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RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
Biopsychology | Clinical | Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience
Developmental | Education and Psychology | Health
Organizational | Personality | Social
Complete List
Project Director:
Stuart Karabenick
Email: skaraben@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Martin Maehr
Email:skaraben@umich.edu, Phone: 734-647-3103
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Education and Psychology
Project Description:
Our research focuses on the development of tools to assess motivation-related outcomes in mathematics and science classrooms. Assessing these motivation-related constructs is important because considerable research demonstrates that students’ and teachers’ motivational beliefs and strategies can influence student learning and performance. Research also indicates that changes in these beliefs can precede or even occur in the absence of changes in cognitive outcomes. Undergraduates can be involved with many different areas of this project, depending on interest and experience. Opportunities include conducting interviews with elementary and secondary students to explore their interpretation of and response to survey items, coding data, and data management. Interested students may also take leadership roles in the processing of large amounts of survey data with our new high-speed optical scanning machines. For more information, please see our website at http://www.mspmap.org/.
Time commitment requested:
10-15 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
Knowledge of MS Word and Windows is required. Some experience in using SPSS is preferred, but not required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
| Submitted: 8/16/2004 |
Project Director:
Kathryn Larson
Email:
Alternate Contact:
Kathryn Larson
Email:um.autism@umich.edu, Phone: 734-936-8600
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Clinical
Project Description:
Students working at the UofM Autism and Communication Disorders Center (UMACC) will be involved in a variety of research projects and have the opportunity to be involved in both of these research projects as well as a working psychological clinic specializing in the assessment and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders. For more information about specific projects, please see http://www.umaccweb.com/research/index.html.
Time commitment requested:
at least 9 hours/week
Qualifications of student:
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Ashley Chen
Email: cnchen@umich.edu
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Biopsychology
Project Description:
Degrees of self-relatedness can affect how people do and react to things, making some things harder, some things easier. So can the ability of one’s cognitive ability to act on things at that particular moment. The goals of the current projects are to try to understand the neural mechanism under which self-related materials can affect one’s thinking and behavior; In addition, we’re interested in learning how stress can affect the above mechanism.
Time commitment requested:
At least 3 credits (9 hours) per week.
Qualifications of student:
Research assistants will be involved in multiple aspects of the projects, ranging from conducting studies, collecting data, to analyzing results. Therefore, RAs should be reliable, punctual, detail-oriented, highly motivated to gain from research experience and genuine interest in the research topics. Basic skills with Microsoft Word and Excel are required. Experience with basic statistics and SPSS are preferred, but not required.
Students who would like to make at least 2 semester commitment are strongly encouraged to apply.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Preferred | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Katherine Sledge Moore
Email: mooreks@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Daniel Weissman
Email:danweiss@umich.edu, Phone:
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience
Project Description:
Our research lies at the intersection of visual memory and attention. Our attention often wanders to people and objects that relate to our current thoughts. For example, when we are hungry we often stare at someone else's pizza. Although such interactions between attention and our current thoughts are well documented, there are remaining questions regarding the influence of memory on attention. In this series of computer-based attention studies, we will explore whether the number and nature of pieces of information that we are keeping in mind influences the degree to which our attention is captured by people and objects that resemble those bits of information. Our hypothesis is that attentional capture will be reduced as the number of pieces of information we are thinking about increases because it's very difficult to keep many things in mind at the same time.
Undergraduates working on the project will schedule and run participants and attend weekly lab meetings. Additionally, there are opportunities to be involved in any and all of the following aspects of the project, based on experience and interest: data analysis, design and programming of new experiments, and literature review. Students will learn how to conduct research, work as part of a team, and will be encouraged to think creatively and independently. Those working for course credit will receive guidance on writing a paper and/or preparing a poster presenting the results.
Time commitment requested:
6-15 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
The most successful students will be those interested in the project and in learning about psychological research. Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills are required, as is general computer proficiency in MS office. Additional computer skills (programming, SPSS, etc) are preferred but not required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Dr. Sara Konrath
Email: skonrath@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Minzheng Hou
Email:houminz@umich.edu, Phone:
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social and Personality
Project Description:
Today, our country is struggling with issues revolving around international peacekeeping, terrorism and the ongoing war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Security issues have never been so urgently discussed and people may be led to feel threatened and fearful. Researchers have found that threat plays a critical role in increasing the attitudinal and behavioral components of authoritarianism (Peterson, Doty & Winter, 1993). These include higher levels of ethnocentrism, prejudice and discrimination against minority groups, and higher levels of blind and passive submission to the dictates of social authorities (Altemeyer, 1998). In addition, for the majority of us, religion is an intrinsic and vital part of our value system. However, conflict between religious groups often occurs due to perceived differences. This is even more so for high authoritarians who have been shown to be more fundamentalist, rigid, obedient, and less mature in their religious understanding (Altemeyer & Hunsberger, 1992). More alarmingly, terrorists have often resorted to religious fundamentalism in order to recruit members and propagate their ideologies. Clearly, it is important for us as a society to discover new ways to mitigate such intergroup hostilities and to grow as critical and independent thinkers, not herds. Hence, this project identifies an aspect of authoritarianism – authoritarian aggression – and aims to attenuate levels of aggression targeted at members of out-groups by high authoritarians. Even more broadly, through this project, we hope to contribute to the greater academic field of prejudice and discrimination reduction by advocating for the need to emphasize similar and importantly held beliefs between groups while debunking the myth that out-groups members tend to be fundamentally different.
Time commitment requested:
6 to 9 hours a week (2 to 3 credits)
Qualifications of student:
Motivated, independent, reliable, and organized. Students should also be humble and willing to learn. All technical skills necessary to be a good research assistant in the project can be learned; qualities of the student are thus the most important consideration.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Richard Nisbett
Email: nisbett@umich.edu
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognitive, Developmental, Cultural
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
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:
Rachael Seidler
Email: rseidler@umich.edu
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognition & Cognitive Neuroscience
Project Description:
Enthusiastic and hardworking research coordinator needed for experiments on aging and motor learning. We are studying how cognitive abilities contribute to motor skill learning. Experiments include behavioral and neuroimaging techniques with human subjects.
Time commitment requested:
Searching for one full-time (40 hours/week) or two half-time (20 hours/week) assistants.
Qualifications of student:
The Research Assistant will be responsible for participant recruitment, scheduling, testing, data management and analysis. Desired qualifications include excellent organizational and people skills. Familiarity with computers, particularly MS Office software, is required; Bachelor's degree required.
| Credit Offered: | No | Money: | Yes |
| Experience only: | Yes | 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 ½ day per week plus weekly meeting of 1 hour.
Qualifications of student:
| Credit Offered: | yes | Money: | |
| Experience only: | yes | Workstudy: | yes |
Project Director:
Diana Betz
Email: dibetz@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
(1) Meta-Sexist Jokes: Laughing at, not with, Sexism; (2) Seeing Race; (3) Femme Science Role Models for Teen Girls
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.
A brand new set of studies will examine "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? Two studies will attempt to answer this question.
A second, ongoing study asks when people of different races are most likely to "see" 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).
A third study in the final data analysis stages looks at whether a specific "type" of woman makes for a better science role model. Science skills and femininity are often seen as incompatible: would teen girls express more interest in and identification with science if exposed to a stereotypically feminine yet math-competent role model? I collected data on this question during Summer 09 and hope to find the answer in its analysis.
Time commitment requested:
6 - 9 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
Research assistants are needed for Fall 09, and preferably will stay on for Winter 2010. RAs will participate in multiple levels of research, including doing background research, preparing experimental materials, 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. Motivation, interest in the topic at hand, reliability, 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:
Jerome Prado
Email: jprado@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Daniel Weissman
Email:dweissman@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
A behavioral investigation of decisional conflict
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Neuroscience
Project Description:
Every day we spend a considerable amount of time trying to make the best decisions possible. These decisions could be trivial, such as choosing which movie to see, or necessary to survival, such as choosing a mate or finding a place to live. The ability to choose between conflicting decisions is often celebrated as one of the most fundamental capabilities of the human brain. The goal of the current project is to learn more about the factors that influence how we make such decisions. We will be investigating these factors by comparing behavioral and brain imaging data between conditions that vary the degree of decisional conflict. Students will schedule and run participants and attend weekly lab meetings. Additionally, there are opportunities to be involved in any and all of the following aspects of the project, based on experience and interest: data analysis (behavioral and physiological), design and programming of new experiments, and literature review. Students will learn how to conduct research, work as part of a team, and will be encouraged to think creatively and independently. Those working for course credit will receive guidance on writing a paper and/or preparing a poster presenting the results.
