UROP Project

Tracing Co-Rumination in Couples’ Conversations through Language-Based Models: Understanding the Costs and Benefits of Co-Rumination at Scale

couple, relationship, communication, observational
Yunzhi (Ariel) Zheng_profile picture.jpg
Research Mentor: Yunzhi (Ariel) Zheng, she/her/hers
Department, College, Affiliation: Human Development and Family Science, Education, Health, and Human Sciences
Contact Email: yz20by@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:
Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 1
Relevant Majors: Human Development and Family Science, Psychology, Social Work, Computer Science majors preferred but open to all majors
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 6, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:
Not participating in the roundtable

Project Description

This project examines how romantic partners communicate and support one another during conversations about stressful experiences. Romantic couples will complete two eight-minute conversations about external stressors and then review their interactions in 30-second segments to rate specific communication behaviors. The project integrates behavioral observation with natural language processing (NLP) to develop interpretable, theory-driven indicators of couples’ communication patterns. The project provides opportunities for undergraduate researchers to gain experience with observational couple data, transcript preparation, and computational approaches to studying relationships.

Research Tasks: UROP research assistants will contribute primarily to the preparation and quality assurance of observational couple conversation data. Tasks may include assisting with participant recruitment and laboratory-session preparation; verifying automated transcripts against video recordings; correcting transcription errors; assigning speaking turns to the correct partner; aligning transcripts with 30-second conversation segments; checking data for accuracy and completeness; and organizing and de-identifying research files. If students have specific research questions they hope to answer using the project data, they may also have opportunities to develop an independent research question and gain experience with data analysis and research dissemination under supervision.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Required: Attention to detail, reliability, ability to follow research procedures, willingness to work carefully with confidential research data, and effective communication skills.

Recommended: Interest in relationship science, psychology, or family science; prior research experience; familiarity with data management. Experience with Python or natural language processing is helpful but not required.

Mentoring Philosophy

My mentoring philosophy is developmental and collaborative. I aim to meet students where they are while helping them gradually build the confidence and skills to take greater ownership of their work. At the beginning of the mentoring relationship, I want to understand each student’s interests, prior experiences, strengths, and professional goals and identify opportunities that are both manageable and appropriately challenging. I believe students learn best when expectations are clear and when they understand why the work they are doing matters. I therefore will provide guidance, examples, and feedback early on, while helping students connect specific research tasks to broader scientific questions. As students become more comfortable, I encourage them to develop questions they are interested in answering themselves and to think critically about which methods and evidence are appropriate for those questions. I also strive to create an environment where students from different educational and cultural backgrounds can participate meaningfully, and I treat questions as evidence of engagement. Research inevitably involves uncertainty, missed opportunities, and mistakes, and I see these as specific opportunities for learning. In providing feedback, I aim to balance warmth and support with accountability while remaining open to feedback from students about how I can better support their development. Ultimately, I hope students leave the experience able to think critically, use evidence responsibly, and feel greater confidence in their ability to contribute to research.

Additional Information


Link to Publications

https://yunzhiarielzheng.github.io/
Return to Project Database