my summer internshipsjoseph beltran

about me

name: joseph beltran

education: 3rd year psych major // uc berkeley

internship locations: berkeley, ca & oakland, ca

myers-briggs personality indicator: infp

leadership orientation: symbolic

core work values: autonomy, creativity, time freedom, advancement, mission, open endedness, self expression

interests: neuroscience, learning & memory, cognitive research, graphic design, dance, photography, writing

where my interests led me

summer coursework: industrial-

organizational psychology

personality psychology social psychology introduction to human

learning and memory experiential learning

internships: hinshaw lab – investigated sex

based differences within the brains of adults with adhd as a research assistant

jacobs lab – investigated the evolutionary role of olfaction in navigating spatial environments as a research assistant

dance the bay – choreographed and hosted hip-hop dance classes in the bay area for under-served youth

16 units over the summer?!

though extremely busy academically over the summer, I found that my courses blended together well in conjunction with this program: i/o psych helped me to expand my knowledge of

workplace dynamics and hiring/management/development practices

personality and social psych taught me abut the ways in which personality traits and situational contexts can influence one’s behavior and interactions

intro to learning and memory engaged my specific academic interests in the field of cognitive neuroscience

the hinshaw lab experiencepictured is li ka shing center, home of the henry h wheeler jr brain imaging center where we scan the brains of our subjects

the people of the hinshaw lab

principal investigator: steve hinshaw, phd

lecturer in the uc berkeley psych department, known for conducting longitudinal studies for children with adhd and externalizing disorders

interests: clinical psychology, developmental psychopathology, psychosocial/pharmacological treatments for adhd, the destigmatization of mental illnesses

the people of the hinshaw lab

project manager: megan norr

graduate student in clinical studies, previously worked at georgetown university studying cognitive control in children with autism

interests: cognitive control processes in attention and emotion, the role of cognitive control in developmental disorders, neurological differences in adults with adhd

the berkeley adults with adhd brain study

main objectives: investigate the differences in the brains of male and female adults with adhd by means fo fmri scanning & behavioral assessments

baabs is in part, a followup study to bgals, which has been one of the longest running longitudinal studies on adhd, tracking more than 140 girls with adhd from childhood to adulthood since 1997

baabs seeks to challenge our understanding of the general tendencies males and females have in trying to cope with adhd, whether through aggressive externalization, or depressive internalization

my responsibilities in the hinshaw lab

assemble paperwork to be mailed to subjects containing consent forms and project objectives

prescreen subjects over the phone before appointments to ensure eligibility for fmri procedures

assist with the fmri scanning of subjects in the preparation of patient bed, radiofrequency coil, and biopac/acqknowledge software

administer behavioral and neuropsychological assessments measuring iq and attention (this actually took 3 months of training for me!)

the jacobs lab experienceknown affectionately throughout the berkeley psych department as “the squirrel lab” (among other things)

the people of the jacobs lab

principal investigator: lucia jacobs

lecturer in the uc berkeley psych department, known for research in the fields of animal cognition, cognitive evolutionary theory, and spatial encoding

interests: adaptive patterns in spatial memory, spatial navigation, cognitive maps, hippocampal structure

the people of the jacobs lab

project manager: jennifer arter

post-doctoral researcher and lecturer at uc berkeley and san francisco state university

interests: evolutionary function of friendships, attachment theory, developmental psychology, memory, cognitive psychology

the purposing and representing odor utility in space and time study (proust)

main objectives: investigate the ways in which humans may implicitly recruit olfactory function as a means to navigate their spatial environments

much of this study's assumptions are built upon the findings of edward tolman, who found that animals like can learn to efficiently navigate their environments through the use of cognitive maps evolutionarily, olfaction has been key to enabling such navigation for

our earliest mammal relatives

this study aims to address to what extent these processes continue to exist for humans in spatial encoding and implicit memory

my responsibilities in the jacobs lab:

administer sensory tests measuring olfactory function (sniffin' sticks test)

instruct participants to perform a task assessing their sense of direction, memory, and perceptual encoding of space

ensure accurate data collection and behavioral coding throughout each experiment session

attend weekly collaborative lab meetings to provide feedback and suggestions for improvement in study design

dance the baypresenting the sassiest group of 2nd graders you’ll ever meet

“"...dance the bay offers weekly dance classes on-site at preschool and after school programs around the bay area. classes are taught by uc berkeley student teachers who are passionate about dance education."

