our focus is primarily on the role of prefrontal cortex in human executive functions such as attention allocation and interference resolution. We are especially interested in how these processes change across the lifespan. Students in our lab are involved in screening, scheduling, and running participants in experiments programmed using E-Prime software. Students exhibiting exceptional performance may also be involved in running fMRI experiments and analyzing data.
Time commitment requested:
Approx. 9 hrs/week
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
Interested students should possess good knowledge of Microsoft Excel and other basic computer programs. Experience working with human participants in a research setting is desirable. Students should be highly motivated, detail-oriented, organized, and dependable. They should also have a pleasant telephone manner and possess very good interpersonal skills. An interest in pursuing a career in psychological and behavioral research is a plus.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Marita Inglehart
Email: mri@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Oral Health and Quality of Life
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Health
Project Description:
This project explores the relevance of oral health for a person's quality of life. Questionnaire data from children, parents and teachers, as well as from adult dental patients are collected and analyzed to explore the relationships between oral health, psychosocial variables - such as health beliefs, health behavior, and attitudes, and quality of life.
Time commitment requested:
8-10 hours per week
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
Students must have an interest in Health Psychology
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | no |
| Experience only: | yes | Workstudy: | no |
Project Director:
Fiona Lee
Email: fionalee@umich.edu
Jeff Lam
Email: chakfu@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Organizations and their Values
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Personality and Social Contexts
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Business and Psychology
Project Description:
Our research examines the values of business organizations. Specifically, we ask what types of values are espoused by business organizations, how businesses communicate their values through their web sites, public documents, and media outlets, and how such values predict important outcomes for organizations.
Time commitment requested:
9-12 hours per week
Dates of project:
Winter 2008
Qualifications of student:
N/A
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Fred Morrison (Primary Investigator)
Email:
Lori Skibbe (Project Coordinator)
Email: skibbe@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Lori Skibbe (Project Coordinator)
Email:skibbe@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Pathways to Literacy
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Education
Project Description:
The Pathways to Literacy research project has five broad aims. First, the work seeks to examine the nature and sources of growth in cognitive, language and literacy skills during the transition from preschool to the early school years. These sources of data allow a combining of an ecological perspective with a natural experiment (school cutoff); the research examines specifically the interactive role of child, family and schooling factors in shaping trajectories of cognitive growth from three years of age to second grade. Second, the project explores the utility of constructing and charting developmental pathways to literacy, utilizing a combination of analytic tools. The combination of methods permits creation of frameworks for describing the complex, dynamic interactions among child, family and schooling factors that shape literacy acquisition in school-age children. Third, the pathway framework permits direct examination of selected sources of domain-specificity in aspects of cognitive and literacy growth. Domain-specificity can be seen, in part, as a function of an interaction of child and family characteristics and instructional experiences in school. Fourth, the pathway notion is applied to an examination of stability and change across age in cognitive and literacy skills. Finally, our research attempts to apply the pathway strategy to examine issues of risk and resilience in childhood. Here too, examining the interaction of risk versus protective factors over time as they shape unique trajectories of growth will enhance a fuller understanding of the factors that place a child at risk for later negative outcomes or serve to protect the child from the consequences of adverse circumstances.
Time commitment requested:
A minimum of 6 hours per week.
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
Have an interest in developmental psychology, early education or a general interest in either field. Basic to moderate computer skills required. Most of our systems require training which will be provided. Students will have the opportunity (dependent upon availability) to perform classroom observations, code videotaped classroom and home data using the Noldus system, perform data entry, and help with other office tasks. No prior knowledge of coding is required. Experience in a research environment is preferred but not required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Alison L. Miller
Email: alimill@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Preschool Emotional Competence and Kindergarten Transition Study Emotion Facial Expression Coding Sub-Project
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Developmental, Clinical
Project Description:
As part of a larger study of emotional competence and kindergarten transition in low-income children, this study will evaluate how behavioral, cognitive, and biological aspects of emotions (e.g., emotion knowledge; emotions in classroom settings; facial expressions during laboratory tasks; vagal tone and cortisol reactivity) interrelate, and how they relate to social competence outcomes, among preschool-aged children (4-year-olds) attending Head Start. Students working on this project will work closely with Professor Miller and colleagues to code children's facial expressions of emotion during a laboratory task. This will involve being trained on a pre-established emotion coding system, coding behavioral emotion data using a computer program interface, and learning about emotion theories and emotional competence in early childhood. Other duties involve data entry, preparation of coding materials, and participation in lab meetings. Students will integrate their experiences by reading background articles, and have the opportunity to become involved with additional aspects of the project if so desired. Students will gain valuable experience in developmental and clinical psychology research methods.
