Research for Psychology undergrad

psychundergrad
Mon, 01 Oct 2012 09:28:04 +0000

I am a freshman undergrad at UMSL studying psychology. After undergrad I’m going to graduate school to get a Ph.D or Psy.D in clinical psychology. At this moment, I would like to start doing research in order to begin getting experience working with research and to potentially also build my resume slightly. Two professors would like me to work with me but I’m having a bit of trouble deciding because neither are particularly what I am interested in career-wise.

One is a cognitive psychologist researching cognitive information processing, and the other is researching learning from a developmental psychologist’s POV. Either way, I would be a mere research assistant, providing help in the help and taking human subjects for our studies.

Not sure if I should do the cognitive study or developmental because I have only taken PSY101 and don’t understand either of these sub-disiciplines very well. Does it even matter if I’m just acting as a research assistant? Should I try both out and not make any commitments? Being really new to this all, I’m just looking for advice from experienced veterans. Thank you!