Search results matching tag 'Psychology'

Summer get-together: lab style!

SarahG — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:41:00 GMT

If you've read some of my previous blogs, you probably already know that I'm a member of Dr. Bohannon's psychology research lab. I've written about various conferences in different cities and all of the fun stuff we get to do as a result of our hard work. Well, not only do we meet up for travel and such, but we also have group meetings right here in Indy. Dr. Bohannon's house is only a couple of minutes away from campus, and he often invites us over to discuss research over meals. (Yes, he cooks for us!)

Yesterday afternoon us "labies" who are living at or near Butler this summer got together at Dr. Bohannon's for a grill-out. While he made us burgers, potatoes, and corn we discussed progress since APS and new directions in research. Some of the members are developing new studies for the Fall, and are trying to prepare everything over break. I got to tell everyone about how my study is going so far and share the preliminary results I've already found in my data set. One of the things I like most about being in Bohannon's lab is that although we each get to run our own studies and work as first authors, we still have the support and help of the rest of the lab. We run ideas across each other and offer advice when necessary. It's the best of both worlds really - you get the firsthand experience without being left entirely on your own. Of course, it also looks awesome on grad school apps!

As for my BSI study this summer, it is going very well! It's hard to believe I'm already in week seven though... only two real weeks left of research before presentations have to be made. This week is the last week I'm collecting data, and next week I'll have to score all of the protocols, enter data, and analyze it to look for significant results. It's been a lot of work this summer, but completely worth it! I'll have a head start on collecting data in the fall, so that I'll be able to jump right back in during the first week of school. It's a good thing too... I have a feeling we'll all be back on campus for the fall semester before we know it!

Psychology, tourism, and having some fun!

SarahG — Tue, 26 May 2009 18:27:00 GMT

As promised, I have pictures from my trip to San Francisco this weekend! It was absolutely amazing... not only did my lab members and I get to see numerous presentations on what's hot in psychology right now, but we also had ample free time to explore the city and have some fun.

Here are a few pics from the conference! There were poster sessions, symposiums, and speeches given throughout each day covering almost every topic in psychology imaginable. What's cool is that there was something for everyone... neuroscience for me, along with cognitive, social, etc. Butler had six posters from Bohannon's lab in addition to other posters and presentations from other psychology students and professors!

As I mentioned above, we also were lucky enough to see famous San Francisco sights throughout the trip. We visited the Golden Gate Bridge, enjoyed fantastic dinners in Chinatown and at Fisherman's Wharf, and watched the sea lions at Pier 39. It was amazing... and worked nicely as a little incentive for working so hard during the school year!

Needless-to-say, I had a fantastic time and am grateful for the opportunity to present my research and explore a new city all in one trip. For incoming psychology majors, definitely look into joining a lab! Yes, we work extremely hard during the school year preparing and running studies, but the end result is completely worth it. And if you want to join the coolest psychology lab at BU, you know who to ask! :)

San Francisco, here I come!

SarahG — Thu, 21 May 2009 23:06:00 GMT

I'll be leaving my apartment bright and early tomorrow morning (6:00 AM!) to fly out to San Francisco for APS! This psychology conference will be a bit different than previous years because some members of the Butler psych department other than my particular lab are also attending! Another one of the professors, Dr. Lineweaver, is taking her lab group of students with her, and a few more professors are going as well. It will be great to have support during our presentations from the BU psych community, and also to check out what some of the other labs are researching! They'll also get to join us at dinner so that should be a lot of fun! So now I think it's time for me to pack-up and get ready for a great Memorial Day weekend out in San Francisco... then it's back to BU on Monday to continue working on my summer research! Be sure to look out for pictures when I get back!

Summer daze

SarahG — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:31:00 GMT

I've been focusing on some countdowns to get me through this terribly dull start to my summer. Let me tell you, there's not much to do in New Pal, so I have basically been spending my days sitting around, watching TV, doing laundry, sitting around more with friends, unpacking, etc. But luckily there are a few upcoming events for me to look forward to!

Two days from today I'll be moving back to Butler for the start of BSI. I'm really excited about this because some of my best friends from BU are living there this summer too! Plus it just feels like home to be back on campus. I'm also stoked to get started on my research... I mean seriously, how cool is it to get paid to live at Butler for the summer to work on something you love? The only downfall to this is missing out on spending time with my friends from home. I have a group of girlfriends that are still really close and make it worth coming back to NP for a while. The good thing is that BSI ends with a month left of summer where I'll be job-free and back to hang out with my high school friends. It's really the best of both worlds!

