Our lab relies on excellent undergraduate research assistants (RAs) for completing a number of tasks essential to research that include:  running family sessions, coding emotion or parent-child interactions, scoring physiological data, participating in recruitment and outreach efforts in the community, and entering data.

Your Commitment to the Lab

Because of the level of training we put into our RAs, we only accept students who can commit to at least 3 academic quarters. Students complete 1 quarter of training and must demonstrate competence and reliability in their role before they are allowed to to either work with families or data. RAs must be able to commit 3-9 hours a week for the academic year. Finally, because we work with families with limited availability, RAs must be able to contribute some weekend time every month. RAs can receive course credit or volunteer.

Course Credit

1-3 upper division psychology credits can be earned each term. Students are not required to take credits if this is cost prohibitive, but are expected to dedicate the same level of commitment. To receive course credit, respond to your Project Coordinator’s inquiry regarding credits prior to the start of each term. Grades are Pass/No Pass.

1 credit=3 hours/week

2 credits=6 hours/week

3 credits= 9 hours/week

What we expect from students:

• Students will be working with families with young children or family data in the form of digital files. Students are the front line of our research! Families will judge their overall lab experiences based on their interactions with our RAs.

• During training, RAs must meet the required training benchmarks. When working with families or their data, RA’s cannot miss assigned family sessions or be late on completing coding assignments.

What students can expect to learn from the lab:

• Extensive Training. RAs will receive extensive training on proper research methods.

• Exposure to Research. By working in the lab for an academic year, RA’s will learn a lot about conducting research. The best way to learn about how research is conducted is to participate in the process itself.

• Professional Development. Every quarter, our lab dedicates a lab meeting to professional development issues. This includes writing a curriculum vitae (C.V.), advice on how to apply to graduate school, and discussions on what to do with a psychology undergraduate degree.

Becoming a Senior Research Assistant

Once RAs complete 3 quarters within the lab, they become eligible to become senior research assistants (SRAs). This means:

• Potential to shift tasks on the project and learn new research skills.

• Learn to train other RAs in research protocols.

• Become eligible for proposing a project (e.g., honors theses, poster projects, McNair theses, etc.)

• Become eligible to receive a letter of recommendation from Dr. Zalewski.