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RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
Biopsychology | Clinical | Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience
Developmental | Education and Psychology | Health
Organizational | Personality | Social
Complete List
Project Director:
Richard Nisbett
Email: nisbett@umich.edu
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Cognitive, Cultural, Social
Project Description:
Time commitment requested:
9-12 hours per week for at least one semester.
Qualifications of student:
Motivated, independent, reliable, and organized. Students should also be humble and willing to learn. The most successful students will be those interested in the project and in learning modern social-cognitive 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. Psychology major who would like to learn about research. To do library research on intelligence, wisdom, and culture.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Dr. Cynthia Ewell Foster, Department of Psychiatry
Email:
Gigi Colombini: Adolescent Suicide Prevention Specialist, Macomb County Community Mental Health
Email: Phone: 586-948-6165; 248-259-6290
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Clinical
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Community
Project Description:
A research assistant is needed to follow up with participants in a suicide prevention program via phone. The RA will receive crisis intervention training, gain clinical experience and assist with the research project.
Time commitment requested:
8 hours/week
Qualifications of student:
Undergraduate majoring in psychology or a related field
Evening work hours available
Transportation to Chesterfield, MI required
Previous research experience preferred, but not necessary
| Credit Offered: | No | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Sheida Novin
Email: sheidanf@umich.edu
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social Psychology
Project Description:
UofM students will be involved in two different lab studies that examine the influence of culture on behavior. Students have the opportunity to run the studies independently, and if interested, they can learn about the data analyses. For more information about the kinds of research we do, please see http://sitemaker.umich.edu/daphna.oyserman/culture_publications
Time commitment requested:
From 05-11 to 05-25, at least 9 hours/week up to 20 hours/week
Qualifications of student:
ability to work independently
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Pamela Davis-Kean, Ph.D.
Email: pdakean@isr.umich.edu
Celeste Mendoza
Email: cmendoz@umich.edu
Mane Susperreguy
Email: Misusper@umich.edu
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental, Education, Psychology
Project Description:
Using multiple national and community samples to examine how socio-economic status (SES), race, family, and culture influence the development of children's achievement, problem behavior, executive functions, and health outcomes. We use survey research, time diaries, and recorders for our research. The LENA project involves recording conversations between parents and children in their households in order to examine the impact of parenting processes (through the verbal interactions parents have with their children) on preschoolers school readiness in families from different SES backgrounds. Other projects include studying how family and culture influence the academic achievement of students from underrepresented populations.
Time commitment requested:
8+ hours a week
Qualifications of student:
Undergraduate majoring in psychology or a related field. Research assistants are needed for Summer 2011, with preference given to RAs who can commit to Fall 2011 and/or Winter 2011 as well. RAs will participate in multiple levels of research, including literature reviews, transcriptions, coding data, going on home visits, and collaborating in individual and lab meetings. Familiarity with Word and Excel are required. Knowledge of statistics (e.g. SPSS) and any previous research experience are a plus, but not required. We give priority to highly-motivated students who are interested in our specific research aims and who are particularly interested in studying how family, culture, and SES influence development.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Orion Mowbray
Email:omowbray@umich.edu, Phone:
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
When one finds themselves in the numerical minority, concerns can arise about being stereotyped. This is an important phenomenon because perceiving that one is the target of negative stereotypes can result in negative feelings, lowered expectations, and diminished performance. In our lab group, we are working to examine whether sharing a common in-group with others can buffer the feelings of being stereotyped negatively despite being in the numerical minority. To learn more about our research, please visit:http://sitemaker.umich.edu/orion.mowbray/reducing_identity_threat__sharing_a_common_ingroup
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
RAs will have the responsibility of attending one-hour weekly lab group meetings, conducting laboratory experiments, and doing data entry. All levels of experience are welcome.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Linas A. Bieliauskas, Ph.D.; 734-936-6619
Email: linas@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Lauren Drag, Ph.D.
Email:ldrag@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Neuropsychological Changes with Normal and Abnormal Aging, Chronic Disease, and Head Injuries
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Clinical
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Biopsychology, Cognition and Perception
Project Description:
This description covers ongoing projects in the areas of aging, chronic disease, and head injuries which are conducted primarily at the associated Veterans Administration Hospital. Students will be involved in testing patients for cognitive and emotional status on admission to the nursing home care unit, veterans returning from the Gulf Wars area, patients with cardiovascular and liver disease, and normal aging subjects. Students will learn clinical skills associated with administering psychological tests, learn to administer and score various clinical test instruments, get experience with data entry, and learn the application of medical and psychological test data to research protocols. Team members meet weekly to coordinate activities, learn about relevant neuropsychological syndromes, and track progress of research projects. Honors theses are sponsored and encouraged, as well as participation in ongoing research protocols which result in national and international presentation and peer-reviewed publication. Travel to national sites for data collection and for meeting presentations is supported as resources are available.
Time commitment requested:
Minimum of day per week plus weekly meeting of 1 hour.
Qualifications of student:
| Credit Offered: | yes | Money: | |
| Experience only: | yes | Workstudy: | no |
Project Director:
Diana Betz
Email: dibetz@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
(1) Meta-Disparagement Humor: Racist/Sexist Jokes in the Age of Colbert and Chappelle; (2) Seeing Eye-to-Eye on Race; (3) Feminine Math/Science Role Models
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
I have three projects running within the broad field of stereotypes and prejudice.
(1) We are currently examining the effects of "meta-disparagement humor," a term we are using to describe the faux-politically-incorrect jokes favored on shows like The Colbert Report and 30 Rock. Although such sarcastic/ironic disparagement jokes have a different intention than straightforward disparagement jokes, they trade on the same stereotypes. Thus, would a "meta-sexist" joke activate negative female stereotypes just like a straightforward sexist joke would? Would a "meta-homophobic" joke harm or improve attitudes towards gay marriage? Tasks include literature reviews, searching for clips and jokes online, and running participants.
(2) A second, ongoing study asks when people of different races are most likely to perceive race as an influential factor in everyday situations. We believe that it depends on whether the event is good or bad, on whether it happens to a Black or White individual, and what kinds of attitudes the perceiver holds (e.g., an awareness of white privilege). We are also interested in whether people of different races believe their views on race are different than those of people of other races, and whether changing this perception can improve interracial interaction.
(3) A third study examines the role of femininity in math/science role models. Science skills and femininity are often seen as incompatible: would adolescent girls express more interest in and identification with math/science if exposed to a stereotypically feminine yet math-competent role model? Or would such role models backfire, perhaps being seen as unrealistic or intimidatingly perfect? Creative recruiting strategies will be used to conduct research on adolescent girls.
Time commitment requested:
6 - 9 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
Research assistants are needed for Fall 2010, with preference given to RAs who can commit to winter 2011 and/or Summer 2010 as well. RAs will participate in multiple levels of research, including doing background research, preparing experimental materials, discussing current research, coding and managing data, and recruiting & 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 and analysis. Interest in the topic at hand is a must. Motivation, reliability, creativity, and flexibility are encouraged, and familiarity with Word and Excel are required (knowledge of statistics [e.g. SPSS] and any previous research experience are a plus).
