Vanderbilt Psychology & Human Development Research Lab Openings

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L
1	**These research opportunities are for current undergraduate students at Vanderbilt or TSU or Fisk students through the research consortium
2	Faculty mentor (alphabetical by last name)	Area	Lab	Mentor/lab website	Brief description of research and undergraduate involvement	Opportunities available (e.g., directed research, honors, immersion, paid)	Requirements	Application instructions	Next available openings	When to apply/contact	Contact for more information	Notes
3	Benton, Deon	Cognitive, Developmental	Computational Cognitive Development Lab (CCDL)	https://theccdlab.com/	We study how infants and children learn about cause and effect and to evaluate others based on their social and moral actions; in other words, we study the cognitive mechanisms of change that give rise to these capacities. A typical undergraduate in our lab is directly invovled with all aspects of our research. This includes recruiting participants, calling and scheduling participants, designing studies, creating stimuli, testing participants (both in the lab as well as at the Adventure Science Center), attending recruitment events through the CSG, attending regular lab meetings, and meeting semi-regularly with the PI.	directed research, honors, immersion	minimum of 2 semester commitment, ideally 6-9 (2 to 3) credit hours, occassional evening and weekend testing	email lab manager, Becky Beaton: rebecca.m.beaton@vanderbilt.edu	Fall 2023	this semester (spring 2023)	deon.benton@vanderbilt.edu or rebecca.m.beaton@vanderbilt.edu
4	Boles, Jessika	Developmental	CHILL Lab (Children's Healthcare, Illness, Legacy, and Loss)	https://lab.vanderbilt.edu/chill-lab/	psychosocial needs and interventions in pediatric intensive care, bereavement support service needs and experiences, legacy perceptions and needs of marginalized communities, use of and response to facility dog interventions in pediatric healthcare settings, patient and family experiences of healthcare and healthcare transition, pediatric medical complexity (emphasis on qualitative and mixed-methods)	directed research, honors, or immersion	Minimum of 2 semester commitment, flexible hour expectations (8-10 hours per week for directed research credit); evening and weekend time needed for some projects	Please submit online application here: https://redcap.link/CHILL-lab-app	Fall 2025	End of Spring 2025	jessika.boles.1@vanderbilt.edu	emphasis on teaching mixed-methods and qualitative research skills
5	Booth, Amy	Developmental	Little Learners Lab (LLL)	https://my.vanderbilt.edu/littlelearnerslab/	Research opportunities focus on understanding the causes and consequences of early variability in learning and motivation. Current projects focus primarily on early scientific literacy and early literacy development.	directed research, honors, immersion, work-study, VUSRP	Minimum of 2 semester commitment, 8-10 hours a week, occassional weekend/evenings possible	Please submit application available on our website: https://my.vanderbilt.edu/littlelearnerslab/join-our-lab/	Spring 2025	End of Fall 2024	amy.booth@vanderbilt.edu or jihye.bae@vanderbilt.edu	May be recruiting 1 or 2 RAs in Spring 2025
6	Booth, James	Cognitive, Developmental	Brain Development Laboratory	https://lab.vanderbilt.edu/boothlab/	Our active projects involve examining the neuro-cognitive basis of reading and language acquisition in adults and children. We have studies examining typical and atypical populations, including learning disabilities, late talkers, deafness and anxiety. Activities include data collection and analysis, and helping to write reports.	directed research or honors, immersion projects related to current research in the lab	Minimum of 2 semester commitment; approximately 10 hours per week and weekend/evening availability	Submit application through lab website under "Want to join our team?" https://redcap.vanderbilt.edu/surveys/?s=RN9C38MAPC	Spring, 2025, Summer, 2025		braindevelopmentlaboratory@gmail.com
7	Brown-Schmidt, Sarah	Cognitive	Conversation Lab	http://sarahbrownschmidt.com/apply-to-work-in-my-lab/	Experiments on Conversation, Memory, Language processing in healthy adults and persons with brain injury.	directed research or honors, immersion projects, paid positions on grant projects	Minimum of 2 semester commitment, 8-10 hours a week	http://sarahbrownschmidt.com/apply-to-work-in-my-lab/	ongoing	anytime	patrick.sherlock@vanderbilt.edu
