Biopsychology | Clinical | Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience
Developmental | Education and Psychology | Health
Organizational | Personality | Social
Complete List

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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

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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

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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