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
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.
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:
Michael Shvartsman
Email: mshvarts@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Professor Rick Lewis
Email:rickl@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Adaptive eye movements in reading
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience
Project Description:
We are interested in understanding how people move their eyes while reading. More specifically, we want to understand how people adapt their eye movement patterns while reading both to their own individual underlying cognitive / motor constraints, and to the specific reading task in front of them. Interested undergraduates will get a chance to learn how to work with a head-mounted eye-tracker, as well as learn about cutting-edge theories of memory, language, and adaptive control. Opportunities to learn data analysis in R and get involved in computational modeling are available as well.
Time commitment requested:
8+ hours per week
Qualifications of student:
High reliability, motivation and capacity for independent thinking / work is absolutely required. Also crucial are excellent organizational and interpersonal skills, as is general computer proficiency. I currently have enough help with general RA tasks but am willing to consider exceptionally strong candidates with experience in data analysis in R (will consider strong SAS / Stata skills) or programming in Python. Interested applicants should submit a resume and unofficial transcript to Mike Shvartsman at mshvarts@umich.edu
| Credit Offered: | yes | Money: | no |
| Experience only: | no | Workstudy: | no |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Jill Bennett
Email:jillbenn@umich.edu, Phone: (734) 763-4222
Overall Title of Project:
Alone and Threatened or Allies and Safe? The Effects of Gender and Racial Allies on Identity and Performance
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
Why do ethnic minority women view ethnic minority men as race and gender allies, but do not view White women as gender allies? Why do White women feel less connected to same race men when compared to ethnic minority women? My research examines the effects that these gender and racial allies have on identity and performance. This study essentially tests how gender solo status (being the only female in a group of males) intersects with racial identity. In a previous study, it was demonstrated that Black females show evidence of threat (i.e., identity distancing) when experiencing race solo status from both their racial as well as gender identity. So, the presence of other females (White women) does not seem to buffer the effects of threat. However, Black women showed much less evidence of threat (no identity distancing from gender or race) in gender solo status, which was perhaps due to the presence of fellow Blacks (Black men). Thus, it may be that minority women in gender solo status may feel kinship and identify with male members of the group who are also ethnic minority, and this can ultimately reduce gender identity threat for them. The proposed study will further explore this solo ally effect.
Time commitment requested:
6-12 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
Research assistants will be involved in all phases from conducting studies to analyzing results. Research assistants should be enthusiastic about the topic, reliable, and motivated to understand the research process. All levels of experience are welcome!
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | 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 Cognitive Neuroscience
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
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:
Fred Conrad, 734-936-1019
Email: fconrad@isr.umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Applying techniques from everyday conversation to the reduction of ambiguity and conceptual misalignment in survey interviews
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognition; Psycholinguistics
Project Description:
An undergraduate research assistant with interests in language comprehension and/or research methodology is needed for a project comparing the comprehension of respondents in interviews based on two theories of communication. Responsibilities will include transcribing, coding, and analyzing recorded interviews.
The message model of comprehension maintains that when someone has a thought they wish to communicate they convert it into words and utter those words; the listener perceives them and turns them into the intended meaning. An alternative view, based on H.H. Clarks idea of grounding meaning, is that people talk about what has just been said until they are confident they understand each other. We (Fred Conrad and Brady West, working in the Institute for Social Research) are conducting a study that applies the grounding idea to survey interviews. The typical approach to survey interviewing is standardized, i.e., interviewers follow a strict script in order to keep the stimulus constant across respondents but this approach prevents grounding and so may overlook misconception by respondents and inaccurate answers as a result.
We are exploring conversational interviewing in which its possible for the interviewer to answer a request for clarification using whatever words are required to assure that all respondents understand the question in the way it was intended. The result may be less uniform wording across respondents (and thus less standardized stimuli) but more accurate understanding and responses.
For more information or background, please contract Fred Conrad (fconrad@isr.umich.edu) or Brady West (bwest@umich.edu).
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
Interest in comprehension processes and/or research methodology; a course in psycholinguistics or conversation analysis will be especially useful; prior research experience is also a plus.
| Credit Offered: | yes | Money: | |
| Experience only: | | Workstudy: | |
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 Cognitive Neuroscience
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
Qualifications of student:
None.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Jill Bennett
Email:jillbenn@umich.edu, Phone: (734) 763-4222
Overall Title of Project:
Changing the Impact of Stereotype Threat: Influencing Malleable Social Identities
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
When we think about social identities, we often think of identities that are relatively fixed and unchangeable, like gender and race. However, some identities are seemingly more malleable, such as social class. Is it possible that the way we think about these changeable identities could impact our experiences of stereotypes associated with those identities? In other words, does the extent to which we think of an identity as stable, global (impacting all areas of our lives), and controllable affect how we are negatively impacted by related stereotypes? This line of research uses Attribution Theory to examine this possibility. We believe that if we can encourage people to think about certain changeable identities as less stable, less global, and more controllable, they might be better equipped and less negatively affected when encountering negative stereotypes associated with those identities.
Time commitment requested:
6-12 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
Research assistants will be involved in all phases from conducting studies to analyzing results. Research assistants should be enthusiastic about the topic, reliable, and motivated to understand the research process. All levels of experience are welcome!
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Julie Kaplow, PhD
Email:
Alternate Contact:
Emilie Lerner
Email:ellerner@med.umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
CIRCLE Project
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Clinical
Project Description:
This research study, called the CIRCLE Project (Coping In Response to Childhood Loss Experiences) is being conducted by Dr. Julie Kaplow at the University of Michigan Depression Center (Rachel Upjohn Building). The goal of the study is to learn more about how children respond (psychologically, behaviorally, and physiologically) to the death of a parent and what factors, both within the children themselves and in their social environment, seem to help them to cope over time.
The study includes children ages 3 to 12 who have lost a parent within the last six months. Surviving parents and their child(ren) are asked to complete questionnaires related to their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. We videotape an open-ended interview with the child as well as an interview with the child and the surviving parent, both of which are
later coded for certain behaviors, coping strategies, and patterns of communication. We also collect saliva samples from the families as well as heart rate and sleep data from the children in order to better understand physiological responses to grief.
As a research assistant, your responsibilities may include data entry, data checking, video coding, participant recruitment, lab-related tasks, participation in lab meetings, and possible observation and/or interaction with participating families.
For more information about Dr. Julie Kaplow's work, please see:
http://www.lsa.umich.edu/psych/people/directory/profiles/faculty/?uniquename=julieb.
Please contact Emilie Lerner at ellerner@med.umich.edu or (734) 276-4071 for more information.
Time commitment requested:
At least 3 hours/week.
