DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY

6/26/26

 

The Body and Media Lab at Northwestern University is seeking women between the ages between the ages of 18-29 years to participate in a study on dating app use, social media interaction, and body image and mood.

Study requirements include:

• You are a women
• Age 18-29 years
• You currently use Instagram and Hinge and have each of these apps on your phone

Participation includes random assignment (like flipping a coin) to one of three conditions: IKEA Kreativ Design Studio, Instagram, or Hinge. You will be asked to interact with your assigned condition for 10 minutes. All participants will also be asked to complete mood and body image measures.

Participation requires one visit to our lab on the Evanston campus, lasting up to 20 minutes. Participants are paid $10 for their time.

If you are interested, please email williampirosch2027@u.northwestern.edu to sign up.

Principal Investigator: Renee Englen

Study Title: Social Media and Dating App Use

IRB#: STU00226284

6/23/26

The SoundBrain Lab is looking for volunteers to participate in a study investigating how our brain’s process speech from real voices compared to AI-generated voice clones.

Participation in the study involves:

• A hearing test
• Listening tasks
• A non-invasive measure of brain activity (EEG) while listening to sentences and making judgments about the voices you hear. This involves wearing a sensor cap and having gel applied across your scalp.

You may be eligible if:

• You are between 18-30 years old
• You have normal hearing (no hearing loss)
• You are a native English speaker
• You have no history of neurological or psychological disorders
• You can travel to Northwestern Evanston campus

This study requires a single 3-hour visit to our lab on the Northwestern University Evanston campus. Participants will be compensated at the rate of $15/hour via digital gift card at the end of the visit.

If you are interested in participating, please complete our Info & Eligibility Survey or email soundbrainlab@northwestern.edu. A study team member will get back to you shortly.

Study Title: Neural Systems in Auditory and Speech Categorization

Principal Investigator: Dr. Bharath Chandrasekaran

IRB#: STU00219433

6/18/26

 

The SoundBrain Lab is looking for volunteers to participate in a study investigating how our brain’s response to sound is shaped by how the sound is generated (either by ourselves or external sources).

Participation in the study involves:

• A hearing screener and a non-invasive measure of brain activity (EEG) while listening to sounds and pressing a button. This involves wearing a sensor cap and having gel applied across your scalp.

You may be eligible if:

• You are between 18-65 years old
• You have normal hearing (no hearing loss)
• You have no history of neurological or psychological disorders
• You can travel to Northwestern Evanston campus

This study requires two visits to our lab on the Northwestern University Evanston campus, each visit lasting about 3.5 hours. Participants will be compensated at the rate of $15/hour via digital gift card at the end of each visit.

If you are interested in participating, please complete our Info & Eligibility Survey or email soundbrain.auditorymotor@outlook.com. A study team member will get back to you shortly.

Study Title: Auditory-Motor Interactions in Neural Processing

Principal Investigator: Dr. Kevin R. Sitek

IRB#: STU00224095

4/17/2026

The Youth Mindful Awareness Program is a multi-site research project – led by researchers at Northwestern University, Vanderbilt University, and University of California Los Angeles – designed to help teens cope with stress and improve well-being through mindfulness-based practices. YMAP is actively recruiting 12-17 year old teens to participate in a brief 5-minute survey about current health (e.g. sleep, appetite, fatigue), moods, and worries.

For one part of the study, teens will answer questions online on a computer, tablet, or smartphone. This includes questions about their mood, health, and stress in their lives. It takes about 10 minutes. By answering these questions, your child can help us understand how stress is related to teens' moods. We are especially interested in learning about the types of stress teens have been dealing with since going back to school after COVID. This information may help us develop better programs for lowering stress in teens in your community. Teens who complete this part of the study will receive a $10 gift card

The second study involves interventions aimed at reducing stress and anxiety and improving well-being and resilience. These programs may help teens manage their thoughts and feelings more effectively, which can help them focus better on schoolwork, stay calmer under stress, feel more relaxed, sleep better, improve their relationships, and be kinder and more accepting of themselves and others.

