Reflecting on College Research Projects: A Chat with Jacob Schatz '15
Jacob Schatz: Pioneering Research in Children's Learning and Storytelling
Jacob Schatz, a psychology graduate from Princeton University, has made significant strides in understanding how children learn from storybooks. His research interests lie at the intersection of psychology and education, with a focus on the cognitive processes involved in children's learning from pedagogical narratives.
In 2015, Schatz embarked on independent research at Princeton, delving into the impact of fantasy elements on cognitive load, narrative recall, comprehension, and understanding of the moral of the story. This research was inspired by his work with Caren Walker at Alison Gopnik's Cognitive Development Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, and a final paper for his Psychology of Social Influence class at Princeton.
Schatz's advice for aspiring researchers is to start thinking about research as early as possible. He recommends planning to have data collection done well before the end of the first semester of senior year and designing a study with as specific a research question as possible, with as few independent variable manipulations as possible.
During his time at Princeton, Schatz's work was marked by its interdisciplinary nature, combining behavioural science with computational or data-driven methods. This approach is encouraged at Princeton, reflecting the university's focus on cutting-edge, interdisciplinary psychology research.
After graduation, Schatz worked as a lab coordinator at the Temple University Infant and Child Lab in Philadelphia. Here, he was involved in a massive multimedia vocabulary intervention for preschoolers in Head Start schools.
In 2017, Schatz began his graduate career in the Applied Psychology program at NYU. Under the mentorship of Dr. Catherine Tamis-LeMonda, he is currently pursuing his interests in parent-child language interactions during play. Notably, Drs. Lew-Williams and Hirsh-Pasek have been and continue to be valuable mentors to Schatz.
Schatz's experience working at UC Berkeley as an intern in Alison Gopnik's lab was instrumental in shaping his research interests and exposing him to the immense groundwork needed to execute a single study. His conversation with Ellie Breitfeld, Natural Sciences Correspondent, was also enlightening, offering insights into the potential of an interest in psychology.
Common themes in Princeton psychology seniors' theses typically revolve around understanding cognitive and developmental processes, the impact of socioeconomic status on learning behaviors, and innovative methods to support problem-solving and storytelling in educational contexts. While exact thesis topics on storytelling specifically are not detailed in available summaries, the emphasis on children’s learning and problem-solving indicates a strong interest in how narratives and educational frameworks can be optimized to support cognitive development and equity in learning opportunities at Princeton.
- Jacob Schatz, during his senior year at Princeton University, carried out independent undergraduate research on the impact of fantasy elements on cognitive load, narrative recall, comprehension, and understanding of the moral of the story.
- His senior thesis, focusing on children's learning from storybooks, was a culmination of his education-and-self-development, contributing significantly to personal-growth and learning.
- Aspiring researchers, following in Schatz's footsteps, should aim to begin their research as early as possible, to ensure a specific research question, data collection, and a study design that minimizes independent variable manipulations.