responsibilities in dance the bay:

attending biweekly choreography training workshops

creating lesson plans for each of my classes, outlining learning goals and outcomes for my students

teaching weekly beginner hip-hop dance classes at the berkeley ymca teen center

classes typically consisted of 30-40 boys and girls from the age group of 7-10 years old

applying the four frames

structural: as a research assistant in labs that required efficient use of time

and space spent with subjects, i learned just how important it can be for to delegate tasks well by clearly defining roles and tasks for each lab member compared to the jacobs lab, the hinshaw lab is much larger in

size and thus, has a more rigidly defined hierarchy to reduce lapses of communication between different project managers and the principal investigator

though dance the bay (for the time being) remains a small organization, it still relies on the assignment of leadership groups in areas of logistics, choreography, and outreach to train their respective interns and guest choreographers

applying the four frames

human resources: dance the bay, more than anything, explicitly reminded me

of the value of the human person through service and collaboration in the creative arts

in addition, as suggested by my previous slides, i really did meet some pretty incredible people in each of my internships the people we meet in the workplace can be valuable

stores of knowledge, wisdom, and experience that can’t be found anywhere else! if only for the opportunity to hear more of these stories, i will continue to network and be proactive in forging more of these connections

applying the four frames

symbolic frame: dance the bay is highly mission driven. more than 50% of

the application process involved reflecting upon how i could utilize my skills and talents to further dtb’s greater purpose to bring the joy of dance to under-served communities in the bay area

as a member of the hinshaw lab (given its association with many studies regarding the stigmatization of mental illnesses & learning disorders) i found that much of our organizational cohesion came from collectively desiring an ideal of better understanding these conditions so as to improve the lives of those afflicted by them

applying the four frames

political: within the labs i was a part of, i definitely took note of

sense of competition, both between labs and projects within labs, sparked by limited resources of money, time, and space. such competition tended to be mild and never explicit, but nevertheless existent something I particularly liked however, was the sense

of mutual respect and appreciation I garnered from talking to my principal investigators about other psychology researchers and professors on campus. I think this says a lot about the collaborative nature of research more than the competitive side

life lessons learned (pt 1)

hinshaw lab: the processes associated with diagnosing and treating mental illnesses can be unbelievably complex. what can be even more confusing is the question of how we as a society can seek to remove the stigma associated with these conditions. though we still have a long way to go, new studies incorporating recent advances in brain imaging techniques have shown promise in working to affect such a societal change.

life lessons learned (pt 2)

jacobs lab: constant revision is to be expected in the refinement of psych research studies. important things to take into consideration include the inclusionary and exclusionary criteria for subject participation as well as the controlling of any possible confounding variables in your proposed correlations. these elements are essential in determining whether or not you can logically draw conclusions from the results you receive from your study (also known as content validity).

life lessons learned (pt 3)

dance the bay: not everyone may be necessarily born with the same kind of musicality or movement to the same song – but these kinds of differences should be appreciated as a function of how universal yet diverse the artistic mediums of music and dance can be: across culture, age, gender, race, ses, and so on

concluding isf 187

what I especially enjoyed about this course was how it was unified by the idea of experiential learning. I liked practicing the idea of being intentional about what I did in my internships by reflecting upon what I could gain from them, as far as networking and working experiences went. I loved how this steady sense of introspection and written expression furthered my passion for the things I was learning about and doing in each of my workplaces, because I took time to engage and reflect on them.

concluding isf 187

how I have grown as a result of this course and my internships lie in my improved management of time, improved self-awareness of interests, and improved understanding of the next steps I will need to take in order to reach my goals of conducting neuroscience research of my own.