Research Opportunities
The FCD Lab is currently seeking highly motivated and enthusiastic undergraduate students interested in gaining research experience for FALL 2011 and SPRING 2012.
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Undergraduate research assistants in the FCD lab are an important part of our research team. Your experience will provide you with a foundation in essential research skills and allow you to explore your interests in families and child development. This is a great experience to prepare you for graduate school.
Specific tasks will vary depending on the current projects and research priorities. In general, you should expect to get experience in some of the following: Conducting laboratory visits with families and young children, assisting with recruitment, data collection (both observational, interview, and physiological data), data management and analysis, and coding video tapes of different family interactions for emotion and interpersonal behaviors.
Projects for FALL 2011 include: coding young children's prosocial behavior, sibling relationship quality, and parenting/coparenting. Editing heart rate data. Research assistants also pariticpate in family visits and data collection for the STARS Study will continue through FALL 2011.
Research assistants generally earn PSYCH 494 course credit. After two semesters in the lab, opportunities are available for completing a Senior Honors Thesis. Options are also available for work study.
Requirements/Qualifications:
- Minimum overall GPA of 3.2
- A commitment of at least 2 consecutive semesters is required due to the intensive nature of the training needed for most projects (3 semesters is preferred).
- Students should plan to spend 10 hours per week (3 credit hours) involved in lab-related activities, although actual numbers of hours may be higher or lower in any given week.
- Availability on evenings and weekends is preferred to participate in family lab visits.
Please e-mail fcdlab@gmail.com for more information.
To Apply:
- Please complete an application and send a current resume/CV to fcdlab@gmail.com.
- The application is a form (not a regular pdf) - DO NOT TRY TO SAVE THE FORM PRIOR TO EMAILING AS THE DATA WILL NOT SAVE. Please use the submit or print button in the top right had corner. (The form is currently not working - please print your application or email fcdlab@gmail.com for an application)
Graduate Students
I will be accepting gradute students for the 2012 academic year.
Dr. Blandon is currently seeking highly motivated students interested in pursuing a Ph.D. involving research on family process, the development of children's self-regulation, and social and emotional development during early childhood. Students with previous research experience and strong statistical skills are encouraged to apply. Please email a CV to Dr. Blandon at ayb10@psu.edu if you are interested.
Learn more about the graduate degree in the Developmental Area and Child Clinical Psychology.
Learn more about the current research projects in the Family and Child Development Lab.