Current Projects

Creativity in College Admissions Essays

Partnering with colleagues at Georgetown University, Penn State, Loyola and others, the lab is engaged in a large-scale, multi-site study investigating whether creativity in college admissions essays can predict success in college and beyond. Secondarily, the project includes using machine learning to develop an automated scoring algorithm that could be used to inform college applications offices and used to make admissions decisions.

Can opera bring us closer?

Thanks to a grant from the Renée Fleming Foundation, we’re partnering with Opera on Tap’s Playground Opera project and the PLAY lab at George Mason University to investigate the impact of an opera intervention on 3rd to 5th graders. We think opera has great potential to help kids develop self-confidence, a growth mindset and a sense of belonging. So we’re testing out an intervention to find out if our hunch is correct!

Personalizing music playlists to reduce stress

We’re partnering with Rubato, a technology startup company using machine learning to develop tailored playlists to reduce stress, as measured by heart rate variability (HRV). We’re piloting a version of their product to see whether the tool can help reduce anxiety before a person embarks on a creative endeavor or a challenging cognitive task.