Student Research
Heather ’18 and Mary ’19 presented research and preliminary results during the EXCEL scholar luncheon in July 2017. The presentation included information about the current study design and how we are comparing video chat on a computer screen to a face-to-face conversation through a window (in order to mimic video chat).
In the psychology classroom, we learn principles of existing knowledge in a field; and in the lab, we create new knowledge.
Research experience at the undergraduate level is important so that students can learn how to apply their understanding from the classroom and see how research works in action. Concepts that were previously abstract come alive when you’re a researcher who is making decisions about a topic that interests you!
Rachel LeWitt (’13) and Renee Gallo (’14) present research at the Lafayette EXCEL Poster Session in September 2012.
Future lab member Emily Crawford (’15) talks with Lauren Steinbeck (’14) at the Lafayette EXCEL Poster Session in September 2013.
The Lafayette Kids Lab offers interested undergraduate students the opportunity to conduct hands-on research in the field of child development. Students can participate in the Lab for credit (Independent Study or Advanced Research), on a volunteer basis, or for pay through Lafayette’s competitive EXCEL Scholars program.
Research students have also presented at conferences like the 2013 Society for Research in Child Development conference in Seattle, Washington. Professor Lauren Myers and Rachel LeWitt ’13 attended the conference and presented findings from our research on preschoolers’ understanding of gestures (completed at College Hill Nursery School) and toddlers’ understanding of video-chat (completed in the lab).
Rachel LeWitt ’13 explains findings from gesture research to a colleague at the Society for Research in Child Development in Seattle, held in April 2013.
For more information, students can contact Professor Myers by e-mailing myersl@lafayette.edu