L for Lab Love
Last semester, I was in a little bit of a pickle. I needed to take 2 classes over the summer in order to apply for the accelerated nursing progam in the fall. But, other than that, my summer plans where up in the air! What to do? I had been taking a class in the Child Development department and became particularily intrigued with the field of research looking at the process of infants’ development and how they interact with the world around them to learn new things. Child development and learning, I think, is a vital component to a pediatric health practitioner’s understanding of how to treat their patient and extention of the nursing model’s hollistic outlook. I am so priviledged to have been given the opportunity to work as a research assistant with the Infant Learning Lab this summer!
From phone calling possible participants to coding sessions of testing, my days have been
filled with so many different tasks. The studies that our lab is conducting is primarily with babies aged 2 months through about 2 years. Its been so much fun getting to see how research can use small nuances in methods to make reliable inferences about what babies are thinking and how they are active participants in investigating the unfamiliar world around them. I never thought babies were so smart, but BOY they are!
This summer has been so much fun and I have loved working with our PI, Professor Amy Needham, and our fantastic group of lab research assistants and managers. I am really excited about working with them through the school year and getting a more indepth look into how research can reveal so much about the intelligence and incredible minds of babies!