Determining how context shapes children's executive function performance - YEDI-Affiliated Project
Dana Miller-Cotto, Professor
Education
Open. Apprentices needed for the fall semester. Enter your application online beginning August 21st. The deadline to apply is Monday, August 31st, 4pm.
Executive function, or our ability to hold information in mind, ignore distractions, and shift between goals, predicts many important outcomes in life, including educational outcomes and social development. Research indicates that there are differences in how children display executive function skills across race/ethnicity and socio-economic status. There is still much to learn about how these differences emerge. For this project, we will work one-on-one administering executive function tasks to children across contexts (their school, in our lab, or in their home) to see where these differences might emerge.
If you are selected for this research project, you will also be invited to join the Youth Equity Discovery Initiative (YEDI) Program, a research mentorship program that aims to build supportive pathways into research careers, service, and leadership addressing adolescent wellbeing. The year-long program provides weekly skill-building workshops, cascading mentorship, and professional development training to a cohort of 20-30 undergraduate scholars working on faculty-led youth equity research projects (like this one). Past scholars have benefitted from YEDI’s mentorship and professional development opportunities (including faculty and graduate student speakers). The program culminates in an end-of-year research poster symposium. Participation in the YEDI Program is not required for this research project, but is strongly encouraged.
The 2026-2027 YEDI cohort will meet on Tuesdays from 11:00am - 12:30pm beginning September 22nd. In order to take part in the YEDI program, you MUST be able to attend the workshops at this time. As a YEDI scholar, you will sign up for a PH198 (independent research) class and receive 1 unit in addition to the units you will receive for this URAP project. For any questions about YEDI, please contact Marieka Schotland at mschotland@berkeley.edu or visit our website (https://i4y.berkeley.edu/youth-equity-discovery-initiative-yedi-program).
Role: For this project, we are hoping to work with kindergarten-aged children and assess their executive function skills in schools. Research apprentices will be expected to 1)learn how to administer executive function assessments on an iPad, 2) travel to local schools to work one on one with kindergarten children for 20 minutes each and collect their performance information, 3) save this information on our laptops in the lab 4) ensure that data are safely stored and updated as new data comes in. Research apprentices will learn how to work with young children, administer assessments, and learn how cognitive development research. There also may be opportunities to present research if apprentices work with our research group long-term.
Qualifications: Applicants would be expected to 1) be highly motivated, 2) have attention to detail and be able to learn processes quickly, 3) experience working with young children is not required but a plus, and 4) have the ability to travel to schools for data collection. If rideshare is required to get to data collection sites, all research apprentices will be reimbursed for their travel.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Abigail Villa, Staff Researcher
Hours: 9-11 hrs
Off-Campus Research Site: Local preschools, museums, or informal play spaces in Berkeley or Oakland.
Education, Cognition & Psychology