Emily Foltz has been a staple in the main psychology office for the last several years and is now a postbaccalaureate research assistant in the Moral Minds Lab. A Fall 2025 psychology alumna, Emily earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Youth Society.
In the Moral Minds Lab, Emily works with Dr. Meltem Yucel collecting data at Impressions 5 Science Center, where she and her fellow RAs are running an original study on how children decide to share information when an authority figure is involved. And recently, Emily received the happy news that she was accepted into Western Michigan University’s Occupational Therapy Doctoral program.
Here, Emily shares how she figured out her path at MSU, what has surprised her most about research, how her research helped land her an acceptance letter, and more.
Congrats on being accepted into the occupational therapy doctoral program! How does psychology pair with occupational therapy?
When I first heard about occupational therapy, I was really intrigued. I started looking into it and realized it was the perfect combo for what I was interested in. I had always been interested in psychology, like the mental and behavioral health side of things, but I was also interested in physical health and movement. I didn't know I could explore all of those, and more, in one career.
When I realized that was the direction I wanted to head in, I decided to get a Bachelor of Science in psychology. I could keep taking psychology classes to learn about human behavior and foundational, theoretical stuff, but then my Bachelor of Science let me take anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology. Doing all of that together, especially with the youth and society focus too, I felt like it gave me this really well-rounded and versatile education.
Why did you want to work in the Moral Minds Lab?
I really wanted to work in the Moral Minds Lab because first of all, it focuses on children, which I'm really interested in working with. But I also think it's really interesting how it specifically looks at how kids think about morality and social psychology. It’s a really unique approach to researching how we learn things, how information is passed on, and so on.
Because the Moral Minds Lab was started recently when Dr. Yucel joined as MSU faculty, we had a really unique opportunity as undergrads to work with Dr. Yucel on developing our own study that builds upon her work.
Can you talk more about the research that you're doing with the Moral Minds Lab?
Dr. Yucel looks a lot at how kids perceive the world and how they think about sharing information with other people like gossip. So, two other undergraduate research assistants and I developed a study looking specifically at how children choose to share information when an authority figure is involved. Like, would they choose to share information with a peer in their classroom versus their teacher if something happened?
We have this study where we tell a story to a kid about someone doing a cool trick on the slide. We then will ask them different questions about who should be told about it and who should do the telling. It's really cool to see the kids’ interpretations, because some of them will come up with their own storylines. They have all these different theories about the story, even though it's just a very basic storyline. You get to see how they perceive it and what they think about it.
The coolest part is that we actually get to collect data right in Lansing. The Moral Minds Lab collaborates with the Impression 5 Science Center, where we host interactive science games and studies on Saturday mornings. So we go to the museum, set up our computer, and conduct our fun, game-like studies on site.
Do you think that your research experience will help you as a grad student?
I think my research experience with the Moral Minds Lab was a huge contributor to why I got into graduate school. Western specifically, since it's a doctoral program and not just a master's degree, is very research heavy. There are opportunities for students to work with professors one on one and assist them with their research, so I feel like getting involved in research this year has given me so many new skills and helped me see what a research lab all entails. I feel much more prepared going into grad school having done research and knowing that I want to keep doing it.
Has anything surprised you about psychology research?
I’ve been surprised by how much back and forth there is in research. In my head it was kind of like, you do the study, you get the data, you analyze it. But it's a much more dynamic and collaborative process. For example, when you're making a survey for kids, a question might make total sense to us, but to them it doesn’t. So, you need to go back as a team and figure out how to adjust the question so that it captures accurately.
Do you have any advice for MSU students who are figuring out their own path?
I would say it's okay to feel uncertain about what you're going to do or even scared. That was me for a long time, especially in the beginning. With the transition to college, I had no idea what I wanted to do, but I just went for it. And I think you just have to do that. Even if you're scared, just go for it anyway.
With a lot of my experiences at MSU, I kind of just had to go for it. I'm a group fitness instructor here, and I applied for that job thinking I wouldn't even get past the application. And then I got it, and now I'm actually the lead instructor at IM West. You never know. Same with my job at the psychology office. I kind of applied thinking, well, why not? And then I've been here for almost two years now. And that helped me get connected with the Moral Minds Lab, too.
Would you like to give a shout out to anyone that's helped you in your journey?
Dr. Yucel for taking a chance on me even though I didn’t have any research experience. She opened up her lab and allowed me and the other research assistants to have a really awesome experience. Secondly, Nancy Perkins has been an amazing person to work with in the psychology office. She’s truly amazing. Lastly, Dr. Bianca Guess with Recreational Sports and Fitness Services has been an incredible mentor for me throughout my time here.
Is there anything else you want to add?
For psychology majors, you can really take it in any direction you want. I think a lot of people, when they think about psychology, default to the clinical route like mental health therapy — but you can really make it into whatever you want and run with it. With occupational therapy, I think it's kind of untraditional to do a psych undergrad, but it was the perfect combination for me. I feel like I really have this great foundation going into grad school. So, you can do that with any career path, really — find what works for you and piece it together.