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Department: Psychology / Neurobiology and Behavior More Information A Day in the Life of an Undergraduate in the Halpern LabI found Dr. Bruce P. Halpern’s lab via the Howard Hughes Medical Institute/Cornell University Research Scholars Fellowship; he was one of a limited number of persons listed as an HHMI faculty mentor. As a member of the departments of Psychology and of Neurobiology & Behavior, I noticed that he was interested in various aspects human olfaction. Always interested in the field of psychology, I saw a prime opportunity to jump into a psychological research experience with him: I did not need any previous experience working in a psychology lab, nor did I need any classes. This was ideal, since I had previously working in a micromycology laboratory with the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica, which relates only to psychological research in its use of the scientific method. I’d planned to pursue a career in the field of psychology upon graduation, either via graduate school or medical school. But, as a biology major, my laboratory endeavors had somehow always led me to study microbiology.Admittedly, I was unsure of how much I’d need to know in order to study olfaction. Dr. Halpern made the transition from working with fungi to working with people quite simple though, providing an overview of the lab, possible projects, and the mechanism of olfaction on the first day. Once a project had been determined with Dr. Halpern, the first two weeks were spent planning the methods of the study, down to the finest detail; experimental design was primarily my decision, as I was the only one conducting the study, although all ideas were submitted to Dr. Halpern for approval. During the first few weeks, posters were produced and displayed to recruit volunteers, and appointments began to be made with participants. The studies began in the third week of working with Dr. Halpern. Generally, a day in the Halpern lab is self-governed, although this is only partially true: researchers’ schedules depend heavily on the appointments with participants—in other words, our schedules depend upon participants’ schedules, not ourselves. Appointments in the lab have been as early as 9:00 am and as late at 7:00 pm, though it varies greatly day-to-day. My particular investigation is a variation of a study conducted by a previous undergraduate student of Dr. Halpern. I am investigating the interactions between orthonasal (i.e. smelling via the nose) and retronasal (i.e. smelling via the mouth) olfaction when odorant memory (i.e. remembering the order which substances were presented) is controlled. The previous study was conducted virtually identically, but a major criticism of the previous experiment was that participants were required to remember what order they smelled certain substances. Unfortunately, odorant memory is quite unreliable, and thus, the data acquired may have been skewed. The previous experiment required that participants smell both odorants, remove them from their corresponding locations, and finally identify them orally by using their memory; my study has controlled the variable of odorant memory by allowing participants to identify the odorants and the order they are presented in while they are experiencing the odor; they do this via clicking a mouse on the correct identity of the odorants listed on a computer screen; they remove the odorant once they are finished with the identifications. The study has proved a lot more challenging than I had hoped. While initially seeming simple, I have had to make numerous revisions to the study, and thereby discard much of my data, to compensate for unforeseen events. It turns out that people are much less reliable than fungi! It seems I have gained a great deal of patience and understanding from this experience, though. And as I intend to work with people in my future career as a psychologist or psychiatrist, understanding human nature is imperative. Thus, I recommend working in the Halpern lab only if you enjoy flexible and variable work schedules. Not a single day has gone exactly as planned, but much the better for it, in some ways. Without said variation, my abilities to improvise with humans would not have been honed; such inconsistency allows for impenetrable comfort in an authoritative position with participants, which is not always a natural ability. I must say, however, that such inconsistency may not occur as much during the school year, since more students (i.e. participants) are on campus and, therefore, available to take part in one’s study. If one participant cancels, there is always the possibility of immediately fitting the appointment to another participant. However, with academics in tow, a researcher’s schedule is less flexible, and studying in the lab may go into the late hours of the night. But doing research throughout the school year is generally set at a better pace, not crammed into two months, but generally over four to nine months. The pressure to accumulate data is much less, and yet data collection is much more likely. When working with people, I personally suggest conducting a study when you have more available subjects. As I mentioned before, people are unreliable; the less you depend on a single person to participate in a study, the better, for one never knows exactly what they’re going to find with that person! Micromycologists work with thousands of fungal cells for a similar reason: the more one expands the number of participants in question, the more accurate and reliable the results. To anyone wishing to work in the Halpern lab throughout the academic year, I only advise this: go in with an open mind, and always bring something to do; in the case a participant doesn’t show up, the time will not have been loss! |