Qualifications of student:
Psychology majors with at least a 3.2 GPA who are interested in pursuing a graduate degree in psychology. An availability of at least 2 semesters is preferred. Some experience with research as well as SPSS. We give priority
to highly-motivated students who are interested in our specific research aims and who are particularly interested in children, child psychopathology, and/or child development. Sophomores and Juniors are especially encouraged to
apply.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Steven Tompson
Email:tompson@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Cultural Neuroscience: Investigating the Social and Neural Bases of Social Cognition and Behavior
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social Psychology
Project Description:
Our research focuses on how culture and the brain dynamically interact to influence how people think and behave, as well as how the social environment influences neural processes. In order to investigate these issues, we employ a variety of neuroscience methodologies, including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), and genotyping. The goal of the current series of studies is to investigate how and why cultural and subcultural differences in cognition and behavior might occur. We focus on Eastern and Western cultures, as well as social class differences within the US. Effects we investigate include attribution of social behavior, self-referential processing, conflict detection and error monitoring, and emotion regulation.
Students will have the opportunity to be involved in some aspects of the project, based on experience and personal fit: data analysis, design and programming of new experiments, and literature review. Additionally, students will learn how to use an electroencephalogram (EEG) to measure brain waves, help to schedule and run participants using EEG, analyze the EEG and behavioral data using MATLAB, EEGLab, and SPSS, and attend weekly lab meetings. Students will learn how to conduct research using behavioral and neuroscience methodology, 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:
7-10 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
Students must be motivated, independent, reliable, and organized. Students should be willing to learn. The most successful students will be those interested in the project and in learning social psychological as well as neuroscience methods. Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills are required, as is advanced computer proficiency (e.g., programming, MATLAB, SPSS, etc.).
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | Yes |
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
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 Thoughts, Dirty Talk: 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 (2-4 credits; negotiable)
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 but not required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Alvin Thomas
Email: althomas@umich.edu (734) 763-5685
Alternate Contact:
Albert Cain
Email:cainac@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Emotion Management Study
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Clinical Psychology
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Clinical, Developmental, Social
Project Description:
The Emotion Management study is meant to test the efficacy of a piloted intervention program. This five week intervention program was aimed at positively affecting the emotion-expression decisions as well as the conflict resolution and emotion management skills of 22 boys. These boys live in a center as their temporary home and have either committed a minor crime of varying degree or have been placed there by the family court as part of an order of protection since no other alternative exists for dealing with them. Their families seem unable to manage their behavior, even though the behavior may not be criminal. The boys range in age from 9-17 years. I am looking for one or more research assistants to help me with managing and processing this new dataset. Research assistants will have the opportunity to learn about all aspects of the research process such as IRB preparation, literature searches and reviews, participant recruitment, interviewing, survey administration, data cleaning, data entry, and data analysis.
Time commitment requested:
2 - 3 hours weekly
Qualifications of student:
Communicates well in writing, is organized and motivated, knowledge of SPSS and/or excel is an asset, has research skills (analytical mind, creativity, online searches etc.). Students should be independent, reliable, and willing to learn.
| Credit Offered: | | Money: | |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | |
Project Director:
Ed O'Brien
Email: obrieneh@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Emotions: Experiencing and Thinking
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
Don't believe everything you think! The Beatles famously sang that their troubles of yesterday seemed so far away - but were they right? Is the grass from the past really greener than today? In my lab, I examine the ways in which people think about emotions versus how their emotions are actually experienced. Whenever people remove themselves from the "here and now" - whether imagining their pasts and futures, taking the perspectives of other people, or contemplating decisions they should (or shouldn't) make - they tend to misremember and mispredict how these experiences actually feel. This is a problem: inaccurately thinking about emotional experiences can often lead to maladaptive psychological consequences. Will you really regret not asking your lab partner on a date? Was high school really as great as you think it was? Does time really fly when you have fun? Do other people really feel the same way you do? More than you might realize, the answers to these questions largely depend on situational factors outside of your own control - like the people you're with, your current mood, and your cultural background.
This intersection of thinking and feeling - specifically, the causes and consequences of how we often inaccurately think about how we feel - is the major theme of my research. I aim to test these issues with laboratory experiments - with your help! Motivated students with or without experience are encouraged to apply. Working in the lab will provide you with the skills and knowledge needed to conduct research, summarize literature, interact with participants, and analyze data using statistics. I also am interested in your own opinions and insights into the various questions we will address, and I am happy to guide your own projects as well as supervise an Honors Thesis on your road to graduate school.
Time commitment requested:
8-12 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
Students should be psychology majors (although students from all backgrounds are eligible) who are highly motivated, hard-working, care about even the smallest details, and passionate about discussing and researching the topics listed above. Students who want to make a 2-semester (or more) commitment are especially encouraged to apply. Prior research experience is preferred, but not required - you will be able to gain all the necessary skills from scratch.
| Credit Offered: | Yes (2-4 credits; negotiable) | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Chrissy Carino
Email:cacarino@umich.edu, Phone: (734) 763-4222
Overall Title of Project:
Examining the Role of Others on Our Motivation to Compete and Achieve
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
There currently exists a vast literature in the field of social psychology examining how the presence of others influences our performance on a number of tasks. The broad purpose of this lab is to examine the impact of ubiquitous contextual factors (e.g., number of competitors present, proximity to an important ranking) on individuals' motivation to compete and ability to achieve. Previous work in the lab has found that students perform better on the SAT when taking the exam in the presence of fewer others, that companies who are ranked #500 and #501 on the Fortune 500 list are more competitive with each other than companies ranked #100 and #101, and that an individual's competitive performance suffers if he/she encounters a greater number of competitors than anticipated. This specific project is a meta-analysis of the social facilitation literature. Research assistants will be responsible for reading research articles and recording data found within the articles.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours per week (2-3 credits)
Qualifications of student:
Research assistants will be working on their own time to analyze and record information from scholarly journal articles. As a result, time management skills and attention to detail are of utmost importance. Research assistants should be enthusiastic about the topic, reliable, and motivated to understand the research process. All levels of experience are welcome!
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Julie Kaplow, PhD
Email:
Alternate Contact:
Emilie Lerner
Email:ellerner@med.umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
FAMILY Study
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Clinical
Project Description:
The FAMILY (Facing A Maternal Illness in Latency Years) Study, led by Dr. Julie Kaplow, is a study of children ages 6-12 who have a mother who has been diagnosed with breast cancer within the previous 6 months. The primary goal of the study is to better understand how children cope with maternal breast cancer. Specifically we hope to identify the psychological, behavioral, and interpersonal risk and protective factors that affect childrens psychological functioning, including stress-related psychiatric symptoms such as posttraumatic stress, anxiety and depression. Participating mothers and their children are asked to complete questionnaires related to their prior stressful life events, current mental health, coping strategies and patterns of communication. We also videotape an open-ended interview with each child and the mother together, which is later coded for various dimensions of mother-child communication.
