Research Websites

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Center for Gender in Global Context The Center for Gender in Global Context (GenCen), in International Studies and Programs (ISP), draws together the strengths of the program in Women, Gender, and Social Justice (WGSJ) in the College of Arts and Letters (CAL) and the College of Social Science (SSC) and the Gender, Development and Globalization Program (GDG) in ISP. These programs have historically looked at gender in the US and in international contexts, respectively. The new center emphasizes women and gender in a global context, with distinctive new programs promoting teaching, research, and outreach relevant to 21st century concerns.
Center for Neurodevelopmental Study Using cognitive models to understand causes of risky behavior / Experience-based decision making / Cognitive Architecture of judgment and decision making
Children and Technology Project The project, funded by the National Science Foundation (Human and Social Dynamics, # 0527064), is designed to examine the nature and extent of children’s use of Information Technology (IT), and how using IT effects children’s cognitive, social, psychological and moral development. Specifically, the project examines whether using IT, particularly the Internet and video games, influences children’s cognitive outcomes (e.g., visual skills, GPA, scores on standardized achievement test), social interactions (e.g., relationships with friends and family), psychological well-being (e.g., self-esteem, self-concept) and moral development (e.g., reasoning about “right and wrong” in both the virtual and “real” physical world).
Cognitive Control Neurolab Our research focuses on the cognitive processes necessary to achieve one's goals in a constantly changing environment. In our research, we emphasize two cognitive abilities that allow us to successfully perform many everyday tasks - working memory and task switching. Through the use of converging methodologies such as fMRI, neuropsychological, and behavioral techniques, we are able to investigate these abilities in novel ways. Essentially, we emphasize both words in the term "cognitive neuroscience"; that is we attempt to refine theories of working memory and task switching in cognitive psychology by determining whether its claims are supported by models of brain functioning. In the same way, we test predictions about the functions of neural regions based on theories provided by cognitive psychology.
Cognitive Imaging Research Center (CIRC) Due to the joint efforts of the Departments of Psychology and Radiology, and support from the University, the Cognitive Imaging Research Center (CIRC) was created to expand human imaging science research and to promote the use of modern imaging methods in basic science and clinical investigations of the brain at Michigan State University.
Consortium for Multicultural Psychology Research Our primary mission is to generate and apply psychological science to increase our understanding of multicultural issues in both domestic and international contexts.
Group for Research and Assessment of Student Potential The Group for Research and Assessment of Student Potential works to develop and validate alternative measures of college student potential and successful performance/development. Two of our primary instruments are the Academic and Life Experiences Questionnaire (ALEQ) and the Life Events Assessment and Development (LEAD). The ALEQ is questionnaire about students' background experiences, achievements, interests, and attitudes. The LEAD is a situational judgment test assessing how students might react in realistic college situations. Both measures are designed to measure academic and extracurricular pursuits relevant to college life.
HomeNetToo Project HomeNetToo is an NSF-funded research project designed to address two fundamental questions: (1)What causes people to use or not use the Internet? (2)What effects does Internet use have on people?
Human Development Initiative The Human Development Initiative is a community of scholars throughout the university interested in development across the lifespan. The initiative is focused on cutting-edge research involving genetics, neuroscience, and psychosocial development and how these different factors intersect.
Intergroup Relations Lab Research in the lab adopts an evolutionary perspective on cognition, attitudes and behavior relevant to intra and inter-group phenomena. Current projects explore the links among intergroup bias, coalitional and sexual aggression, and moral judgment. Methods include experiments that employ questionnaires, physiological measurement, preferences for certain visual stimuli, and reactions to 3-D images in immersive, virtual environments (or "virtual reality").
Knowledge in Development Lab Our lab researches how children think about information in the world around them and how children seek out and evaluate knowledge throughout their development. We are interested in questions such as: (How do children decide where to look for answers?), (What kinds of information do children share with other people?), (How do children know when an answer is satisfactory?)
Laboratory for Cognitive and Decision Sciences Using cognitive models to understand causes of risky behavior / Experience-based decision making / Cognitive Architecture of judgment and decision making
Michigan State University Twin Registry In sum, the MSUTR research will allow for better understanding of the environmental, genetic and neurobiological factors that influence psychological functioning and behavior. Our research will aid in the identification of the origins of internalizing and externalizing symptoms, ultimately informing treatment and prevention efforts.
Motivation and Social Cognition Lab In our laboratory, we study motivation science across a variety of domains (health behaviors, academic achievement, attitude change, intergroup behavior, etc.). A primary focus is to understand the general processes of self-regulation, which means to uncover consistencies across both domains and levels of psychology. We also take a pragmatic, functionalist philosophical position, with an emphasis on the ecology of the person in understanding behavior and cognition.
MSU Mother Infant Study The study is focused on understanding the influences of domestic violence on the lives of women and children. Half of our original sample experienced some level of abuse from their partners (from mild to severe) and half served as the control group. Over time, however, some women have moved into and some out of abusive relationships. We are interested in what creates conditions of risk and resilience for these women and children. We also study how women's parenting and mental health as well as the social and psychological adjustment of their children are affected by various levels of hardship posed by domestic violence and other life circumstances.
