SUPER fellowship moves psych student closer to her goal

SUPER fellowship moves psych student closer to her goal

When psychology student Leuviah Blakma applied for and was named a SUPER fellow for the American Psychological Association, she put herself one step closer to her academic and career goals.

The Summer Undergraduate Psychology Experience in Research Fellowships allow undergraduates considering a career in research to create and implement a research project from proposal to completion. Blakma is one of only 24 chosen from across the United States for the 2024 class. She is working with mentor Dr. Virginia Tompkins, professor of psychology, on the project Exploring Gender Dynamics in Shared Reading: The Impact of Child-Character Gender Matching on Extra-Textual and Inferential Talk Frequencies.

"We're analyzing the amount and quality of these side conversations and if they differ between mothers reading to their sons versus mothers reading to their daughters and if that is at all influenced by the gender of the story character," Blakma said.

The project is not the first that Blakma and Tompkins have worked on together. Blakma has been doing childhood development-related studies in Tompkins' lab for several years. The extra-textural talk between parents and children is a new topic for her, but it fits right in with her interests.

"I was excited to pursue it because I've been working around children basically since I was a child. I volunteered in a child development center in junior high and then I went on to tutor kids, then on to babysit kids. Now I work with kids who have autism," Blakma said. "I'm just very interested in how children develop and I thought it would be interesting how parents might play a factor in that."

The nine-week summer research session is already underway. As part of the fellowship, Blakma also has weekly meetings with the other fellows, researchers and members of the APA staff. The project will culminate when the fellows present their findings in the fall.

Blakma will finish her senior year at the Columbus campus where she plans to continue to engage in child-related research and add some cognitive neuroscience research. Her next step will be PhD program with the goal of becoming a pediatric neuro-psychologist. Every research step she has taken at Ohio State Lima from group to individual projects to presenting at research forums to the SUPER Fellowship is bringing her closer.

"This is nothing I would have taken on or even thought to apply to if I hadn't had prior research experience. It's just not something I would have thought I could do. I wouldn't have felt confident in my research abilities," Blakma said. "Having had research experience for two years at Ohio State Lima has made me feel more confident that I can engage in a project like this. I feel like this was the appropriate next step for my research career."

Tompkins knows that each step Blakma has taken on the research path at Ohio State Lima will serve her well in getting to that ultimate goal.

"A PhD program is a research-oriented program so they most definitely want to see students who have been engaged in research but usually if you 've done an independent research project that is even better. But then to have a fellowship funded by the APA to do your own research is something that is pretty amazing," Tompkins said.

Blakma will receive $4,000 from the APA to fund her project. Tompkins has also received a Coca-Cola Critical Difference Grants for Research on Women, Gender and Gender Equity from the Women's Place at Ohio State Lima. It will cover the research costs like recruitment and incentives for participants.