Second countdown: one week from this moment I'll be on a plane to San Francisco! APS, one of the psych conferences my lab attends, is being held there this year! I absolutely cannot wait... I have never been to California... EVER. These trips are always so much fun because on top of presenting the research we've been working hard on all year, we get to tour the cities and try out different restaurants and shops. The lab is like our own little family, so we have a blast no matter where we go (although California doesn't hurt haha)!

So that's my summer thus far... and it's about to get much more exciting!

I am officially a psychology nerd.

SarahG — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 02:42:00 GMT

One of the psych courses I've been taking this semester is Cognitive Psychology. This branch of psychology looks at mental processes, or how information is represented in the brain. Cognitive researchers examine how people think, perceive, remember, and learn. I guess when I think of the term "psychology" in general, this is the kind of stuff I think of... how our interactions with the environment are relayed in the brain. Going into the class, I didn't really know what to expect... I mean, it was just another requirement for my major! But now that the semester is nearly over I've realized how much I've actually learned. What's so cool to me is how much our lessons directly translate to everyday life. Several times per lecture I'll find myself thinking, "Huh. So that's how that works!"

For example, take the whole cell-phone-while-driving debate that is going on right now. Did you know it's not actually the task of holding the phone that's causing the problem? (Yeah, I didn't either!) It's diverted attention... your attention is being divided between two things: driving and talking, which impairs your ability to focus on the road, and delays your reaction time. So bluetooth devices don't even make a difference... interesting, right!?

Anyway, the reason I brought this up at all stems from a topic we covered in class the other day: inductive reasoning. We were discussing the ways people cognitively reason through problems and situations, and the mistakes and biases we fall victim to. One particular heuristic caught my attention that day... the confirmation bias. This refers to the tendency we have to selectively look for information that conforms to our hypothesis and overlook information that argues against it. The reason the confirmation bias stood out to me is because of an incident that happened over Easter weekend. I was out to dinner with my extended family when my uncle presented a problem to me. He and my younger cousins had been arguing over whether you actually have some "pull" to look at the clock when it's set at 9:11. I think we've all experienced this... I'll admit, every time I see the time 9:11 I think it's weird. But that's just the point! According to the confirmation bias, we notice evidence supporting our hypothesis and disregard the rest. Each time it's 9:11 you may think it's strange... but just think of how often you've looked at the clock when it's 12:52 or 3:14 and not taken notice... odds are just as likely!

So to all of you psychology majors out there... get excited for Cognitive! The BU psych department rocks, so even if you're in a different major but are still somewhat interested... sign up for intro and find out what it's all about!

PS: Sorry Phillip and Brett... your Dad was right!

PPS: I just read over this post and have to say... wow, I am a dork... I just got really excited about psych. Hence the title of this blog haha.

Butler Summer Institute

SarahG — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:05:00 GMT

I don't know if I've mentioned this in any previous blogs, but this summer I'll be staying at Butler to work on my psychology research! Butler Summer Institute (BSI) is a program that offers grants to student researchers in both science related and non-science fields. 30 total students get accepted into the program, and are invited to live (free of rent!) in the University Terrace Apartments for nine weeks of the summer. Each research project is overlooked by a faculty advisor, and both the professor and the student receive a stipend for their work! So basically I get to further my research as a summer job... very cool!

This summer I'll be continuing my memory study from the school year. I wanted to take a more neurological approach with my research, since I plan on studying neuropsychology in graduate school. My goal is to look at the effects of glucose on memory retrieval. Aside from just research work however, BSI offers several other fun events to bring the participating students together. We met as a group for the first time this week to hear of some summer events. They already have an Indians game and several picnics planned throughout the course of the program. It should be a great experience and I'm excited to get started! (And honestly... I'm just happy I get to stay at BU for most of the summer haha!)

