Dewey T
- Research Program Mentor

MA candidate at San Jose State University (SJSU)

Expertise

clinical psychology, working memory, executive functions, mood/affect.

Bio

My name is Dewey Tran and my research interests include executive functioning among individuals with mood disorders, specifically working memory and depression. My passion in this field is fueled by a growing need for mental health awareness and the nuances mood can have on our thoughts and quality of life. I am well experienced in generating a literature review, reading tons of papers and summarizing them, and research and experimental methods. Specifically, quantitative methods like data analysis and modeling to determine what variables are related in what way. My personal interests are varied but mostly nerdy such as collecting comics, watching sci fi and fantasy, playing video games. I also enjoy exercising (I say enjoy but tolerate is more appropriate), cooking, traveling to new places, and reading. Oh and dogs! Dogs are cool.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Attention and social media

Social media research has been burgeoning as a research topic alongside social media companies. Some studies find correlations between mood and social media use as well as impacts on well-being and productivity. As tempting as it is to place social media as the primary cause, it is important to determine the degree social media itself has on our behaviors, thoughts, and moods or if they moderate other variables. This research project would measure attentional span and types of social media (ex. TikTok, Instagram, Facebook) use to determine if there are any nuanced findings between social media types and attention.

Coding skills

Python, R

Teaching experience

I have mentored transfer students entering a four year college with both academics and acclimating into campus. I have also counseled homeless youth with various personal and professional needs and have been employed by San Jose State University as a teacher's assistant in Introduction to Psychology class.