Undergraduates are an intergral part of the lab, and each semester students do research for credit (independent study in psychology or cognitive science, psychology honors research, Rutgers College honors research etc.), experience, or pay.  If you are a native speaker of English and have taken courses in linguistics, cognitive psychology or computer science, or if you are fluent in Turkish or Armenian, I particularly urge you to consider joining the lab.  Many students who have worked in the lab have been accepted into some of the best graduate programs in cognitive and clinical psychology, speech pathology, linguistics and medicine. Students are invited to participate in any of the following projects:

1.  Normal language acquisition. We study how typically-developing children acquire English and other languages using a variety of techniques (eye-tracking experiments, act-out experiments, picture-pointing experiments, imitation experiments, analysis of spontaneous speech). Undergraduates help design experiments, recruit and test children, and code, enter and analyze data.

2. Abnormal language acquisition. Language acquisition by children with developmental language disorders is compared with language acquisition by normal children. Undergraduates help recruit and test language-impaired children, and code, enter and analyze their data.

3. Language processing. Computer-based and eye-tracking experiments are used to investigate how adults and children process written and spoken language. Undergraduates help design experiments, recruit and test subjects, and code, enter and analyze data.

4. Genetics of language. The language development of monozygotic (identical) twins is compared with that of dizygotic (nonidentical) twins. Undergraduates help  code, enter, and analyze twins' data.

5. Perinatal factors & development. We are investigating how various prenatal and early postnatal factors affect linguistic and non-linguistic development. Undergraduates help test children, and code, enter and analyze data.

If you are interested in applying to graduate school at Rutgers, I urge you to contact me either by phone (732-445-2448) or email (karin@ruccs.rutgers.edu) as early as possible.  There are special fellowships that are available for graduate students, but competition is fierce and deadlines are early.

If you are already a graduate student in one of the departments affiliated with the Cognitive Science Center, I would be happy to talk to you about potential research projects (either a Cognitive Science Certificate Project or a supervised departmental research project).  Send me email, call me, or snag me before or after a talk.