MSU Rhythms Research Group The Rhythms Research Group at Michigan State University is a collection of Neuroscientists who share research interests, lab equipment and techniques. Members of the group benefit from their frequent interations and close collaborations. Our research focuses on the processes and mechanisms of biological rhythms of mammals.
Neuroimaging of Perception and Attention Laboratory How do we perceive the visual world--a world full of different types of sensory stimulation-- brightness, color, movement, shapes, etc? How do we seletively attend to certain things while ingore other things? How does the seletive processing of information guide action and affect memory? These are some of the questions that we are investigating in our laboratory. We study the brain mechanisms of perception and attention using a combination of human psychophysics and funtional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Our ultimate goal is to understand how we attend and how attention influences other cognitive functions. Our approach is to relate behavioral performance to brain activity in order to gain insight into the fundamental mechanisms of perception and attention.
Perception & Attention Lab My lab investigates how attention alters the way visual information is represented. Some of our research suggests that conscious awareness of visual scenes is very limited, containing only the 3 to 5 items which are the current focus of attention. Further, once attention leaves an object it is no longer consciously represented. This close link between attention and conscious experience highlights the importance of allocating attentional resources efficiently to the “appropriate” parts of a visual scene.
Personality and Psychopathology Lab Research in the MSU Personality and Psychopathology Lab focuses on how personality and psychopathology relate to one another, how both relate to behavior and adaptivity, and how variables from each of these domains can best be conceptualized and measured in clinical assessment.
Relationships, Aggression, Stereotyping, and Prejudice (RASP) Lab The Relationships, Aggression, Stereotyping, and Prejudice (RASP) Lab is a collaboration of social/personality psychology graduate students at Michigan State University. The diversity of our research is embodied in the types of questions we seek to answer, such as: * How do individuals’ personalities in close relationships influence their partners’ experiences of relationship phenomena? * How do college students view one another when given basic background information? * How do we form impressions of others? Do our racial/ethnic group memberships matter? Do the other’s racial/ethnic group memberships matter? Do we rely on stereotypes? * Why do some people retaliate when insulted while others don’t? What is different about their personality? * Can writing about traumatic events improve health? * Is telling other people secrets good or bad for you?
Sleep and Learning Lab The Sleep and Learning Lab investigates the acquisition and consolidation of complex skills and episodic memory. A primary focus of the lab is on memory consolidation, the processing of memory after initial acquisition. This processing can serve to change memory, often strengthening and stabilizing memory, and increasing resistance to forgetting. We approach this question from several different perspectives, with a special emphasis on the role of sleep in consolidating memory. While we do not understand much about the biological and psychological functions of sleep, there is growing evidence that sleep plays a role in the process of memory consolidation. The lab uses basic behavioral paradigms as well as implementing polysomnography during sleep and using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
The Autism Lab In typical development, social-communication skills emerge in a predictable pattern, with nonverbal skills, such as imitation and joint attention, preceding language development and theory of mind. In autism, these early, non-verbal social-communication skills are significantly impaired. Children with autism also experience delayed or deviant language and social-emotional development. We are interested in understanding the role that early non-verbal, social-communication deficits play in development of later emerging language and social impairments.
The Breedlove Jordan Lab We are interested in hormonal modulation of the developing and adult nervous system that leads to changes in behavior. Steroid hormones such as testosterone can alter the survival and differentiation of glia, neurons and target tissues such as muscle. Using a range of rodent species, we try to understand which cells directly respond to the hormone, which genes are regulated in those cells, and how the structure and function of the cell changes as a consequence of that gene regulation.
The Sisk Lab The common theme of research projects in the Sisk Lab is the influence of steroid hormones on nervous system structure and function. Gonadal steroids, such as testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone, profoundly affect neuronal activity, connectivity within neural circuits, and behavior at different stages of life, including early neural development, puberty, and in adulthood. Neural and behavioral responses to steroid hormones vary with developmental stage. Our work focuses on the role of pubertal hormones in shaping development of the adolescent brain and maturation of adult behaviors, and it contributes to an understanding of the ways and extent to which the capacity for functional plasticity within the nervous system changes across the lifespan. Research in the Sisk Lab is a combination of neuroendocrinology, developmental neurobiology, and behavioral neuroscience. We employ a variety of experimental techniques, ranging from analysis of gene expression to analysis of behavior.
The Wade Lab We seek to understand how structural and biochemical changes within the central nervous system regulate behavior. One effective method for investigating this topic is the exploitation of naturally occurring differences in behaviors. We study courtship and copulatory displays because they are stereotyped, sexually differentiated, and in many species displayed seasonally. Therefore, we can evaluate mechanisms regulating behaviors within a sex in and out of the breeding season, as well as between the two sexes. We focus on factors involved both in organizing critical regions of the brain, spinal cord and muscles during development, as well as those that confer varying levels of plasticity in adulthood. Members of my lab are working with two model systems, zebra finches and green anole lizards. These species have the potential to not only increase understanding of the evolution of the processes regulating behavioral differences, which have commonly been studied in mammals, but also to address the ubiquity of the mechanisms employed in diverse situations.
Violence Against Women The Violence Against Women Research and Outreach Initiative is a multidisciplinary group of faculty at Michigan State University committed to engaging in community-based, collaborative research and evaluation that is highly rigorous while also having significant practice and policy implications at local, state, national and international levels.