Assessment Staff

Interviewers: Every time a twin, sibling, or parent participates in our study, they are interviewed by well-trained full-time staff members with bachelor's or master's degrees in a health-related field, supervised by a Ph.D.-level psychologist. The interviews consist of questions regarding important events that have occurred in each person's life, achievement tests, measures of family and social functioning, personality, interests, and more. We have a tremendous appreciation for the generosity of our participants in candidly sharing this information with us, which is invaluable for research on genetic and environmental influences on development and its associated challenges.

NeuroHealth Techs work with twin participants for the MRI portion of their visit as well as the lab assessment portion of their visit. During the lab various physiological signals are collected which include eye movements, skin conductance, heart rate, pulse, brain waves, blood pressure, and muscle movements. Psychophysiologists also run the family interaction tasks with the SIBS families. All psychophysiologists are full-time employees of the MCTFR with bachelor's degrees. All have had outside experience doing other psychological research, work well with people, and have acquired technical experience in the lab. They are also all trained phlebotomists.

Recruiters contact MCTFR participants for follow-up assessments, persuade them to re-visit the study and schedule participants for assessments. They handle correspondence and coordinate all details related to the participants visits including; ordering lunch, making parking or hotel reservations, and meeting with participants at the end of their visit. Recruiters do everything they can to make sure participation goes smoothly and is enjoyable and informative. Recruiters also publish MCTFR newsletters and maintain the MCTFR website.