Time commitment requested:
10-20 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
The most successful students will be those interested in the project and in learning modern cognitive neuroscience research. Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills are required, as is general computer proficiency in MS office. Additional computer skills (programming, SPSS, etc) are preferred but not required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Patricia Gurin
Email:pgurin@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
A Multi-University Evaluation of the Educational Benefits of Intergroup Dialogue
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social Psychology, Biopsychology, Education and Psychology
Project Description:
Ever wondered whether intergroup dialogue really works? Does interacting with members of different race, ethnic or gender groups actually change the way we think about the world? The Program on Intergroup Relations is seeking research assistance during the fall term for a 10-university intergroup dialogue research project. This large-scale randomized-controlled evaluation utilizes both quantitative and qualitative assessments to examine not only whether intergroup dialogue really works but also which psychological processes are most influential in producing positive intergroup outcomes. Research assistants will work closely with Professor Patricia Gurin (Principal Investigator) and her research team on the qualitative coding of student final papers and videotaped dialogue sessions and/or the quantitative analysis of longitudinal survey data obtained from intergroup dialogue participants across 9 universities. For a brief description of the research project, please see our webpage: http://www.igr.umich.edu/experiments.html.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours per week throughout the term, for 2-3 credits. Must also attend a two-hour seminar on intergroup relations.
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:
Kent Berridge
Email: berridge@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Kent Berridge
Email:berridge@umich.edu, Phone: 3-4365
Overall Title of Project:
Affective neuroscience & biopsychology lab: Reward wanting and liking
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Biopsychology
Project Description:
Our research tackles fundamental questions like:
How is pleasure generated in the brain? What are the neural bases of wanting rewards and liking rewards? How are rewards learned? What causes addiction? How does the neurobiology of fear relate to neurobiology of desire? How is real behavior produced by brains?
Time commitment requested:
10 hours per week for a full-semester or equivalent
Qualifications of student:
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Brad J. Bushman
Email: bbushman@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Brad J. Bushman
Email:bbushman@umich.edu, Phone: 734-615-6631
Overall Title of Project:
Aggression and violence
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Violence and Aggression
Project Description:
Students will be experimenters in laboratory studies of violence and aggression.
Time commitment requested:
At least 2-3 credits
Qualifications of student:
| 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:
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 allies of race AND gender threats, but do not view White women as gender allies? My research will examine 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. This study is designed to be a follow-up study to the original study that explored shifts in identity levels under social identity threat, and the relationship of those identity shifts to test outcomes. In the 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” and examine whether it benefits performance under gender solo status for minority women and if other ethnic groups experience this effect (other ethnic minority groups, as well as Whites).
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.
| 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:
Shanta Nishi Kanukollu
Email: snishik@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Ramaswami Mahalingam
Email:ramawasi@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Attitudes Towards Child Sexual Abuse and Help-Seeking amongst South Asian College Students
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Clinical
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Personality & Social Contexts
Project Description:
This study will examine the relationship between ethnicity, gender, Model Minority Myth, acculturation and perceived social support of South Asian undergraduate students and their attitudes toward child sexual abuse and help-seeking. The purpose of this study is to better understand how these factors impact perceptions of child sexual abuse and the social support systems these students utilize if in distress.
Time commitment requested:
10 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
Knowledge of MS Word is required. Some experience in using SPSS is preferred, but not required. We are looking for students who are ideally psychology majors with a 3.4+ GPA.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Israel Liberzon
Email: liberzon@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Shaun Ho
Email:hosh@umich.edu, Phone: 734-232-0197
Overall Title of Project:
Behavioral and/or fMRI study in cognition emotion interaction
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognition and 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:
Amanda Brandone
Email:brandone@umich.edu, Phone: 764-8557
Overall Title of Project:
Children’s Language and Conceptual Development
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Project Description:
This project explores language and conceptual development in preschool aged children. Specifically, we examine how children and adults reason about people, animals, and objects, and how language both reflects and influences thought.
Research assistants are needed to help with data collection with adults and young children, as well as with stimuli preparation and data coding and entry. Hours are fairly flexible and training will be provided. This opportunity will provide valuable hands-on research experience for any students interested in the development of young children’s thinking.
Time commitment requested:
3-9 hours/week
Qualifications of student:
Required: GPA of 3.5 or above; coursework in psychology; previous experience working with preschool children. Any of the following are desirable (though not required): psychology lab course, statistics course, prior research experience.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Jessica Bernard
Email:jessbern@umich.edu, Phone: 734-764-8186
Overall Title of Project:
Cognitive Training as an Intervention to Improve Complex Motor Skills
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience
Project Description:
Can a cognitive intervention be used to improve complex motor skills such as driving? The notion that cognitive and motor skills are plastic and can be improved with training is very exciting, because it opens up the possibility for rehabilitation and amelioration of age-related declines in performance. It has been shown that older adults can improve cognitive processes such as attentional control, memory, and speed of processing with training. Although transfer to other tasks has been reported, it is not clear whether improvements transfer to real-world tasks such as driving. The aging of the baby boomers will bring about new challenges for the safety of older drivers. We propose to test whether five weeks of a cognitive training intervention improves measures of cognition, complex motor control, and performance in a driving simulator task for both young and older adults. We have recently shown that a particular type of cognitive training shows transfer benefits to untrained tasks. Moreover, our work and that of others demonstrates that the interdependence between the cognitive and motor systems increases with age. Thus, it may be that cognitive training benefits will also transfer to the control of complex motor skills for older adults. Identifying an intervention which allows older adults to extend their safe driving years would have immense societal benefits. Moreover, it is of theoretical interest to determine whether cognitive training improvements transfer to tasks that are both “near to” and “far from” the training task, because it would provide insight into which aspects of cognition are malleable with practice. Those working on the study would be involved in multiple aspects of the project including subject testing as well as data processing and analysis.
Time commitment requested:
8+ hours per week
Qualifications of student:
The student should be familiar with Microsoft Excel as well as general comfort with using PCs. Excellent organization skills are key. Good people skills are also a must. Previous research experience would be preferred, but not required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Susan Gelman
Email: gelman@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Concepts and Theories in Human Development
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Psycholinguistics
Project Description:
This project examines language and thought in preschool children. We have a variety of ongoing studies that involve: videotaping parent-child interactions, administering experimental tasks in preschool settings, and administering tasks to adults. Responsibilities would include any of the following: testing children and/or adults, transcribing videotapes, coding, entering data into the computer, preparing experimental materials.
Time commitment requested:
10-15 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
Required: GPA of 3.5 or above; coursework in psychology; previous experience working with preschool children; ability to work well with others. Any of the following are desirable (though not required): psychology lab course, statistics course, or prior research experience.
| Credit Offered: | yes | Money: | yes |
| Experience only: | no | Workstudy: | yes |
| Submitted: 12/10/2003 |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Alex Chavez
Email:achavez@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Conscious and Subconscious Effects on Fairness and Economic Bargaining Behavior
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social Psychology, Cognition and Perception
Project Description:
This project studies what it means to be fair, whether people agree on what is fair for a specific context, and what factors (conscious and subconscious) cause people to behave fairly or unfairly in those contexts. It utilizes the techniques of behavioral game theory (strategic interaction, belief elicitation, behavioral measurement, monetary incentives, etc.; see e.g. Camerer, 2003) and modern psychology (emotion induction, priming, cognitive measurement, and surveys).
Students will receive training and assist in various aspects of the study, including administering experimental sessions of 8-16 participants engaged in strategic interactions, conducting literature searches, and/or developing stimuli.
Time commitment requested:
1-3 credits (3-9 hours per week)
Qualifications of student:
Must be reliable, punctual, and attentive to details.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Jennifer Crocker, Ph.D.
Email:crocker.admin@umich.edu, Phone: 734-615-3626
Overall Title of Project:
Contingencies of self-worth, egosystem vs. ecosystem goals, stress, adjustment to college
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
The Self and Social Motivation research laboratory explores the costs and benefits of adopting goals to construct and maintain desired images and goals to support others for relationships, learning, motivation, self-regulation, and mental health. The goal of our research is to provide a framework, grounded in psychological research and theory, to understand how people inadvertently create what they don't want in their lives when they are driven by the ego or self-esteem concerns, how shifting to a different framework focused on what they want to create, contribute, or learn can help people clarify what they want and don't want in their lives, and empower them to create what they want by putting those choices into action. Ultimately, our research aims to provide conceptual and practical tools that can help people clarify and accomplish their most inspired and inspiring goals, in a sustainable way that is good for others as well as the self. In doing so, we hope to help people become more healthy, constructive, and effective human beings, connected to their inner resources, to other people, and to their passion. Several research projects examining these ideas are ongoing in our laboratory. The projects use a variety of methodologies, from laboratory experiments, to web-based surveys, to daily report studies. Students can participate in many ways, including recruiting participants and running experiments, coding, entering and analyzing data, and participating in lab meetings. If you are interested in researching with us, please visit our lab website for more specific information on our current projects and for the application:
http://rcgd.isr.umich.edu/crockerlab/RA%20Recruitment/research_ops.htm
Time commitment requested:
At least 6-9 hours a week
Qualifications of student:
Upper-level psych majors with 3.0 GPA or higher preferred. Must be highly motivated, reliable, detail-oriented, organized, and have a genuine desire to learn more about the research process.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Frederick Conrad
Email: fconrad@isr.umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Conversations between people and virtual humans about race and gender in survey interviews
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognitive
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Social
Project Description:
As virtual humans (avatars, animated agents) become increasingly common in our environment, it is important to understand how people interact with non-human conversational partners and to what extent they bring their practices from everyday conversation with other people to these interactions. The current project is concerned with the way people interact with virtual survey interviewers, talking heads embedded in web surveys. Is this like being interviewed by a live human, like completing the questionnaire in private, or some of each? In particular, we will explore whether the race and gender of the virtual interviewer affect the answers to survey questions in the same way these attributes have been shown to affect answers to questions asked by human interviewers (e.g., more “feminist” opinions reported to female interviewers).
