PSYCH 290, Research Experience in Psychology, and PSYCH 494, Advanced Research in Psychology, provide research opportunities to undergraduate students. Credit hours are granted based on the scope of the work provided.
PSYCH 290s tend to be "entry-level" experiences. You may be doing data entry, transcribing tapes, or photo-copying. Some PSYCH 290s are more extensive and allow you to participate in lab meetings, for example. PSYCH 290 credit is graded as S/U. Your work in the lab will be determined "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory". 290 hours count toward your overall credits in Psychology and UIUC. They do not effect your GPA and cannot satisfy any specific requirements. Consider PSYCH 290 credit as elective hours.
PSYCH 494s allow students the opportunity to study a topic in greater depth. This may include continuing a PSYCH 290 in more detail/responsibility or just the desire to challenge yourself in a laboratory setting. PSYCH 494 credit is letter graded. Your work in the lab will be graded "A-F". 494 hours count as "advanced hours" in LAS. These hours can be used toward your Psychology and LAS requirements.
Research Fair: Each semester, the department sponsors an informational fair that allows research labs the opportunity to showcase their work. Students are invited to attend this informal fair, ask questions, apply for positions, etc.
Labs can also post research opportunities on this web page. These may be positions available for PSYCH 290/494 credit or paid positions. If you don't see an enticing opportunity now, check back next semester.
Current Research Opportunity Listings:
Looking for research opportunities this summer? Interested in how to optimize children's motivation and achievement in school? Join our research team in a study to understand the role of parents and teachers in children's motivation and achievement. The Center for Parent-Child Studies is seeking students to be involved in all aspects of research this summer. Contact: Dianna Moore [217-265-6378 | Email | Center for Parent-Child Studies]
The Cognitive Neuroimaging Lab is looking for undergraduates who are interested in brain imaging. We will be using optical imaging, fMRI, and sMRI on participants across a range of ages to examine brain anatomy. Undergraduates will assist lab members in various aspects of the research. If you are able to begin in the summer, are hard-working, motivated, and can commit to a minimum of 6 hours a week then please contact Christina Koury at koury2@illinois.edu. Contact: Christina Koury [Email]
The Cognitive Development Lab is looking for meticulous, friendly, and curious undergraduate Research Assistants for the Summer! If you are interested in gaining research experience, working with children, and contributing to new investigations on how children reason about the world around them, please fill out an application at the link to our website below.
Thank you for your interest!
Are you interested in how children identify sound patterns of their language, learn the meaning of new words, and comprehend sentences? Then the Language Acquisition Lab is a great research opportunity for you! We are looking for students for Summer Session II/Fall 2013. If you are interested please visit our lab website for more information and to fill out an application. Contact: Clara Ahn [244-6098 | Email | general information, application form, contact info]
The Lifelong Brain and Cognition lab is seeking a dedicated, responsible undergraduates to help with data organization and analysis for our cognitive training study using video games. Experience with Excel and some motivation is required. We are looking for students who want to start right away and work through the summer or who want to start in the summer. If you are interested, please contact Michael Kranz at mbkranz@gmail.com for more information! Contact: Anya Knecht [(217) 244-6763 | Email]
How do people take the information they are given and turn it into knowledge about things in the world? How can we structure what we say to make people remember us better? In the Language Production Lab, we are trying to answer these questions. We are looking for enthusiastic undergraduates who are interested in language, learning, and memory and who are willing to work for 4-7 hours per week in all aspects of the research. Two semester commitment preferred. Contact: Cassandra Jacobs [(432) 425-8212 | Email]
The Memory Systems Lab is looking for 290 students Spring 2013 to help with a project examining conscious access and awareness of memory retrieval using various measures including eye-tracking. If you are interested, please email us more information and see our website for more information about what we do. Contact: John Walker [(217) 300-0854 | Email | Memory Systems Lab]
The Beck Attention and Perception lab is looking to add multiple undergraduate 290s. Research is aimed at identifying the cognitive processes and neural structures that enable and limit our visual representations of the world. For instance, what determines whether or not we are aware of an event? What mechanisms constrain the number of items we can effectively process simultaneously? Why are we so adept at processing natural scenes? Candidates should be able to commit to at least 2 semesters. Contact: Brian Metzger [Email | Web Link]
Are you interested in conversation? How do we find common ground when we are talking to another person? How does sleep change your ability to adapt to someone's voice? If so, being a 290 is a great opportunity. Positions available Spring-Summer-Fall 2013. Minimum 2 credit hours. For more information and an application form, see our webpage. Contact: Sarah Brown-Schmidt [Email | Web Link]
603 East Daniel St., Champaign, IL 61820 • Phone: (217) 333-0631 • Fax: (217) 244-5876
