Gopnik Lab Summer 2025 Internship
The 2025 application is now open!
Application link: https://forms.gle/3SM4u93SnMtB5uTbA
Deadline: February 13 10:00AM PDT. Please see below for project topics and application requirements.
This 8-week internship will take place in Berkeley, CA from Monday, June 2 – Friday, July 25. We are willing to accommodate a slightly later start date if you are on the quarter system or if your school’s semester ends after June 1st. Interns will be expected to work roughly 30 hours per week. Weekends will occasionally be required. We welcome applications from both UC Berkeley students and those from outside universities. We encourage applicants to apply for outside funding, but we will be able to provide a travel stipend of $2,400 to those who are not able to secure funding to offset living costs. We are unable to provide housing. Please note that we are unable to sponsor visas for international applicants.
Research interns will work with graduate students on multiple ongoing research projects and with the lab manager on administrative tasks. Interns will be responsible for coding data, recruiting and testing child and/or adult participants, and reading and discussing relevant theoretical and empirical papers. There will be weekly reading groups and lab meetings, as well as a professional development series for those interested in careers in psychology. Research interns should be comfortable working independently and managing their time effectively.
Application Requirements and Criteria
Please only apply if you are willing to make a commitment to work in our lab:
* ~30 hours per week for 8 weeks
* Start date may be flexible to accommodate students whose semesters conclude later than June 1
* Must be an undergraduate student OR recent graduate. We do not accept high school students or graduate students.
* International students may apply, but only if they have authorization to work/study in the US and are enrolled at a US-based institution. We are unable to sponsor visas for interns.
*Interns must be fully vaccinated and able to pass a background check to conduct research at our partner museums
Requirements for
All Applicants
All research in the Gopnik Cognitive Development and Learning Lab is broadly focused on children's development of cause and effect reasoning and how they learn from and about other people. We are looking for dedicated and motivated undergraduate students and recent graduates interested in pursuing a graduate degree in developmental psychology or a related field. Interns will work closely with a graduate student or postdoctoral scholar assisting them on all aspects of the research process. Interns will help with experimental and stimuli design; recruiting participants 3 - 14 years old and adults; running experiments at museums, preschools, and online, and organizing, coding, and analyzing data. Interns will meet regularly with their mentors to discuss the theoretical motivations of the studies they are working on as well as the findings of other empirical papers both related to the studies in the lab and important to the field in general.
About Our Program
Qualifications for Applicants
* Must be excited about Cognitive Development research!
* Organized, self-motivated, independent, and hard working
* Prior experience with children (we welcome both formal, informal, and non-traditional experience with kids!)
* Comfort acting silly around children and professional when speaking to parents
* Prior research experience is not required
* Artistic, mechanical, electrical engineering or programming experience is not necessary, but would be great!
Please note that proof of full vaccination and ability to pass a background check are required for all successful applicants.
General Project Topics
What are the cognitive, cultural, and philosophical foundations of caregiving? This research will explore how caregiving is understood and represented throughout the lifespan, including care for children but also elders and others. Projects may include examining how the presence of a caregiver affects children’s exploratory and risk-taking behaviors.
Caregiving
Here we investigate the ways in which children and adults explore their environments and build an understanding of cause and effect with intrinsic motivations. This research looks at how children develop causal models of the world and how they apply past experiences to new situations, with a focus on the relation with empowerment.
Empowerment and Causal Learning
Artificial Intelligence and Language Learning Models
By comparing human behaviors (from both children and adults) to that of artificial intelligence agents, we can gain insights into the computational strategies underlying human exploration. We can also discover the differences between humans and artificial intelligence in active learning and navigating problems of varying difficulties.
Curiosity and Information Gain
What are the factors that influence children’s exploratory-related behaviors? In this research, we seek to understand how children learn more about the world in varying situations and what motivations guide these behaviors. Part of this research involves the explore-exploit paradigm.