Pages in this section
Psychology Research at Trinity
Department faculty are active researchers and invite students to engage with all aspects of their projects, including study design, data collection and analysis, preparation of publications and presentations, and even technology development. Their interests span a broad range of subfields.
Get Involved
Most students are involved in research throughout the course of the Psychology program. All of these research experiences strengthen a student’s graduate school or professional applications.
Research opportunities include courses in research, laboratory experience, summer research internships and fellowships (e.g., Murchison, MAS, McNair, Mach Fellowship) can help set the stage for students who choose to complete an honors thesis in collaboration with a faculty member.
Get Involved with Psychology Research
-
Students can enroll in various research courses offered through the department to gain experience working in a lab, analyzing data, and presenting research findings. Many students spend more than one semester involved in the same project, while others enroll for a second or third semester but work in different labs.
Level 1: Laboratory Experience in Psychology
Students can begin exploring research through lower-division lab experience, learning the fundamentals of data collection and study design.
Level 2: Supervised Research in Psychology
Combine more advanced lab experience with the opportunity to analyze data and orally present research findings.
Level 3: Advanced Research in Psychology
Experienced students can transition to an Advanced Research course for additional research training and potential presentation opportunities.
-
Trinity Summer Research Program:
Selected students conduct research full-time under the close mentorship of faculty during a 10-week summer session and share their findings in a research symposium at the end of the program. Students can apply for summer research internships (e.g., Murchison, MAS, McNair) or research awards (Mach Fellowship).
Other Summer Research Opportunities:
Students receive faculty guidance on how to seek outside research experiences through established experiences or informal connections with other universities and professors.
The National Science Foundation: The NSF sponsors many Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs, approximately five of which are psychology-related. Search the Social, Behavioral, Economic Research, and Biological Sciences headings.
The Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (Carnegie Mellon University): The CNBC sponsors a highly selective summer research program. Visit the CNBC website for more information about these opportunities.
Other Colleges and Universities: User the internet to look up other colleges and universities to see if they have any research positions open over the summer. Even if the position is not a paid position, it may still be well worth the learning experience.
-
The Children’s Research Lab focuses on language development in young children ages 2-4 years old. Using technology like iPads and eye-tracking software, we play entertaining games with children which allow us to see how they learn new verbs in a fun, relaxed setting.
The Hertel Cognition Lab focuses on empirical investigations of human memory and cognition.
Dr. Carolyn Becker's Clinical Psychology Lab investigates a range of phenomena related to the prevention and treatment of body image concerns, eating disorders, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder. This lab specializes in community-participatory research, and has a track record of collaborating with a wide range of stakeholders. Past studies established the viability of a task-shirting, train-the-trainers model of implementation of the Body Project body image intervention. Recent studies have investigated the association of eating disorders and food insecurity in partnership with the San Antonio Food Bank.