Time commitment requested:
6-10 hours/week flexible hours
Dates of project:
Summer 2007-Summer 2008
Qualifications of student:
Students should be highly motivated, mature, dependable, detail-oriented, organized, and able to work independently. Students should also have good computer and software skills. Experience working with DVD video systems, including transfer of DVD footage to computer, is helpful but not required. Research assistants are asked to commit for at least two semesters. Research experience is helpful but not required
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Alison L. Miller
Email: alimill@umich.edu
Amanda Berhenke
Email:
Overall Title of Project:
Preschool Emotional Competence and Kindergarten Transition Study Kindergarten Motivation and Emotion Sub-Project
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Developmental, Clinical, Education
Project Description:
Do children's emotion skills relate to their social and academic competence? We are studying different emotion indicators (e.g., emotion knowledge; classroom emotions; facial expressions during laboratory tasks; vagal tone; cortisol reactivity) and social behavior in a sample of preschool children attending Head Start. In their Kindergarten year, the children participate in a challenging puzzle task we use to assess academic competence and early motivation. This research project will evaluate children's emotional and motivational responses to participating in the challenging task. Students working on this project will work with Professor Miller and colleagues to code children's emotions and their motivational states during this task. Students will be trained to code behavioral data using a computer interface, and learn about emotion theories and academic competence in early childhood. Other duties involve data entry, preparation of coding materials, and participation in lab meetings. Students will integrate their experiences by reading background articles, and have the opportunity to become involved with additional aspects of the project if so desired. Students will gain valuable experience in developmental and clinical psychology research methods, and experience in how social and emotional development in early childhood relates to school readiness. This project is also affiliated with the Pathways to Literacy Lab (Fred Morrison, Director).
Time commitment requested:
6-10 hours/week flexible hours
Dates of project:
Summer 2007-Summer 2008
Qualifications of student:
Students interested in this project should be highly motivated, dependable, detail-oriented, organized, and able to work independently. Students should also have good computer skills. Experience working with DVD video systems, including transfer of DVD footage to computer, is helpful but not required. Research assistants are asked to commit for at least two semesters. Research experience is helpful but not required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Diana Betz
Email: dibetz@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Pretty, Blonde, & Ditzy? The Real Bad-at-Math Girl Stereotype
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
When you think about a girl who is bad at math, what do you picture? What does she look like, what is she wearing, and what is she doing? Do you like her? Are you like her? If not, would you like to be? What about a girl who is good at math? My studies examine the stereotype that women are bad at math by examining our mental picture of that "type" or woman, by testing whether such a picture can automatically activate ideas about math incompetence, and finally by determining if women try to distance themselves from that picture before taking a math test. Together, these studies may reveal a new avenue by which a negative stereotype about one's group can cause poor performance in stereotype-relevant domains--a phenomenon known as stereotype threat.
Time commitment requested:
6 - 12 hours per week
Dates of project:
Ongoing
Qualifications of student:
Research assistants will have opportunities to participate in multiple levels of research, including preparing research materials, coding and managing data and running participants. They will also be able to collaborate in individual and lab meetings. Assistants should be interested in learning about the psychological research process, from early steps like literature reviews to the actual process of data collection. Motivation, reliability, and flexibility are encouraged, and familiarity with Word and Excel are required (knowledge of statistics [e.g. SPSS] and any previous research experience would be appreciated).
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Jiyoung Park
Email:pjiyoung@umich.edu, Phone: 734-709-4430
Overall Title of Project:
Priming effect on Personal Motives for Cultural Norm Conformity
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Social /Cultural
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