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Sushmeena P

- Research Program Mentor

MA candidate at New York University

Expertise

General psychology, social psychology, cognitive psychology, politics, research methods and statistics, theatre

Bio

I was born and raised in India, and I did my BA in Psychology and Politics at Lake Forest College, where I did my senior thesis project on System Justification Theory and the caste system. I have also published and presented my research on the effect of cues on different memory systems during undergraduation. My current interests include analyzing factors affecting political attitudes and voting behaviour, the effect of cues on political knowledge, the interaction between research findings and public policy etc. I love analyzing real-world problems specific to social justice through an interdisciplinary lens. I could spend all my time looking at a certain problem from as many angles as I can find. I'm also deeply passionate about equitable reform through research-based public policy. Besides that, I love dancing, getting overly competitive at board games, and singing the Mamma Mia soundtrack to my heart's content.

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.

The In's and Out's of Research Methods and Statistics

Have you ever been interested in designing a study to investigate human behaviour? to better understand which statistical procedure is the best to use for your data analysis? I can help you understand the theory and statistical procedures which go into designing psychological experiments and analyzing the data. I love research methods and statistics and would be more than thrilled to supervise and mentor a project where we develop a psychological study of your choice! For example, we can work on developing a project which analyzes the effect of self-esteem on blame. In such a project, we would learn about the history of fundamental attribution error, explore possible independent and dependent variables for the study and the best possible way to measure them, perform critical data analysis using the appropriate statistical test, and draw meaningful conclusions from the results. This project can culminate in a conference paper, a journal article or an oral presentation.

The Proof is in the (Research) Pudding

Are you interested in finding out the psychological effects of the current social system and policies on the people? Do you want to come up with projects which could possibly show why a certain public policy is better than the other? Would you be interested in finding out how to possibly increase adherence to public health mandates? I can help you design such studies which intersect politics, public policy, and psychology. This project can have real-world applications and can culminate in a conference paper, a journal article or an oral presentation.

Take a hint, maybe

If you're interested in understanding how cues might affect one's memory, I am your person. For example, we can do a project on the effect of cues on dancing, where we design a study to test your hypothesis, collect relevant data, and analyze the results to make meaningful conclusions. In this project, you will gain insight into the world of cognitive psychology, specifically memory. This project can culminate in a conference paper, a journal article or an oral presentation.

Languages I know

Hindi

Teaching experience

I was the Psychology department tutor for my undergraduate institution and taught everything from general psychology to research methods and statistics. I used to also teach theatre and dance to kids in India as a volunteer for Teach For India.

Credentials

Work experience

New York University (2020 - present)
Research Assistant - Jost Lab
New York University (2020 - present)
Research Assistant - PIRL Lab
Lake Forest College (2017 - 2020)
Research Assistant - Cognitive Psychology Lab
Lake Forest College (2017 - 2020)
Research Assistant - Social Psychology Lab

Education

Lake Forest College
BA Bachelor of Arts
Psychology, Politics
New York University
MA Master of Arts candidate
Psychology

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