Research Assistant/Maclab - Department Of Psychological And Brain Sciences

The Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences is seeking a Research Assistant for the MACLab

This position will assist research on spoken language processing in older adults. The project focuses on changes to language processing in older adulthood, including the impact of cognition and hearing, and how these changes impact psychosocial well-being. The hired individual will join a large research lab with diverse scientific backgrounds (including psychology, communication sciences and disorders, linguistics, and neuroscience) and interests in language processing that span the lifespan (from childhood through older adulthood). The lab specializes in the cognitive science of language and is at the forefront of developing eyetracking methods to probe the real-time dynamics of spoken word recognition. This position has a specified term of one year, with a possibility of renewal. This position is flexible, and the individual hired may choose to work anywhere from 75%-time to full-time.

There may be a need to travel to Cedar Rapids, but the hired individual would work at our Iowa City location on days when testing in Cedar Rapids is not taking place. The majority of work and subject testing is expected to take place at our lab in Iowa City.

Key Responsibilities

• Recruit adult participants and schedule studies
• Perform language, cognitive, and hearing assessments
• Assist with experiment design and development
• Coordinate travel for participants to and from the laboratory (if needed)
• Test eye-tracking and other experimental paradigms

For a full job description or questions about this position, please send an email to [email protected]

Education Required

Bachelor’s degree in psychology, speech and hearing science, linguistics, cognitive science, neuroscience, social work, gerontology or a related field; or an equivalent combination of education and experience such that one can perform beginning level research in psychology

Required Qualifications

• Must demonstrate attention to detail, accuracy, and strong organizational skills
• Ability to perform and score standardized clinical assessments of hearing, language, and cognition, or to rapidly learn those skills
• Ability to supervise undergraduate students
• Must demonstrate excellent oral and written communication skills
• Demonstrated experience with word processing and spreadsheet programs, and the ability to learn new technical skills quickly
• Experience working with human subjects (preference for experience working with older adults)
• Must have flexible schedule. To accommodate participants’ schedules, the research assistant must have weekend and evening availability (approximately 10-12 hours/week; this time is scheduled in advance with the research assistant’s input and stays relatively consistent throughout the study)

Desired Qualifications

• Fluency in English at the level of a native speaker
• Ability to use or rapidly learn to use eye-tracking hardware and software (including data processing) or with related techniques (e.g., EEG, pupillometry, psychophysiology)
• Experience with computer programming (any language)
• At least 6 months research experience in psychology, speech and hearing science, cognitive science, linguistics, or gerontology (preferably in cognitive psychology or with a focus on experimental language research)
• Experience with audio equipment, speech processing, or speech synthesis packages, and/or acoustic analysis
• Experience with Adobe Photoshop and/or Microsoft Access

Position And Application Details

For additional job details and to apply please visit https://jobs.uiowa.edu/ and search for requisition #23002478. Position is open until filled.

In order to be considered for an interview, applicants must upload the following documents and mark them as a "Relevant File" to the submission.

• Cover Letter
• Resume

Job openings are posted for a minimum of 14 calendar days and may be removed from posting and filled any time after the original posting period has ended. Successful candidates will be subject to a criminal background check and export control screening. Up to 5 professional references will be requested at a later step in the recruitment process. 

For additional questions, please contact: [email protected]

Additional Information

• Schedule: Full-time
• Appointment Type: Professional and Scientific
• Classification Title: Research Assistant
• Work Modality Options: On Campus

Compensation

• Pay Level: 4A

Contact Information

• Contact Name: Chris Crawford
• Contact Email: [email protected]
• Organization: College of Liberal Arts