Majors: Psychology, Education Studies
What was the name of the organization you worked for over the summer?
UC Berkeley Language and Cognitive Development Lab
What was your role and what did you work on?
This summer, I worked in a language and cognitive development lab on a study investigating what children ages 3-6 learn from a naturalistic overheard conversation between adults. My intern team contributed to the study in several ways, but most notably in: literature review, study and stimuli editing, recruiting families, running pilot studies with recruited children, uploading data, analyzing data in excel, attending lab meetings and reading groups, and presenting on the project at the end of the summer.
What was a highlight of your experience?
Running the study with kids was my favorite part of the experience. The age range being studied was fascinating, and to see developmental trends in language development play out in real time was an incredibly cool experience. I was initially nervous to test with children, as I’d never run in-person studies with kids before, but it ended up being my absolute favorite part of the internship. Learning how to work with kids and their families in a lab setting is a skill I’m grateful to have had so many opportunities to practice this summer, and one that I will take with me wherever I end up after graduation.
How did your summer experience impact you?
This summer helped me develop a better feel for the field of child development research, in addition to equipping me with several new skills in that realm. Beyond that, I was able to make wonderful connections with peers who have similar interests, and contribute to a fantastic project that I’m excited to see the results of in the coming years. Getting to participate in all the different aspects of this research project clarified my career interests, and inspired me to look into jobs I hadn’t previously considered.
