2012 Summer Internship
We are no longer reviewing applications for the 2012 Internship
For information about the 2013 summer internship, you may get a general idea by looking at this page.Description of Internship
The Yale Mind and Development Lab Summer Internship will provide interns with the opportunity to work with graduate students and postdocs on both ongoing and new studies. Interns will have the opportunity to be involved in all aspects of projects, including activities such as developing new project ideas, designing new experiments, recruiting participants, running experiments, analyzing data, and presenting results.In addition to collaboration with individual researchers to work on specific projects, weekly lab meetings will give interns a chance to present their own work for feedback and provide feedback to others. We will also discuss current papers being published that relate to the lab's projects.
The intensive research focus of this internship makes it well-suited for students considering graduate school in experimental psychology.
Focus of Lab Projects
Our lab focuses on the developmental origins of social behavior. The full list of people involved with the lab can be found here, but the people and projects accepting interns this summer are:
Thalia GoldsteinMy research projects investigate the intersection of pretend and social cognition. Studies this summer will examine children's understanding of pretend play, acting, and role play. For more information about my work, please visit my website, or copies of recent papers: Goldstein & Bloom, 2011 (.pdf) or Goldstein & Winner, in press (.pdf)
Mark SheskinMy projects investigate the developmental origins of adult moral behavior and cognition. My projects this summer will collect data with both kids and adults, and the topics will include fairness, reputation management, and conscious use of principles. For more information, please see: My Website, and readings on fairness (.pdf) and reputation management (.pdf).
Lily GuillotI study what children and adults like about stories, in particular issues such as how we come to enjoy upsetting stories, and what kinds of fictional characters children prefer. In summer of 2012, I will be running studies about young children's interest in negative stimuli, and on children's preference for stories with happy endings.
Christina StarmansHow do we reason about people as both physical and psychological beings? Are the body (physical) and the soul (psychological) naturally seen as two separate (and separable) components of a person? What is the nature of our intuitive concept of the soul? How do these intuitive biases affect the development of religious beliefs? Projects this summer will explore issues related to these questions with both children and adults.
Konika BanerjeeMy research focuses on various cognitive biases and intuitive ways of reasoning that may underlie and support religious cognition. This summer, my studies will investigate how biases for teleological and intentional reasoning in children and adults relate to use of supernatural explanatory systems and also the content of supernatural agent concepts.
Applications
Applications may be submitted any time until March 15, 2012. We will begin rounds of reviewing applications February 1st, and will continue to read applications until all positions are filled. Please do not e-mail to ask if we are still reviewing applications: a notice will be posted on this webpage when we are no longer reviewing applications for this summer.Download Application Form as .doc file
The application consists of an application form, a resume, and a current transcript (an e-mailed, unofficial copy will suffice). Providing a recommendation letter is strongly encouraged but not required. Recommenders should send their letters by snail mail if necessary, but are encouraged to submit them via e-mail (from their official university e-mail address). Providing a recent lab report or paper is also encouraged.
All student-prepared materials must be submitted electronically to minddevmanager [at] gmail [dot] com. If e-mail is not possible, our physical mailing address is:
Mark Sheskin
Department of Psychology
Yale University
Box 208205
New Haven, CT 06520-8205
Other Information
Duration: The duration of the program is expected to be 8-10 weeks. On the application form, you may indicate times between May 14th and August 17th that you are unavailable. Preference may be given based on schedule.Eligibility: Strong academic record with interest in Psychology. High school graduates not yet enrolled in a college or university are ineligible. We will consider applications from recent college graduates (i.e., 2012).
Funding: We are not offering funding for summer interns, though we encourage you to seek outside funding (e.g., from your home university).