Undergrad Independent Research Practicum

By enrolling as an undergraduate research assistant (independent research practicum, PSY396), you will be given unique research opportunities that are not offered in the typical classroom experience. Broadly, you will get hands-on involvement in the research process, experience working as a member of a productive research team, and valuable insight into some emerging concepts in experimental psychology. Having tangible research experience (in terms of completed projects, exposure to multiple projects, and other research accomplishments) can be of paramount importance when students apply for future graduate school admission and/or research positions.

We take seriously the fact that you are here because you are a motivated, intelligent, and responsible scholar. As such, you will be trusted with real responsibilities and offered training experiences designed to better equip you to carry out your own research efforts in the future. That is, you will be viewed as a professional member of our team and a possible future academic colleague.

Basic expectations

Your experience in the lab will cover many of the basic skills and experiences involved in conducting social psychological research. Click here to download a "" and learn more about the basic expectations of undergraduate research assistants in the lab.

Training

As a research assistant, you will be put in charge of your own research study. In fact, you may work on several studies as you complete and begin new projects during the course of a semester. With each new study, you will receive intensive training about the relevant theory and methodology, as well as practical training for data collection sessions. The "" also provides a more detailed description of that training.

Additional opportunities

As mentioned above, we recognize you are a motivated, intelligent, and responsible scholar and strive to offer you helpful training experiences. Although there is a basic set of expectations for the lab, we typically view our research assistants as professional members of our team and potential future academic colleagues. As a result, we are very interested in building a program that produces successful student researchers who are capable of going on to become successful graduate students and researchers. Toward that effort, we offer optional training experiences that can help you excel in the lab by attending lab meetings (which give valuable insight about psychological science "behind the scenes"), taking on more responsibility (e.g., leading incoming research assistants, managing more studies), and developing your own research questions and your own study designs. The "" also provides a more detailed description of these optional opportunities.