Technological innovation can also be instrumental to make life better. Delogu与德克萨斯大学(University of Texas)和斯坦福大学(Stanford University)联合提交了一份美国国家科学基金会(NSF)的资助申请，其中使用云计算技术来扩大获得最高质量人类数据科学教育的机会, especially in historically marginalized students. Dr. Hamad Al-Azary , assistant professor of psychology in the Department of Humanities, Social Science, and Communications, is spearheading a collaboration with computer science colleague, Dr. Paula Lauren to extract the data collected on the trends in language use on social media. In the early stages of preparing their grant request, Al-Azary said, “我们将使用计算方法来描述人们如何在社交媒体上谈论问题, like politics, versus how such issues are discussed in other sources, such as news or academic sources. 这项研究将揭示社交媒体影响和构建人们对问题的理解的微妙方式, 以及人们在社交媒体上使用的语言的细微差别如何引发用户的参与和行为. Thus, 我们将使用计算心理语言学方法来帮助我们回答诸如“社交媒体上的信息与其他来源有何不同”之类的问题?“我们预计社交媒体上的话题与情绪(积极的和消极的)的联系比其他来源更紧密。. This creates more heated debate around issues on social media, and keeps users more actively engaged on the platforms.

“Together with our students, we’ll explore how people interact with social media, 人们是如何被迫提供更多他们自己都不知道自己在分享的数据的,” Al-Azary added.

自2021年夏天以来，心理学大四学生艾娃·科尔和达纳·瓦拉杰一直在与阿扎里一起担任研究助理, taking on a project that will carry over this year. From his class titled “Metaphor, Cognition and Communication” emerged a unique study on the use of memes, a term that’s been around for years but has become popular in social media. A meme is anything that is shared within a culture; in the world of social media, it means images with accompanying text. 这些研究人员想知道我们是如何解释和理解模因的，就像我们理解隐喻一样. Cole and Vulaj presented their work to the MASAL (Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters) conference in March 2022.

Ava Cole和Dana Vulaj想知道我们是如何像理解隐喻一样解释和理解表情包的.

“I have a passion for research!” said Cole. “这个项目帮助我学习和理解了如何收集数据，以及如何获得研究对象的同意参与研究. I can’t wait to see what happens” when they actually get to analyze the data they collect.

乌拉杰的学术和职业兴趣是道德发展，他也热爱研究. Experiences such as this current project “sets you up for graduate school,” she explained. “As an undergrad to have this practical research experience is a unique opportunity!”

Ava Cole, left, and Dana Vulaj, right.

Exciting for 利记sbo students is the opportunity to be exposed to all the nuances of psychology. Psychology is foundational at 利记sbo. 许多学生学习心理学的基础知识，因为心理学在任何专业的学生中都是一门非常受欢迎的选修课程. Several programs also include introductory psychology courses as part of their curricula. Dr. Matthew Cole , 商业与信息技术学院副教授，前心理学项目主任, 将心理学原理融入他的《利记sbo》和《利记sbo》的教学中. “当文理学院获得HHMI的资助，以支持理大的课程研究经验(CRE)计划( See CRE story in this edition ), I took the opportunity to introduce CRE in my Human Resource Management course. In this way, I maintain a link with my psychology colleagues. I also teach all 利记sbo students Organizational Psychology, which helps all of us learn how to function in today’s society and workplace,” he said. 这种合作关系得到了艺术与科学学院院长Srini Kambhampati和商业与信息技术学院院长Bahman Mirshab的全力支持, respectively. 

Dr. Kineta Morgan-Paisley , 高级讲师和心理学项目顾问，其兴趣领域涉及社交媒体分析, heartily agrees with the positive impact of CRE on 利记sbo students. She said, “With our commitment to CRE, our undergraduate students are exposed to original research, design and conduct original research, and have the experience of having their work peer-reviewed and published!” They get research experience as a matter of course, and at the undergraduate level, which is a unique and career-advancing benefit of 利记sbo’s program. 

First-year psychology student Maliea May said, “Not only did the experience change my perception of research as ‘a lot of work,但我学会了如何记录和分析眼球运动，以及它们与认知的许多方面的关系.” Even in her first year of study, 梅已经成为利记sbo在新兴和令人兴奋的眼球追踪技术方面的领先专家. 从她的祖国加拿大被吸引到利记sbo，有机会踢足球和学习心理学, two loves of her life, May has presented the results of her study on Research Day, accepted research assistant internships with Delogu, and truly now sees herself as a practicing clinical psychologist one day. “I’m grateful for these opportunities. They’ve opened many doors for me. What’s really cool is that, as an undergrad, I get to do important research that is integrated into my coursework,” she said.

在大三的时候，护理专业的学生Chantol Aspinall选修了行为神经科学. She had no idea how this could possibly relate to nursing or what lies ahead for her. 阿斯皮诺尔成为研究小组的负责人，利用“大脑生活”研究有多少不同的行为和心理过程与大脑的不同部位有关, 云计算平台，允许研究人员处理来自许多开放访问数据库的实际脑成像数据. She presented the results at 利记sbo’s Research Day, and their team took third place. “这太酷了，我们这些新手利用这个巨大的平台，看看我们是否能复制其中一个数据集中包含的解剖和功能图像. Even more exciting was when it all populated, the last image showed us how all parts of the brain are linked together,” Aspinall exclaimed. She wrote a paper chronicling the research that was submitted to bioRxiv, an open access preprint repository for the biological sciences. Delogu expects it will also be submitted for peer review.

Morgan-Paisley进一步解释说，利记sbo的心理学专业有不同的学生群体. As their advisor, she makes sure that they will have the right research experience, the right internship experience, which she believes is critical to a student's future career goals.

From its beginnings with only six students to its current 35 students, Delogu has a bright vision for continued growth of 利记sbo’s psychology program. “We hope to integrate, 建立一个实验性质的项目，同时也以技术和临床为导向，这样我们的学生, when they leave our university, will be able to help people be the best humans they can be.”

by Renée Ahee