8	Compas, Bruce	Clinical	Stress and Coping Lab	https://my.vanderbilt.edu/stressandcoping/	Research on the effects of stress on mental and physical health in children and adolescents and familes. Studies include (a) families coping with the effects of parental depression; (b) the effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on mental and physical health in adolescence; and (c) families coping with the stress of Huntington's disease (a genetic neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disease).	independent study, directed research, honors, or immersion projects	Minimum of 2 semester commitment, 10 hours per week	Contact Prof. Bruce Compas (bruce.compas@vanderbilt.edu) or Dr. Kelly Watson (kelly.h.watson@gmail.com)	Fall 2022		Contact Prof. Bruce Compas (bruce.compas@vanderbilt.edu) or Dr. Kelly Watson (kelly.h.watson@gmail.com)
9	Fazio, Lisa	Cognitive, Developmental	Building Knowledge Lab	my.vanderbilt.edu/buildingknowledgelab	Research focuses on memory in children and adults and how people learn true and false information from the world around them. Strong focus on misinformation and how to correct false beliefs.	directed research, honors	Minimum 2-semester commitment, 6-9 hours per week	email Dr. Shauna Bowes, shauna.bowes@vanderbilt.edu, for an application	Spring 2025		buildingknowledgelab@gmail.com
10	Garber, Judy	Clinical, Developmental	Mind over Mood Lab	https://youth-mindful-awareness-program.org or https://www.vanderbilt.edu/psychological_sciences/bio/judy-garber	Research on risk and interventions for depression and anxiety in children and adolescents. Current study of the efficacy of an online mindfulness program in at-risk youth aimed at preventing depression and anxiety. Also studying perspective taking/theory of mind in depressed adolescents. Students assist with data collection and analysis. Possible chance to be a mindfulness coach. Opportunities for submitting posters to conferences.	independent study, directed research, or honors, immersion projects	Minimum of 2 semester commitment; on average 6-9 hours per week; some weekend/evening times; direct contact with adolescent participants	E-mail: jgarber.vanderbilt@gmail.com for an application	Spring 2024, Summer 2024, Fall 2024	If possible, please contact in the semester before you would like to join the lab.	jgarber.vanderbilt@gmail.com
11	Hoch, Justine	Developmental	Exploration & Learning Lab	www.explore-lab.com	We study the development of exploratory behavior. Our studies focus on how new motor skills (e.g., sitting, crawling, walking) offer infants new opportunities to interact with the environment and new ways to learn.	directed research, honors, immersion, work-study, VUSRP, summer interns	Minimum 2-semester commitment, 9 hours per week	Apply on our website under the tab "Join Our Lab" using the Google Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf5mkf4jVL-8Hzihe_HJ3GNc-Jx-5q65IHMgCpn3GP13PQbDw/viewform	Spring 2025		justine.hoch.1@vanderbilt.edu OR jessica.ye@vanderbilt.edu	Will be hiring 2-3 RAs for Spring 2025
12	Humphreys, Kate	Clinical, Developmental	Stress and Early Adversity Lab	www.VUsealab.com	Projects center on how experiences shape brain and behavioral development, with a focus on understanding how experiences vary and improving caregiving relationships for infants and young children. Current projects include observational studies of pregnant people and their offspring; spanning from conception through childhood. Methods include fMRI and laboratory observations; interventions oriented to improve caregiving; and using new tools to study children in their daily lives using wearable sensors.	directed research, immersion projects connected to ongoing or completed studies	4+ semester commitment; 10+ hours per week; weekend/evening availability	https://redcap.vanderbilt.edu/surveys/?s=WTWFTJRPAM	Winter 2024	typically, approx 2 months prior to start of term. applications can be submitted any time	jessica.feller.1@vanderbilt.edu	looking for participant facing individuals to help with EEGs and parent–child interactions; neuroscience oriented students to work with cleaning brain imaging files; working with preparing and offloading wearable devices; administrative help, etc.