Time commitment requested:
10 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
Committed, organized, conscientious; some background (classes or research) in the study of social interaction, psycholinguistics, human-computer interaction or research methodology would be helpful but not essential.Some background with computer animation and video/speech editing will be helpful; basic statistical skills will also help.
| Credit Offered: | No | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Jiyoung Park
Email: pjiyoung@umich.edu
734-417-9655
Email:
Overall Title of Project:
Cultural Difference in Choice/Preferences
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Cultural
Project Description:
The last two decades of research has shown considerable cross-cultural variation in many aspects of social orientation (i.e., independent vs. interdependent orientation). Studies have demonstrated that, for those with an individualistic background, the self is regarded as a relatively autonomous, self-sufficient entity that is imperatively independent from its surrounding interpersonal context. While for those with a collectivistic cultural background where the distinction between self and others are blurred, an individual secures an entity only in connection with others who are significantly important in the very definition of the self. The present project aims to investigate 1) if such cultural difference in social orientation could have a significant influence on individuals’ choice behaviors, and 2) under what situations, such cultural difference could be strengthened or diminished. Research assistants will participate in all phases of this project from literature search, recruiting, running subjects, and entering data to analyzing data.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 (2 or 3 credits)
Qualifications of student:
This research project is a great opportunity to expand your experience. If you are interested in cultural psychology, it will be a valuable experience. No special skills are expected, but students must be punctual, reliable, and motivated.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Jiyoung Park
Email:pjiyoung@umich.edu, Phone: 734-417-9655
Overall Title of Project:
Cultural Difference in Neural Correlates of Social Orientation (Independence vs. Interdependence)
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Social/Cognitive/Cultural
Project Description:
The last two decades of research has shown considerable cross-cultural variation in many aspects of social orientation (i.e., independent vs. interdependent orientation). Researchers have used various behavioral measures of social orientation and found that North Americans are more independent (or less interdependent) compared to East Asians. To move the field forward, however, we believe that it is necessary to explore the underlying neural mechanisms of cultural differences. It is increasingly important to address whether culture influences brain mechanisms. The purpose of the present work is to investigate cultural difference in social orientation by focusing our attention on Event-Related Potential (ERP) measures. In our experiments, participants’ brainwaves will be monitored and recorded by using electroencephalography (EEG) while they perform various tasks that aim to assess their social orientation. Then, we will examine if several indexes of participants’ brainwaves (e.g., size, or latency of certain event-related potentials) would correlate with measures of social orientation. Research assistants will participate in all phases of this project from literature search, recruiting, running subjects, and entering data to analyzing data. They will be asked to participate in a couple of training sessions in order to learn how to run an EEG experiment (e.g., attaching electrodes, recording waves etc.).
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours (2 or 3 credits)
Qualifications of student:
This research project is a great opportunity to expand your experience. If you are interested in cultural psychology, it will be a valuable experience. No special skills are expected, but students must be punctual, reliable, and motivated.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Shinobu Kitayama
Email: kitayama@umich.edu
734-647-6786
Email: asuka@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Cultural Difference in Temporal Contextual Sensitivity
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Social/Cognitive/Cultural
Project Description:
Previous behavioral studies have provided ample evidence that Asians paying more attention to temporal context, and North Americans paying more attention to the focal stimulus. The purpose of this present work is to investigate cultural difference in temporal contextual sensitivity by using ERP (event-related brain potential). ERP is an effective index to explore brain processing. In our experiments, participants’ performance and EEG (electroencephalogram) will be recorded while they perform some tasks. Then we will analyze amplitude and latency of P300 which is one of ERP component and reflects “context updating”. Research assistants will participate in all phases of this project from literature search, recruiting, running subjects, and entering data to analyzing data. They will be asked to participate in a couple of training sessions in order to learn how to run an EEG experiment (e.g., attaching electrode, recording waves, analyzing ERPs etc.)
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours (2 or 3 credits)
Qualifications of student:
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Xuezhao Lan
Email: xuezhao@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Cultural Differences and Gender Differences in Multi-tasking
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Cognitive
Project Description:
The studies compare performances of Easterners and Westerners while they are doing multiple tasks simultaneously. It is hypothesized that Easterners are better at attending to multiple tasks and picking up more information from each task than their Western Counterparts. Additionally, girls are hypothesized to have better multi-tasking performances.
Multi-tasking experiments will provide evidence for explaining cross-cultural differences in human perception, attention, and reasoning. Nisbett and Kitayama and their colleagues have produced substantial evidence indicating that Westerners perceive and reason in ways that can be called analytic, that is to say, they focus on some salient object, identify its attributes, categorize the object and adduce rules to model and explain the object’s behavior; rules employed include formal logic. In contrast, East Asians perceive and reason in ways that can be called holistic, that is to say, they attend to the broad field in which an object is located and the relation between the object and the field; relationships and similarities are used to organize the world, and dialectical reasoning substitutes for formal logic. We contend that the reason for these differences lies in the fact that Westerners are independent and have the luxury of focusing on some object with respect to which they have a goal whereas Easterners must attend to the complicated social worlds they live in. Multi-tasking experiments will further explain those cross-cultural differences.
Time commitment requested:
6-10 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Jinkyung Na
Email: jinna@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Cultural effects on self and cognition
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Social/Cultural/Cognitive
Project Description:
What role does culture play in people's behaviors and thoughts? Do people in different cultures and societies perceive themselves in the same way, or in different and unique ways? For example, our previous studies suggested that Americans tend to view themselves as an independent entity whereas Asians and Asian Americans tend to view themselves in relation to others. Our research program explores such cultural differences of selves and their effects on basic psychological processes. We conduct experimental studies primarily comparing people of various cultural backgrounds on a variety of tasks.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours
Qualifications of student:
Research assistants will be involved in all phases of a project and take responsibility for (i) conducting studies, (ii) collecting data, and (iii) analyzing results. Research assistants are expected to attend weekly lab meetings. Research assistants should be responsible, punctual, and motivated to gain research experience.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Sasha Kimel (Faculty Advisor: Shinobu Kityama)
Email: skimel@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Culture and Choice
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
Do people in different cultures see the world in the same way, or in different and unique ways? Our previous research suggested that European-Americans seek to maintain their independence from others whereas Asians and Asian-Americans value attending to others and fitting in. Broadly, our research program explores such cultural differences and their effects on basic psychological processes.
In this particular series of studies we focus on cultural differences in cognitive dissonance. When having made a choice between two equally attractive items, people
tend to justify their choice by increasing their liking for the chosen item and decreasing the liking for the rejected item. This "dissonance effect" is caused by one's unconscious effort to reduce the threat involved in making a choice. Choice may be threatening because it raises questions about the self, such as: "Was it stupid of me to choose A over B?" However, recent research suggests that this experience is not universal. East Asians participants only experienced the dissonance effect when appraisals by others were primed.
This series of studies will use a variety of methodologies including questionnaires, behavioral observations, computer-based tasks and fMRI. In taking part in the present research project you will learn how to conduct social and cultural psychological research as well as gain invaluable hands-on lab experience.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours per week (2-3 credits)
Qualifications of student:
We are looking for research assistants with a range of experiences and qualifications. You should have an interest in psychological science and an interest in pursuing graduate studies in psychology. You do NOT need to have previous research experience; however, research assistants will start with responsibilities and duties that match their previous experiences in research. You should be intellectually curious, diligent, and conscientious; be interested in cultural psychology; work well with others; and be able to make the requisite time commitment. Because we use multiple methods in our research, we are also looking for research assistants who have training in computer programming, who speak different languages, and who have backgrounds in anthropology, physiology, or biology.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Xuezhao Lan
Email: xuezhao@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Culture and individual differences in self-regulation and executive functions in China and the U.S.
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Educational
Project Description:
The current research aims to investigate the relationship between individual variability in executive functioning, self-regulation and classroom behavior in two different cultural contexts, namely, the United States and China. In order to do so cultural differences in the development of executive functioning and self-regulation will be assessed, both through cognitive and behavioral measures of executive functioning and self regulation and through naturalistic videotaped observation of classroom behavior and practices. The results of this study will make several important contributions to the literature on the development of executive functioning. First, it will investigate individual differences in executive functioning and its relationship to behavior in educational settings. Second, it will contribute to a greater understanding of cultural similarities and differences in the development of executive functioning. We look for undergraduate research assistants.
