Opportunities for Older Adults...
Opportunities for Brandeis Students...
We are always especially looking for healthy adults age 60 and over to volunteer in our studies and would love to have you visit our lab! We do also sometimes conduct studies that require the participation of Brandeis students and other adults. We are most accessible to individuals within the the Waltham, Newton, Watertown and Greater Boston areas.
What is Involved?
The Emotion Lab usually has several different studies running simultaneously during the academic year and summer sessions, so what exactly the study requires depends on the the current project. All of our studies deal with how emotion affects attention at different stages in the adult lifespan. Typically, Emotion Lab studies involve:
- Filling out several personality measures about how you feel
- Completing some cognitive tests and puzzles
- Watching a computer presentation while having your eyes tracked - sometimes while doing a task
You can learn more about eye tracking here. In addition, at the end of the study, you will have the opportunity to ask as many questions as you wish, and learn about visual attention and how it correlates with emotion. You also help us in making contributions to the greater scientific community in future publications. Upon request, we can e/mail you the results and findings from the study in which you participate. Nothing in our studies will be painful, harmful, invasive, or involve taking medications. We academically study how adults deal with their emotions differently across the lifespan and do not offer clinical diagnoses.
How Long Does It Take?
Most people might think that volunteering takes a lot of time; however, the Emotion Lab typically just requires a one hour commitment per study. That's just one hour of commitment per year! Of course, if you enjoyed your experience, we would welcome you back to participate in future research projects as we typically run several studies a year. If you aren't interested in the current project or if you've already participated in the current project, we can keep you on a contact list and let you know when another project comes along for which we need volunteers.How Do I Get in Touch?
If you are interested in participating, the first step is to give the lab a call at 781-736-3282 or email emotionlab@brandeis.edu. When you call, please leave your name and contact information, and if we miss your call a research assistant will give you a call back with a few brief questions. We will get back to you within the week to schedule a time that is convenient for you to come in. If we don't need volunteers at that moment, we will usually need volunteers within the upcoming months. We will let you know about our current studies and what they involve. If the project interests you, we will schedule a time for you to come into the lab and you just need to visit us that one time.Thank you for your consideration and we look forward to seeing you! Again, don't hesitate to call us!
Joining the Emotion Lab (for Brandeis Students)!
The Emotion Lab is a great place for bright and motivated undergraduates to get hands-on experience in running psychological studies, collecting data, and working in a dynamic team environment, which may provide invaluable experience for graduate school or future jobs. Typically, we look for task-oriented individuals and require a commitment of 6-8 hours per week of volunteer service. As a lab member, your duties may include scheduling and running research participants (both students and adults), working with data, as well as other organizational aspects of the psychology lab. You will also be expected to come to a weekly lab meeting. The best time to start volunteering is as a sophomore, so that you will be able to build upon your experience in subsequent years. However, juniors and seniors are welcome to apply as well. Working in the lab is great preparation for students interested in conducting their own honors thesis study, or on an independent project with Dr. Isaacowitz.
An application for lab employment, can be found here in .pdf format. If you are interested in volunteering, please complete an application and return it to Dr. Isaacowitz's mailbox in the Psychology Department main office. If we need lab assistants at the time you apply, we will contact you for a possible interview, or will keep your application on file for when we need lab assistants in the future. In general - if you would like to work a particular semester, we suggest you submit the application several weeks in advance.
