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Complete List

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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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 children�fs 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 China�j, 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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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