*Albert does not supervise URECA students in AY2023/24.
Letisha Thamran
URECA Student (AY 2021/22), Final Year Project Student (AY2023/24)
Letisha is a fourth-year Psychology undergraduate student at NTU. She has always been fascinated by psychological constructs and hopes to better understand the intricate workings of the human mind in relation to their displays of behavior. Throughout her time studying psychology, she has developed a great interest in various social cognition topics. She aspires to use her knowledge to understand others’ beliefs and values to guide people in nurturing their self-esteem and discovering the self.
Letisha believes in building critical thinking through meaningful conversations with other people and learning by communicating with others beyond academic writing. When she is not doing academic work, she can always be found experimenting in the kitchen as a way for her to de-stress. To her, the kitchen is like conducting research which is perhaps why both excite her. The recipe (essentially a hypothesis), adds in the ingredients which results in either good or bad-tasting food.
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, Letisha’s URECA project explored cross-cultural differences in religious beliefs and divine attributions pertaining to morality. Her FYP studies the mechanism between holistic thinking and meaning-making and the role of assimilation.
Research Projects:
- URECA Project (NTU): Believers’ Self-Construal Reflected in God’s Moral Judgements
- Final Year Project (NTU): Holistic Thinking, Meaning Making
Liu Yan Ru
URECA Student (AY 2021/22), Final Year Project Student (AY2023/24)
Yanru is a fourth-year Psychology undergraduate student at NTU. She is drawn to Psychology by her belief in empowerment and betterment of humanity through knowledge and a better understanding of complex intricacies that underlie the mind and affect our day-to-day lives. Being new to the field, she is constantly intrigued by new insights and open to exploring different domains of the discipline. As of now, her interest lies in how different attachment styles affect the way religious individuals communicate with their respective deities and any cross-cultural differences regarding such. Born and raised in China and having spent most of her early years of education back and forth between Singapore and her homeland, she would also love to explore more on topics regarding factors that shape one’s cultural identity, the sense of belonging to one’s culture and the implications of such on our psychosocial well-being.
Outside of the classroom, Yanru enjoys meeting new people from diverse backgrounds and engaging in meaningful exchanges. Driven by such passion, she is now a member of the speaker curation team at TEDxNTU. She feels constantly rejuvenated by ideas from inspiring people that she is very fortunate to have met thanks to this endeavour, as well as from her experienced seniors in the team. She believes that the diverse sets of experiences she gains from her academic pursuits and extra-curricular activities will be invaluable in exposing her to perspectives that can facilitate personal growth.
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, Yanru’s URECA project explored cross-cultural differences in religious beliefs and divine attributions pertaining to morality. Yanru’s FYP project explores the underlying mechanism in the link between holistic thinking and meaning-making in the context of adverse life events.
Research Projects:
- URECA Project (NTU): God’s Moral Representations as a Projection of Believers’ Self-Construals
- Final Year Project (NTU): Holistic thinking, meaning-making
Jillian Leong
Final Year Project Student (AY 2023/24)
Jillian is a Final Year Psychology Undergraduate at Nanyang Technological University. The study of Psychology is extremely fascinating and eye-opening to her, with specific interests in social cognition and its development across different cultures. The theories and hypotheses studied in the classroom come to life in the real world and continue to fuel Jillian’s passion for applied psychology and psychological research.
Jillian loves interacting with children and has had the privilege of working with them both in a mainstream and special educational needs setting. She finds herself constantly amazed by the children’s curiosity and inspired by their spirit for life and learning. Jillian also has been a volunteer in her church’s children’s ministry for the past 8 years. Working with children in a religious setting has led her to be particularly interested in the role that religion and God concepts play in our self-view and our view of the world.
Under the supervision of Professor Albert Lee, Jillian’s Final Year Project examines the relationship between beliefs in supernatural control and beliefs in tempting fate in a field study.
Research Projects:
- Final Year Project (NTU): Beliefs in Supernatural Control & Tempting Fate
Rina Yeo
Final Year Project Student (AY 2023/24)
Hello, I am Rina a final year Biological Sciences and Psychology undergraduate at NTU. I am interested in psychology as it offers valuable insights into human cognition and behaviour. Additionally, it is interesting how the various fields of psychology are interconnected where they overlap and interact with each other to shape our understanding of human behaviour.
Throughout the 4 years in NTU, I had the opportunity to participate in various research.
One of my significant experiences was as a research assistant at the Centre for Lifelong Learning and Individualised, where I was involved in a study exploring executive functions and learning. My responsibilities included the administration of a wide range of cognitive assessments to research participants across multiple schools and to oversee the data collection sessions. Apart from that, I delved into consumer psychology, where I contributed as a research assistant for Prof Charlene Chen. Specifically, I participated in research that examined the effects of socioeconomic inequality on consumer well-being. By assisting her in the preparation and execution of the research design, I was able to gaining valuable insights into various fields of psychology.
Beyond research in NTU, I have a deep passion for working with children. This led me to serve as a special needs student care teacher at AWWA, where I had the privilege of supporting and guiding children with ASD, GDD, ADHD etc. Additionally, I am currently working at Boys’ Town Fostering Services, where I actively contributed by crafting content to raise awareness about fostering in Singapore. I also conducted assessments to evaluate potential foster parents.
Research Projects:
- Final Year Project (NTU): Effects of Holistic Thinking on Gratitude during in Context of COVID-19.