| Faculty Advisor |
Michael Dodd
|
|---|---|
| Contact Email | mdodd2@unl.edu |
| Website | |
| Advisor College: |
Arts and Sciences
|
| Potential Student Tasks |
Primarily data collection which requires initial training on our paradigms and technologies, and then FYRE students would be able to make their own schedule to collect data. FYRE students are also expected to attend lab meetings if they fit into their course schedule. Lab meetings can be a combination of reading group discussions, larger real-world discussions, or info sessions on various professional development opportunities. |
| Student Qualifications |
Curious, motivated, responsible, hardworking, able to work independently once trained and going but also willing to ask questions whenever you need anything. Time management can be helpful and it is good to have general interpersonal skills for interacting with participants. |
| Training, Mentoring, and Workplace Community |
All of our FYRE students receive initial trainings in ethics, lab protocols, lab technology (primarily eyetracking), and general experimental guidance. The purpose of having FYRE students attend lab meetings is to also help develop other professional skills. We have a very supportive and inclusive lab with folks at many different years of study and with very divergent backgrounds. This really adds to the cohesiveness of the lab group and makes folks feel more involved in the lab relative to if they just collected data on their own. I'm a first generation college student, an immigrant (Canada), and so it is important to me to provide opportunities to students seeking them. Lab is very supportive and the grad students often help as additional advisors but I am available to students at any time for anything. This is a good opportunity to learn about Cognitive Psychology research (a great inroads to neuroscience if you have those interests down the road) and we have had good success getting FYRE students a lot of critical opportunities. Secondary contact: Emma Brase, ebrase4@huskers.unl.edu |
| Available Positions |
2
|
We have three potential projects ongoing in the lab, all of which FYRE students could be involved in (we can take on a total of 2 FYRE students). All three investigate individual differences in core cognitive processes (attention, perception, memory).
1) Neural and oculomotor correlates of emotional regulation - This is a collaboration with a few different faculty examining how eye movements and neural activity are impacted by the emotional regulation process when viewing positive and negative images. Our lab is specifically handling the eyetracking piece. Eye movements are monitored as people view emotional images and try to regulate how they respond to them.
2) Cognition and Cannabis use - An examination of how recreational drug use (specifically canibus and related products) impacts core cognitive processes. Participants complete a series of tasks (some eyetracked) and complete questionnaires to indicate their general drug use to determine how this impacts core cognitive processes
3) Individual differences in cognition and tactile perception - Examines how behavior changes on a series of basic cognitive tasks (some eyetracked) when participants have to interact with task-irrelevant tactile stimuli that is either pleasant or unpleasant to touch.
All of these projects require assistance with data collection and you would get to be a central part of the research process in addition to getting to see the results of the experiments and how they impact follow-up studies. Sometimes studies extend over years but in this case, these studies should all be completed over the 25-26 academic year, which may also create opportunities to present research at research fairs or local conferences.