Teens who participate in the second study will be randomly assigned (like flipping a coin) to one of three conditions: Mindfulness, Awareness, or Mood Monitoring. Those in the Mindfulness or Awareness conditions will meet individually with a coach (remotely via Zoom) for 9 weekly sessions. Coaches teach skills for managing stress and for practicing the skills between meetings. One program focuses on Mindfulness (e.g., breathing; gratitude); the other program emphasizes becoming more self-aware through expressive writing. In the third condition, teens monitor their daily moods for a week at the beginning and again at the end of the nine weeks. They also report about their emotions weekly. At the end of the study, all youth are given access to materials used in the other programs.

All participants complete assessments before, middle, at the end of the intervention, and six months later. These assessments measure health (e.g., sleep, appetite), stress, moods, and general functioning in school and with peers.

Participating teens can receive up to $300 in gift cards for completing all parts of the second study. We also ask parents to complete some surveys online for which they are paid up to $30. Interested teens and parents can visit this link (https://redcap.vumc.org/surveys/?s=TW4XJ89YJLECNPKT) to submit a Survey Study interest form.

For more information, visit YMAP’s website www.youth-mindful-awareness-program.org, or feel free to contact Northwestern’s research team directly via email (ymap.nu@gmail.com) or phone (773-245-3176).

Study Title: Youth Mindful Awareness Program

Principal Investigator: Dr. Richard Zinbarg, Dr. Emma Adam

IRB#: STU00213377

4/10/2026

The SoundBrain Lab is looking for volunteers to participate in a study investigating the neural processing of emotion in speech by users of cochlear implants.

Participation in the study involves:

• A non-invasive measure of brain activity (EEG) while listening to speech. This involves wearing a sensor cap and having gel applied across your scalp.

You may be eligible if:

• You have at least one cochlear implant (post-lingual implantation)
• You are within 18-65 years of age
• You have native proficiency in English
• You have normal or corrected-to-normal vision

This study requires a single visit to our lab on the Northwestern University Evanston campus and will take about 2 hours to complete. Participants will be compensated at the rate of $20/hour via digital gift card at the end of participation.

If you are interested in participating, please complete our Info & Eligibility Survey or email soundbrainlab@northwestern.edu. A study team member will get back to you shortly.

Study Title: Neural predictors of cochlear implant success

Principal Investigator: Dr. Kevin R. Sitek

IRB#: STU00223498

4/1/2026

Do you have a child between 0 – 2 years old? The Infant and Child Development Center is recruiting infants for our study investigating infant language and cognition. Our lab helps to identify how and how early language and cognition come together in the infant mind. Our studies are offered both in person (at the Evanston NU campus) or online via zoom or the Children Helping Science platform.

What You’ll Do: You sit with your baby in your lap watch a short video (5-10 minutes) of shapes and objects while listening to language, whether in person or from the comfort of your home. With your permission, we will record your baby during the video so that we can learn from their looking behavior.

Compensation:

• For in person studies: $10 or a book & a t-shirt
• For online studies: a $5 Tango.com gift card which can be used at sites such as Amazon and Target.

Study Requirements: We don’t require much, see below:

• Between 3 months – 2 years
• Full-term
• Learning English as their first language

We welcome you to fill out the form below, and we will be in touch as soon as we can. 

https://northwestern.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_d0tASDtcheq6mjA

Let us know if you have questions by emailing childdevelopment@northwestern.edu or calling 847-491-3316

Study Title: Linking Early Linguistic and Conceptual Development

Principal Investigator: Sandra Waxman

IRB#: STU00013062

3/5/2026

The Bilingualism and Psycholinguistics Research Group at Northwestern University is seeking individuals between the ages of 18-40 years to participate in a study on language and thought.

