Supervising Faculty: Lauren M. Bylsma, PhD
Contact: Lauren M. Bylsma, bylsmal@pitt.edu
Area of Research: Clinical Psychology
Description of Research: My lab's overall program of research focuses on physiological processes underlying emotion reactivity and regulation in the laboratory and in daily life in relation to depression, anxiety and other affective disorders from adolescence through adulthood. Current directed study opportunities are available in the PEACHY Study (Parent Encouragement and Coaching of Happiness in Youth), which is an NIMH-funded project led by myself and Dr. Judith Morgan. In this project, we are interested in how parent coaching of child positive affect influences child behavior and neural response to reward (as assessed by EEG). Specifically, this study will focus on preschoolers aged 4-6yo and their parents.
Duties of Students: Students will attend weekly meetings with the PI and other study staff. The primary responsibility of the students will be to assess with the EEG data collection and data processing. Students may also assist with participant recruitment, screening, data management, or data coding tasks. Students will complete a paper or poster for their directed study requirement. Advanced students are encouraged to engage in data analysis and conference presentations or manuscript preparation (including working with archival data collected from other related projects), depending on specific background and interests.
Requirements:
- Overall GPA of 3.0 or higher
- 12 credits of Psychology (including current term)
- STAT 0200/1000/1100 Statistics
- PSY 0036 Research Methods Lecture
- PSY 0037 Research Methods Lab
- Register for 2-3 units of directed research (6-9 hours per week)
- Minimum 2 semester commitment
- Strong interpersonal and organizational skills
Additional Information: More information about me and my research is available here: https://www.psychiatry.pitt.edu/about-us/our-people/faculty/lauren-m-bylsma-phd
Recruitment Process: Interested students should submit their resume or CV and a brief cover letter expressing their interest. If positions are available, the next step would be to setup an interview.
Terms offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Number of Students: 2-4