Research Assistant - Term PT

Position Summary

The Research Assistant is part of the Visual Cognition Lab in the Psychology and Human Development Department at Vanderbilt University and is responsible for coordinating laboratory research. This will involve work on two related projects funded by grants from the National Science Foundation and the Templeton foundation. In the first project we are exploring technological supports for nursing simulation training. In this project there are two key themes. The first is to understand how on-line indicators of a first-person simulation learning experience such as gaze are structured by event perception, and can ultimately support reflection and self-regulation. The second is to develop technological supports for simulation education that improve learning by integrating event perception and self regulation. The second project explores attention, memory, reflection and, ultimately, deeper understandings derived from the experience of viewing morally-challenging films. Both projects focus on links between visual cognition and higher-level cognition, and they explore how people learn from highly meaningful events. This position involves administering cognitive testing, running participants in experiments, data management, coding, data analysis, training and supervising undergraduate assistants, some scholarly writing and publication, conference presentations, as well as various administrative duties and assisting with reports. The position reports directly to the Laboratory Director, Daniel Levin, but works in support of our full interdisciplinary team including: Vanderbilt Researchers Gautam Biswas (Computer Science), Meiyi Ma (Computer Science), Angela McNelis (Nursing), Alyssa Wise (Teaching and Learning), along with Allison Eden (Michigan State University), Carl Plantinga (Calvin University), Murray Smith (University of Kent).

About The Work Unit

The Department of Psychology and Human Development at Vanderbilt University is a group of scholars who work to increase understanding of basic psychological functioning and neuropsychological development in various contexts. The department offers a doctoral degree in Psychological Sciences jointly with the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Science, with concentrations in clinical science, cognition in context, cognitive and cognitive neuroscience, developmental science, neuroscience, and quantitative methods. The department also offers master’s degrees in child studies, cognition in context, and quantitative methods as well as undergraduate majors in child development and cognitive studies. The department maintains strong collaborative ties with various units on campus including the Vanderbilt Brain Institute, the Kennedy Center for Developmental Disabilities, the Department of Special Education and the Department of Teaching and Learning.

Key Functions And Expected Performance

• PARTICIPANT RELATIONS AND OUTREACH: Scheduling and consenting participants, contributing to the disseminate of our work through community events and communications.
• ADMINISTERING COGNITIVE TESTING AND USER SOFTWARE EVALUATIONS: Administering behavioral experiments. Requires use of standard protocols to administer psychoeducational measures and use of specialized computer software to collect behavioral and eye movement data. Position requires administering and monitoring in-person and on-line testing via Qualtrics.
• DATA MANAGEMENT AND ANALYSIS: Data scoring and entry, data management, data coding, and data quality checks.
• SUPERVISING RESEARCH ASSISTANTS: Training and coordinating undergraduate assistants who aid in various lab duties, such as collecting and coding data.
• RESEARCH DISSEMINATION: Preparing and presenting posters and talks at academic conferences and in the community. Helping to draft manuscripts for publication and managing the revision process.
• VARIOUS ADMINISTRATIVE DUTIES: Maintaining information technology, website, purchasing, participant payments, and bookkeeping, coordinating schedules, facilitating and attending research assistant and lab meetings.
• ASSISTING WITH REPORTS: Helping with periodic review reports for Institutional Review Board and for granting agencies. Participating in preparing research papers for presentation and publication.
  
  

Supervisory Relationships

• This position has some supervisory responsibility managing several undergraduate research assistants. This position reports administratively and functionally to the Laboratory Director.
  
  

Education And Certifications

• An bachelors degree in Psychology or related field from an accredited institution of higher education is necessary.
  
  

Experience And Skills

• Experience in conducting behavioral research studies involving adult participants is necessary.
• Experience in institutional review board processes is necessary.
• Experience with computer software including media, office, and statistical applications is helpful.
• Willingness to work some evenings and weekends is helpful.
• Experience scripting and/or programming is helpful.
• Experience supervising research assistants is helpful.
• Experience in conducting experiments involving eye movement data collection is helpful.