Please contact the CIRCLE Project and FAMILY Study project coordinator, Emilie Lerner, at ellerner@med.umich.edu or (734) 276-4071 for more information.
Time commitment requested:
A commitment to work for at least 2 semesters and for a minimum of 4 hours per week.
Qualifications of student:
| Credit Offered: | | Money: | |
| Experience only: | | Workstudy: | |
Project Director:
Brenda Volling
Email:
Alternate Contact:
Lauren Rosenberg
Email:lbrosenb@umich.edu, Phone: 615-4101
Overall Title of Project:
Family Transitions and Toddler Development
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Project Description:
The goal of the Family Transitions Project is to examine changes occurring in the family before and after the birth of a second child. 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 have recruited 241 families that have had a second child. Data collection for the study is almost complete, and coding and analysis of the data is underway. Data for the last time point, when the younger child is 36-months old, is still being collected. Students will assist with data collection: conducting child assessments with older siblings, videotaping observational sessions with parents and children both in the homes and in the laboratory on campus. Other duties involve data entry, preparation of study materials, and coding of observational data. Research assistants are asked to commit for at least two semesters, devoting 9 to 10 hours/week to the research project.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours per week
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 weekends. Owning a car is a plus, but not required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Kristen Elmore
Email:kelmore@umich.edu, Phone: 919.612.5991
Overall Title of Project:
Gender in the Classroom
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
Why do girls and boys behave differently within the context of school? This project examines this topic through two lines of inquiry. The first is to determine whether student behaviors within classrooms are affected by the content of salient images of ones gender. For example, are girls more likely to work hard at school in response to the suggestion that school achievement is a female pursuit? Is the opposite true when its suggested that school success is a male domain? The other line of study is the role of perceptions of power in the classroom and whether boys and girls perceive the hierarchical structure of the classroom differently. Are boys acting out in class more than girls as a display of personal autonomy? These topics will be explored through the use of priming techniques and experimental design. The project involves both laboratory studies at the university and field experiments with adolescents. Student responsibilities may vary, but include administering lab-based studies to subject pool participants (e.g., administering the study, debriefing participants, and assigning subject pool credit), assisting in school-based data collection, and data entry.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours/week
Qualifications of student:
Students should be reliable and organized, as well as motivated to learn more about the topic and about the research process. Academic credit can be earned through Psych 323 (credit/no credit) or Psych 327 (graded credit).
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | |
| Experience only: | | Workstudy: | |
Project Director:
Aleah Burson
Email: aburson@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Helping people regulate negative emotion due to a stressful situation by inducing a psychologically distanced perspective
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
How can people best manage the stress and anxiety they feel when faced with a challenging task, such as giving a public speech or taking an important test, so that their negative emotion doesnt interfere with performance or lead to rumination? I am currently conducting several projects which investigate whether adopting a distanced (or observer/detached/mindful) perspective on an anxiety provoking event can promote better emotion regulation than taking an immersed (or first person/field) perspective. If you are interested in assisting with this research (e.g., running studies, acting as a confederate, coding covert audio and visual recordings of participants), please email me so we can schedule a meeting.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours per week (2 or 3 credits)
Qualifications of student:
No research experience or special skills are expected, but assistants must be personable, responsible, and motivated.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Emily Bonem
Email: ebonem@umich.edu Phone: (734) 763-5621
Overall Title of Project:
Incidental and Task-Related Emotions on Risk Assessment Tasks
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
What is the role of emotions in our decision-making processes? Does it matter if the emotions we are feeling are related to the decision at hand? How do different types of emotions affect our assessments of risk? These are some of the questions that we are examining in our current study on the affects of incidental and task-related emotions on risk assessment tasks. Students would be involved in participant recruitment, scheduling and running participants in experiments using E-prime software. Students may also be involved in data entry and some data analysis.
Time commitment requested:
6-12 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
Students should be highly motivated, responsible, organized and interested in both the topic and in gaining research experience in the field of psychology. Experience with E-prime or programming is appreciated but not required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Rick Price
Email: ricprice@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Innovators and Entrepreneurs: Psychology and Strategy
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Organizational
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Personality and Social Context ; Social Psychology
Project Description:
This project is about innovators and entrepreneurs. Are they different from the rest of us? Do they think and act in distinctive ways? Innovators and entrepreneurs are people who put their new ideas to use in the world. Their dream may be to create a new business, help a disadvantaged group or save the environment, but beneath the surface they share a common set of strategies. We will study how they frame problems, marshal persuasive tactics and manage cooperation as they turn their vision into a new enterprise.
We are looking for students who are passionate about doing research to gain a deeper understanding of the psychology and strategies used by innovators and entrepreneurs. Students will have a chance to interview innovators and entrepreneurs, work in teams, review the popular and scholarly literature, analyze interviews, write case studies and analyze existing data sets. Students interested in doing undergraduate honors theses or applying to graduate school will find this project especially useful.
You will learn: How to conduct interviews, do observational and archival research, design and write case studies, and the practical skills for doing research at both the undergraduate and graduate level.
Time commitment requested:
8-12 hours per week [2-4 credits; negotiable]
Qualifications of student:
Students should be majors in psychology or majors relevant to the content of this project 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 and writing skills preferred.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | Yes (negotiable) |
| Experience only: | No | 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
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:
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 Cognitive Neuroscience
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
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:
Alternate Contact:
Amanda Broderick
Email:psych-macy-team@med.umich.edu, Phone: 734-232-0205
Overall Title of Project:
MACY (Maternal Anxiety during the Childbearing Years)
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Psychiatry, Clinical
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Clinical, Developmental
Project Description:
Dr. Maria Muzik's research team coordinates several projects related to depression and trauma in high-risk mothers and young children. We are looking for students to assist with a variety of research tasks, such as data entry and verification, transcribing narrative interviews, conducting phone interviews, helping with home and lab assessments, and assisting with interventions targeting high-risk families. In addition, this position offers the opportunity for hands-on experience with data analysis and presentation, learning about developmental and clinical research, interventions for parents of young children, and administrative aspects of running longitudinal and intervention studies.
Time commitment requested:
8-10 hours/week, including one 4-hour shift
Qualifications of student:
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | |
Project Director:
Patricia Reuter-Lorenz
Email:
Alternate Contact:
Patricia Reuter-Lorenz
Email:parl@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Memory and Cognitive Training Across the Lifespan
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Cognitive and Affective Neuropsychology
Project Description:
Distractions can distort our memory, or cause us to forget. Our lab investigates how and why our memories are vulnerable to interference. We are also working on interventions to improve memory. We use both behavioral and neuroimaging (fMRI) techniques to understand how executive functions such as attention allocation and interference resolution can trained. We are especially interested in how these abilities may be affected by normal aging. 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
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:
Elma Lorenzo-Blanco, M.S.
