Optimizing Social and Communication Outcomes for Children with Autism
- Faculty Sponsor: Kasari, Connie
- Department: Education
- Contact Name: Amanda Gulsrud
- E-mail: AGulsrud@mednet.ucla.edu
- Room Number: NPI&H 78-239
- Phone: 310-206-1268
Description of Research Project
Two different research projects are currently being conducted. The first project is a school-based social skills intervention study targeting children with autism in first- fifth grades. This is a randomized intervention trial examining the effectiveness of several different social skill intervention models for elementary school-aged children with autism. The second project examines caregiver-mediated interventions targeting social and communication outcomes for toddlers with autism.
Description of Student Responsibilities
Both research positions consist of coding behavioral observations and date entry. The student may also observe and learn about assessments during the intervention visits.
Adaptive Learning: Teaching with Computers
- Faculty Sponsor: Kellman, Philip
- Department: Psychology
- Contact Name: Everett Mettler
- E-mail: mettler@ucla.edu
- Room Number: 7574 and 2349
- Phone: 310-825-4202
- Website: http://kellmanlab.psych.ucla.edu
Description of Research Project
Computer-based learning activities offer great potential to adapt the flow of learning events to optimize progress for each individual. Can adaptive learning algorithms that dynamically sequence learning items result in improved efficiency for factual learning and pattern recognition? The current study is concerned with basic research in adaptive learning and will examine if adaptive sequencing based on accuracy, speed, and retirement criteria, produce learning outcomes superior to traditional classroom methods.
Description of Student Responsibilities
Research assistants would help in the collection of data by grading assessments, data entry, and general office work for at least 5 hours per week and will have the opportunity to participate in all aspects of research, including literature search, study design, experimental design, and data analysis. Experience with programming is a plus, but not required. Psych 120A&B are highly recommended.
Perceptual Learning: Teaching with Computers
- Faculty Sponsor: Kellman, Philip J.
- Department: Psychology - Cognitive Science
- Contact Name: Everett Mettler
- E-mail: mettler@ucla.edu
- Room Number: 7574 and 2349
- Phone: 310/825-4202
- Website: http://kellmanlab.psych.ucla.edu
Description of Research Project
How do learners get better at searching, organizing and interpreting their visual world? Do the same processes that underlie perception of movement in sport, discovery in art, facility with puzzles and other forms of visual expertise also underly such practical skills as fluency in mathematics or proficiency in medical diagnosis? The current study is concerned with basic research in perceptual learning and object recognition. In addition we attempt to isolate and train visual skills using computer software that dynamically adapts to a learner's mental state.
Description of Student Responsibilities
Research assistants would help in the collection of data by running subjects at least 5 hours per week. Opportunities would be provided for assistants to collaborate in the generation of new experiments, analysis of data, and independent research. Experience with programming is a plus, but not required. Psych 120A&B are highly recommended.
UCLA TIES for Families
- Faculty Sponsor: Langley, Audra
- Department: Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
- Contact Name: Vanessa Perez
- E-mail: VaPerez@mednet.ucla.edu
- Phone: 310-825-6110
- Website: https://www.uclahealth.org/mattel/ties-for-families/
Description of Research Project
TIES for Families is an interdisciplinary, university-based program established in 1995 to promote the successful adoption, growth, and development of children with special needs, especially those with prenatal substance exposure who are in foster care. Research assistants will focus on several research projects: 1) UCLA TIES for Families Treatment Outcomes Project: Project testing the efficacy of UCLA TIES for Families intervention services available to children and families, including adoption counseling for new families in transition, individual and family therapy, home-visiting, psychological testing, monthly parental and child support groups, short-term weekly therapy groups for children and teens, parenting skills training, infant mental health, and new parent peer mentoring. 2) ADAPT Research Project: Project testing the efficacy of a manualized psychotherapy intervention aimed at improving outcomes for children adopted from foster care, ages 5-14. 3) UCLA TIES for Adoption Evaluation Qualitative Study: Project investigating the long-term outcomes of children adopted from foster care through qualitative interviews of young adults adopted as children.
