We
are conducting a long term research study comparing the development of Joint attention
in Ugandan and British humans. We are looking for five volunteer research
assistants to help with our project in Uganda.
We
visit mother and infant participants regularly throughout the infant’s first
two years of life. We have a PhD student who will be based in Uganda throughout
most of 2019 and the research assistants would work closely with this
individual.
Background and aims of the project
Humans frequently coordinate and share attention about objects and
events. Our basic ability to engage in joint attention (JA) is thought to
underpin our uniquely complex cooperation skills and language, raising the
possibility that the emergence of JA was a ‘small change that made a big
difference’ in the evolution of human cognition. Despite the theoretical
importance of JA for understanding human social cognition, we know surprisingly
little about JA
across cultures.
This project
will collect longitudinal data on mother-infant dyads over the first 2 years of
the infant’s life, across four different study groups: Ugandan and British
humans; wild chimpanzees and wild crested macaque monkeys. Data from the two
human groups will test how different elements of JA are related and whether JA
develops in a uniform way across cultures. Longitudinal data on mother-infant
interactions and the infant’s environment will be compared to performance on JA
tasks across all four groups, enabling us to identify conditions that are
likely necessary for JA to emerge. Performance on JA and cooperative tasks will
be compared to assess whether engagement in JA predicts the later emergence of
cooperation.
Research
assistant positions
We
are looking to fill five research assistant positions, each three months in
duration:
-
January – March 2019
-
April – June 2019
-
July – September 2019
-
October – December 2019
-
December 2019 – February 2020
You
will be working alongside PhD students, post-doctoral researchers, and with
local Field Assistants (FAs) to ensure data collection can continue across gaps
when no PhD student/postdoc can be on-site, and when the volume of data to be
collected is particularly high.
You
would receive full training in York before leaving – you’d undertake a risk
assessment, be given fieldwork first aid materials to study and learn the
experimental protocols (studying documents and videos and seeing these in
action with the UK sample), so you would need to commit to being in York for
3-4 days sometime in the month or so before leaving for Uganda.
You
would be based at the Budongo Conservation Field Station (http://www.budongo.org/),
which is one of only a handful of long-term wild chimpanzee study sites in the
world. You would be living with other researchers (mainly chimp /primate
researchers) in basic accommodation (wooden house), with filtered rain water
for drinking and limited solar power in a clearing in the middle of the
rainforest. Dinner is provided by local cooks (mainly beans, vegetables, and rice
or potatoes) and you need to have a communal spirit to live and work well
alongside the other researchers. Toilets are long drops, a short walk from the
main houses. There are also showers which are heated once a day and views of
the forest from your bedroom! There is a weekly trip to Masindi, a town about
45 minutes drive away where a Western meal can be obtained, although you likely
would not be able to go every week if you have meetings scheduled in the
villages. For wildlife lovers, although your research would be with the people
in nearby villages, it is highly likely you’d get to see the chimps (who often
come through camp) and have time to watch the numerous monkey and bird species
that live in the forest.
The
FAs are fluent in the local languages and are familiar with Ugandan culture.
They are responsible for organising meetings with mothers, and collect
longitudinal data that cannot be collected by foreign researchers. At least one
local FA will always accompany on your visits to participants in the villages –
they will act as translators between you and the participants, and assist with
running of experiments.
Your
responsibilities will include:
-
Learning the protocols for multiple experiments (before leaving the UK),
and working with the FAs to ensure they are conducted correctly
-
Running of experimental tasks and questionnaires with participants in
the villages
-
Management of FAs, including organisation of weekly plans for them
-
Responsibility for ensuring data is collected at the correct time-points
for the participants you are assigned
-
Entering data collected by hand into excel
-
Ensuring all data (video footage; paper sheets; excel sheets) is
accurately labelled and backed up in accordance with our data management plan.
-
Coding of video data
Requirements
Essential:
-
Evidence of working effectively in a team
-
Good physical health (you will be required to
cycle to, and from, local villages – 1.5-4 miles away in 30-35 degree heat)
-
Cultural sensitivity
-
Experience of living in basic conditions
-
Good understanding of how to run experiments
rigorously
Desirable
-
Experience in third world conditions and/or
fieldwork experience in remote conditions
-
Experience interacting with young infants (aged
6-24months) or conducting infant/child research
Funding
Although this
is a voluntary position, in that you will not receive a salary, many of the
costs associated with your visit will be covered by my funding. I will provide
the return UK-Uganda flight, travel in-country to the field-site, insurance,
research costs (equipment; research fees). This means that you would need to
find the money for innoculations, anti-malarials, personal equipment (e.g.
clothing / first aid kit), accommodation (~£250/month) and food (~£8-£10/week).
Applications
If
you are interested in applying for one of these positions, please email Katie
Slocombe (Katie.slocombe@york.ac.uk)
the following documents:
1. CV
2. Cover
letter indicating how you meet the requirements for the position
If
you want to chat informally about the positions before applying then please
also get in contact with Kati (
Katie.slocombe@york.ac.uk)