Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Comparative and Developmental Cognition

Yale University, New Haven CT

Investigators

Abstract

The broad goal of this REU Site is to provide students with joint training in comparative and developmental psychology research. Students will gain experience investigating the origins of human social cognition from two different but related perspectives: developmental studies testing human children's social understanding and comparative examining social cognition in non-human primates, specifically capuchin monkeys. The REU site's 10-week program will host a diverse group of undergraduate students to work jointly in the Comparative Cognition and Social Cognitive Development Labs at Yale University. The REU students participate in all aspects of the research process: research design, subject recruitment, stimulus generation, data collection, data entry, coding, and statistical analysis. In addition, students have the opportunity to interact as colleagues: participating in weekly lab meetings, reading current literature, contributing to theoretical discussions regarding the comparative and developmental origins of social cognition, and attending a professional development series focusing on topics such as applying to graduate school, getting the most out of their undergraduate career, etc. Students meet weekly with a graduate student mentor, and the PI and co-PI attend bi-monthly social events. A primary objective of this REU site is to include students who have fewer research opportunities, including those attending non-Research universities and students from underrepresented groups and first generation college students. In this way, the PIs aim to increase the odds that these students will be competitive in applying to graduate school in psychology or a related field. Intellectual Merit. The REU students will join a vibrant and collaborative research environment at Yale, one that emphasizes both undergraduate teaching and mentoring, but also cutting-edge research. Both labs have a history of running internship programs in which students actively participate in collaborating on and publishing exciting scientific research. These programs include students who do not have the financial ability to pay for the internship program themselves. In addition to being an ideal environment for undergraduate research, the topics explored in these labs are unique. This REU site is one of the few locations in the world where students can learn to study one topic (social cognition) from many perspectives including a comparative approach, a developmental approach and an adult social psychological approach. Broader Impacts. The REU and the associated research have considerable broader impacts. The participants in this program represent a wide-swath and often excluded group of researchers including members of underrepresented groups, first-generation college students and students attending non-Research I universities. Aside from the broad impact on the professional development of the personnel involved, the students' research will focus on important social topics, spanning such important social issues as the origins and development of prejudice and discrimination, justice and morality, helping and altruism. In this way, this REU site provides broader impacts both in terms of student development and in terms of socially-relevant research findings.