LIFE University Exchange Program: Joan Davis travels to Stanford
Joan Davis (graduate student, UW) traveled to Stanford University in June to meet with Sandra Okita (former graduate student, Stanford) and her advisor, Dan Schwartz, to learn more about their research on self-other monitoring and the impact of the belief of social interaction (or social expectancy) on learning, and to consult with them about research design for her dissertation. As a result of the visit, Joan is planning to conduct a study that integrates her previous research on person knowledge with their research on the belief of social interaction. In addition, Joan is planning to solicit graduate student and post-doc participation a cross-institution (including LIFE interns) seminar in the Spring quarter that focuses on self-other monitoring and perspective taking in collaborative learning environments and in the design learning technologies.

During Joan’s visit to Stanford, she also met with Vanessa Vega (graduate student, Stanford) to learn more about conducting research studies that incorporate physiological measures. A few months before her visit, Julie Carpenter (graduate student, UW) and Joan had conducted a study to measure people’s physiological response to the design of robots. Vanessa analyzed the stimulus video used and suggested modifications for future studies.