Email: elmalb@umich.edu Phone: 734.615.2918
Alternate Contact:
Jorge Delva, PhD
Email:jdelva@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
MIXED-METHODS STUDY OF CIGARETTE SMOKING AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS AMONG LATINO/A MEN AND WOMEN
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Clinical Psychology
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Psychology and Womens Studies
Project Description:
I am looking for one or more research assistants to help me with a community based research project that examines smoking, depression, and gender among Latino/as in Michigan. The overarching goal of this exploratory investigation is to obtain rich information on smoking, smoking cessation, and depression to design culturally relevant smoking cessation and prevention programs. Data will be collected via self-administered surveys, focus-groups, and face-face interviews with Latino/a adults and children. Research assistants will have the opportunity to learn about all aspects of the research process such as IRB preparation, literature searches and reviews, participant recruitment, interviewing, survey administration, data cleaning, data entry, and data analysis.
Time commitment requested:
8-10 hours/negotiable
Qualifications of student:
Students should be motivated, independent, reliable, and organized. Students should also be willing to learn. Because this project involves interviewing individuals who may not be proficient in English, I am ideally looking for Spanish-speaking research assistants.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | Pending on Funding |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Lori Hoggard
Email: lhoggard@umich.edu
Robert Sellers, PhD
Email:
Overall Title of Project:
Mood, Heart Rate & Blood Pressure.
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Personality
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Social and Physiological Psychology
Project Description:
The social environment can affect our moods and emotions as well as our physical and mental health outcomes. This project examines how people differ in their mood, blood pressure, and heart rate responses to laboratory-induced mistreatment. This research is provocative and it is important that Research Assistants are comfortable assisting in this type of research. Research Assistants will be trained to measure mood, heart rate, and blood pressure, and administer web-based surveys. Research Assistants will also have the opportunity to assist in other tasks and activities as desired.
Time commitment requested:
6-10 hours a week
Qualifications of student:
The researcher is seeking two White female Research Assistants, and a Black female Research Assistant. Students must be highly motivated, reliable, willing to learn, have a flexible schedule, and feel comfortable interacting with people. Preference will be given to students who are available for two consecutive semesters. Previous research experience and some background in psychology is preferred but not required. The researcher will try to make the research experience as interesting and valuable as possible.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Susan Gelman
Email:umichconcepts@gmail.com, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Ongoing studies that examine concepts and language in children.
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Project Description:
We have several ongoing studies that examine concepts and language in children. Some tasks are brief, game-like experiments with preschoolers. Other tasks involve videotaping and coding parent-child book-reading sessions. Research assistant duties would include: testing participants, entering data into Excel, coding responses, and being involved in the day-to-day lab activities.
Time commitment requested:
9 - 12 hrs/week
Qualifications of student:
Students who are psychology majors, or majors in other related fields. Prior experience not needed. Research assistants needed for the winter semester 2012. Preference will be given to students who are available for additional semesters.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Nicholaus Noles
Email:nsnoles@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Ownership, Concepts, and Language
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Cognitive development, psycholinguistics, and social cognition
Project Description:
This project examines how language and experience interact in child development. We have a variety of ongoing studies examining different topics, including the development of concepts of ownership and property, the effects on language and knowledge on learning, etc. Responsibilities include interacting with children and adults, administering (and perhaps designing) experimental tasks, videotaping parent-child interactions, coding, data entry, and other creative tasks. Bright and hard working students will have opportunities to contribute to developmental research.
Time commitment requested:
Approximately 6-9 hours (2-3 credits) per week
Qualifications of student:
Required: GPA of 3.5 or above; coursework in psychology; ability to work well with others. Any of the following are desirable (though NOT required): driving license and person vehicle, psychology lab course, statistics course, or prior research experience.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Robin Edelstein
Email:
Alternate Contact:
Emily Shipman
Email:emship@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Personality, Cognition, and Emotion Lab
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Personality
Project Description:
Our research examines how people differ in their reactions to emotional situations and their processing of emotional information: Why do some people respond defensively in stressful situations? How do people limit the processing of potentially distressing information? When might memory be impaired for emotional material? And what are the consequences of these kinds of defensive processes?
Current lab projects include studies of attentional biases associated with attachment avoidance and narcissism; the physiological and health correlates of defensive personality traits and behaviors; and the role of emotional valence in human memory.
Time commitment requested:
6 hours per week/ 2 Semester minimum requirement
Qualifications of student:
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | |
| Experience only: | | Workstudy: | |
Project Director:
David Reinhard
Email: davidre@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Sara Konrath
Email:skonrath@isr.umich.edu , Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Physiological Effects of Helping Others
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social Psychology
Project Description:
Helping others can predict improvements in the helpers physical and psychological well-being. The proposed studies investigate the hypothesis that helping insulates the helper against stressors encountered after the helping episode. Our research, generated from animal models of caregiving motivation and stress regulation, breaks new ground by exploring the relationship between helping and stress reduction experimentally with human participants. In particular, this research (a) tests the hypothesis that helping another facilitates recovery from cardiovascular stress, and (b) examines emotional and hormonal correlates that may mediate or moderate links between helping and stress recovery. Our lab conducts high-quality, cutting-edge research in a fun and intellectually stimulating environment.
Time commitment requested:
9-12 hours/week during summer (3-4 credits)
3-hour orientation in late April/early May 2010.
Qualifications of student:
Students should be motivated, responsible, and organized and possess an interest in gaining research experience in the field of psychology. The research assistant may be responsible for 1) recruiting subjects and running experiments, 2) entering, organizing and coding previously collected data, 3) acting in a deception study, 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 research.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Adena Rottenstein
Email: adena@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Psychology of Disability Research Lab
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Personality
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Social, Health, Education and Psychology
Project Description:
Psychologists have long viewed the experience of disability from a medical/clinical perspective focusing on perceived losses or limitations, and seeking to help people to adjust to their conditions. The Psychology of Disability research lab runs counter to that perspective, and utilizes what is known as the Social Model of Disability to argue that people with disabilities should be seen as a minority group united not by their particular impairments, but by their shared experiences in navigating a physical, social, and political environment which, in general, is not suited to their needs. We have a number of projects which explore the experience of disability from this perspective, including work on disability identity, disability stigma & prejudice, and disability activism. We also collaborate with a number of different research labs in psychology and with other on and off campus groups. If you are interested in joining the lab, please check out our webpage at http://sitemaker.umich.edu/rottenstein.lab and click on the "Join Our Lab!"
link. It will review in more details the responsibilities of URAs as well as provide instructions for how to formally apply for a position.
Time commitment requested:
5-15 hours of independent work + 1 hour mandatory lab meeting per week. Course credit is available to students who remain in the lab for more than one semester.