Time commitment requested:
6-10 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
You are: Motivated and detail oriented, able to commit 6-10 hours each week, good with children, able to use excel, word and other Microsoft applicants, in addition, speaking Chinese is a plus, data analysis skills are desirable, research experience is desirable.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | Maybe |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Nicholas Sorensen
Email: nsorense@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Culture and Intergroup Relations
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
Have you ever wondered what we can do to improve relations between members of different groups social groups (e.g. race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation etc). The present research project explores psychological and communication processes to improve intergroup relations. In particular, we are examining the influence of communication expectations on cognitive and emotional processes that may be critical for reducing prejudice and discrimination and improving intergroup relations more generally. This project involves multiple components including laboratory studies, online studies and randomized field experiments across nine universities. Tasks and responsibilities vary for each available position. However, students may be responsible for administering a lab-based study to subject pool participants. Specifically, the student will recruit subjects from a predetermined list, schedule lab appointments with participants, book lab space, administer each study, debrief subjects and issue subject pool credit to participants. Additional opportunities will be provided to assist with data analysis and gain experience with SPSS.
Time commitment requested:
8-10 hours per week (negotiable)
Qualifications of student:
Students cannot be enrolled in intro psychology during the Fall 2009 term. Student must be dependable, punctual and motivated and have an interest in culture, diversity and intergroup relations. Academic credit can be earned through Psych 323 (credit/no credit), Psych 327 (graded credit) or Psych 423 (graded upper level independent study requiring a final paper). Because the identities of the laboratory experimenters are important for the present set of studies, we are seeking applicants who identify as African American men and women as well as White women. However, students from all backgrounds with an interest in this line of research are encouraged to express interest by email.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Jinkyung Na
Email: jinna@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Jinkyung Na
Email:jinna@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Culture and Intrinsic Motivation
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
Previous studies found people across culture have different sources for intrinsic motivation. For example, Americans have higher motivation when they choose their task or when they succeed in their task. In stark contrast, Failure and choice made by friends or family tend to boost one’s intrinsic motivation for East Asians. Is it possible to get the opposite result through the experimental manipulation? This project investigates the factor that can affect one’s intrinsic motivation and examine cross-cultural differences in the effect of those factors.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
Students can participate in every phase of research ranging from data entry to data analysis. Any special skill is not necessary for participation. However, students should be reliable and responsible.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Cheri Chan
Email: chancc@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Culture and Knowledge Acquisition: How do children learn from other people?
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Project Description:
To find out more about the world, we frequently depend on two important sources of knowledge: 1) our own observations and reasoning, and 2) what other people tell us.
Particularly in this information age, there is an escalating need to trust in the expertise of others. Thus, it becomes more crucial to become wise consumers of information. But how does this ability develop in the first place?
In this project, we will conduct studies to discover the factors (for example, how children perceive their own knowledge) that shape children’s 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 Talk, Dirty Thoughts: Psychological Cleanliness and Morality
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
Lady MacBeth had the compulsion to keep washing her hands--perhaps for good reasons. Recent psychological research shows that hand washing reduces moral guilt (Zhong & Liljenquist, 2006). It literally means that physical cleaning and moral cleansing are effectively similar, both of which make you feel "cleaner". Indeed, we often use words such as "dirty" and "disgusting" to stress our derogation of moral transgressors or transgressions (e.g., "I don't do any dirty stuff", "you're a disgusting person") and their need to be "cleaner". Our current project aims to establish this concept of "psychological cleanliness/dirtiness" at physical, moral, and symbolic levels. Physical examples include actual dirts, mud, and vomit; moral examples include bribery and cheating; symbolic examples include money and aesthetics. Experiments will be run in lab to test how these levels relate to each other. Popular media will be reviewed to deepen our understanding of these concepts and their psychological effects. Indeed, personal experience would be of paramount importance too in refining such understanding and developing hypotheses to be tested in experiments.
We are looking for students dedicated to generating knowledge through research. We offer training and research experience that pave the way for writing an Honors Thesis or applying to graduate school. Joining this project means you will
(1) collaborate with the project director to design experiments
(2) run experiments
(3) review popular media
(4) review scholarly literature
(5) analyze media, literature, experimental data, and personal experience
You will learn:
(1) how to turn a thought ("my insight") into an experiment ("my project")
(2) how to to deepen understanding of a concept
(3) how to use personal experience to inform research ideas
(4) how to apply research ideas to daily experience
(5) practical skills necessary for research at both undergraduate and graduate levels (e.g., measurement of human characteristics, statistics, conceptualization)
(6) graduate school application
Time commitment requested:
8-12 hours per week (3-4 credits; negotiable
Qualifications of student:
Students should be psychology majors who are highly motivated, organized and reliable, detail-oriented, hard-working, passionate about the topic, genuinely interested in gaining research experience, and capable of working as a part of a team of researchers. Students who want to make a 2-semester commitment are especially encouraged to apply. Some previous research experience is preferred.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Bud Gibson
Email: fpgibson@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Dynamic decision making in Internet bargaining environments
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Decision making
Project Description:
The position will be here at the business school. No credit is offered, but competitive pay is available for 20+ hours per week. The successful candidate will: 1. Run Internet bargaining experiments in one of several business school computer labs. 2. Manage subjects who sign up over the Internet. 3. Engage in library research.
Time commitment requested:
20+ hours per week
Qualifications of student:
Students with prior experience as RAs or comparable are welcome to apply. ALL APPLICATIONS for this position should consist of the following: 1. A cover email sent to Professor Bud Gibson (fpgibson@umich.edu ) explaining the applicant's interest and qualifications for the position. 2. A **text** version of the resume (saved with the .txt extension as a text file from Word; see the "save as..." menu item) OR an acrobat (pdf) version of the same. 3. At least two recent references who can vouch for the applicant's work.
| Credit Offered: | no | Money: | yes |
| Experience only: | no | Workstudy: | no |
Project Director:
Dr. Amy Young
Email: baldwin@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Early Memories and Consumer Behavior
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social Psychology
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Business Psychology
Project Description:
Childhood experiences can have long lasting impact on our beliefs, preferences, and psychological motivations as adults. While we are conscious of some of these early experiences, many of these early experiences we cannot remember. The purpose of this study is to examine how early experiences – both those we remember and those we do not, affect our consumer preferences as adults.
Research assistants are needed to help recruit participants, administer surveys, and conduct other research related tasks.
Time commitment requested:
Approximately 10 hrs/week
Qualifications of student:
Maturity, strong social skills, and conscientiousness.
| Credit Offered: | No | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Leah James
Email: leahej@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Daphna Oyserman
Email:daphna@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Effects of future uncertainty on productive and destructive behavior choice
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
This lab consists of several ongoing projects concerning the effects of uncertainty about the future on productive behaviors such as goal-setting and potentially self-destructive behaviors such as substance abuse and risk-taking. Related research concerns the influence of cultural factors on resiliency to trauma. Students interested in laboratory experimentation and the application of such research intervention development to help at-risk and traumatized populations are encouraged to consider this position. Students will have the opportunity to engage in a variety of research methods, including online survey experimentation using subject pool, collection and analysis of secondary data concerning behavior before and after large disasters, and participation in a field-based deception study. An alternative research area focuses on the role of nostalgia as a coping mechanism and students will also be invited to participate in data collection on this topic.
Time commitment requested:
Flexible; minimum 6 hours per week.
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, running experiments, and assigning credit for subject pool studies, 2) organizing and coding previously collected data, 3) acting in a deception study in real-world contexts, and 4) attending weekly meetings. Prior research experience is appreciated but not required. Training will be provided. Experience gained in the position can be beneficial in applying for graduate studies in the fields of psychology and social work.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Dominik Mischkowski
Email: mdominik@umich.edu; (734) 763-3292
Alternate Contact:
Jennifer Crocker
Email:jcrocker@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Effects of Social Exclusion on Intellectual Performance and Working Memory Capacity
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Cognitive Psychology
Project Description:
Almost everybody knows how it can be: Others seem not to like you and cast you out. Being rejected or even excluded by friends or peers is not just a hurtful experience, but can severely impair cognitive functioning, including intellectual performance. This project tries to identify cognitive factors that make social exclusion so harmful for performance and motivation. If you are interested in that topic and eager to get some research experience, please e-mail me. Please attach a transcript (unofficial is OK) and your resume. Then we can schedule a meeting.
Research assistants in my lab will gain experience in preparing experiments (including creating materials, copying, etc.), running experimental sessions, and data-analysis. R.A.s will work together with other undergraduates in a team and attend bimonthly lab meetings.
Don’t hesitate to contact me, because you think you don’t have enough qualifications yet. One of my main goals is to teach you the skills required to conduct research (especially your own projects). As a consequence, even freshmen and juniors - especially when interested in a longer collaboration – are highly welcomed to apply for this lab position.
