Research Labs for MS in Psychology
Build your skills and contribute to research.Grow, Innovate, and Create an Impact Alongside our Faculty
Whether your interests lie with stereotypes and stigma, health psychology, multiculturalism, or simply gaining more research experience, you will find inspiration among our varied faculty research labs. Our labs not only allow our department to regularly contribute to the field of psychology, they also provide the opportunity for students to collaborate starting in year one of the program.
Joining a Research Lab
Undergraduate and MS in Psychology students are eligible to join faculty research labs as a volunteer or as part of our research practicum classes. This partnership enhances development of research skills, provides a touchstone for program progress, and assists in the journey to master's degree. This research experience can be a vital part of the thesis process and contributes to the close knit program at UIndy and to the academic successes of our students.
Research Labs
Dr. Boucher's Lab examines how social identity threat negatively impacts students from underserved, underrepresented, and/or negatively stereotyped groups (e.g., women in STEM, racial minorities, ESL students, and students with disabilities). As a complement to her lab-based research, Dr. Boucher develops, tests, and disseminates insights from social psychological interventions for student success.
Dr. Burkett’s Study of Cognition, Contradictions, and Misconceptions (SCCAM) Lab investigates how people process, evaluate, and respond to complex or conflicting information. Research in the lab examines cognitive and contextual factors that shape reasoning and decision-making, with particular interest in how individuals interpret contradictory evidence, navigate misinformation, and integrate data-based versus narrative information when forming judgments.
Dr. Burns’s research lab focuses on the understanding and reduction of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. The Burns lab is currently researching various research questions related to, A) the development and implementation of prejudice reduction strategies (i.e., interpersonal confrontation, counterstereotyping), B) perceptions of sexual harassment and sex-based misconduct, C) perceptions of public debates surrounding controversial race-related symbols (i.e., Native American-themed mascots, Confederate symbols), and more.
Dr. Poulakis conducts qualitative research using Consensual Qualitative Research Methods. His research interests lie in the areas of multiculturalism, diversity, South Asian psychology, and LGBT issues.
Dr. Waldron’s research examines how laypeople conceptualize mental health issues, particularly substance use disorders. She is interested in how people form beliefs and attitudes about mental health, with particular interests in causal reasoning about mental disorders and mental health stigma.
Dr. Zhang's research focuses on social and emotional development in children and young adults from a sociocultural perspective. She uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine social networks and the lived experiences of identity, social relationships, and places.