SEPA '09 in the Big Easy

SarahG — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:44:00 GMT

Last weekend I traveled to New Orleans with my psychology research lab for SEPA, a convention full of poster presentations and speeches on various aspects of psychology. I know I've talked a bit about my conferences in previous blogs, but if you haven't heard about them before, I'll give you a little run-down of what happens. I'm involved in a group at Butler that does research with one of the psych professors, Dr. Bohannon. What's cool about our lab in particular is that Dr. Bohannon allows us to run our own research studies, from developing the initial idea, to creating protocols and submitting to the review board for approval, to running subjects and analyzing data! I've been a second-author on a paper in the past, but this conference was the first time I got to present my original research. Most of the work we produce in lab surrounds the concept of flashbulb memory, the recollection of a highly arousing and emotional event. My personal study looked at memories for best and worst romantic kisses, which was actually a big hit with conference-goers. (My second-author and I even got questioned if we were giving "demonstrations" of our research... apparently some psychologists are creepers haha!) I was nervous at first to present to graduate scholars and Ph.D. professionals, but it ended up being a lot of fun answering questions about the study I put so much time and effort into. I got the opportunity to talk to some brilliant people, some of which even offered suggestions for furthering my research in the future!

When not attending psych-related presentations, my lab-mates and I were free to explore New Orleans - which was a blast, especially since I've never been before! Our hotel was on Canal Street at the edge of the French Quarter... and oh yeah... did I mention that the conference was during Mardi Gras?! We not only got the chance to sample local cuisine and peruse numerous shops, but after dinner one evening we walked along Bourbon Street to witness the festivities. Let me tell you, that was unlike anything I've ever seen before. Haha, I'll leave it at that... but I'm actually glad I got the experience because it's something I would have never gone to see on my own! Needless-to-say, everyone in the group had a great time on the trip, and I'm very excited for this summer when we travel to San Francisco for APS!

Mops are fun toys.....

StephF — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:45:00 GMT

So the past week has been absolutely crazy for me. In between practices, homework, and tests I feel like I haven't been able to breathe for awhile. Other than being crazy busy, it has been a wonderful week full of really cool stuff. :) For instance, the election...and of course the election results! :) I'm so excited that Indiana voted Democrat...and of course that Obama is our new President! I went to the Election Night Gala in the Reilly Room, and I was there when they announced the results, but all of my friends that were there had voted for McCain, so even though there were tons of people screaming and cheering and stuff, I didn't really have anyone to cheer with. :( But then I went back to my room and watched both of the canidate's speeches from my room where I could do anything as long as I didn't wake my sleeping roommate. Ah, such a wonderful night...... :)

As you might have read in Blue II's blog, Ryan from The Office, or BJ Novak, was here last week to do standup. Sadly, I had dance practice that I couldn't miss, so I didn't get to go, even though I am completely obsessed with The Office. I really wanted to meet him, because sometimes when I'm bored I watch episodes of it with the commentary on, which might sound weird, but I like it because it makes me feel like they're my friends......which I really enjoy. :) But at dance that night, we were finishing up our routine that we did at Geneva Stunts, which was so much fun!! I really enjoyed it, especially because I am also completely obsessed with SNL, and that was the theme. I have most of the Best of DVDs...and I love watching them with people who have never been big fans of SNL, because then they get hooked pretty quickly....and then they finally understand my obsession with it, and we get to be obsessed together. But yeah, it was a good time... :)

This past weekend was family weekend, so my mom and my sister came up to visit. My dad couldn't come because he is a farmer and he is still in the fields....so he will have to come here later. But with dad not coming, that allowed mom, Natalie, and I to go shopping all day on Saturday. :) If we would have had my dad with us, the shopping would have lasted for maybe one hour. Then dad gets restless, or he runs out of stuff to read. Whenever he does go shopping with us, which happens maybe once a year for just a really quick trip, he brings a newspaper or finds one to read while he waits in one of those little lounge areas in the middle of the mall. So we just figure that it is best to leave him at home. The 3 of us had a lot of fun though, when we weren't getting annoyed by each other. But if we would have gotten along the entire time, I would have thought that something was wrong. We had a little too much fun with the mop that mom bought to clean my carpet with as we were walking out of Walmart and driving to their hotel...I think that she thought that she had 5 year olds in the car rather than a 19 year old and a 23 year old... hhehe... Natalie and I are cool like that :)

Well, I am going to go chill and enjoy not having much homework left to do....because I gave my final speech in Public Speaking on Monday....which was wonderful!!! It was about Health Care Reform....and I practiced it so much that I think it is now permanently etched into my brain. But giving it was so much fun... :) and then yesterday I had a Psych test, so now that those are over, I can rest a little bit before I have to study more.... so yeah....have a great day!

