By Yosef Scher, Senior Science and Technology Editor
Yosef Scher (YS): Hi, Ezra (EC). Thank you for taking the time to meet with me. Let’s start by getting to know you.
EC: Hi! My name is Ezra Cooper. I am from Memphis, TN. I spent two years at Yeshivat Hakotel and am now entering my third year at YU. In terms of studies, I attend the Talmudic lectures of R’ Daniel Feldman, and I am a psychology major on the pre-dental track. Perhaps most importantly, I am an avid runner and love chicken soup.
YS: How did you get involved in this research?
EC: I participated in the YU-Bar Ilan University joint summer research program in Israel. So, like the 27 other attendees, I applied to the program and was honored to be accepted and included in a fun, research-filled summer in Israel!
YS: Whose lab do you work in, and what do you study?
EC: Three other lab interns (two others from the YU-BIU program––shoutout to fellow YU student Ma’ayan Tzur) and I worked in Professor Eva Gilboa-Schechtman’s lab. In addition to serving as a psychology professor, Professor Gilboa-Schechtman is the head of a research lab focusing on social anxiety and depression. Our work in the lab included a few different projects, but all of the work revolved around social anxiety or depression. Our first project involved working to aid psychologists in diagnosing depression. The thought is that with technological improvements, computer programs, and the like, can be developed to assist therapists in assessing patients suffering from depression. This involves assessing patients and their emotional congruence across different channels, like the pitch and tone in their voices, the content of their speech, and their facial expressions. While an exciting overall goal, the actual project requires a lot of detailed, technical work – which is where we came in. Our second project focused on categorizing people’s statements about themselves as either agency or communion-based statements. The goal was then to determine what other variables (social anxiety, depression, etc.) might be correlated with one of these categories. Our work focused on the categorization of the self-generated statements.
YS: What did you gain from this research experience?
EC: First and foremost, being in Israel for the summer was great fun. We had a top-notch, high-quality group of good, passionate, frum, American college students. In the actual lab, it was super cool to work with so many friendly people, to learn what it’s like to be in an Israeli work environment, and simply to be exposed to real-life research in the field of psychology. I feel like I gained so much by being in that environment.
YS: What role do you play in this lab?
EC: Our role involved a lot of technical work in the projects I mentioned earlier. But beyond the actual work, the whole lab internship served as a meaningful learning experience, where we had the opportunity to discuss some important concepts and issues in clinical therapy. Additionally, we discussed how AI technology developments may impact the psychology and therapy world.
YS: Is there anything you encountered that was especially difficult during the research?
EC: We were exposed to a lot of depressing content, as a key part of the research required working with content from patients in therapy suffering from depression. At times, that felt very heavy and sad. However, with a good supporting group of interns and great programming from the YU side of the program, we all had a great, fun, and enjoyable summer.
YS: What did you find most interesting about your research?
EC: Most interesting, I believe, was seeing how the world of psychology and therapy is and will continue to be impacted by improving computer technologies and AI.
YS: Lastly, do you have any advice for students interested in lab positions?
EC: Research can be slow and tedious. It’s important to keep in mind the big picture and what the ultimate goal of the project is. That will do wonders for your motivation and commitment to the research you’re involved in.