Past the towering brown brick walls with spires pointing skyward inside the halls of Washington University’s labs, senior Lauren McLeod assists in carrying out the latest brain-development tests on children. Some studies consist of asking the child a series of questions and seeing their responses. This could help Lauren and the team understand how, when and why gender bias and racial judgment come into play. As a research assistant, McLeod works in a social cognition and development lab with a professor, graduate students, doctoral students and undergraduate students.

“I took a Neurobiology class at Washington University my sophomore summer going into junior year, and I thought, ‘I like this,’ followed by a lot of research on what I want to major in in college. Then I came across Washington University’s Diversity labs. After researching the professors, I met with them, and they asked me to be a part of their lab,” McLeod said.

McLeod continues to go to the labs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to work with the group, even during the school year. She dove into the internship without having any prerequisite classes.

“It was [a lot of] self-discovery. I had a lot of time and liked this, so I went into it. Our school offers AP Psychology, but I think cognitive science is a little different, so I didn’t take that. [The only] class I’m taking right now that’s on track with [my major] would be AP Computer Science [because] I do a lot of computational work in the lab. Besides my Neurobiology class that [I] took [at] Washington University a few summers ago, I didn’t have a prep work class,” McLeod said.

Despite not having a previous background, McLeod assists her coworkers. This can mean thematic coding, analyzing qualitative data, community outreach and running tests on the child candidates.

“We work in a social cognition lab that measures race, socioeconomic status and gender Basically, we work with affinity groups. [Often] we have children come in, and we show them a video on racial disparity. [Then] I’ll say, ‘Do you think that one child is more deserving because of their race?’” McLeod said.

The scenarios often occur in a school, where the students are asked to identify the differences and why they exist. 

“We show them pictures of kids and [ask], ‘What’s the difference[s] between this kid and this kid? We look to see if they can measure gender or race. We have found that usually, kids who are younger don’t see race, it usually depends on their parents; if their parents are willing to talk about race, or their parents [teach a] color [blind] philosophy,” McLeod said.

The ‘color blind’ philosophy took hold as a way to see everyone as equals. But, in ignoring these traits, McLeod believes that people can forget to celebrate their culture and the effect racism still has in on society.

“[To me, it] doesn’t make sense to ignore those obvious factors in the history of America and try to put those systemic things in the past when they’re not,” McLeod said.

Their studies have shown that the child’s environment roughly translates to what the child believes. This environment is affected by the parents’ political backgrounds and their ideologies. 

“[After the home environment], it depends on schooling. A lot of private schools will look to less colorblind teachings because they are not normally as diverse as public schools,” McLeod said.

McLeod appreciates the opportunity to meet and work with people she would not normally, to explore the college’s campus and to get job experience for the future. 

“It was a good experience to get out of my comfort zone because I’m in the bubble of West County. [Through this internship] I was able to go to festivals, farmers markets and meet a lot of new people I would have never been able to meet. I got to learn a lot of new things, so [it] was influential,” McLeod said.