Project Foraging Behavior and Social Influence in a Dynamic Traffic Scenario: Developing a Gaming Platform to Study Electric Vehicle Users' Selections of Charging Stations Program DUIRI - Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship Term Summer 2025 Status Accepted Research Area Psychology, communication, engineering Description The internship is embedded in an NSF-funded project on Large-scale Planning for Electric Vehicle Public Charging Infrastructure. The purpose of this internship is to examine the foraging behavior and social influence among electric vehicle (EV) users in simulated traffic environments. Using a custom-designed gaming platform connected to a global server, participants will perform simulated tasks involving decisions between multiple charging stations with diverse attributes, mimicking real-world resource constraints. Key variables include access to information, map complexity, variability in station availability, and outcomes influenced by the number of competing participants. The study seeks to identify the primary considerations users rely on when allocating resources, such as reducing waiting times, increasing travel distance, and balancing charging costs. These insights will help reveal the interplay between individual preferences and social influence, contributing to a deeper understanding of decision making in dynamic, social environments. The expected findings will shed light on the role of social influence in competitive contexts, showing how individuals adjust their actions based on both resource availability and peer behavior. This research has practical implications for developing real-world resource distribution systems, such as EV charging networks, by highlighting ways to improve user experience and infrastructure design. It also contributes to broader studies of human behavior in environments where cooperation and competition coexist, offering strategies to enhance resource management in various transportation scenarios. Supervisor Torsten O Reimer Mentor Type of work required We developed a basic version of the gaming platform (using Python). Students will help us modify the platform and add interactive features. Students will also be involved in conducting experiments with human participants at the lab facility of the Brian Lamb School of Communication and in an online environment (see https://cla.purdue.edu/communication/research-laboratory/). The internship will involve the development of experimental materials, the collection of data, and the use of SPSS.
Websites NSF project (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2323732&HistoricalAwards=false;)
Dr. Reimer's website (https://web.ics.purdue.edu/~treimer/)
Dr. Qian's website (https://profiles.rice.edu/faculty/xinwu-qian)
Dr. Todd's website (https://psych.indiana.edu/directory/faculty/todd-peter.html)
Dr. Ukkusuri's website (http://www.satishukkusuri.com/;) Qualifications One of the interns should have strong programming skills and experience (Python). Excellent communication skills are required as students are expected to instruct and interact with human participants in their role of experimenters. Basic SPSS skills are desirable. GPA of 3.5 or higher. Credit Hours 0 Weekly Hours 20 (estimated)