13	Kujawa, Autumn	Clinical	Mood, Emotion, & Development Lab	https://www.moodemotionlab.com/	Research on affective neuroscience, development of mood disorders, and treatment/prevention of mood disorders; opportunities to train in psychophysiological (e.g., EEG) and clinical assessments with children, adolescents, and pregnant people	directed research and immersion projects connected to active research; VUSRP and honors projects possible depending on prior experience in the lab	Minimum of 2 semester commitment; approximately 9 hours per week and weekend/evening availability	Apply using the redcap form linked at https://www.moodemotionlab.com/join (If link is not posted, we are not currently accepting applications but will generally open it again around December)	Summer or Fall 2025	Apply by March 1 for start dates in summer or fall (we generally do not admit new RAs in the spring semester); We will review applications and schedule interviews in March	emailing before applying is not required; contact medlabvanderbilt@gmail.com with additional questions	Lab is currently full and we do not anticipate new openings until summer or fall 2025
14	Lane, Jonathan	Developmental	Social Cognition Lab	https://my.vanderbilt.edu/socialcognitionlab/	Research focuses on children's social-cogntive development--their understanding of other people and how they learn from other people. Most research is conducted with children 3-8 years in age, but some projects include older children or adults.	directed research, immersion projects related to current research in the lab	Minimum 2-semester commitment, 6-9 hours per week	Email a resume, a list of courses taken in psychology or education, and information on experience working with children to: jonathan.lane@vanderbilt.edu	Spring 2025	Please contact us in November about interest in Spring 2025	jonathan.lane@vanderbilt.edu	Please contact us in November about interest in Spring 2025
15	Levin, Dan	Cognitive	Visual Cognition Lab	https://my.vanderbilt.edu/daniellevinlab/about-me/	Research on interface between concepts and visual perception. We have been exploring the concepts associated with a variety of object categories, and the knowledge that drives visual selection during scene and event perception. For example, we are currently exploring how people perceive the sequence of natural visual events, and how they represent space while viewing films. In related research, we are exploring adults’ and childrens’ concepts about agency, and testing how these concepts affect event perception, human-computer interaction, and learning from agent-based tutoring systems. Other work explores the perception of scenes and events, especially in the context of cinema.	directed research, honors, immersion	Minimum 2-semester commitment, 6-9 hours per week	email: daniel.t.levin@vanderbilt.edu	Fall 2021		daniel.t.levin@vanderbilt.edu
16	Marble, Kimberly	Developmental	SPARK (Social Perception And Reasoning about Knowledge)	https://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/bio/?pid=kimmy-marble; https://www.vanderbilt.edu/psychological_sciences/bio/kimmy-marble	Research focused on social cognition during early and middle childhood, as well as adulthood. We examine how 4- to 10-year-old children decide who is a good source of information and how children evaluate whether information about social groups is important for assessing the quality of another person’s knowledge. We are also interested in the intersection between moral reasoning and children's understanding of social groups and social hierarchies in some of this work.	directed research	Minimum 2-semester commitment, 6-9 hours per week	Email a resume, list of relevant psychology courses, and details of your experience working with children to: kimberly.marble@vanderbilt.edu	Fall 2024, Spring 2025	September 2024 onward (for spring 2025)	kimberly.marble@vanderbilt.edu	Students will be expected to devote part of their time to the efforts of the Child Studies Group (more information: https://my.vanderbilt.edu/childstudiesgroup/
17	Mehari, Krista	Clinical	Violence Prevention Research Team	https://www.vanderbilt.edu/psychological_sciences/bio/krista-mehari; https://www.southalabama.edu/projectgrip; https://www.southalabama.edu/specialprojects/soar/	Research focused on youth violence prevention, gun injury prevention, and positive youth development, using community-engaged and participatory methods. We work to understand the causes and predictors of violence and injury and partner with communities (e.g, schools, agencies, community-based organizations) to develop/adapt, implement, and evaluate youth violence prevention strategies. Currently, all data collection is off-site. The current focus of my work is analyzing and disseminating data on gun-related injury prevention.	directed research or honors, immersion projects, paid positions on grant projects	Minimum 2-semester commitment, 6-9 hours per week	email krista.mehari@vanderbilt.edu	Fall 2024	Apply at least 6 weeks prior to the start of the term	krista.mehari@vanderbilt.edu	krista.mehari@vanderbilt.edu or colleen.walsh.1@vanderbilt.edu (postdoc)
18	Needham, Amy	Developmental	Hands-On Play Lab	https://my.vanderbilt.edu/handsonplaylab/	In the HOP lab, we study how infants and young children learn through play. New studies are investigating whether children's hand skills are affected by play with Montessori-based materials, whether learning to drum helps children with Down syndrome improve their inhibitory skills, and what play looks like in the child's home environment.	directed research, honors, immersion	Minimum 2-semester commitment, 6-9 hours per week	Fill out the RedCap form on our website to be added to our waitlist for upcoming interviews: https://my.vanderbilt.edu/handsonplaylab/join-our-team/	Spring 2025, Summer 2025	Interviews will occur near the end of Fall 2024. Applications submitted before mid November will be considered	vuhandsonplaylab@gmail.com
