Minnie’s research interests lie at the intersection of psychology, business, and technology. From a young age, she has been fascinated by the human mind, behavior, and decision-making. The multidisciplinary nature of cognitive science has allowed her to explore these topics from multiple perspectives, which she finds especially compelling. In the summer of 2024, Minnie came across Dr. Andras Molnar’s work on decision-making. His interdisciplinary background inspired her to reach out with a cold email. After an initial meeting, Dr. Molnar suggested pursuing an independent research project with him – an opportunity Minnie had not previously considered – since he did not have space for a research assistant at the time. This arrangement gave her the freedom to define her own research direction and take initiative as a scholar.
Her project began as a literature review on why young professionals often fail to maximize their self-efficacy in early career decisions, a question that resonated with her own experiences and those of her peers. Through this process, she identified a gap: although AI is becoming central to how Gen Z learns, works, and makes decisions, little research has examined its influence on self-efficacy. To address this, Minnie designed and conducted a between-subjects survey experiment using Qualtrics, recruiting 150 professionals on Prolific who completed workplace writing tasks with or without ChatGPT. She then measured self-efficacy, the perceived importance of writing to identity, prior AI experience, and related variables.
Currently, Minnie is analyzing the collected data in R. This project marks her first experience designing a study beginning to end. Although she has found the quantitative analysis stage challenging and time-intensive, taking full ownership of the project has given her a deeper appreciation for the research process and the value of careful, detail-oriented survey design. Working closely with her professor has also been a formative learning experience, helping her build both technical skills and research independence. Looking ahead, Minnie plans to launch a second study with UMich students to extend her findings, compare results across different populations, and strengthen the overall contributions of her research.
Minnie balances her coursework and research by recognizing her limits and making thoughtful trade-offs – she knows it’s impossible to do everything at once. For students interested in cognitive science research, she encourages reaching out directly to faculty, as even unexpected opportunities can turn into meaningful projects. Her journey has strengthened her commitment to pursuing a research-centered career in the near future, where she hopes to continue bridging psychology, technology, and applied problem-solving.
