Research Experience

School of Psychology Faculty and Labs

Lab	Information
Adult Cognition Lab
	Contact	Jarrod Hines Phone: (404) 385-1446
	Faculty member	Christopher Hertzog
	Position types	Generally, lab technicians work for pay, but we do offer course credit.
	Minimum time commitment	8hrs (for pay), 9hrs (for 3 hrs credit)
	Preferred commitment duration	1+ semesters
	Requirements	Generally Tech undergrads--psychology major preferred but not required; those with appropriate skills will be considered on individual basis if not a Tech undergrad.  Hard work, diligence, and initiative is also important.
	Brief description of research	Strategies & Metacognition Intelligence, Information Processing, & Aging Memory Control Theory & Memory Beliefs Metacognitive Judgments & Monitoring Aging & Skill Acquisition Utilization of Monitoring Longitudinal Studies of Aging
	Typical duties	Session running, Data entry/checking, Answering phones/recruiting participants, Organizational tasks, Potential to complete a senior thesis, Data analysis/coding, Experimental design/administration
Adult Development Lab
	Contact	Please, send your resume to Michelle Horhota Phone: (404) 385-0847
	Faculty member	Fredda Blanchard-Fields
	Position types	We often have positions for pay, for course credit, or both. Please contact us for current openings.
	Minimum time commitment	For pay: 10 hours/ week; For credit: 3 credit hours
	Preferred commitment duration	2 semesters
	Requirements
	Brief description of research	Our lab conducts two lines of research. One looks at age differences in social cognitive reasoning and attributional processes in everyday life, from adolescence through adulthood. The other examines age-related differences in everyday problem solving. For additional information, please visit our lab website.
	Typical duties	Our staff members tend to participate in all the steps of research from conception to completion. Specific tasks include recruiting participants, conducting experiments, helping create stimuli for experiments, data entry/ verification, answering the telephone, database management, coding and data analysis, as well as clerical tasks. Responsibilities increase with time in the lab depending on skill level and interest.
Attention and Working Memory Lab
	Contact	Rich Heitz E-mail: Tom Redick E-mail:
	Faculty member	Randy Engle
	Position types	Course credit or Pay
	Minimum time commitment	9 hours/week or 3 credits/semester
	Preferred commitment duration	2+ semesters
	Requirements	An interest in cognitive psychology, willingness to learn and work with computers.
	Brief description of research	How do people differ in the ability to control cognition and how does this affect other cognitive tasks?
	Typical duties	Running participants through experiments and processing data. Responsibilities increase with  time in lab and depend on skills.
Cognition & Communication Lab
	Contact	Dr. Zenzi M Griffin E-mail:
	Faculty member	Zenzi M Griffin
	Position types	Course credit or Pay
	Minimum time commitment	9 hours/week or 3 credits/semester
	Preferred commitment duration	2+ semesters
	Requirements	An interest in language research, a responsible nature, & a willingness to learn to work with computers. Students from other schools welcome.
	Brief description of research	How do people speak? I.e. how do they select and produce words and sounds to express nonverbal information? What is the relationship between eye movements and speaking?
	Typical duties	Running participants through experiments and processing data. Responsibilities increase with time in lab and depend on skills.
Cognitive Measurement Lab
	Contact	Rob Daniel E-mail:
	Faculty member	Susan Embretson
	Position types	We have four positions available for GIT course credit.
	Minimum time commitment	6 hours/week or 2 credits/semester
	Preferred commitment duration	1+ semesters
	Requirements	Psychology undergraduates who have completed research methods are encouraged to apply. We are also looking for a computer programmer with knowledge of Java script.
	Brief description of research	The CML lab investigates aptitude tests through cognitive modeling and eye-tracking. The models are practically applied to develop tests in which the optimal item for measuring the person is written anew while taking the test. Thus, we are pioneering adaptive item generation for ability and achievement tests.
	Typical duties	Running participants through computer administered tests . Responsibilities increase with time in lab and depend on skills. (3 openings). Programming in JAVA for items that are not now included in our item generator (1 opening).
CoNTRoL: Cognitive Neuroscience at Tech Research Laboratory
	Contact	Dr. Eric Schumacher E-mail:
	Faculty member	Eric H. Schumacher
	Position types	Course credit, Pay, Volunteer
	Minimum time commitment	9 hours/week or 3 credits/semester
	Preferred commitment duration	2+ semesters
	Requirements	An interest in how the brain works; programming experience helpful
	Brief description of research	Here at CoNTRoL we study how people organize, coordinate and, well, control information processing so that we sucessfully make the right choice/decision at the right time.
	Typical duties	Running participants through experiments and processing data. Responsibilities increase with  time in lab and depend on skills.
Electrophysiology and Psychophysics Lab
	Contact	Dr. Paul Corballis E-mail:
	Faculty member	Paul M Corballis
	Position types	Course credit or Pay
	Minimum time commitment	9 hours/week or 3 credits/semester
	Preferred commitment duration	2+ semesters
	Requirements	An interest in human perception, attention, or cognitive neuroscience; computer and data analysis skills helpful
	Brief description of research	How do people select and use information from their senses? How do people combine information from different senses? What are the brain mechanisms underlying these processes?
	Typical duties	Assist in running subjects, coding experiments, and analyzing data. Responsibilities will vary depending on experience and specific skills.
