Research Labs
Join our research community
Welcome to the Psychological and Brain Sciences laboratories at the University of Delaware. The undergraduate and graduate students who work at our advanced research labs gain access to state-of-the-art facilities and resources, clinical training opportunities, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Student researchers employ wide-ranging methods and technologies while working alongside faculty who are internationally recognized experts in their fields.
Attention undergraduates
Research opportunities help undergraduate students grow professionally and prepare for graduate school. Working with Psychological and Brain Sciences faculty, who are internationally recognized for their innovative research, is also an exciting eduational opportunity. Students are encouraged to join a research lab, either within our department or elsewhere at UD. Follow these steps to find a lab that interests you:
- Review the lists of labs on this page, organized by research focus.
- Click a researcher's name to visit their bio and learn more about the lab and contact information.
- Write a detailed and respectful email to the professor in charge of the lab. You can also write to graduate students or the coordinator of a lab.
- Research labs recruit at different times in the year and they are all run differently. Be flexible and persistent as you look for a good opportunity.
- Some faculty will email majors to recruit so be sure to check your @udel.edu email!
Behavioral Neuroscience
Investigating the neural circuitry underlying spatial working memory.
Studying the neuroendocrine regulation of social behavior with a focus on reproduction and development.
Evaluating the plasticity of the nervous system on behavioral and cellular levels.
Elucidating neurobiological mechanisms of emotional learning and memory.
Exploring the interplay between vocalizations, neural coding, and social interactions.
Utilizing behavioral epigenetics to advance understanding of the biological root cause of behavioral outcomes associated with adversity experienced early in life.
Examining how immune activation influences the brain and behavior throughout the lifespan.
Clinical Science
An evidence-based parenting intervention for caregivers of infants and toddlers who have experienced early adversity.
An innovative program established at the University of Delaware to advance clinical science in academic, public, and community settings.
Seeking to identify neuromaturational changes that give rise to the increased risk for psychopathology observed in adolescence.
Identifying mechanisms of therapeutic change that are common across cognitive-behavioral therapies for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Understanding the processes by which partners in marital and romantic relationships develop and maintain intimacy within the context of everyday life.
Researching risky, impulsive, and self-destructive behavior, with a special emphasis on elucidating how personality factors and individual response to stress contributes to harmful behaviors.
Cognitive Psychology
Studying human memory and the cognitive and neural systems that let us access its rich contents.
Research Questions
- How can we mentally re-experience an event from last weekend?
- How can we remember facts we learned in class earlier today?
- How can we recognize a friend we haven't seen in months or years?
- How can we use memory constructively—that is, how can we make predictions about the future based on our past experiences?
Understanding the computational and neural mechanisms that enable real-time interaction with objects and people.
Research Question
How does our brain process the visual input so that we can interact with objects and people in our environment?
Research Questions
How do language and perception connect in the mind? What can this connection tell us about the conceptual system?
Exploring human cognition with behavioral and neuroimaging studies.
Research Question
How does the brain learn the structure of the visual world and the values associated with our perceptual experiences and actions?
Researching the link between the architecture of the human sensory systems and the functions of reading, perception and attention. Also studying fundamental theories of attention, perception and temporal processing.
Research Question
What is the fundamental architecture of the brain that gives rise to our conscious perceptions?
Investigating the neural circuitry underlying spatial working memory.
Research Questions
How does the brain/mind represent the scenes that surround us? What do memory errors reveal about the mind?
Research Question
How do our interactions with digital technology influence decision-making and cognitive control?
Social Psychology
Investigating impression formation and social decision-making through the lenses of social cognition and social neuroscience.
Studying interpersonal relationships and their impact on endocrine and immune function, as well as implications to long-term health.
Employing a multi-level approach to uncover the social, cognitive and neural mechanisms that underlie how we dynamically perceive, evaluate, and understand other people.
Philip Gable, Ph.D.
Understanding social, cognitive, and neural processes of emotions by examining these processes through the use of behavioral, personality, and neurophysiological measures.