Clarkson University Honors Program senior Gracie DeLaBruere of Derby, Vt., performed research this summer, during which she traveled to Germany with her professor.
The pre-physical therapy psychology major traveled with Clarkson Psychology Department Chair Professor Andreas Wilke and three other research assistants who work with her in Wilke’s Evolution and Cognition Laboratory.
Their project, researching statistical thinking in children, which is also DeLaBruere’s honors capstone, is funded by the National Science Foundation. The research team traveled to Germany for part of the summer to work with their collaborators in the Naturalistic Social Cognition lab at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin.
“This project will help us understand how people come to search for resources when they encounter different statistical patterns,” says DeLaBruere. “We are specifically looking at children aged 3-10 and how they perceive these patterns. The study involves three short iPad games and is cross-cultural, meaning the same study we are conducting in the United States is being conducted at the Max Planck Institute.”
DeLaBruere has been working on this project alongside Wilke since its pilot stages in the summer before her first year at Clarkson.
“While we were there, we assisted in training the German research assistants and helped them start the testing process,” says DeLaBruere. “We also attended scientific talks and spent some time sightseeing and experiencing the culture. We even visited Sanssouci Palace in Germany’s Potsdam, which was once the summer home of Prussian King Frederick the Great.”
DeLaBruere who had never traveled beyond North America, says that going abroad was a great experience. “I was able to experience different cultures and meet some amazing people,” she says. “Research-wise, it allowed me to meet some extremely important scientists in the psychology field – like Gerd Gigerenzer, who has helped to shape our understanding of the role heuristics in human decision-making processes”
Back at Clarkson, during the Honors Summer Research Program, DeLaBruere continued the in-person data collection with 161 children being tested in total.
DeLaBruere says she chose the Clarkson Honors Program because she knew that it would tailor her education to prepare her for graduate school. She also wanted to surround herself with other students who were highly motivated and had similar goals.
“Gracie has truly made the most of the many opportunities that Clarkson and the Honors Program have to offer,” says Honors Program Director Professor Kate Krueger. “Her skills have grown considerably through her experiences in summer research every year, including in the honors pre-frosh summer program. She is enthusiastic, willing to learn, skilled, and a wonderful representation of a Clarkson student.”
“The emphasis Clarkson places on undergraduate research is not something I have seen at many other schools,” says DeLaBruere. “To be able to work alongside professors and develop research skills wasn’t something that I thought I would be able to do before graduate school, but Clarkson made it happen.”
DeLaBruere plans to earn a doctorate in physical therapy and one day specialize in pediatric physical therapy.
https://www.clarkson.edu/news/clarkson-university-honors-student-travels-germany-research