Time commitment requested:
At least 6 hours a week
Qualifications of student:
| Credit Offered: | yes | Money: | no |
| Experience only: | yes | 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:
Twila Tardif
Email: twila@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Daniel Kessler
Email:kesslerd@umich.edu, Phone: (248) 753-1838
Overall Title of Project:
Emotion Regulation as a Complex System
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Cultural/Social, Clinical
Project Description:
The Emotion Regulation as a Complex System Project (PI: Twila Tardif) is currently seeking research assistants for this spring and summer. Research assistants will watch videos of four-year-old American, Japanese, and Chinese children and code expression of emotion. We are recruiting native-born Japanese speakers. Qualifying candidates will be invited to participate in a 2 week, partially paid training period that will be followed by an evaluation. Training pay is contingent on completion of the training period and evaluation. Candidates who perform well on the evaluation will be offered a position as a research assistant on the project. At this time we are offering course credit with the potential for pay dependent on performance and prior research and video-coding experience. We're seeking people able to commit to work 20 hours per week through BOTH the spring and summer terms and possibly into August. If you are interested, please contact Daniel Kessler, the study coordinator, at kesslerd@umich.edu.
Time commitment requested:
20 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
Native Japanese speaker
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | Yes |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Igor Grossman
Email: igrossm@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Facilitating Wisdom: Mindsets and Social Roles
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social, Cognitive, Developmental, Cultural
Project Description:
Our research focuses on how people are able to think and act wisely, either by using cognitive strategies that facilitate resolution of social conflicts or by adaptively controlling emotions that undermine their goals and compromise their health. Hereby, we developed a novel research framework, which has been shown to produce reliable age differences and match experts’ opinions on the definition of wisdom. The goal of the current series of studies will be to experimentally manipulate several aspects of wisdom, specifically focusing on different mental strategies and social roles. We adopt an integrative approach spanning multiple levels of analysis to address this issue, and focus on a variety of participant populations. Students will have the opportunity to be involved in any and all of the following aspects of the project, based on experience and interest: data analysis (behavioral and physiological), design and programming of new experiments, and literature review. Additionally, students will schedule and run participants and attend weekly lab meetings. Students will learn how to conduct research, work as part of a team, and will be encouraged to think creatively and independently. Those working for course credit will receive guidance on writing a paper and/or preparing a poster presenting the results.
Time commitment requested:
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.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Brenda Volling
Email:
Alternate Contact:
Lauren Rosenberg
Email:lbrosenb@umich.edu, Phone: 615-4101
Overall Title of Project:
Family Transitions Following the Birth of a Sibling - 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 plan on recruiting 200 families in the last trimester of the mother’s pregnancy with a second child and then visiting these families in their home. The first phase of the study includes 5 different time points spanning approximately one year. The second phase of the study includes 3 different time points – when the younger sibling is 18-, 24- and 36-months old. Students will assist with data collection: conducting child assessments with older siblings, assisting parents with child behavior sorts, videotaping observational sessions with parents and children. Other duties involve data entry, preparation of study materials, and participation in lab meetings. Research assistants are asked to commit for at least two semesters.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
Students must be responsible, reliable, and have an interest in research. Scheduling flexibility is required as data collection will frequently take place on evenings and Saturdays. Owning a car is a plus, but not required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Dr. Terri Conley
Email: conleyt@umich.edu; Phone: 5-3895
Overall Title of Project:
Gender Differences in Perceptions and Experiences of Sexuality
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Psychology of Women
Project Description:
This is a series of interrelated projects designed investigate when and why women and men differ in their perceptions or experiences of sexuality—as well as finding instances in which those differences do not exist. We will examine differences in the experiences of monogamous and non-monogamous, couples (e.g., those in polyamorous relationships, open relationships, and “swingers”) differences in the acceptance of casual sex offers, and the negotiation of sexuality in the context of the aging process. We generally will consider both the experiences of heterosexual and lesbian and gay couples.
Time commitment requested:
6 hours/week; prefer at least a two- semester commitment
Qualifications of student:
Experience with SPSS preferred but not required. Experience with online data collection software (i.e., surveymonkey.com) is a plus. Students must have taken or be taking Dr. Conley’s course on the Psychology of Human Sexuality to be considered for the project.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
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 one’s 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 it’s 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:
Denise Sekaquaptewa
Email: dsekaqua@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Gender Stereotypes and Math Performance
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Cognitive
Project Description:
Women tend to perform worse on mathematical tasks when their performance can be interpreted in light of gender stereotypes that favor men. Women may hold stereotypes at an unconscious level, and possession of these unconscious stereotypes may influence women's performance, interest, motivation to pursue math-intensive careers. We seek research assistants to help with a study measuring unconscious stereotyping in relation to math outcomes. The experiment involves testing paticipants in the lab and/or facilitating a web-based experiment.
Time commitment requested:
9-12 hours per week for at least one semester.
Qualifications of student:
Students who are motivated, reliable, interested in the subject, and who have high personal standards are encouraged. Students with prior lab experience are preferred but others who are motivated and have good academic records will be considered as well. Good communication and organization skills, and some basic computer skills are required. Knowledge of computer programming is a plus! We seek 1-2 research assistants over the summer, and will need even more help during the 2007-2008 academic year.
| Credit Offered: | yes | Money: | no |
| Experience only: | yes | Workstudy: | no |
Project Director:
Felecia Webb
Email: frwebb@umich.edu Phone 734-763-0058
Overall Title of Project:
Identity, Academic Performance, and Social Interactions
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Personality & Social Contexts
Project Description:
This project is trying to understand how identity processes influence academic performance and social interactions within college students. Students can learn and participate in many ways, including recruiting participants and running experiments, coding, entering and analyzing data, and participating in lab meetings.
Time commitment requested:
At least 6-9 hours/week (2-3 credits)
Qualifications of student:
Researcher is seeking two research assistants. Students must be highly motivated, reliable, detail-oriented, organized, genuinely interested in learning more about the research process, have a flexible schedule, and feel comfortable interacting with people. Previous research experience is not required. We strongly encourage males and females to apply.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Dr. Amy Young
Email: Baldwin@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Implicit Associations Among Gender, Sexuality, and Violence and Sexual Coercion
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social Psychology
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Clinical Psychology
Project Description:
This study involves the development of a computerized measure of unconscious associations among gender, sexuality, and violence. As part of measurement development, we will conduct a study to determine the extent to which unconscious associations provide a better predictor of sexually coercive behaviors than conscious associations. Research assistants are needed to recruit participants for the study, administer the computerized test of implicit associations and administer paper/pencil surveys, enter data into SPSS, and conduct other assorted research related tasks.
Time commitment requested:
Approximately 10 hrs/week, negotiable
Qualifications of student:
| Credit Offered: | | Money: | |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | |
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:
Alternate Contact:
Dr. Terri Conley
Email:conleyt@umich.edu, Phone: 5-3895
Overall Title of Project:
Intergroup Perceptions
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Psychology of Women
Project Description:
This is a series of interrelated projects designed investigate intergroup perceptions that have not normally been studied. We address non-White groups’ perceptions of White women, various Asian American subgroups’ (e.g. Chinese Americans, Vietnamese Americans) perceptions of one another, ethnic minority groups perceptions of lesbians and gay men, and Latinas/os’, Asian Americans’ and African Americans perceptions of Whites and of each other. Most of these data have already been collected; the research assistants would be involved in data cleaning and analysis. This project would be especially suitable for a senior thesis or senior honors thesis. Provides an opportunity for a relatively independent research experience which could lead to conference presentations or publications.
Time commitment requested:
9-10 hours/week for at least two semesters
Qualifications of student:
Must have previous research experience, some knowledge of statistical methods and familiarity with SPSS. Less experienced participants may contact the project director about other ways to get involved in the project.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | |
| Experience only: | | Workstudy: | |
Project Director:
Tiffany Griffin
Email: griffito@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Richard Gonzalez
Email:gonzo@umich.edu, Phone: 763-5164
Overall Title of Project:
Intersectionality, Perceptions of Context, and Policy
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
Our lab examines topics such as status, power, identity and discrimination. We explore the relationship between psychology and policy and consider context in all of our investigations. Students interested in issues of social class, race, gender, and policy are encouraged to consider this position. The research assistant will be responsible for 1) recruiting participants, 2) running subjects at scheduled lab sessions, and 3) coding and entering data.
Time commitment requested:
Flexible; 9 hours per week preferred
Qualifications of student:
Students should be highly motivated, detail-oriented, enthusiastic, responsible, punctual, and possess a genuine interest in gaining research experience while working on a team. It is also important for the student to feel comfortable interacting with people. All student research assistants will be trained. Students who wish to make a 2 semester commitment are especially encouraged to apply. Working in our lab would be a valuable experience to students interested in graduate school in psychology.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Twila Tardif
Email: twila@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Twila Tardif
Email:, Phone: 764-2443
Overall Title of Project:
Language Development in English and Chinese
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Psycholinguistics
Project Description:
How do children learn language? What factors influence language development, and do these factors change over time? How do language skills shape other aspects of development? Does the language learning process differ for children learning different languages? What mechanisms in this process are universal, and which vary based on linguistic or cultural differences? Our laboratory collaborates with other laboratories in China and Singapore to examine these and related questions.
