Kirsten Adam
Example project: Using feedback to reduce attentional lapses
Despite our best intentions, sometimes our attention wanders away from what we should be doing. Past work has shown that attentional lapses play an important role in individual differences in working memory ability — people who perform poorly on working memory tasks have more frequent lapses (i.e., they encode the display but fail to report any of the remembered items). The current study will test how different types of performance feedback may help to reduce attentional lapses and increase people’s awareness of when lapses occur. The study results will help us better understand why and when our attention fails during laboratory tasks, and these results also may have implications lapses of attention in real-world settings (e.g., during driving, security and medical screening, studying).
Margaret Beier
Example project: Workplace Learning and Development
Most adult learning takes place in service of work; sometimes through training in the workplace and at other times outside of the workplace, when workers want to gain skills for new opportunities. Our lab studies the predictors of skill learning in adults. Questions include, ‘What are the factors that contribute to motivation for lifelong learning?’ ‘How do skills develop through the lifespan that contribute to lifelong learning?’ and ‘How can society and organizations support lifelong learning and skill development so workers can remain employed and employable?’
Mike Byrne
Example project: Visual grouping for human-computer interaction
One of the most primitive operations performed by the human visual system is grouping, that is, identifying clusters of visual objects. Most of the research on grouping considers either difficult photograph-like images where simply identifying what the objects are (vs. what the background is) is a challenge. On the other end of the spectrum, most of the remaining research considers grouping of just patterns of dots. We want to understand the space in between, which is typical of computer displays: how are collections of buttons, text, lines, etc. grouped? We will conduct a series of experiments to try to understand this phenomenon and test our current theory for how this is done.
Jing Chen
Example project:Enhance human-AI collaboration in automated driving
Dr. Chen’s Human-Automation Collaboration (HAC) Lab is working on an NSF-funded project on safe and secure automated driving with a focus on human-AI collaboration. This work involves both graduate and undergraduate students. The HAC lab has conducted studies to understand the public’s perception of the capabilities and limitations of AI in the context of cyber-attacks, and to leverage the AI technology to help the human driver maintain vigilance in automated driving. This project also includes quantitative modeling of human vigilance in this context, as well as developing a vigilance-based adaptive task-allocation scheme for effective human-AI collaboration. This project uses both quantitative and qualitative methods; students will also gain interdisciplinary research experience working on this project.
Patricia DeLucia
Example project: Multisensory integration of information in judgments of collision
This project uses a novel virtual reality system that simulates 3D traffic environments that can be seen and heard! The objective of this project is to study how people combine information from vision and hearing to make judgments about collisions. A fundamental component of mobility is the ability to avoid collisions with objects or people in the environment, for example, walking in a shopping mall or crossing a street. These abilities have been considered mostly visual and there are few studies of the use of auditory information for collision avoidance, and even fewer on how auditory and visual information are combined. The current study will use auditory and visual simulations of approaching objects and measure the relative contributions of vision and hearing to judgments of collisions. Results will have implications for training and rehabilitation of people who have vision loss and thus might compensate for this loss by relying more on hearing.
Example project: Perception of collision during highway driving
This project uses a driving simulator with a wide field of view steering wheel, and pedals. The objective of this project is to study the information that drivers need to avoid a collision with a stopped or slow moving truck-trailer located in the distance on a highway during nighttime. Such collisions are typically fatal in part because stopped vehicles are not expected on a highway and because there is inadequate information at nighttime to recognize a vehicle in the distance. Prior research showed that people rely on the growing size of the vehicle in the driver’s field of view. However, the importance of being to recognize the vehicle has not been tested. Truck-trailers are required to contain red-and-white conspicuity tape in the rear and sides and these stripes can be seen from about 300 m. However, they do not outline the basic shape of the truck-trailer. Thus, drivers may notice “something” is up ahead but they may not recognize it as a truck-trailer or other hazard or notice that it is stopped. The current study aims to measure the effects of a different information provided by the conspicuity tape patterns on hazard recognition and collision avoidance. Results will have implications for transportation safety, and ultimately have potential to reduce collisions.
Bryan Denny
Example project: Investigating biobehavioral mechanisms of cognitive emotion regulation training for family caregivers of Alzheimer’s Disease patients
Caring for a loved one diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease is highly stressful. In this project we are investigating the biobehavioral mechanisms underlying a novel smartphone-based cognitive emotion regulation intervention in primary family caregivers of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease or a related dementia (AD/ADRD). In particular, we are examining how thinking about an emotional stimulus in a more adaptive way can predict changes in health-related behavior via changes in negative affect and psychophysiological health-related biomarkers. This work may hold clinical significance in the development of new, scalable interventions to improve emotional health and well-being in family caregivers of AD/ADRD patients.
