-
We look for graduate students who have a good background in psychology or a related social science, strong verbal and quantitative abilities, and above all, a logical mind. Good writers are especially welcome! We work with students regardless of whether their ultimate career goals lie in academia or elsewhere.
-
The intellectual scope of our lab –social and cultural influences on development during adolescence and young adulthood – is very broad. Thus, current lab members are pursuing a variety of different topics. We invite new students who think our lab might be a good match for their interests to meet with us to explore the possibility of joining the lab. We also welcome a few students whose research focus lies outside the stated scope of the lab if one or both of us is interested in the research topic and has relevant expertise.
-
We hold a weekly, two-hour lab meeting. Other meetings take place as needed, with individual graduate students or subgroups of students who are engaged in a joint project.
-
Graduate students in our lab experience a collaborative, congenial, and highly interactive setting. In lab meetings, we discuss and comment on ideas for proposed projects, relevant hypotheses, possible research designs, and statistical strategies. With respect to ongoing projects, we share with each other the results of statistical analyses and preliminary drafts of departmental and conference presentations, and sometimes other writings. It takes only a short while for lab members to feel comfortable with such “disclosure.” This is a teaching and learning environment, in which both faculty and students are participants
-
Students are encouraged to participate in ongoing projects, and as their ideas and skills develop, to conceptualize their own research studies based on new data collection or on existing data.
-
Graduate students who are working on a project typically take the lead on poster presentations at major professional meetings (e.g., APA, APS, Society for Research on Adolescence, Society for Research in Child Development).
-
We emphasize the development of a strong curriculum vitae over the course of graduate study in our Ph.D. program. Thus, we encourage efforts on the part of graduate students that result in authorship and co-authorship of peer-reviewed publications.
-
Some of our lab members also participate in other faculty members’ labs –a situation that is often very productive.