Our studies look longitudinally at English-learning and Chinese-learning children, assessing various linguistic skills, as well as information about the childrenfs backgrounds, their language learning environment, literacy skills, IQ, visual spatial skills, and processing speed. We hope to use this information to develop a comprehensive model of language development.
Research assistants will gain valuable experience in the domains of language development, cross-cultural and longitudinal methodologies, statistical methods, and general research practices.
Tasks will include some data analysis (primarily in Excel and SPSS), transcribing, coding, and translating. Hours are fairly flexible, and training will be provided.
Time commitment requested:
8-12 hours per week
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 one’s 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:
Catherine Lord
Email: um.autism@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Kathryn Larson
Email:um.autism@umich.edu, Phone: (734) 936-8600
Overall Title of Project:
Longitudinal and Diagnosis studies on Autism
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Clinical Psychology, Autism
Project Description:
Students working at the UofM Autism and Communication Disorders Center (UMACC) will be involved in a variety of research projects and have the opportunity to be involved in both of these research projects as well as a working psychological clinic specializing in the assessment and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders. For more information about specific projects, please see http://www.umaccweb.com/research/index.html.
Time commitment requested:
At least 9 hours/week
Qualifications of student:
Students must be flexible to work on a variety of tasks and projects. An interest in psychology and especially autism is desirable. Experience with library resources (PsycInfo and Medline) is also a plus.
| Credit Offered: | yes | Money: | no |
| Experience only: | no | Workstudy: | yes |
Project Director:
Kate Rosenblum, PhD
Email:
Maria Muzik, MD
Email:
Alternate Contact:
Zahra Hadi
Email:zhadi@med.umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Maternal Anxiety during the Childbearing Years (MACY)
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Clinical
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Developmental, Clinical, Developmental Psychopathology, Infant and Maternal Mental Health
Project Description:
This project investigates how mothers who are childhood trauma survivors cope with the stress and challenge of parenting in the early postpartum period, and how this may influence the infant’s development of stress responses and emotion regulation. We follow trauma survivor mothers who may or may not have developed Posttraumatic Stress Disorder across pregnancy up to 18 months postpartum. We collect a multitude of information about the mother and the infant during phone interviews and in face-to-face interviews during in home visits. We also videotape mother-baby interactions for later coding, as well as biological data such as vagal tone, the stress hormone cortisol, and infant DNA.
Time commitment requested:
9-15 hours, flexible
Qualifications of student:
Students interested in this project should be highly motivated, dependable, detail-oriented, organized, and able to work independently as well as be valued team players. Students will have the opportunity to perform a broad variety of tasks including participation in home visits for data collection, coding of videotaped home observations, data entry, transcriptions, and help with other office tasks. Research experience is helpful but not required. Students are asked to commit for at least two semesters.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
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:
Irene Yeh, Jason Taylor
Email: ireney@umich.edu and umypsi@gmail.com - send emails to both contacts.
Overall Title of Project:
Mental Exercising Through Socializing
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
What is the relationship between our social and intellectual lives? Can socializing “exercise” our minds? Daily social interactions can powerfully influence how we think, feel, and engage in a variety of life events -- from decision-making and academic performance to conflict negotiation and prosocial action. Recent experiments in social psychology have shown that social exclusion and interpersonal interactions, for example, can impair or promote basic cognitive functioning. However, we still know little about the psychological mechanisms of social interactions that affect our lives in both positive and negative ways.
Our experiments examine how different social interaction conditions affect people’s basic executive functioning and decision-making. We further explore this new area of research by evaluating mediating psychological mechanisms, such as individual social skills and networks, empathy, and social coordination. With this research, we hope to understand the underlying mechanisms of interpersonal interactions that can enhance our basic cognitive functions.
Time commitment requested:
6-9 hours per week for Fall and Winter 2009. We will hold mandatory lab meetings as needed.
Qualifications of student:
We are looking for students with diverse backgrounds and experiences who are interested in social psychological research. Prior lab experience and a strong academic record are valued, but the bottom line is -- if you’re interested and motivated, talk to us.
Research assistants will gain experience in multiple levels of the research process: from assisting with literature reviews and measures design to data analysis. Primary responsibilities consist of completing training and conducting experiments, preparing materials, and coding and entering data. Based on level of personal interest, RAs can also lead lab discussions, give presentations, and explore career and graduate school opportunities.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Robert Smith
Email: robwill@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Metacognitive inference and word-of-mouth
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
Imagine that you are hearing about an experience your friend had at a restaurant that you are thinking about going to. You notice that your friend remembers her experience at the restaurant extremely well. What does this mean? Why does your friend remember it so well, and how does this affect your opinion of the restaurant? In this research project, we consider questions such as these. So far, it seems that when someone remembers an event very well and over a long period of time, people infer that they must have had a particularly extreme experience. This, in turn, influences their own opinions and intentions.
In a related project, we will explore the issue of what it means when a charity or nonprofit cause is well-remembered. Early analyses of this issue imply that charities that are well-remembered are inferred to be more relevant, and this can increase donations.
Time commitment requested:
4-8 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
The student will be involved in all stages of the research project, including the development of materials, data collection, and analysis and the design of follow-up studies. An interest in social cognition research and consumer behavior is desirable. Moreover, you should be comfortable approaching people on campus, and asking them to participate in studies. Some studies may be conducted as web surveys and you should be computer literate (but programming skills are not required).
| 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 Women’s 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
347-513-4881
Email:
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 a White male Research Assistant, 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:
Hyunjin Song
Email: hyunjins@umich.edu, phone: 734-717-8757
Overall Title of Project:
Morality and Health
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
In our everyday life, we use metaphors to explain our feelings and thoughts. The present research particularly deals with how people use metaphors related to morality. We investigate how immorality is often compared with diseases, and how these metaphors affect people’s health and food related decisions. The research will investigate people’s perception of morality, how bodily feelings can be used in these judgments, and practical applications in marketing settings. The experiments will include paper and pencil studies and behavioral measures. RAs will participate in web search to help design experiments, running studies in labs and surveying on campus, and coding and interpreting data.
Time commitment requested:
6-12 hrs/wk
Qualifications of student:
Research assistants participate in all phases of this project and take responsibility for data collection. It is important that you are comfortable with approaching students on campus to ask them to fill out questionnaires and with meeting people in labs to run experiments. In addition, basic computer skills are helpful.
| Credit Offered: | yes | Money: | no |
| Experience only: | no | Workstudy: | no |
Project Director:
Marita Inglehart
Email: mri@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Oral Health and Quality of Life
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Health
Project Description:
This project explores the relevance of oral health for a person's quality of life. Questionnaire data from children, parents and teachers, as well as from adult dental patients are collected and analyzed to explore the relationships between oral health, psychosocial variables - such as health beliefs, health behavior, and attitudes, and quality of life.
Time commitment requested:
8-10 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
Students must have an interest in Health Psychology
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | no |
| Experience only: | yes | Workstudy: | no |
Project Director:
Fiona Lee
Email: fionalee@umich.edu
Jeff Lam
Email: chakfu@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Organizations and their Values
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Personality and Social Contexts
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Business and Psychology
Project Description:
Our research examines the values of business organizations. Specifically, we ask what types of values are espoused by business organizations, how businesses communicate their values through their web sites, public documents, and media outlets, and how such values predict important outcomes for organizations.
Time commitment requested:
9-12 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
N/A
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
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:
Fred Morrison (Primary Investigator)
Email:
Lori Skibbe (Project Coordinator)
Email: skibbe@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Lori Skibbe (Project Coordinator)
Email:skibbe@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Pathways to Literacy
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Education
Project Description:
The Pathways to Literacy research project has five broad aims. First, the work seeks to examine the nature and sources of growth in cognitive, language and literacy skills during the transition from preschool to the early school years. These sources of data allow a combining of an ecological perspective with a natural experiment (school cutoff); the research examines specifically the interactive role of child, family and schooling factors in shaping trajectories of cognitive growth from three years of age to second grade. Second, the project explores the utility of constructing and charting developmental pathways to literacy, utilizing a combination of analytic tools. The combination of methods permits creation of frameworks for describing the complex, dynamic interactions among child, family and schooling factors that shape literacy acquisition in school-age children. Third, the ‘pathway’ framework permits direct examination of selected sources of domain-specificity in aspects of cognitive and literacy growth. Domain-specificity can be seen, in part, as a function of an interaction of child and family characteristics and instructional experiences in school. Fourth, the ‘pathway’ notion is applied to an examination of stability and change across age in cognitive and literacy skills. Finally, our research attempts to apply the ‘pathway’ strategy to examine issues of ‘risk’ and ‘resilience’ in childhood. Here too, examining the interaction of risk versus protective factors over time as they shape unique trajectories of growth will enhance a fuller understanding of the factors that place a child at risk for later negative outcomes or serve to protect the child from the consequences of adverse circumstances.
Time commitment requested:
A minimum of 6 hours per week.
