Individual Differences Underlying Verbal Analogy: Examining the effects of individual differences such as creativity, working memory, inhibitory control on verbal analogies that vary in semantic distance (i.e., the similarity between the first and second pairs; NEAR: day : night :: morning : evening; FAR: strong : weak :: morning : evening) and in the extent to which there are competing distractor choices.

Relational Integration and Integrative Priming: Relational integration refers to the binding of two nouns via the inference of a conceptual relation. For example, a juice bottle is a bottle containing juice, and thus represents a subtype of the head noun bottle defined by what it contains and differentiated from other types of bottles (soda bottle, milk bottle, water bottle). My prior research has found that this relational integration process facilitates the recognition in memory of the target or head noun (e.g., bottle; Jones, Estes, & Marsh, 2008) as well as response times for this target in word recognition tasks (Estes & Jones, 2009; Jones & Golonka, 2012; Mather, Jones, & Estes, 2014). The ongoing and upcoming steps in this research program are to further investigate differences between types of relations such as locative (island house) and compositional (log house) relations, and to investigate individual differences which could predict the magnitude of the relational integration.

Minimum: Must be willing to commit for at least 3 semesters with course credit for the first semester with completion of one semester prior to beginning honors thesis. Must be willing to work 9 hours per week in the lab. Must be HIGHLY RELIABLE and punctual with excellent attendance in courses. Must have a GPA of 3.3 or higher.

Preferred: Interest in cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, social cognition, or neuropsychology. Graduation date of May 2016 or later. Willingness to work morning hours (between 8 and 11 am) and/or midday hours (11 am to 2 pm). Flexible schedule. Expertise in Microsoft Excel.

I have a couple research assistant positions open to begin the Fall 2014 semester. Email me for an application (larajones@wayne.edu). I will make my final decisions in June 2014.

Run participants on computerized and paper/pencil cognitive experiments.
Attend and participate in all lab meetings.
Read manuscripts and papers related to research. Come prepared to discuss manuscripts.

Optional: If interested, there are opportunities to create and present research at the Psi Chi undergrad research day in March.

April 7, 2014