Luz Garcini
Example project: Building Strength in the Face of Loss for Families with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Providing resources to support the mental health of bereaved adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) is crucial to their well-being, yet evidence-based information is scant. The long-term goal of this project is to develop an infrastructure to build and disseminate an evidence-based web-enabled toolkit, tailored specifically for the needs of bereaved adults with IDD that is free and highly accessible. Our first goal is to build a robust network of community partners that will guide our efforts. In collaboration with our community partners, our second goal is to conduct a formative study to adapt an existing bereavement program called Paths [Senderos] to develop a web-enabled toolkit specifically tailored for bereaved adults with IDD. After developing the toolkit, our third goal is to conduct a study to determine the acceptability and effect of using the toolkit on the emotional well-being of bereaved adults with IDD. Once considered acceptable by the IDD community, our fourth goal is to disseminate the toolkit throughout Texas. Ensuring that bereaved adults with IDD have access to mental health resources that are specifically tailored to their needs is crucial to create systemic change, provide support, promote inclusion, reduce health risk, and prevent harm among one of our vulnerable IDD communities.
Phil Kortum
Example project: Measuring the usability of warnings
It is extremely important that warnings and warning signs be usable by the target audiences. Failure of warning signs to be understood by the target population can lead to injury and death. There are currently methods available for assessing the usability of warnings and warning signs, but they require extensive experience and training in order to make the usability evaluations. Our lab is looking into utilizing the system, usability scale in order to provide practitioners with a significantly simpler tool to evaluate whether a proposed warning is sufficiently usable for the general public. As part of this research, different classes of warnings (e.g., medical warnings, road warnings, industrial warnings, etc.) will be evaluated using the system usability scale in order to determine if it can be utilized as an effective evaluation tool.
Example project: Creation of ballots that can be more easily counted by hand.
Paper trails from elections are often assumed to be the gold standard in election counts. However, research has shown that the error rates in these hand counts can be significant enough to change the outcomes of reasonably close races. This research will examine whether there are perceptual and cognitive principles can be used to develop ballot forms that have superior hand counting characteristics, in order to aid voting officials when recounts/hand counts of elections are required.
Stephanie Leal
Summer trainees can work on projects related to memory, aging, depression, emotion, preclinical Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive tasks, & neuropsychology.
Example project: How does stress impact memory for emotional events?
Stress influences how we remember emotional events and how these events shape future behaviors. However, the impact of stress on memory specificity for emotional events has yet to be examined. When experiencing a stressful situation, do we remember the gist or details of the experience? Is our memory enhanced for stressful events or diminished? The goal of this project is to examine how acute stress might impact how we remember emotional events.
Example project: What are the effects of sleep on the aging brain?
Along with the physical changes that occur with aging, changes to sleep patterns are also part of the normal aging process. Sleep promotes the consolidation of experiences and plays an important role in memory and other cognitive functions. Does the amount of sleep at night directly impact our memory performance the next day? Does this get worse as we age? The goal of this project is to examine how the quality of sleep influences memory across the lifespan.
Example project: How are amyloid and tau related to cognition in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease?
Amyloid and tau are the main proteins involved in the development and progression of Alzheimer’s disease. We can measure these proteins in the living human brain using PET imaging. Some cognitively normal older adults already start accumulating these proteins before clinical symptoms manifest. How does the presence of these proteins in the brain influence cognition? Can we detect changes in cognition early before clinical symptoms manifest? The goal of this project is to explore how amyloid and tau may impact cognition (attention, memory, processing speed, etc.).
Ed Salas
To be determined
Chris Fagundes (unavailable this year)
Summer trainees will have the opportunity to design a project based on Dr. Fagundes’ current funded work. If accepted, trainees will work with a team that includes post-doctoral fellows, staff, Ph.D. students, and undergraduate research assistants. Trainees will be provided a work space equipped with a computer at the new Bioscience Research Collaborative at Rice University. For detailed information about ongoing projects, potential trainees should go to bmed.rice.edu and click on the project tab.
Simon Fischer-Baum (unavailable this year)
Example project: Language impairments and recovery following brain damage
Immediately following brain damage, many individuals are left with selective difficulties in understanding and producing language , with at least partially recovery common over the course of 6-12 months. The goals of this project is to understand how language functions associate and dissociate following brain damage, to identify the neural basis of these different language functions using lesion-based methods and to map how changes in the patterns of brain activity following brain damage relate to recovery of function.
Example project: Reading by touch
Braille opens a world of information to individuals who are blind. At the same time the literacy rate among individuals who are blind in the United States is a cause for concern. The goal of this research is develop a better understanding of the cognitive processes involved in braille reading. Because of differences between tactile and visual perception, reading by touch might differ substantially from reading by sight and there are also differences between how words are written in braille and how they are written in print. Because of these differences, there may be ways to effectively teach braille reading that differ from standard approaches for print reading.