Qualifications of student:
Have an interest in developmental psychology, early education or a general interest in either field. Basic to moderate computer skills required. Most of our systems require training which will be provided. Students will have the opportunity (dependent upon availability) to perform classroom observations, code videotaped classroom and home data using the Noldus system, perform data entry, and help with other office tasks. No prior knowledge of coding is required. Experience in a research environment is preferred but not required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Domink Mischkowski
Email: mdominik@umich.edu; 734-763-3292
Alternate Contact:
Ethan Kross
Email:ekross@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Psychological and physiological processes involved in provocation, self-distancing, and displaced aggression
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Neuroendocrinology
Project Description:
This project interconnects different research lines regarding displaced aggression after provocation, rumination and self-distancing, as well as work about hormonal processes involved in aggression. I am looking for responsible and motivated undergraduates who are interested in gaining experience in preparing experiments (including creating materials, copying, etc.), running experimental sessions (maybe even taking saliva samples), and data-analysis during the spring and summer semester. R.A.s will work together with other undergraduates in a team and attend weekly lab meetings. If you are interested, send me an email. Please attach a transcript (unofficial is OK) and your resume. Then we can schedule a meeting.
Time commitment requested:
At least 6 hours/week
Qualifications of student:
| Credit Offered: | yes | 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:
Aleah Burson
Email: aburson@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Shame on Me: The Role of Self-Compassion in the Reduction of Self-Awareness Avoidance
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
Most people react in ways that are destructive for themselves and their relationships with others when characteristics that they use to construct a story of who they are (e.g. “I am intelligent”, “Other people generally like me”) are attacked or perceived as threatened. My research focuses on how harmful consequences due to self-threats, such as negative emotion (particularly shame), impaired self-control, desire to escape from awareness of the self, and increased stress hormones, can be prevented or at least reduced. I am conducting two separate studies that investigate potential ways to avoid negative consequences and maintain psychological well-being after threat. One looks at increasing people’s compassion for themselves and the other examines taking a self-distanced perspective on negative experiences and emotions. I am looking for responsible and motivated undergraduates who are interested in gaining research experience. If you are interested or would like more information, please send me an email, and we can schedule a meeting.
Time commitment requested:
6-12 hours per week (2-4 credits) during AU ’09 semester (and hopefully continue on during WI ’10)
Qualifications of student:
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Jin Bo
Email: jinbo@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Jin Bo
Email:jinbo@umich.edu, Phone: (734)764-8186 or (734)647-5514
Overall Title of Project:
Skill Acquisition in Older Adults
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience
Project Description:
In this project, we examine how aging affects motor skill learning. The acquisition of new motor skills is essential to adaptive human behavior throughout the lifetime. Studies suggested declines in the ability of the elderly to learn new manual motor skills. It is also known that older adults are impaired at spatial cognitive processing. However, it is not clear whether declines in spatial cognition contribute to motor learning deficits in older adults. Thus, the current study integrates behavioral and neuroimaging approaches, to examine the neural networks and mechanisms involved in motor sequence learning when the demands of spatial processing vary. This research will contribute to the accumulating body of knowledge on the cognitive neuroscience of aging. The results will also have potentially important implications for the design of rehabilitative interventions in older adults. In this project, undergraduates can be involved with many different areas, depending on interest and experience. Opportunities include recruiting subjects, running neuropsychological tests with young and older adults, data management and data analysis. Interested students may also have chances to be involved in the brain imaging study using fMRI. For more information, please see our website at http://www.kines.umich.edu/research/chmr/nbl.html
Time commitment requested:
10-15 hours a week
Qualifications of student:
Students must be motivated, dependable and have good communication skills. Basic knowledge of statistics is preferred. Students interested in 2 semester commitment are encouraged to apply. Please contact Jin Bo via email to set up an interview.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | 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)
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | Yes |
Project Director:
Sari van Anders
Email: apply through website info. below
Overall Title of Project:
Social Neuroendocrinology
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Biopsych
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 5-10 hours/week to the lab;
•Majors in: Psychology, Neuroscience, Women’s Studies; Also welcome are majors in Anthropology, Biology, etc.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Alex Chavez
Email:achavez@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Social, Survey, and Salience Effects in Consumer Behavior
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social Psychology, Cognition and Perception
Project Description:
This project studies the roles of social pressure, imagery, and cost salience in consumer decision making. Students will receive training in collecting survey and/or observational data in the field (in cafes, dining halls, dorms, etc.), study design, and conducting literature searches, depending on their interests.
Time commitment requested:
1-3 credits (3-9 hours per week)
Qualifications of student:
Must be fluent in spoken English, reliable, punctual, and attentive to details.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Francine Segovia
Email: segoviaf@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Francine Segovia
Email:segoviaf@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Solo Status and Common Identities
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Cognitive
Project Description:
Have you ever walked into a classroom and found yourself to be the only person of your social category, e.g., the only woman, the only African American, the only Latina(o)? Research shows that this experience, termed “solo status,” can actually undermine the academic performance of the person who is different from the rest of the group. In this project we will test an intervention, based on building a common social identity within the group, to reduce the negative effect of solo status on performance. Research assistants are needed to serve as laboratory experimenters, help create experimental materials, code videotaped footage of participants, and perform other laboratory tasks. This project would be a good choice for students interested in issues of stereotyping, race, academic performance, and social identity, and for students seeking a hands-on lab experience in preparation for graduate school.
Time commitment requested:
6-12 hours per week for one semester
Qualifications of student:
Students should be punctual, organized, responsible, mature, and hard-working. Willingness to take on a challenge will be beneficial, as training on a video-communication system, and mastery of a fairly complex experimental procedure are required. Familiarity with basic computer programs (Word, Excel) is required. Experience working with DVD video systems, including transfer of DVD footage to computer, is helpful but not required. Students who wish to make a 2 semester commitment are especially encouraged to apply. Students of color are especially encouraged to apply.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
John Paul Stephens
Email: jpsteph@umich.edu
(734) 709-6371
Email:
Alternate Contact:
Lloyd Sandelands
Email:lsandel@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Song Creation and the Self-in-Relation-to-Other
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Organizational
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Organizational cognition and coordination
Project Description:
Organizations are complex social entities that involve the specialization of roles and actions and thus also require the coordination, interrelation or integration of these actions. This study looks at how a 3-person group engages in organizing, or the interrelation of actions for some meaningful purpose, in order to create a song. Specifically, this study looks at two aspects of coordination: attention and feeling. First, attentional focus is manipulated to observe its effects on coordination. Second, the feeling of being a full member of a group may also co-occur when coordination goes well. This study uses video-records of groups collectively creating a song. Research assistants are needed to aid in the development and use of a coding system to analyze the video-records to outline the kinds of actions/behaviors being performed, and the level of coordination quality the groups display. Research assistants will also be involved in regular lab meetings where we discuss literature on attention, feeling, interdependence, relationships and coordination in organizations, as well as give updates on our progress.
Time commitment requested:
5-10 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
Research assistants should be flexible in the amount of time they can commit. Applicants should be responsible, organized and capable of working as a part of a team of researchers. They should be detail-oriented and invested in the project.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Frederick Conrad
Email: fconrad@isr.umich.edu
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 caller’s 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 caller’s 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 hours 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: | No | Money: | Yes |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Orion Mowbray
Email: omowbray@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Orion Mowbray
Email:, Phone: 734-260-4730
Overall Title of Project:
Stereotypes in Academic Contexts: Strategies for Reducing Identity Threat
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
Being the only representative of one’s group in an otherwise homogenous group (e.g. the only female in a group of men) is a harmful situation with powerful consequences. This phenomenon, known as solo status, can lead to increased feelings of distinctiveness, high levels of anxiety, and diminished academic performance in stereotype-relevant disciplines such as math and science. Our research investigates how to combat the consequences of experiencing solo status. One project we are currently conducting examines whether the creation of a common in-group identity can eliminate negative effects associated with solo status. For example, perhaps sharing a superordinate identity (such as sharing a specific problem-solving ability) can reframe group membership towards a more inclusive dynamic, independent of gender, race, or social class.
A second project we are conducting examines whether sharing a similar attitude towards diversity (e.g. embracing multiculturalism) with others can impact the effects of solo status. For example, perhaps learning that others in your group are open-minded and appreciative of diversity may produce a more welcoming environment, despite large group differences in terms of gender, race, or social class.
While some may argue that there are inherent abilities associated with one’s gender, race, or social class, our research confronts this belief and offers insight into how situational processes can influence group differences in academic disciplines.
Time commitment requested:
9 hours per week for at least one semester.
