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Michael Tat is a fourth year student majoring in Psychology and Speech and Hearing. He is currently doing research with faculty in the area of Psycholinguistics. He hopes to attend graduate school next year studying how people perceive and process speech from talkers.
What advice would you give to current undergraduates who want to get involved in research?
I highly suggest getting involved, even if for a quarter or two. The hardest thing is finding a professor to help with research. Most professors are personable and would love for undergrads to join in their research. Don't be shy, go in and speak to them in person when they are in their office. You might even end up getting involved with research just by doing that. Search for any opportunities, whether it be from fliers on campus, or speaking to a professor in a class that piqued your interest.
What specifically have you researched, and what projects are you currently working on?
I work specifically in a psycholinguistics/speech science lab, studying how speech is interpreted in the mind. Generally, participants in our experiments press buttons in reaction to what they see on a computer screen or hear on a set of headphones. From those reaction times, we are able to infer in what ways the mind is accessing words and speech, and how people are able to recognize speech.
I’m currently working a couple of projects, but I am focusing on my own honors thesis. The question it asks is, how do people recognize spoken words, and what kind of long term representation do these words carry in the mind? For instance, many people say “budder” with d’s, yet we are able to still recognize a person is saying “butter” with t’s.
How did you find this research topic?
Almost by accident, actually. I was a sophomore and I was looking for research experience in the Psychology department, and I saw a flyer looking for research assistants for the Language Perception Lab. I have been with the lab ever since.
What were the benefits of participating in research?
It definitely helps to know what you are getting into. Most people don't know anything about how psychological research is conducted, and if they are going graduate school, this type of experience will help prepare them for the future. Being involved in research may help students get an idea of what graduate school is like, and what exactly graduate students do from day to day. It also might help with career choices. Not all psychologists are counselors. Actually, a good portion of them conduct research as a career. You never know - you might end up enjoying research.
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