Qualifications of student:
Interested students must be self-motivated, organized, and able to effectively communicate with others. Familiarity with disability studies in addition to psychology research methods is preferred, but not required if youre willing to work, we will teach you!
| Credit Offered: | Maybe | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Patricia Gurin
Email:pgurin@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Race, Religion, Sexuality, Gender: Identity Learning in Intergroup Settings
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Project Description:
IGR conducts empirical research to assess its outcomes on students and the processes through which those outcomes take place. We aim to answer questions about what students gain short-term and long-term by participating in intergroup dialogue, by becoming facilitators of intergroup dialogue and of workshops with student organizations (called Common Ground Workshops). We also address how intergroup dialogue pedagogy as practiced in the dialogues, courses designed to train facilitators, and actual practice of facilitation influences these outcomes. In specific research projects research assistants will have an opportunity to see how intergroup dialogue experiences and facilitation develop cultural competencies that are highly valued in business, engineering, health, international, and educational careers.
Undergraduate research assistants will be involved in both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. Some assistants will want to specialize in either qualitative or quantitative methods; others will want to acquire skills in both methods. By the end of the year, students will develop their own research questions and learn how to craft a formal presentation of their findings.
Student Tasks and Responsibilities
UROP students will be involved in a dynamic research team with other undergraduate, graduate and faculty researchers. They will be involved in a variety of tasks such as:
Attending regular research team meetings
Conducting literature reviews
Managing data and data collection.
Interviewing students
Transcribing interviews
Coding interviews
inputting survey data as well as material coded from the interviews
Learning NVIVO, a qualitative software program
Learning SPSS and analyzing data quantitatively
Writing papers
Making presentations of research results
We expect that UROP students will work closely and collaboratively with an interdisciplinary research team comprising undergraduates, graduate students, staff and faculty.
What specific skills and knowledge do you think the students(s) will gain from working on this research project?
This position is appropriate for students who may be interested in studying psychology, sociology, womens studies, education, ethnic studies, social anthropology, social work as well as students from any field who may be interested in acquiring the multicultural competencies valued now in many careers and fields of endeavor, and/or having an opportunity to apply mathematics and utilize computer-based analysis applications.
Students will gain the following:
Understanding research methods used in the social sciences, particularly as they pertain to program evaluation and assessment.
Strong foundation in qualitative research practices such as data collection, interviewing research subjects, transcribing, coding and analyzing qualitative data, learning qualitative software. programs and an introduction to mixed methods research.
Applying mathematics through an introduction to mixed methods research by learning SPSS statistical software, inputting and analyzing survey data.
Multicultural competencies by working on a diverse research team where the research topics emphasize social identities and multicultural issues.
Time commitment requested:
Qualifications of student:
Basic computer skills. Ability to conduct library searches. Statistical training and familiarity with SPSS desirable in some students but not necessary for all students.
| Credit Offered: | | Money: | |
| Experience only: | | Workstudy: | |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Orion Mowbray
Email:omowbray@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Reducing Identity Threat Sharing a Common Ingroup
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
When one finds themselves in the numerical minority, concerns can arise about being stereotyped. This is an important phenomenon because perceiving that one is the target of negative stereotypes can result in negative feelings, lowered expectations, and diminished performance. In our lab group, we are working to examine whether sharing a common in-group with others can buffer the feelings of being stereotyped negatively despite being in the numerical minority. To learn more about our research, please visit:http://sitemaker.umich.edu/orion.mowbray/reducing_identity_threat__sharing_a_common_ingroup
RAs will have the responsibility of attending one-hour weekly lab group meetings, conducting laboratory experiments, and doing data entry. All levels of experience are welcome.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Dr. Cynthia Ewell Foster, Department of Psychiatry
Email: cjfoster@med.umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Allie Wills
Email:willsam@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
SAMSHA Transforming Youth Suicide Program
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Clinical
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Community
Project Description:
What is the best way to reach adolescents at risk for suicide? How can so-called gatekeepers (teachers, school counselors and others) recognize adolescents at risk for suicide and link them to the appropriate resources? Our SAMSHA-funded project is looking to answer these questions, after providing these gatekeepers with a suicide prevention training. A research assistant is needed for data entry and data organization. The research assistant should be self-motivated and energetic with attention to detail.
Time commitment requested:
5-10 hours/week (flexible)
Qualifications of student:
Undergraduate coursework in psychology;
Transportation to the Rachel Upjohn Building;
Previous work experience (with references)
| Credit Offered: | No | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
David Lee
Email: dsjlee@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Seeing Friendliness in Negative Feedback
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
When people meet a stranger, they need to quickly distinguish whether that person is going to be a friend or an enemy, as connecting with an enemy can be disastrous. Because of this, we frequently try to obtain information about others to predict what they might be like. In this project, we investigate what kind of cues people use to assess friendliness in others. The experiments will include interacting with participants, administering paper-based surveys, and behavioral measures. Research assistants will be responsible for preparing experimental materials, running subjects, and entering and coding data.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
We are looking for students who are reliable, punctual, detail-oriented, and motivated to gain research experience. Good communication and organization skills and knowledge of some basic computer skills are also required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Anna Linda Hagen; 734-834-6340
Email: alhagen@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Professor Norbert Schwarz
Email:nschwarz@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Selection, Employment, and Impact of Alternative Metaphors on Consumers Judgment and Decision-making
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Consumer Psychology
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Experimental Consumer Research, Embodied Cognition, Social Cognition
Project Description:
An intriguing line of research shows that how we evaluate people and objects (e.g., consumer products) can be influenced by bodily sensations that are related to metaphors used in common language. For instance, physical warmth influences judgments of social warmth and even highly complex perceptive conceptions such as sweet or bitter taste can shape how we judge the personality of others and ourselves to the effect that others seem to have a sweeter personality when we taste something sweet rather than bitter. Our project addresses processes of this type and asks which factors determine whether a given metaphor is used or not, and which of several applicable metaphors are drawn upon to aid information processing.
Our research assistant will have the opportunity to participate in all steps of an experimental research project. Core responsibilities include literature and internet searches, approaching potential research participants and inviting them to partake in our studies, presenting them with the study materials (i.e. products to be evaluated, survey sheets to be filled out), and organizing and managing the collected data.
Time commitment requested:
6 hours per week (2 credits)
Qualifications of student:
We are looking for students who are:
- Psychology majors familiar with the experimental method of research.
- Dependable and diligent workers, well-organized in terms of managing time and materials, and honest
- Outgoing and confident (and polite) enough to approach a variety of people in person to encourage them to participate in our research
- Genuinely curious, capable of independent thinking, and motivated to learn. Experience with SPSS and/or literature research is welcome but not required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Barbara Smuts
Email: bsmuts@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Social Behavior in Domestic Dogs
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Biopsychology
Project Description:
Students will code specific behaviors while watching video (on computers) of social interactions among domestic dogs. The interactions occur mainly during play and greetings. The videos are filmed locally (in back yards or dog parks, etc.) as part of an ongoing study of dog social behavior. Students will use slow motion and frame-by-frame viewing to recognize and code subtle or rapid behaviors difficult to identify in real time. Through this experience, students will develop an excellent eye for complex behavioral sequences. Since these observational skills will generalize to other species, this training is useful for any student interested in studying naturally occurring behavior in animals, including humans. Students will work for a pre-agreed, average number of hours each week at a video laboratory in East Hall. Work hours are flexible but a minimum of 6 hours/week is required. Students can take the course as Psych 322 (credit/no credit) or Psych 326. The latter involves writing a 6-8 page paper in scientific format that describes the coding, analysis, and interpretation of some aspect of dog behavior. Students highly motivated to continue with research may participate further in subsequent terms. Advanced students may have opportunities to design their own research projects in collaboration with Dr. Smuts and other experienced students.
