Our lab depends on undergraduate research assistants (URAs) to collect data with children and young adults. Students typically enroll for credit under the course number 694 (includes lab meeting) or 699 (no lab meeting). Below are answers to some frequently-asked questions.

1) What kind of research does the SPACE lab do?

The Spatial Perception, Action, Cognition, and Embodiment (SPACE) lab seeks to understand how children learn and remember visuo-spatial information in service of behavior. We currently have two broad areas of inquiry: one seeks to understand the source of capacity limitations in visual memory, and what causes capacity to increase over development; the second is exploring children's selection and coordination of spatial reference in the context of different behavioral tasks. Our research typically focuses on early childhood (4 to 6 years) with some studies of young adult (college undergraduates).

2) What responsibilities do URAs have in the lab?

URAs attend weekly lab meetings in which we: read and discuss empirical papers related to our ongoing studies; analyze and interpret our recently completed studies; plan the designs for future studies; work on logistics involved in the day-to-day functioning of the lab. We schedule one 3-hour block of data collection for each credit of enrollment; our lab is located in the Waisman Center, so students must also have adequate time to travel before and after their data collection hours. During data collection shifts, students are primarily involved in data collection, which includes recruiting and running participants, as well as data entry and management.

3) Can I use my lab credits for a capstone substitution?

Capstone substitution credits are allowed only when certain conditions can be met. First, students must work in the lab for one semester or summer before beginning the two-semester substitution. This is required in order for students to gain the necessary understanding of our research to be able to choose an independent project. Second, students must identify a project to manage, which involves a presentation to the lab at the end of the first semester, and an APA-style paper at the end of the second semester. Projects may be either literature reviews or empirical studies, and must be approved by Prof. Simmering. Third, due to the additional mentoring and supervision involved with these projects, there is a limit of two that may be going on in the lab in any given semester. Thus, capstone substitutions are a possibility but are not guaranteed to be available to all students.

4) What do you look for in URA applicants?

For students to be effective members of the lab, they must have good interpersonal skills, with an ability to remain professional in their contact with parents while being approachable and fun for children to interact with. Students also need great attention to detail and the ability to follow protocols precisely when dealing with often unpredictable child participants. We require a one-year commitment (with or without summers) to accept students in the lab due to our extensive training period. Lastly, an understanding for the logical structure of research studies in psychology (issues like random assignment, replicability, blind coding, etc.) is essential.

5) How can I apply to work in the lab?

E-mail Prof. Simmering for an application; fill this out and return it via e-mail. Students with the best qualifications and fit for the lab will be invited to interview.