🥼Working in Our Lab
General Responsibilities
Undergraduate research assistants (RAs) are the backbone of the lab and do much of the work that keeps data collection running smoothly. Responsibilities are primarily to recruit, schedule, remind, test, and pay participants. RAs also assist graduate students with research-related things like data entry, rudimentary data analysis, and proofreading documents/manuscripts. Other responsibilities include keeping the common areas of the lab clean and organized and managing our subject database. The bulk of the work can be done in the running and control rooms of the lab. However, occasionally on- and even off-campus recruitment may be necessary.
Why work in our lab?
While working in the Attention and Working Memory Lab, you will:
Receive training in technical and ethical aspects of human subject research
Gain an understanding of how individual differences research is conducted
Potentially gain a moderate understanding of research methods, including specific techniques (e.g., eye-tracking, pupillometry, genetics, EEG)
Potentially learn how to analyze and interpret behavioral and neuroimaging data
Receive acknowledgment in publications resulting from studies to which you contributed
Have the potential to be a co-author on manuscripts (see the Get More Involved section for further information)
Interact with graduate students and get advice pertaining to research, coursework, careers, and psychology as a whole
Gain valuable experience that will inform your immediate and long-term career goals
Be able to have graduate students and/or Dr. Engle write letters of recommendation or serve as references (Note that we will be honest about our evaluation and do not guarantee a positive reference or recommendation. You may want to discuss this with us before using anyone from the lab as a reference so that you can have an idea of our impression of your quality of work while you were in the lab.)
Conduct your own research study (such as for a senior thesis) within the constraints of the type of questions we address and of the work being paid for by our grant sponsors and under the guidance of a graduate student or Post-Doc.
Keep in mind that most of these benefits and outcomes are dependent on you and your level of involvement. Getting more involved in our research will take some initiative on your part, but, should you decide to do so, you will receive the full support of the lab in terms of guidance, mentorship, and feedback. Schedule a meeting with a graduate student or Post-Doc to discuss what opportunities there might be for you.
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