Time commitment requested:
Minimum 6 hrs/week
Qualifications of student:
At least one previous class in animal behavior, such as Psych 335 or Psych 338 (same as Anthro 368) and Psych 530, "Behavior of wolves & dogs" taught by Dr. Smuts.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Oscar Ybarra
Email: oybarra@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
David Lee
Email:dsjlee@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Social Factors in Decision Making
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
Standard economic perspectives tend to assume that people are always rational. However, research in social psychology has shown in many studies that people at times make decisions that do not make perfect economic sense, for example, forgoing large long-term benefits for smaller short-term ones. At times people run into this kind of trouble because of the involvement of other people other people have a way of influencing us to make less than optimal decisions because they can trigger motives such as competition, altruism, or a veritable buffet of emotions that affect thinking. In this study, we are exploring the idea that social factors, in particular secure and supportive social relations, can make people more rational. The experiments will include interacting with participants, administering computer-based surveys, and behavioral measures. Research assistants will be responsible for preparing experimental materials, running subjects, and entering and coding data.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
We are looking for students who are reliable, punctual, detail-oriented, and motivated to gain research experience. Good communication and organization skills and knowledge of some basic computer skills are also required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Sari van Anders
Email: apply through website info. below
Alternate Contact:
Lauren Hipp
Email:hipplau@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Social Neuroendocrinology
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Biopsychology
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Social, Gender
Project Description:
Hormones+Gender/Sex+Evolution+Sexuality
Lab Research
We study how hormones and social behaviors are associated.
All research is conducted with humans.
For more info on the lab and how to apply, please see http://www-personal.umich.edu/~smva/jointhelab.html
Time commitment requested:
5-10 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
Comfortable working with people;
Dependable, motivated, interested in research;
Able to devote 7-10 hours/week to the lab;
Majors in: Psychology, Neuroscience, Womens Studies; Also welcome are majors in Anthropology, Biology, etc.
| Credit Offered: | possibly, see website | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | possibly |
Project Director:
Overall Title of Project:
Split second decisions based on conversational partners' voices.
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Social
Project Description:
When you answer the telephone and the caller starts talking, you make many judgments and decisions in a matter of seconds or less on the basis of very little information. Do you hang up? Do you stay on the line? Our project, funded by the National Science Foundation, concerns the kinds of decisions people make when contacted by phone and invited to participate in surveys. The telephone sample survey is one of the cornerstones of social
science research, providing much of what we know about our society facts about life in America and public opinion. Unfortunately, the survey method is in trouble because many people now refuse to participate, e.g., they hang up the telephone when invited to become a survey respondent. Is there something about the callers voice and way of speaking that leads the answerer to agree to participate or refuse? We will be looking at objective measures of such behaviors such as the rate of disfluencies (e.g., ums and uhs) within turns and pauses between turns, as well as more
subjective measures such as the warmth and formality of the callers voice. Students will help classify or code the speaking turns (e.g.,
Hello. Hello, I am calling from the University of Michigan, Survey Research Center. Click) in the initial seconds of the phone contact and will rate the characteristics of the voices such as affect
evident the interaction. Understanding how this initial interaction affects subsequent survey participation can help increase participation rates, which is essential for the statistical inferences that are based on
survey results and inform our more general understanding of everyday conversation.
Time commitment requested:
10 hrs per week
Qualifications of student:
Committed, organized, conscientious; some background (classes or research) in the study of social interaction, psycholinguistics or research methodology would be helpful but not essential.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No/Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Denise Sekaquaptewa
Email:
Alternate Contact:
Jennifer LaCosse
Email:jlacosse14@gmail.com, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Stereotypic Attribution Bias among Ethnic Minorities and Women in Science & Engineering
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
A research assistant is needed for a multi-study project involving stereotypes about ethnic minority students and women in science and engineering. The project examines an unintended tendency for students to implicitly discount their successes to external factors such as luck, but to attribute their set-backs to ability, as a result of stereotypes about supposedly lower achievement and ability among women and ethnic minority students in these fields. Duties would include running participants through experiments, coding data, and possible data entry. There will also be the opportunity to attend lab meetings and gain valuable research experience.
Time commitment requested:
6-12 Hours a Week beginning Winter 2011
Qualifications of student:
The ideal candidate for this position will have some research experience and be familiar with subject pool procedures. Candidate must be able to operate Powerpoint and preferably would be familiar with using Mac computers. The experiments we are running are sometimes VERY complex so you must be reliable, organized, and able to multitask. Must be able to improvise and complete all assigned tasks on time.
| Credit Offered: | yes | Money: | yes |
| Experience only: | yes | Workstudy: | yes |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Denise Sekaquaptewa
Email:dsekaqua@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Strategies to Increase Women's Active Participation in Gender-Stereotyped Fields
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
A paid research assistant is needed for a multi-study project involving women in gender-stereotyped fields, specifically science and engineering. The project examines students in group project teams in engineering, and the tendency for them to adopt gender stereotypic roles, i.e., women taking supporting roles and men taking active roles. The project involves coding and analysis of videotaped group project presentations, focus groups with engineering students, and a laboratory experiment. This is a two year position, although we will consider applicants who can only commit to one year. The research assistant will help to organize and manage all aspects of the project, including recruiting participants, developing experimental materials, running experiments, and coding and entering data. Because this is PAID position, research experience is a must. Computer skills, including programming experience is a plus. This position would be good for a junior/senior level student who seeks research experience prior to applying to a psychology Ph.D. program.
Time commitment requested:
10 hours per week for up to four semesters, beginning September 2011
Qualifications of student:
The ideal candidate for this position will have research experience (e.g., working in a faculty members lab, or on an undergraduate thesis project), and will have excellent organizational and communication skills. We seek a person who can multi-task, pays attention to detail, and who has a professional demeanor and high personal standards. Experience in computer programming (e.g., Qualtrics, UM Lessons) is desirable. Applicants should have strong interest in the topic of the research. Recent BA/BS graduates may apply.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | Yes |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Sandy Lim
Email: sandylim@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Students' Expectations of Teachers
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Cultural, Educational
Project Description:
Most of the past teaching evaluation studies focus on teachers teaching ability and personal characteristics such as leadership styles. However, we believe that a good teacher is in the eyes of his/her students. Students might have their own criteria to evaluate teachers performance and these criteria might influence the teachers actual performance. We will examine this relationship by conducting lab surveys and experiments. Research assistants have the opportunity to run studies, enter and code data, manage databases, recruit participants, and participate in research team meetings.
