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Ariel Tao-Week 5&6

The last two weeks of my lab went by very quickly. In the remaining time at my lab, I mainly focused on doing analysis on second-grade data, transcribing interviews, and putting together a presentation for my last lab meeting. Unfortunately for the second-grade data, my undergraduate student did not mark the corresponding group (control or music intervention) for each of the participants in the datasheet. I was working with the datasheet that she gave me and I thought cohort meant group. When I realized it, it was too late since she was already out of town and she could not work on the datasheet. The other task that I worked on was transcription. When testing second-grade participants, research assistants conducted a recorded conversation with them, where they asked the participants to imagine if orchestra class was removed from their schedule, to state if they like or dislike the school’s decision, and to give reason to support their opinion. The goal of this interview was to get an idea of how the children perceived orchestra class themselves and to find qualitative results about music intervention. I did many transcriptions, typing down the conversation and trying to find some reoccurring themes between different conversations. For this part, I was not sure what my PI and doctoral student were going to make use of the transcriptions and the common themes. I noticed a lot of “I like orchestra class because I get to play new music” or “I like playing my instrument,” which was, of course, a normal response from second-grade children. But it would probably be hard for them to relate the children’s words to working memory, cognitive flexibility, and other cognitive abilities. My third task, a presentation to the lab about my work on the El Sistema program, was actually the most exciting part. I put together a PowerPoint that was concise and clear (this is one of the few times I didn’t use a template of any kind!). I incorporated discussion of my analysis results as well as an overall reflection for my time at the lab. In the beginning, my lab PI asked me to explain the basics of the El Sistema project and each of the testing measures used in the lab for those who did not participate in the project. I was able to talk about them in a precise and interesting way, thanks to my previous experience of presenting to my exp class about my lab. And the rest of my presentation also went really smoothly J

               It was really hard saying goodbye to the lab. My PI, who was so intelligent and had an article published about her research on the New York Times recently, hugged me 3 times and told me that I was a wonderful addition to her lab. Other people who I worked with, my lab manager, doctoral student, undergrad students, all told me that it was great having me at the lab. I am very thankful to them for welcoming me into the lab and giving me this amazing opportunity to be surrounded by people who are passionate in the field of psychology. 

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