Behind the scenes... at the ZOO!

SarahG — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:16:00 GMT

Last week I got to head over to the Indianapolis Zoo with my Experimental Psychology class! Our professor, Dr. Dale, works with the elephants there and took our class to run a few studies of our own. We got to go back behind the usual viewing area to where they keep the elephants to watch behaviors and record actions over time. It was pretty cool to see the elephants up close (although we didn't get to touch them - bummer), especially the babies interacting with their mothers. Plus, when we were done with our lab, we were free to wonder around the zoo and check out some other animals... not a bad way to spend the afternoon!

Back to the rolling hills of southern Indiana...:)

StephF — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 01:05:00 GMT

So finally, fall break is here! :) I have been so ready for a break...so this feels wonderful! The only problem is that while I'm here I have to write a paper and work on a speech....but I can fall asleep on my couch watching tv with my family again, which I love. Something else that I really appreciate is how there are hills down here...:) Central Indiana is honking flat, but once you get south of Cloverdale....and close to Spencer....it gets wonderfully hilly. Thats one of the random things that I didn't think about missing, just like the cornfields that I never see in Indy, and not being able to drive down the street and see five people that you know. That's my favorite thing about coming home...realizing how much you love all the things that you always took for granted about your town and all. It's always nice to come home to relax and see everyone, but its also nice to go back to school to see everyone there too...especially when my family starts getting crazy....haha...no i'm just kidding, I love my family. :) I came home last weekend too, because it was a friend of mine's birthday, and all of my best friends from high school were going to be home. It was so much fun to see all of them....it's been so long since we had all hung out together, and they've all grown up so much!! haha... My boyfriend, Scott, was on fall break too, so it was like the summer all over again! Having all of my favorite people at home was amazing though...I hadnt realized how much I really missed just going over to Scott's house and hanging out with his family, or having random fun with my friends...I just wish that I had been at home for longer...:(

So normally in my blogs, I talk about things that I've done lately. But sadly, I have been really boring lately, because I have been so busy with studying and practice and meetings...I had three tests in two days, and then a bunch of meetings and practices. On Tuesday I had a Psych test, and I studied more than I have ever studied in my life, which was sorta hard because I was crazy tired, so my roommate Hannah would probably tell you that she saw me sleeping more than I was studying....what can I say? I can't help it if I just conk out while I'm reading on my bed......haha. But somehow, when I wasn't studying for Psych, or sleeping with my notecards and book and computer all around me....I found time to study for my other two tests.....and go to dance practice, and meetings, and yell like hell practice (its a cheerleading competition between the sororities, frats, and residence halls for homecoming...I'll talk more about it later!) So now that all of this is over...I can breathe again....but since homecoming is next week, I have a feeling things will be crazy then too!!! Although for right now, I love looking at my iCal and seeing nothing to do for the next three days. Wow. I love it. :) Somehow, I can handle having nothing to do when I'm at home, but when I'm at school I always have to be busy with ten thousand things to do.

When I was in Elementary school, I was obsessed with reading. So obsessed that I would stay up way later at night than all of my family, just to read. Back then, I was a big fan of Nancy Drew. Then I read a few of the Harry Potter books....and after the third one, I discovered how cool our computer was, especially with ICQ, Yahoo messenger, MSN messenger, and the always exciting Expage. So I stopped reading for a few years.... except for every once in awhile during ISTEP or when we went to the library with our class and we had to get a book....until this summer, when I heard about the Twilight books from my boyfriend's sister Susan...and since then, I have been obsessed! I've read the first two...and now I'm basically obsessed with reading again. Whenever I get sucked up into a book I get into my own little world....and i loose all track of time, unless my computer tells me. (My computer tells me the time every hour on the hour....its like a high tech personal bell tower.) I decided to go back and pick back up on the Harry Potter books where I left off, because I felt kinda bad that I just totally deserted them...so I think I will just alternate Harry and Twilight until I have finished them all. :) But if you havent read them....you should. :) And if you have read all of them....DONT TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS!!! My roommate is probably dying to talk to me about Twilight....but shes doing a great job keeping quiet.

So I'm off to try to be productive....as always...:)