Qualifications of student:
Students who are reliable and have interest in stereotyping and prejudice are requested. Students with prior lab experience are preferred but is not necessary. Good communication and organization skills, and knowledge of some basic computer skills are also required. Students will be asked to participate in an introductory interview, prior to involvement, where they will be given the opportunity to express their qualifications, goals, and fit with the current research.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Denise Sekaquaptewa
Email:dsekaqua@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Stereotypic Attribution Bias among Women in Science & Engineering
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
A PROJECT MANAGER is needed for a multi-study project involving stereotypes and women in science and engineering. The project examines an unintended tendency for women in male-dominated domains such as science & engineering 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 women’s lower achievement and ability in these fields. The Project Manager will help to organize and manage all aspects of the project, including recruiting participants, developing experimental materials, running experiments, coding and entering data, and meeting with university faculty and administrators about the project. Because this is PAID position, research experience is a must. Because the project involves on-line studies, computer 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:
12 hours per week for two semesters
Qualifications of student:
The ideal candidate for this position will have research experience (e.g., working in a faculty member’s 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 preferred. 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: | No |
Project Director:
Alternate Contact:
Laura Ramsey
Email:lrramsey@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Stereotyping Processes and Implications
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
What kinds of stereotypes do people hold? How are people (both those stereotyped and those holding stereotypes) affected by these stereotypes? These kinds of questions are obviously important socially and scientifically, and we are planning and executing a variety of studies to address these issues. Various topics include stereotype threat, descriptive and prescriptive stereotypes, self-objectification, and the underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and math fields.
Time commitment requested:
Between 6 and 12 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
This project provides a great opportunity for students who are interested in learning more about the research process, as we are looking for research assistants who can help with all phases of the project, including preparing research materials, administering the study to participants, organizing data, and participating in occasional group meetings. We seek research assistants who are motivated, reliable, and detail-oriented. Basic computer skills are necessary, and previous research experience and knowledge of statistics are certainly a plus. Males are especially encouraged to apply (in order to control for an unintended gender effect), as are students who are willing to make a 2-semester commitment, but all applicants will be considered.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
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 teacher’s 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 teacher’s performance and these criteria might influence the teacher’s 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:
Melisa Carrasco
Email:melcarr@umich.edu, Phone: 734-358-2744
Overall Title of Project:
Summer MRI/DTI Project- Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Developmental Psychology
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Cognitive Psychology/ Neuroscience; Clinical Psychology
Project Description:
Currently working on an MRI / DTI project meant to study differences in anatomical connections among brain structures involved in socio-emotional information processing in adolescents with autism.
Job perks: Mentoring; will be asked to read and discuss latest literature regarding ASD, MRI, and DTI; chance to gain some (limited) clinical experience working with teens with ASD; etc.
Time commitment requested:
TBD
Qualifications of student:
| Credit Offered: | yes | Money: | no |
| Experience only: | no | Workstudy: | no |
Project Director:
Seda Yilmaz
Email: seda@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Colleen Seifert
Email:seifert@umich.edu, Phone: 763-0210
Overall Title of Project:
The cognitive processes in innovative design
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Cognition & Perception
Project Description:
Our research examines fundamental questions about creativity. How does a designer create something never seen before? What cognitive processes are involved in design decisions? How does a designer know when they are done? And, can creative processes be taught? Data analysis includes expert and student designer studies, and conducting sessions with introductory psychology's subject pool.
Time commitment requested:
10 hours per week for a full semester.
Qualifications of student:
Knowledge of MS Excel and Word is required. Some experience in using SPSS is preferred, but not required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Norbert Schwarz
Email:
Alternate Contact:
Jesse Chandler
Email:jjchandl@umich.edu, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
The Influence of Body Movements on Thinking and Feeling
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
Body movements are often thought of as expressing a feeling. People are amused, therefore they smile. However, recent research has also demonstrated that the reverse is true. Smiling makes people feel more amused. Our lab is exploring research related to this finding, particularly, how theories about what body movements mean influence the interpretation of the body movement. We are looking for dedicated research assistants to join the lab to work on this project. Responsibilities may include recruiting participants, collecting data and data entry. There are also regular lab meetings (weekly or biweekly) that research assistants are required to attend.
Time commitment requested:
8-12 hours per week (3-4 credits)
Qualifications of student:
Research assistants should be flexible in the amount of time they can commit.
The demands of a research lab require a somewhat greater time investment in the middle of the term, and less at the end. Also, applicants should be willing to help out on other projects in the lab (if needed). Applicants should be responsible, organized and capable of working as a part of a team of researchers. They should be detail-oriented and invested in the project.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | No | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Alicia Hofelich
Email: ajhof@umich.edu
(734) 764-2191
Email:
Stephanie Preston
Email: prestos@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
The Role of Emotional Facial Expressions in Empathy
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 Psychology
Project Description:
Whether it is a returned smile from a passerby or a friend’s commiserating frown, imitated facial expressions are ubiquitous in social interactions. Through an upturned lip corner or furrowed brow, we are able to rapidly decode what another person is feeling. What cognitive processes underlie this ability? Do our own facial expressions play a role in understanding the emotions displayed by another? Do individual differences in these processes give rise to differences in empathy? We address these questions using a variety of psychophysiological measures (heart rate, skin conductance, facial muscle activity) and behavioral tasks. Undergraduates working on the project will learn how to analyze psychophysiological data and will primarily assist in data processing. Students may also be involved in scheduling and running subjects, 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, flexible
Qualifications of student:
Students should be highly motivated, dependable, and conscientious. Psychology and Biopsychology/BBCS majors are especially encouraged to apply. Excellent organizational skills and general computer proficiency in Microsoft Excel and Mac OS X is required.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Edward C. Chang, Ph.D.
Email: changec@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Rita Chang
Email:changri@umich.edu, Phone: 734-647-3876
Overall Title of Project:
The Role of Individual Differences in Adjustment
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Clinical
Project Description:
Our research focuses on the link between individual differences variables and adjustment. We are particularly interested in looking at perfectionism, optimism/pessimism, and coping styles. As a member of this lab, you will be involved in a variety of different research tasks, from helping to conduct literature reviews, writing up research summaries, to coding data.
Time commitment requested:
10-15 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
Knowledge of MS Word is required. Some experience in using SPSS is preferred, but not required. We are looking for students who are ideally psychology majors with a 3.4+ GPA.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Jonathon Schuldt
Email: jschuldt@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Thinking about the environment
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
How do people think about environmental issues (e.g., climate change, overconsumption of natural resources)? What kinds of information and mental shortcuts lead some people to decide that the world is spiraling uncontrollably toward environmental catastrophe and others to conclude that there is little cause for concern? How do these thoughts affect actual pro-environmental behaviors (e.g., recycling, conservation)? Amidst looming climate crises, these are big questions that the science of social psychology can help shed light on. Specific topics addressed may include determinants of individuals’ belief in climate change, the influence of emotions on environmental attitudes, and beliefs about more eco-conscious food production (e.g., organics, locally-produced, etc.).
Time commitment requested:
6 to 12 hours per week
Qualifications of student:
This project provides a valuable opportunity for students who are generally interested in learning about the scientific research process and would be an especially good fit for those interested in environmental issues. Responsibilities include collecting data, managing databases, running experiments through laboratory protocols, and participating in occasional meetings. Students must be motivated and able to work independently as well as a member of a small group, and be willing to take on all sorts of tasks, including those that are sometimes longer and less engaging (e.g., data collection and entry from internet sources). Experience with Microsoft Excel, or similar software package, is highly advantageous. Hours are very flexible, and students often are able to work the majority of hours from home or elsewhere on campus.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | Yes | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Dr. Amy Young
Email: baldwin@umich.edu
Overall Title of Project:
Women & Leadership in the Business Sector
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social psychology
Major area of Psychology in which this project is located:
Organizational psychology
Project Description:
We have a variety of research projects underway that examine workplace gender discrimination, leadership, and women’s experiences in the business world. Our studies use both survey and experimental research designs. A research assistant is needed to conduct library searches, maintain the journal database, preparing and administering surveys, data entry and maintenance, manuscript preparation, etc. Requirements include being detail oriented, conscientious, and punctual; knowledge of SPSS and previous research experience in the social sciences is an advantage.
Time commitment requested:
Approximately 10 hrs/week, negotiable
Qualifications of student:
| Credit Offered: | | Money: | |
| Experience only: | yes | Workstudy: | |
Project Director:
Leah James
Email: leahej@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Jane Hassinger
Email:jahass@gmail.com, Phone:
Overall Title of Project:
Women on Purpose: Identifying cultural resiliency factors in South African women
Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:
Social
Project Description:
This project examines cultural resiliency factors in South African women exposed to trauma. This summer, our research team completed interviews with women identified as particularly resilient due to their long-term achievements in working at paper-making workshops throughout South Africa. Interviews aimed to identify strategies for coping with challenging circumstances such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, racism, and domestic violence. Students interested in issues of gender, race, culture, and resiliency are encouraged to consider this position. The research assistant will be responsible for 1) transcribing interviews, 2) helping to develop a coding scheme and participating in thematic coding of interviews, and 3) entering data.
Time commitment requested:
Flexible
Qualifications of student:
Students should be motivated, responsible, and organized and possess an interest in gaining research experience in the fields of psychology, women’s studies, and social work. Training will be provided. There may be opportunities to participate in other programs related to Africa and mental health.
| Credit Offered: | Yes | Money: | No |
| Experience only: | | Workstudy: | No |
Project Director:
Twila Tardif
Email: twila@umich.edu
Alternate Contact:
Cheri Chan -OR- Rachel Pulverman
Email:chancc@umich.edu -OR- rpulverm@umich.edu, Phone:
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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