Time commitment requested:
10 hours per week (flexible)
Qualifications of student:
Organized, responsible, enthusiastic and detail oriented. Students should be interested in learning about the research process .
| Credit Offered: | no | Money: | no |
| Experience only: | no | Workstudy: | no |
| Submitted: 9/23/2003 |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Alicia Hofelich
Email:ajhof@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
The effects of personal history on emotion perception and empathy
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience
Project Description:
We often encounter others who need our help, but not every needy individual we see elicits our empathy, and individuals vary widely in the types of people they choose to help. What accounts for these individual differences in empathy? Many theories suggest that we understand the emotion we perceive in others using the same neural representations that give rise to our own experience of that emotion. Because our neural representations are influenced by our individual life experiences, appraisals, and beliefs, our ability to empathize with different people is affected by our personal history. Using a combination of psychophysiological measures (e.g., heart rate, skin conductance, respiration, facial activity), behavioral tasks, and self-report measures, we investigate the different ways in which life experience influence empathy and help given to others. Undergraduates working on the project will learn how to attach, record, and analyze psychophysiological data. They will primarily assist in running participants and helping with data processing, and are encouraged to attend weekly lab meetings. Further involvement in this and other projects is possible depending on interest and commitment of the student.
Time commitment requested:
6-15 hours/week
Qualifications of student:
Students should be highly motivated, dependable, and conscientious. Psychology and BBCS majors are especially encouraged to apply. Excellent communication and organizational skills as well as general computer proficiency in Microsoft Excel and Mac OS X are required.
| Credit Offered: | | Money: | |
| Experience only: | | Workstudy: | |
Project Director:
Julie Lumeng, MD, Katherine Rosenblum, PhD, Alison Miller, PhD
Email:
Alternate Contact:
Lindsay Weymouth
Email:lindadel@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
The Maternal Feeding Study
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Project Description:
The current longitudinal study examines maternal feeding styles, parenting behavior, and childhood obesity in mothers and their preschool-aged children. The goal of the study is to characterize maternal feeding styles in families of low socioeconomic status and address gaps in the current literature surrounding childhood obesity. Participating families agree to a series of semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. Additionally, families are asked to record videotaped mealtimes at their home. Finally, mothers and their children participate in a laboratory experiment located both on campus and in the field. Undergraduate students are needed to work in the field as aides to the research assistants conducting protocol. Duties may include helping with preparation of research materials and traveling to field locations but will absolutely include engaging with the mothers and their children and providing activities for the children while their mothers participate in research.
Time commitment requested:
4-6 hours per week, more if interested; most times will be during the evening between the hours of 3-7pm. Must be willing to accompany research assistant into the field (transportation provided).
Qualifications of student:
Interested students must be professional, motivated, personable, and comfortable around small children. Psychology and outside majors applicable.
| Credit Offered: | No | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Melisa Carrasco
Email:melcarr@umich.edu, Phone: 734-358-2744
Overall Title of Project:
Translational Neuroscience and ERPs
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Developmental
Project Description:
Who we are
The Electrophysiology Laboratory is an interdisciplinary research group at the University of Michigan. The lab has a number of ongoing projects looking into the brain-based mechanisms underlying error processing in healthy individuals and also in a number of disorders, including OCD and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).
RA Position Description - General
RA will provide research and clerical support for an M.D./Ph.D. student working on a number of research projects.
RA Responsibilities:
o RA will coordinate recruitment efforts, aid in data collection and manuscript preparation. Specific responsibilities include:
Perform study scheduling
Answer phones (address subject and family concerns)
Track subject participation
Help administer subject interviews
Score assessments (clinical and diagnostic scales)
Ensure that subject files are up-to-date
Analyze data
Aid in preparation of research presentations
Maintain research databases
o Other:
Meetings with mentor
Library research
Maintenance and ordering of supplies
Photocopying as needed
Participation in other research projects as necessary
Time commitment requested:
9 hours
Qualifications of student:
This position is open to undergraduate students majoring in psychology, neuroscience, biology, or pre-medical studies. If not taken for credit, students must still submit a written agreement specifying the number of hours they will volunteer per term. Research assistants are expected to be reliable, organized, and self-directed.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | |
| Experience only: | | Workstudy: | |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Michelle Kees
Email:mkees@umich.edu, Phone: (734) 764-7328
Overall Title of Project:
Welcome Back Veterans: Building Strong Families
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Clinical
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Developmental
Project Description:
Building Strong Families is part of a larger scale initiative called Welcome Back Veterans (http://www2.med.umich.edu/prmc/media/newsroom/details.cfm?ID=1014). Building Strong Families focuses exclusively on military families and includes therapeutic intervention programs for parenting and spouse support, community service and outreach, and an extensive research component with surveys, focus groups, and program evaluation.
Students will have an opportunity to be involved in all phases of the various projects including team meetings, outreach activities with military families, collecting data from adults and children, co-leading child intervention groups, entering and analyzing data, and writing up results for presentation/publication. Students will gain in-depth knowledge and experience about how to conduct clinical research and opportunities for direct interaction with children.
Time commitment requested:
6-12 hours per week. Some evening time required. Potential weekend time.
Qualifications of student:
Research Assistants must have an interest and experience in working with children. Prefer someone with an interest and/or background in the military. Upper-level psychology majors with 3.0 GPA or higher preferred. Students must be reliable, detail-oriented, professional, and organized. Skills/experience with data entry and analyses is a plus. Individual interviews with project director and transcripts will be required.
| Credit Offered: | yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Jie Chen
Email: jiech@umich.edu
Helen Lee
Email: hyjlee@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Word Learning in Infants across Cultures
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 1-yr-olds begin to learn words? Are some types of words conceptually easier to grasp than others? Similarly, do infants encode and make sense of certain elements of their reality better than others? How might culture play a role in shaping the above patterns? Does this process differ for children who are learning different languages?
Our laboratory collaborates with laboratories in China and Korea to examine whether or not children learning different languages pay attention to the same elements when learning new words.
In our experiments, we use a habituation method to tap into whether infants associate a word with different parts of simple scenes, and when this occurs: at what age, under what kind of experimental conditions, and in what cultural or linguistic contexts.
Research assistants will gain valuable hands-on experience recruiting participants, interacting with children and parents as an experimenter, and conducting infant research using a habituation paradigm.
When joining the project, students will choose the weekly times that they can commit to the lab.
Participants will be recruited according to RA schedules, so it is crucial that assistants be consistently responsible and punctual.
Previous experience with young children is very helpful but not required. Undergraduate students seeking research experience and enthusiastic about working with kids are welcome to apply. Training will be provided.
Time commitment requested:
4-10 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
We are looking for people who are English speakers and majoring in psychology or linguistics. Native speakers of Mandarin Chinese or Korean could also help with the
cross-linguistic studies.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
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