International Agreement Will Expand Research on Stereotyping and Prejudice

By Lisa Howard

The University of California, Davis, has signed a four-way memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Zhengzhou Normal University in China, University of Hildesheim in Germany and Hanbit Psychiatric Rehabilitation Hospital in South Korea to establish an International Joint Laboratory of Cognitive Science.

Jeff Sherman

Jeff Sherman, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Psychology and the director of the Social Cognition Laboratory, is the principal investigator for UC Davis.

The consortium of international labs will be directed by Zheng Jin of Zhengzhou Normal University. Sherman and Jin began working together about five year ago when Jin was at UC Davis as a visiting scholar.

“The MOU helps to establish an organization through which resources can be shared and collaborations can be formed,” said Sherman. “It provides a formal mechanism for international cooperation and collaboration among a set of labs with overlapping interests.”

Sherman’s research looks at the cognitive processes underlying social psychology and behavior. His lab is also interested in how people perceive themselves, other people and groups of people. Much of his research focuses on stereotyping and prejudice.

As part of the International Lab, Sherman and Jin will expand their research on the mechanisms underlying implicit prejudice formation and change.

The next steps for the consortium are to determine what resources are available for collaborative projects and to begin designing the work. The consortium is also planning academic exchanges among faculty, post-doctoral fellows and Ph.D. students.