Department of Psychology

I am researching how sensory and cognitive changes in healthy adult aging interact and affect speech comprehension. Specifically, I am using measures beyond simple performance (such as comprehension or recall accuracy). I use eye-tracking and pupillometry techniques to look at the speed of comprehension and the effort underlying comprehension as a way to understand the downstream effects of cognitive resource allocation.

Alycia is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Lifespan Developmental Psychology Lab, who is broadly interested in the field of cognitive aging. Her undergraduate work at the University of Massachusetts Amherst examined the importance of sleep to memory across the lifespan. This led her to become interested in interventions (like physical activity) that can improve sleep. Her dissertation work at Brandeis examines the ways in which physical activity and sleep interact to influence memory across the adult lifespan. Alycia is particularly interested in whether promoting adequate sleep and physical activity in young and middle adulthood could prevent age-related cognitive declines in later life.

Claire is a PhD student in the Biological Health Psychology Lab. Broadly, her research interests include examining how body image, self-objectification, and chronic and acute stress fit together to impact overall health. Current and upcoming projects focus on cultural differences in the impact of body image and self-objectification on chronic stress and the role of self-objectification within an acute stress context. Claire received her BA in psychology from Niagara University and enjoys weightlifting, painting, and playing the accordion.

Krystal is a PhD student in Dr. Angela Gutchess's lab studying the effects of culture on different forms of memory. Before coming to Brandeis, she received a BS in Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she completed an honors thesis using fMRI to investigate the role of visual cortex in recognition memory. Outside the lab, she enjoys creative writing, binging Netflix shows, and coming up with fan theories about the latest Marvel movie.

Jeremy is a fourth-year PhD student studying intergroup bias and dehumanization, with an emphasis on interpersonal interactions and neural representations of others. Current projects include interpersonal manipulations of dehumanization, decoding of minimal and racial group information from EEG data, and tests of how perceptions of American demographics affect prejudice and conservatism.

Morgan is a first-year PhD student in the CoPE Lab at Brandeis University. Prior to attending Brandeis, she received a B.S. in Biopsychology at Tufts University. She is interested in investigating the connections between cognitive abilities and mental health outcomes in young adult populations.

Jenny is a PhD student in the CoPE lab at Brandeis University. Her research interests include studying emotion regulation mechanisms, stress, and related mental health outcomes. Current and upcoming projects are focused on the influence of various contexts and stressors on emotion regulation and how psychopathology is impacted by the way trait emotion regulation strategies are exhibited. Projects include EEG, HRV, PEP, observational, and self-report measurements to better understand the mechanisms related to the development of psychopathology.

Wanbing Zhang is a second-year PhD student. She received a BS in Psychology from University of Minnesota Twin Cities under the guidance of Dr. Wilma Koutstaal. She is interested in developing prevention strategies for age-related memory loss, and ways to maintain the health of higher-order cognitive functions such as decision making and socioemotional judgment. Her current project looks at self-reference as a memory strategy to improve memory for older adults and aMCI patients. In her leisure time, she enjoys traveling, cooking, and cuddling her cat, Sugar.

Evan's research will focus on what is known as the "behavioral immune system" -- the social, cognitive and affective mechanisms evolved for the purpose of avoiding disease -- and how it influences political judgments.

Allison is focused on the child development field. She is working with Dr. Cunningham to determine ways to increase daily functioning for neurotypical and special-needs children. She hopes to pursue doctoral studies in either Clinical or Developmental Psychology focusing on childhood and adolescence.

I am interested in clinical psychology, specifically the intersection between depression and anxiety, and etiological elements that may help predict their comorbidity with the aim of developing preventative treatment.

This fall, Abbie is joining Dr. Art Wingfield's Memory and Cognition laboratory, where she will study speech perception and cognition while pursuing her Masters at Brandeis. In the future, Abbie plans on working towards her Ph.D. in clinical or cognitive psychology with a focus on language reacquisition after stroke or other traumatic brain impairment.

I'm a Masters student in Dr. Angela Gutchess' Aging Culture and Cognition Lab where I am studying self reference memory among older adults and people with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. I hope to pursue doctoral studies in Clinical Psychology with a focus on Neuropsychology and work in the field of aging and neurodegenerative conditions.

I am currently studying motor control and aging. My experiment is on control of visual balance in different age groups. I am interested in general cognitive psychology especially in motor control, spatial orientation and aging.

I am a Masters student in Dr. Raymond Knight's lab. My area of study lies at the intersection of sexuality and psychopathology. Upon completion of the Masters program I hope to continue in my area of study and pursue a PhD in psychology.

I study mechanisms of time perception and how multisensory stimulation affects attention and decision-making. I currently use psychophysical techniques and computational modeling to investigate the cognitive processes underlying perception in vision and somatosensation. I plan to incorporate EEG measurements to study the neural circuits that support perception in these systems.