Georgia Tech Laboratory for Animal Behavior (TECHlab); Center for Conservation & Behavior
	Contact	Terry Maple E-mail:
	Faculty member	Terry Maple
	Position types	Course credit or Pay
	Minimum time commitment	9 hours/week or 3 credits/semester
	Preferred commitment duration	One semester at a time; projects may be longer in duration;
	Requirements	None depending on course of study; conference with Dr. Maple is required to assess background for the work and fit with the project. An early start is highly desirable; entering undergraduates are eligible; may require mobility to distant research sites (e.g. Zoo Atlanta, Yerkes Primate Research Center).
	Brief description of research	We study animal behavior in captive settings including the Yerkes Primate Research Center and Zoo Atlanta. We are interested in social behavior and development, reproduction, parenting, applied behavior analysis, comparative cognition, environmental enrichment, and environmental design for endangered birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles living in aquariums, research centers, and zoological parks. Our work is primarily focused on Atlanta institutions, but we work also in East and Central Africa, and in China.
	Typical duties	Data collection under supervision of graduate students; data analysis; group meetings; may lead to a senior thesis, conference paper, or publication in a professional journal; may require mobility to distant research sites (e.g. Zoo Atlanta, Yerkes Primate Research Center).
Human Factors & Aging Lab
	Contact	Marita O'Brien E-mail:
	Faculty member	Dan Fisk Wendy Rogers
	Position types	Course credit
	Minimum time commitment	6 hours/week or 2 credits/semester
	Preferred commitment duration	1+ semesters
	Requirements	An interest in exploring engineering psychology - an applied approach to experimental psychology, willingness to learn and work with computers
	Brief description of research	Trust in automation, system interface design and system training, implicit learning, warning design, medication adherence strategies, doctor-patient communication, and more
	Typical duties	Varies, including processing data from participants, researching topics, developing stimuli (e.g., computer programs) Opportunities for running participants after first semester. Responsibilities increase with time in lab and depend on skills.
Knowledge and Skill Laboratory
	Contact	E-mail:
	Faculty member/page	P.L. Ackerman
	Position types	Pay, course credit, volunteers
	Minimum time commitment	10 hours/week or 3 credits/semester
	Preferred commitment duration	1 year
	Requirements	Generally looking for psych. majors. Undergrad courses in psych a plus. Send resume, transcript, and contact information.
	Brief description of research	Current projects include: Adult Intellectual Development and Individual Differences Determinants of Skilled Performance
	Typical duties	Depends on individual experience and skills.
Memory and Aging Lab
	Contact	E-mail:
	Faculty member/page	Audrey Duarte
	Position types	Course credit, volunteer, potential for pay
	Minimum time commitment	9 hours/week or 3 credits/semester
	Preferred commitment duration	2+ semesters
	Requirements	An interest in research and learning about memory and the brain. Must be comfortable interacting with people of various ages. Must be comfortable working with computers (e.g. MS Office). Programming knowledge helpful but not necessary.
	Brief description of research	What aspects of memory change with age? Why do we remember some details about events yet forget others? What brain regions are involved and necessary for memory functioning. We use EEG, fMRI and behavioral methods to address these and other questions.
	Typical duties	Running participants in experiments and data processing. Training will be given and responsibilities will increase over time.
Problem Solving and Educational Technology Lab
	Contact	Dr. Richard Catrambone E-mail:
	Faculty member	Richard Catrambone
	Position types	Course credit
	Minimum time commitment	3 credit hours per semester (= 12 hours of lab work)
	Preferred commitment duration	2+ semesters
	Requirements	Willingness to learn and work with computers, reliability
	Brief description of research	We examine how people learn from examples and instructions to solve problems. We are interested in the use of technology to aid these processes.
	Typical duties	Running participants in experiments, coding data, data entry, participating in lab meetings.
Sonfication Lab
	Contact	Professor Walker E-mail:
	Faculty member	Bruce Walker
	Position types	We prefer that students volunteer or work for course credit first, before working for pay.
	Minimum time commitment	9 hours/week or 3 credits/semester
	Preferred commitment duration	1+ semesters
	Requirements	For psych undergrads, no requirements necessary, but stats and experimental design preferred. For computing, you must have programming skills in a relevant language (e.g., Java, C/C++, Matlab). Students from other universities welcome.
	Brief description of research	The Sonification Lab studies non-traditional displays, paying particular attention to the psychophysical and practical aspects of sonification and auditory displays.
	Typical duties	Psych students run participants through experiments and process data. Responsibilities increase with time in lab and depend on skills. Computing students will develop and program software applications and tools for use in the lab, in experiments, or for the creation of auditory displays.
Vision Lab
	Contact	Dr. Davis E-mail:
	Faculty member	Elizabeth T. Davis
	Position types	Course credit or pay
	Minimum time commitment	9 hours/week
	Preferred commitment duration	At least 1 academic year or 1 calendar year.
	Requirements	Research methods, stats, and SandP courses preferred. Computer programming and math skills are a plus. However, will consider otherwise well-qualified candidates with aptitude and interest in perception research. Send resume and references.
	Brief description of research	Psychophysical and computational studies of human perception and attention, effects of aging on perception and performance, perceptual and cognitive factors in HCI program visualizations, and human spatial perception in 3D environments.
	Typical duties	Help schedule and run subjects in experiments, graphing and analyzing data, as well as other duties typically associated with being an undergraduate research assistant. Specific duties will depend on candidate's experience and skills.
Work Motivation and Emotion Lab
	Contact	Send resume by e-mail E-mail: Phone: 404-385-0157
	Faculty member	Ruth Kanfer
	Position types	Course credit, pay, volunteers
	Minimum time commitment	10 hours/week or 3 credits/semester
	Preferred commitment duration	2+ semesters
	Requirements
	Brief description of research
	Typical duties