Most studies in the Barth and Shusterman labs are run by undergraduate researchers. Please click here to read our latest newsletter if you’d like to find out more about our recent studies.
During the academic year, students usually work 8-10 hours per week for course credit, work-study pay, or as volunteers. During the summer, full-time undergraduate researchers are funded through federal work-study and fellowships from Hughes, McNair, Mellon, and the Quantitative Analysis Center at Wesleyan.
Open positions fill up quickly. New students are accepted into the lab based on a match between the student’s interests and the research projects going on in the lab. Most students who join the lab are known to the professors from previous classes in which they demonstrated exceptional intellectual and personal qualities, or come highly recommended by other faculty. Interested students are encouraged to sign up for Developmental Psychology or other courses taught by Professors Barth or Shusterman, and to contact the professors directly.
With rare exceptions, only students who have previously worked in the lab will be considered for theses in the Cognitive Development Lab. Students hoping to do theses should discuss the prospects by mid-junior year at the latest.