Study requirements include:

• English is the only language you speak
• You are right-handed
• Age 18-40 years

You will complete a series of language and cognitive tasks while your eye movements and brain activity (EEG) are recorded. Both eye tracking and EEG are safe, non-invasive techniques.

The study lasts approximately 2.5 to 3 hours. For your time and effort, you will be compensated $20 per hour. The visit will take place on Northwestern’s Evanston campus. CTA transportation reimbursement and parking will be provided if needed.

For more information or to sign up, please contact Dr. Joshua Buffington at joshua.buffington@northwestern.edu.

Study Title: Cognitive Architecture of Bilingual Language Processing

Principal Investigator: Prof. Viorica Marian

IRB#: STU00023477

10/10/2025

About the Study:
This study explores a new way to help new parents sleep better during the early months of infant care. Many parents experience frequent nighttime awakenings that affect both mental and physical health. Our approach tests whether a small adjustment to how your baby monitor works can improve your sleep quality—allowing your brain to rest more deeply while still ensuring you’re alerted when your baby needs you.

The study lasts up to three weeks and involves two brief visits to Cresap Laboratory at Northwestern University. During your first visit (about 1 hour), you’ll complete questionnaires and receive training on how to use two study tools:

• An Oura Ring, a wearable sleep tracker
• A custom mobile app installed on a study smartphone

At home, you’ll wear the ring, follow daily app instructions, and complete short sleep surveys. You’ll return to Cresap Laboratory at the end of the study to complete final surveys and return the equipment.

You may be eligible if you:

• Are 18–45 years old
• Have normal hearing
• Are using an overnight baby monitor with an infant aged 0–12 months
• Have no diagnosed sleep disorder, neurological, or cardiometabolic disease

Compensation:
Participants can earn up to $350 for full participation.

If you’re interested, please complete our screening survey https://northwestern.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2f8vEoEr76hoZ38 to see if you qualify.
Questions are welcome—contact us at nusleep.newparents@gmail.com or call 847-491-7725.

Study Title: Enhancing Sleep for New Parents Through Sounds in an At-Home Setting

Principal Investigator: Dr. Ken A. Paller

IRB#: STU00224048

9/10/2024

The Bilingualism and Psycholinguistics Research Group at Northwestern University is recruiting Spanish-English bilingual and English monolingual participants for a combined electroencephalogram (EEG) and eye-tracking study on language and cognition. Spanish-English bilinguals must be proficient in both Spanish and English. English monolinguals must have no or limited proficiency in a second language.

EEG and eye-tracking technology are safe and non-invasive techniques used in psycholinguistics research. We are recording eye-movements as well as the neural activity at the surface of the scalp as it naturally occurs in the brain.

The visit will take approximately 2.5 to 3 hours to complete. For your time and effort, you will be compensated $20 per hour. The visit will take place on Northwestern’s Evanston campus. CTA transportation reimbursement will be provided if needed.

For more information or to sign up, please contact Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Concepción Soto, at c.soto@northwestern.edu or 847-467-2709.

Study Title: Cognitive Architecture of Bilingual Language Processing

Principal Investigator: Prof. Viorica Marian

IRB#: STU00023477

6/21/2024

We are seeking young people to participate in a research project at Northwestern University about how the relationships between social networks, personality, and unusual thoughts some people may have fluctuate over a brief period. The goal of this research is to increase understanding of how social interactions influence mental health concerns and/or mental health concerns influence social interactions.

You may be eligible for this study if you are between 12 and 34 years of age. The study would entail coming in for 3 visits each approximately one week apart, and you will be compensated $25 per hour for your participation. During these sessions, you will complete questionnaires about unusual thoughts and experiences, mental health symptoms, and your social network and a brief interview with a researcher about your social life.

If you are interested, please email us at adapt@northwestern.edu, and a member of our team will get back to you shortly.

Principal investigator: Dr. Vijay Mittal

Study Title: ORBITZ

IRB#: STU00203263