Jelena Ristic

Professor Jelena Ristic is a faculty member in the Department of Psychology at McGill University, holding the former William Dawson Chair (2009–2022). She specializes in cognitive neuroscience and developmental science, with a focus on social attention, interactive cognition, and eye tracking technologies. Her research integrates behavioral, neural, and developmental approaches to understand how humans process social information in dynamic contexts.

Dr. Ristic earned her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia, followed by postdoctoral training at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She serves as an Associate Editor for Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance and Visual Cognition.

Her work explores mechanisms underlying social attention, including gaze dynamics, group interactions, and the impact of face masks on emotion recognition. Key research tools include EEG, eye tracking, and experimental paradigms analyzing social perception and decision-making. Notable awards include the CSBBCS Mid-Career Award and Best Article recognitions from APA and CPA.

Her laboratory, the Laboratory for Attention & Social Cognition, investigates topics like social event segmentation, attentional modulation, and collective behavior. Current studies address how perceptual and contextual factors shape social interactions in real-world settings.