19	Rittle-Johnson, Bethany	Developmental, Cognitive	Children's Learning Lab	https://my.vanderbilt.edu/childrens_learning_lab/	We study how children learn and how to improve their learning of mathematics. We conduct this research in both laboratory and classroom contexts to better understand learning processes.	directed research, honors, immersion, work-study, VUSRP, summer interns	Minimum 2-semester commitment, 6-9 hours per week	We review applications around course registration time; Learn more and complete the survey available at https://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/departments/psych/research/research_labs/childrens_learning_lab/Prospective.php	Spring 2025, Summer 2025	During pre-registration time for the semester in which you are interested in being an RA	learninglab@vanderbilt.edu	Please contact us in March about interest in Fall 2024
20	Saylor, Meg	Developmental	Language Development Lab	https://my.vanderbilt.edu/languagedevelopmentlab/	We study preschoolers' question asking and word learning, and how babies understand which people or things someone is talking about. In both of these areas we ask how early memory skills affect comprehension and learning.	directed research or honors, immersion projects	Minimum of 2 semester commitment, 9 hours a week	Application available on the lab website. E-mail completed application to Professor Saylor (m.saylor@vanderbilt.edu)	Spring 2025	anytime	m.saylor@vanderbilt.edu
21	Smith, Craig	Cognitive	Appraisal, Stress, Coping, & Emotion (ASCE) Lab	https://www.vanderbilt.edu/psychological_sciences/bio/craig-smith	Research focuses on the cognitive properties underlying human emotional responses as well as the motivational functions served by various emotions.	directed research, honors, immersion projects	1 semester commitment, with possibility for multiple-semester experiences. Time commitment negotiable based on credit-hours taken. Commitment of approximately 6 or 10 hours/week strongly preferred.	email: craig.a.smith@vanderbilt.edu	None in the foreseeable future	I am in the proces of closing down the lab, which is planned to be completed by the end of the 24/25 academic year. The lab is currently fully staffed for the year, and I do not anticipate any new openings	craig.a.smith@vanderbilt.edu	Currently we are not recruiting new RAs for future semesters.
22	Vinci-Booher, Sophia	Developmental, Cognitive	Learning and NeuroDevelopment (LAND) Lab	https://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/bio/sophia-vinci-booher	Research in the lab aims to understand how the interplay between action and perception is related to human learning and, more specifically, how the brain mediates that relationship throughout the lifespan. Studies often focus on handwriting and early reading development. The lab employs a variety of methods, including several MRI-based neuroimaging techniques, training paradigms, and behavioral assessments.	directed research, honors, immersion projects	Minimum of 2 semester commitment; approximately 10 hours per week and weekend/evening availability	Submit an application at: https://forms.gle/TfUZYAfqVRpTGez96	Summer 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025	March/April for Fall 2024, October/November for Spring 2025	vanderbilt.land.lab@gmail.com
23	Watson, Duane	Cognitive	Communication and Language Lab	https://my.vanderbilt.edu/dgwatson/sample-page/	Research focuses on studying adult language use; this includes studies of prosody and intonation in natural conversations as well studies on reading. Undergraduates would help with stimulus design, coding data, and running participants.	directed research, honors	Minimum of 2 semester commitment, 8-10 hours a ewek	email a resume and a list of relevant coursework to languagelab@gmail.com	Fall 2021		languagelab@gmail.com
24	Wilkey, Eric	Cognitive, Educational Neuroscience, Developmental	Number Lab	https://numberlabvu.org/	We study how math skills develop and how they are related to executive function development using both behavioral experiments and neuroimaging (MRI). Undergraduates would get trained to run participants in experiments, do standardized testing, and work with data.	directed research, honors	Minimum 2-semester commitment, 6-9 hours per week	email: eric.d.wilkey@vanderbilt.edu or monica.s.bashir@vanderbilt.edu to let us know that you have filled out the REDcap survey available on our lab website on the "Join Our Team" page.	Fall 2025		eric.d.wilkey@vanderbilt.edu or monica.s.bashir@vanderbilt.edu	As of (10/17/24) we are not currently recruiting new RAs.
25	Zepeda, Cristina	Cognitive, Developmental	Advancing Learning Lab	https://lab.vanderbilt.edu/advancinglearning/	Our research focuses on how people learn, how they regulate their learning via cognitive and motivational strategies, and how to best support learners. Our studies are with middle school to college-age students. They are often conducted in STEM classrooms with some studies occuring in the lab and online.	directed research, honors, immersion, work-study, VUSRP	Minimum 2-semester commitment, 9 hours per week	Please fill out the application available on our lab website (https://lab.vanderbilt.edu/advancinglearning/join-our-team/)	Fall 2025		advancinglearninglab@gmail.com	We will begin to review applications on 4/6/25
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