Description of Student Responsibilities
Research assistants will help with data organization, data entry, data collection, and interview coding. Research assistants will also be asked to perform basic administrative tasks such as filing, photocopying, and maintaining databases. No prior research experience is necessary, just a willingness to learn. Requirements: at least a 2-Quarter commitment, attention to detail, independent work skills, and timeliness.
Graph Perception and Data Visualization
- Faculty Sponsor: Liu, Zili
- Department: Psychology
- Contact Name: Lucy Cui
- E-mail: lucycuilabRA1@gmail.com
Description of Research Project
How do people interpret preexisting and novel graphs and data visualizations? What misconceptions and misperceptions do they have? What does this tell us about people’s understanding of data and statistics? We will explore these questions using mixed-methods.
Description of Student Responsibilities
Research assistants will help with data collection by running participants through experiments and will help pilot-test those experiments. Opportunities will be available to get involved in data analysis and experiment development/material creation. Applicants with experience in data analysis (e.g., Excel, SPSS, R) and programming (e.g., python, matlab, javascript) are preferred and will be given priority. Students must be able to commit a minimum of 8 hours a week for a minimum of 2 quarters. If interested, please email Lucy (lucycuilabRA1@gmail.com) your resume or CV, unofficial transcript, quarter availability and planned graduation date.
Visual Object Recognition
- Faculty Sponsor: Liu, Zili
- Department: Psychology
- Contact Name: Dr. Zili Liu
- E-mail: zili@psych.ucla.edu
- Room Number: Franz 7619
- Phone: 310-267-4683
Description of Research Project
This National Science Foundation sponsored research investigates how the brain encodes into memory visually perceived scenes and objects (e.g., faces). Counter-intuitive predictions, with promising pilot data, will be tested.
Description of Student Responsibilities
Responsibilities include scheduling experiments on experimentrix, conducting the experiments, and debriefing the participant after each experiment.
A Computational Investigation of Threatening Actions
- Faculty Sponsor: Lu, Hongjing
- Department: Psychology
- Contact Name: Akila Kadambi
- E-mail: akadambi@ucla.edu
- Room Number: Franze 7562
- Website: http://cvl.psych.ucla.edu/
Description of Research Project
The present study aims to unveil the computational mechanisms that the human visual and reasoning system employ to perceive threatening actions. We will investigate both the contribution of bottom-up, kinematic information in the perception of threatening actions and the contribution of top-down, contextual information to support complex understanding and reasoning of threatening actions. We will focus on how people interpret actions in novel situations, using both laboratory and real-life stimuli.
Description of Student Responsibilities
Students will assist in stimuli collection and be familiar with YouTube. Students who have programming ability (e.g., MATLAB, Python, etc) will be preferred. An ability to work during the summer is also preferred. Students will also be involved with data collection and materials preparation. Prior research experience is not necessary, but a strong enthusiasm for research is. 10 hour/week minimum commitment. If interested, please email Akila Kadambi (akadambi@ucla.edu) with your resume/CV and an unofficial transcript. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Study of antipsychotic medication adherence in schizophrenia
- Faculty Sponsor: Nuechterlein, Keith
- Department: Psychology
- Contact Name: Kenneth Subotnik, Ph.D.
- E-mail: ksubotnik@mednet.ucla.edu
- Room Number: 300 Medical Plaza, Room 2240
- Phone: (310) 825-0334
- Website: http://www.semel.ucla.edu/aftercare
Description of Research Project
The UCLA Aftercare Research Program has been on the UCLA campus for over two decades, and provides free psychiatric treatment for patients with a recent onset of schizophrenia who participate in the research study. Our longitudinal research program examines whether we can accentuate our efforts to get first break patients back to work to prevent the onset of chronic disability.
