| 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 ablet to make their own schedule to collect data. We do have a project where data collection would have to take place in the early evening and that might be well suited for someone with a full course schedule, but that is the only project with specific time constraints. 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 activities. |
| 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 help develop other professional skills. We have a very supportive and inclusive lab with folks from all 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 grad students often help as additional advisors, but I am availiable to students at any time for anything. This is a good opportunity to learn about Cognitive Psychology research (a great inroads to neuroscience but also relevant to all other areas of Psychology) and we have had good success getting FYRE students a lot of critical opportunities. Secondary contact: Emmanuella Asabere (easabere2@huskers.unl.edu) |
| Available Positions |
3
|
We have four potential projects ongoing in the lab, all of which FYRE students could be involved in (we can take a total of 3 students). All three investigate individual differences in core cognitive processes (attention, perception, memory). The last project listed is the only one in which data collection times may be constrained to evenings and weekends which is a good fit for someone looking for that, but all other projects can be done on the FYRE student's schedule with no restrictions on when to do the work.
- Neural and oculomotor correlates of emotion 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 to respond to them.
- Cognition and Cannabis use - An examination of how recreational drug use (specifically cannabis 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.
- 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.
- Spiders, art, and eye movements. This is the sole project that would require data collection during evenings/off hours. We are part of a large university collaboration (CAREMI) that examines why individuals are fearful of spiders, how we can understand that in terms of their eye movements and attentional allocation, and how negative behaviors can be reduced. As part of this collaboration, Jennifer Angus is an artist and professor who is widely know for her installations that use large numbers of insects that are arranged in ornamental patterns. She will be creating an installation to be housed in the Nebraska Art Museum on campus this fall and as part of this initiative we would like to use a mobile eyetracker and allow students and community members the opportunity to view the installation and then answer some surveys after hours. There is a related project where we will also have a chef who creates insect-based dishes in town and we will be taking pictures of his creations for later eyetracking studies. This project is ideal for anyone interested in the intersection between science and art.