Ozge Gurcanli (unavailable this year)
Mikki Hebl (unavailable this year)
Example project: The influence of regional accents on employment decisions
In this study, we examine perceptions associated with U.S. regional accents. We propose that employer’s first impressions may be influenced by the candidate’s accent (Lippi-Green, 1997). This project extends work on native/nonnative accents (i.e., British accent) to look at how applicants with one of four different regional accents (i.e., southern, Midwestern, east coast, west coast) are evaluated by potential employers.
Example project: The relationship between stereotypicality and leadership
For this study, we examine the extent to which stereotypicality influences leadership. Stereotypicality refers to the extent to which someone looks more (or less) like members of their own racial group, and this construct has been shown to significantly influence criminal sentencing, social networks, and persistence in STEM fields for those who look more or less like members of their race. In this study, we examine the relationship between stereotypicality and leadership.
Danielle King (unavailable this year)
Example project: Resilience to Adversity and Goal Focus
The aim of this study is to assess whether and how the way we think about our work goals impacts our ability and tendency to overcome adversity at work. We aim to inform programs and interventions meant to help employees better manage stressors in the workplace.
Example project: Developing a measure of employee resilience
This project focuses on developing both a trait and a behavioral measure of resilience to adversity. This work seeks to improve upon currently available measures and to help guide future research through the development of a clarified and valid measurement tool.
Eden King (unavailable this year)
Example project:
The American Academy of Pediatrics specifies that exclusive breastfeeding for six months, and continued breastfeeding with supplemental foods for one year or longer, drastically improves child and maternal health. Yet, only half of American children are breastfed at six months, and only one-third (30.7%) are breastfeeding at 12 months. A critical—and potentially malleable—reason for breastfeeding cessation is that women find it difficult to manage nursing when they return to work. Our lab is working to understand and reduce barriers to breastfeeding among working women.
Example project:
Subtle forms of discrimination in educational contexts can cause anxiety, usurp cognitive resources, and ultimately undermine interest, confidence, and achievement. Our lab is working to identify and test strategies that enhance the retention of underrepresented students in STEM careers by empowering them with effective strategies to overcome the detrimental consequences of subtle discrimination at present and in their future workplaces. We will analyze why and how subtle discrimination is problematic and assess ambiguity reduction strategies as powerful theory-driven buffers of these effects.
Randi Martin (unavailable this year)
Our lab is interested in the psychology of language. Most of our current projects investigate the structure of verbal short-term memory and how it supports language production and comprehension. A student would work on an independent project related to the existing research happening in the lab.
Example project: The relation between rehearsal and WM in healthy aging
Models of working memory (WM) commonly assume some sort of rehearsal mechanism which keeps information active until further processing can be carried out. Many people have the subjective experience of feeling like faster rehearsal helps them remember more information, but is this actually true? Does rehearsal efficiency actually determine WM capacity, and could this relation be different across the lifespan? The goal of this project is to examine the role of rehearsal in WM performance in both younger and older adults to replicate and expand on past work addressing the relationship between rehearsal and WM.
Example project: Narrative Production and WM in aphasia
Individuals who struggle with language difficulties post stroke offer a way to look at how the language production system works when it is disrupted. Using the transcriptions of stories told by individuals with aphasia and their performance on WM tasks we can examine the role of WM in language production. Do different modalities of WM affect language production in distinct ways? Do these relationships change with recovery post stroke? The goal of this project is to investigate the role of WM in language production through the use of data from individuals with lesions due to stroke.
Example project: The role of domain-general cognitive processes in sentence comprehension
In the psychology of language, the question remains whether the cognitive processes that support comprehension (e.g., attention) are specific to language processing or domain general, meaning they are also engaged across other, nonverbal tasks. Using a combination of neuroimaging and eye tracking methods, we can ask: Does a combination of the default mode network and a network specific to language processing predict the ability to resolve interference in sentence comprehension better than a language specific network alone? The goal of this project is to use methods from network neuroscience to understand the role that domain general processes play in understanding language.
Fred Oswald (unavailable this year)
All projects are relevant to organizations and the workplace, but they are also relevant to a range of other settings (e.g., educational, medical, legal), and they speak to the effectiveness of organizations and individuals.
Undergraduate RA responsibilities could be tied to existing or new research projects that fall under the following categories:
Example project: The Nature and Future of Work
Researching the psychological nature of occupations and the future of work. National data sets and the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) are involved in this work.
Example project: School-to-Work Transitions
Researching success in students’ transitions into jobs and careers. Outcomes of this research include choosing one’s major and job, graduating from college in a timely manner, and finding work relevant to one’s major and career goals.
Example project: Developing Psychological Measures
Measuring socio-emotional learning or 21st century skills relevant to education, work, and other aspects of life, in addition to personality traits, knowledge, motivation, experience, and interests.
Example project: Using R Shiny for Tool Development
Many of our projects involve programming in R Shiny to create tools that make psychological findings more accessible to other researchers, practitioners, organizations, federal agencies, and the educated lay public.