Description of Student Responsibilities
For this SRP position, the student will help to maintain our extensive database on medication adherence among our schizophrenia patients. In addition the student will assist in the review of the literature on medication adherence in schizophrenia and summarize articles related to medication adherence. Students with an interest in schizophrenia and psychopathology research are encouraged to apply. This position is particularly appropriate for undergraduates with a minimum overall GPA of 3.5. Second year students are especially encouraged to apply, but all years will be considered. Must be extremely reliable and dependable (excessive tardiness and absences are NOT acceptable). Must be able to balance competing demands and must be competent in multitasking and adapting to fluctuating priorities. Candidate must be detail-oriented, organized, accurate, and efficient with minimal supervision. Candidate must have excellent oral and written English communications skills. Ability to understand issues of patient confidentiality and safety is required. Proficiency in the use of standard PC office equipment and standard PC software (i.e. MS Office, Word, Excel, Internet searching) is also required. Must have excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrate appropriate interpersonal boundaries with patients and staff and be able to work in a shared workspace with a diverse team of mental health professionals. Some experience in library literature reviews, use of pubmed on UCLA library website, some experience in reading and summarizing psychology research articles. Experience in the use of SPSS is preferred. Sophomore applicants preferred so that they can potentially stay for multiple years. Documents to Submit: Resume, Cover Letter, Unofficial Transcript, Writing Sample Send materials to: ksubotnik@mednet.ucla.edu Document Submission notes: Please name each file with the following format (in the following example, the applicant’s name is “Jane Doe”, The content is “Resume”, and date (e.g., Jane Doe Resume 9-1-2017). Other documents should use a similar file naming format. Writing sample can be a term paper for college level class, preferably one with a literature review included.
Study of social cognition and attention in schizophrenia patients: Data tracking and entry
- Faculty Sponsor: Nuechterlein, Keith
- Department: Psychology
- Contact Name: Kenneth Subotnik
- E-mail: ksubotnik@mednet.ucla.edu
- Room Number: 300 UCLA Medical Plaza, Room 2240
- Phone: (310) 825-0334
- Website: http://www.semel.ucla.edu/aftercare
Description of Research Project
The UCLA Aftercare Research Program has been on the UCLA campus for over two decades, and provides free psychiatric treatment for patients with a recent onset of schizophrenia who participate in the research study. Our longitudinal research program examines whether we can accentuate our efforts to get first break patients back to work to prevent the onset of chronic disability.
Description of Student Responsibilities
The student will assist the Aftercare Research Program staff with general research/project tasks including: data file management, data entry and data collection, tracking and triggering research measures, and updating the data entry site. Other tasks can include filing, photocopying, faxing, and maintaining an off-site data storage inventory, and assisting the patient coordinator with patient file maintenance and errands. Students with an interest in schizophrenia and psychopathology research are encouraged to apply. This position is particularly appropriate for undergraduates with a minimum overall GPA of 3.5. Second or third year students are especially encouraged to apply, but all years will be considered. Must be extremely reliable and dependable (excessive tardiness and absences are NOT acceptable). Must be able to balance competing demands and must be competent in multitasking and adapting to fluctuating priorities. Candidate must be detail-oriented, organized, accurate, and efficient with minimal supervision. Candidate must have excellent oral and written English communications skills. Ability to understand issues of patient confidentiality and safety is required. Proficiency in the use of standard PC office equipment and standard PC software (i.e. MS Office, Word, Excel, Internet searching) is also required. Must have excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrate appropriate interpersonal boundaries with patients and staff and be able to work in a shared workspace with a diverse team of mental health professionals.
Factors influencing Classroom Learning
- Faculty Sponsor: Paquette-Smith, Melissa
- Department: Psychology
- Contact Name: Melissa Paquette-Smith
- E-mail: paquettesmith@psych.ucla.edu
- Website: https://tlclab.psych.ucla.edu/
Description of Research Project
This project assesses how different aspects of the learning environment (e.g., the presentation and timing of stimuli, instructions on how to study materials) impact aspects of learning, memory and metacognition. We are also interested in how the individual characteristics of the learner (e.g., working memory, language background) or the individual characteristics of the teacher may influence learning and memory.
Description of Student Responsibilities
Student responsibilities include data entry and organization, review of the literature, scheduling and running participants online. No prior experience is necessary. Familiarity with statistical software (e.g., R or SPSS) is an asset.