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

Project Director: Patricia Reuter-Lorenz Email: parl@umich.edu 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: Michael Shvartsman Email: mshvarts@umich.edu Alternate Contact: Professor Rick Lewis Email: rickl@umich.edu Overall Title of Project:   Adaptive eye movements in reading Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:   Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience Project Description: We are interested in understanding how people move their eyes while reading. More specifically, we want to understand how people adapt their eye movement patterns while reading both to their own individual underlying cognitive / motor constraints, and to the specific reading task in front of them. Interested undergraduates will get a chance to learn how to work with a head-mounted eye-tracker, as well as learn about cutting-edge theories of memory, language, and adaptive control. Opportunities to learn data analysis in R and get involved in computational modeling are available as well. Time commitment requested:   8+ hours per week Qualifications of student: High reliability, motivation and capacity for independent thinking / work is absolutely required. Also crucial are excellent organizational and interpersonal skills, as is general computer proficiency. I currently have enough help with general RA tasks but am willing to consider exceptionally strong candidates with experience in data analysis using R or programming in Python or C++. Interested applicants should submit a resume and unofficial transcript to Mike Shvartsman at mshvarts@umich.edu Credit Offered: yes Money: no Experience only: no Workstudy: no

Project Director: Lynn Ossher Email: lossher@umich.edu Overall Title of Project:   Cognitive control and weight control Major area of Psychology in which these projects are located:   Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience Project Description: Why do some people gain weight or have difficulty losing weight? Does our cognitive system have any influence over our weight? We are investigating whether cognitive control abilities can contribute to weight management success or failure. We use behavioural cognitive psychology techniques to investigate how cognition may influence weight control efforts, and in the future hope to add fMRI investigations to the project. Students will assist in running participants through experimental testing sessions and helping with participant recruitment and scheduling, and data processing and analysis. Students have the opportunity to gain experience and expertise in SPSS, SAS, E-prime, and other software. Further involvement is possible depending on interest and commitment of the student. Time commitment requested:   9-15 hours/week; 2 semester minimum commitment Qualifications of student: Students should be highly motivated, dependable, detail-oriented, and conscientious. Psychology, BBCS, and Neuroscience majors are especially encouraged to apply, and an interest in a future career in research is a plus. Excellent communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills, and proficiency with Microsoft Excel are required, as is general computer proficiency. Previous experience working with human participants in a research setting is desirable but not a requirement. Interested applicants should submit a resume and unofficial transcript to lossher@umich.edu. Credit Offered: Yes Money: No Experience only: Yes Workstudy: No