Current Research Projects
Current Projects
How social media platforms reshape emerging adulthood
Our team, led by Prof. Catherine Caldwell-Harris in Psychological & Brain Sciences at Boston University, is studying how young adults use psychological vocabulary such as “gaslighting,” “narcissist,” “boundaries,” and “anxious attachment” when talking about their romantic relationships online. These terms are now widely available through social media, but it is not clear whether they are used accurately or whether their use reflects real reflection about relationships. We plan to use the Meta Content Library to study public Facebook and Instagram posts and comments, alongside public text from Reddit, TikTok, YouTube, and Bluesky, to measure the gap between the two. Content will be located through keyword and hashtag searches and sampled across time periods and levels of engagement. Meta data will not leave Meta’s Secure Research Environment and will be analyzed there under Meta’s terms. This is an observational study of public discourse with no contact with any user, and results will be reported only as aggregate statistics. The study classifies language, not people. Primary Intern: Junze Ke; github.com/Junny05 (Computer Science major)
Does childhood exposure to nature protect teenagers and young adults from compulsive media use?
- We have been working on this project for 2 years. The lab finished collecting 120 surveys and interviews about the relationship between childhood exposure to nature and compulsive media use. The lab is analyzing the collected data and is looking to organize a second study on this topic with updated materials.
What makes Discord communities thrive?
- We are working with Prosper Health–a telehealth clinic that serves autistic adults from a neurodiversity-affirming framework–to co-create knowledge with autistic Discord users. This information will help to identify what fosters connection and what sustains harm or exclusion within online communities.
- We will conduct interviews for Prosper Health via Zoom and will analyze data. The goal of the study is to both describe and to transform online community experiences as places of healing and empowerment.
Bilingualism, culture, and frame-shifting. How does the language you speak and your culture affect your emotions and your moral reasoning?
- We have several ongoing studies exploring how language and culture can impact emotions and moral reasoning. Current studies are focusing on Mandarin, Turkish, Russian, and Hindi speakers.
Perspectives on understanding sarcasm across cultures, languages, and neurodiverse communities.
- Sarcasm can sometimes be challenging to understand if you are from a different culture or speak a different language. Neurodiverse people also sometimes find sarcasm difficult, such as those with autism or ADHD.
- We will analyze existing data from BU students interviewed about their experiences with sarcasm and who watched videos with different types of non-literal language.
How do voice accents, text complexity, and message framing interactively influence cognitive load, advice acceptance, and human decision-making?
Is the Foreign Language Effect (FLE) on advice-taking contingent upon the emotional intensity of the scenario?
- This project investigates how linguistic features and delivery styles affect how people process information, evaluate recommendations, and make decisions under uncertainty. By combining auditory speaker variations with systematically manipulated narrative texts, we aim to uncover the underlying cognitive and socio-perceptual mechanisms driving advice acceptance.
- The study examines whether accent-related bias or credibility evaluation is moderated by the message’s cognitive demands and the situation’s emotional stakes.
How does exposure to short-form video content depicting modern technology and everyday life in China influence North American viewers’ immediate and sustained cross-cultural attitudes and social distance?
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In an era dominated by rapid digital information flow and short-form video platforms, global audiences are increasingly exposed to foreign cultural and technological landscapes. This experimental study investigates the psychological mechanisms behind digital media exposure, attitude formation, and cross-cultural social distance
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How can structured Generative AI assignments be integrated into undergraduate research methods courses to enhance students’ statistical literacy and research enjoyment, while mitigating anxiety and preventing AI-driven learning shortcuts?
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This pedagogical research study evaluates the structured integration of Generative AI tools into upper-level undergraduate Research Methods coursework.
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As Generative AI becomes increasingly ubiquitous in higher education, this project moves beyond traditional bans or unrestricted usage. Instead, it aims to establish evidence-based instructional guidelines that position AI as an interactive collaborator to deepen critical thinking, not replace cognitive effort.
Current Honors Projects
Boston University undergraduate seniors in the Honors in Psychology program must complete a year-long honors research project under the supervision of a faculty advisor. Below is a list of current honors projects within the Caldwell-Harris Lab.
Inner speech differences between native and foreign language – Dila Bostanci
This study investigates differences between someone’s native language and their foreign language in how they engage in inner speech. We plan to assess how the languages participants hear in childhood shape their inner speech, how much inner speech they experience in each language, and how they use inner speech to rationalize their thoughts, to determine how people can use inner speech positively.