REU Site: Translating Research in the Psychological Sciences to the Real World

This project is funded from the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites program in the Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE). This REU Site engages students in research that is relevant to solving society’s most pressing issues, such as improving the mobility of people with visual impairment, designing semi-autonomous vehicles so that they can be driven safely, enhancing patient safety by increasing the effectiveness of team communication, and identifying early behavior markers of Alzheimer’s Disease. Students will develop skills in conducting literature reviews, understanding and critiquing scientific articles, designing research studies, collecting and analyzing data, interpreting results in terms of real-world applications, conducting research responsibly, working collaboratively, and communicating results. This training will make students attractive for graduate school as well as for the plentiful job opportunities in applied psychology, for example, for industry employers seeking individuals who can apply research training to practical issues such as evaluating products and user interfaces. The REU Site will support diversity in social and behavioral sciences by recruiting underrepresented groups to participate. Results of the research have broad practical significance and will be publicly disseminated. The research pursued in this REU program advances the cutting edge of basic knowledge in the areas of cognitive psychology, cognitive and affective neuroscience, perception, social psychology, health psychology, industrial/organizational, human-automation collaboration, and human factors/human computer interaction. It also translates that knowledge into implications for real-world problems. For example, understanding how people integrate auditory and visual information from moving vehicles can help enhance rehabilitation and training in people with visual impairments. Identifying factors that contribute to discrimination can lead to training practices that improve the workplace environment. Tracking gradual changes in memory concurrent with brain measurements can lead to behavior and neural markers of early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease. All of the research employs rigorous scientific methods which will generate results that advance both theory and lead to recommendations for practice. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.