Johan Hulleman is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester's Division of Psychology Communication and Human Neuroscience. His research focuses on Visual Search, Visual Attention, and Methodology. He holds a PhD in Experimental Psychology from the University of Nijmegen (The Netherlands) and a BSc in Medical Biology from the University of Utrecht. Education: PhD in Experimental Psychology, University of Nijmegen BSc in Medical Biology, University of Utrecht Research interests include exploring how visual attention operates in complex tasks, error mechanisms in search processes, and the application of transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) to enhance cognitive performance. His work contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals by advancing understanding of neurological conditions like neurofibromatosis type 1 through electrophysiological studies. Recent articles highlight stochastic error analysis in visual search, cross-cultural reading direction effects, and meta-analyses of tES applications. Collaborations include projects with the University of Liverpool and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He co-led the 'Application of Novel Techniques to Enhance Cognitive Performance' project (2020–2023), focusing on transcranial electrical stimulation. Teaching includes courses on psychological statistics and conceptual issues in psychology.
Dr. Xiaolin Wu is a Professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at McMaster University's Faculty of Engineering. With expertise in image processing, multimedia coding, computer vision, and artificial intelligence, he has made groundbreaking contributions to visual/multimedia computing and communication. His research has resulted in over 350 publications and four patents, including the renowned CALIC algorithm for lossless image coding and L3 codec for digital cinema. B.Sc. from Wuhan University (1982) Ph.D. from University of Calgary (1988) Dr. Wu's research spans critical areas such as image restoration (demosaicing, denoising, superresolution), multimedia coding (JPEG, wavelet transforms), and information display (Temporal Psychovisual Modulation). His work on TPVM, featured in MIT Technology Review, redefines display technology by leveraging human vision properties for multi-user VR/AR experiences. Recent publications focus on deep learning applications for image/video restoration, including multi-modality approaches and l∞-constrained compression. His algorithms, such as fast color quantizers and compressive sensing recovery methods, have been widely adopted in industries like medical imaging and digital cinema. Dr. Wu also holds an NSERC Senior Industrial Research Chair and has collaborated with global tech leaders including Microsoft, Nokia, and Huawei. IS&T/SPIE Best Paper Award UWO Distinguished Research Professor Award McMaster Distinguished Engineering Professor Award IEEE Fellow As an educator, Dr. Wu teaches courses in image processing, discrete methods, numerical analysis, and parallel computing, emphasizing algorithm design, data structures, and real-time systems. His work bridges academic research with industrial applications, ensuring practical impact across biomedical imaging, digital security, and smart display technologies.
Valeria Anna Sovrano is an Associate Professor at the Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC) and the Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science at the University of Trento. Her research focuses on comparative cognition , brain asymmetries , and spatial-numerical skills in fish and reptiles , with a particular emphasis on visual perception of illusions and environmental geometry encoding . She leads the Lower Vertebrates Behavior and Neurobiology Unit at CIMeC and has supervised numerous doctoral projects. PhD in Experimental Psychology (University of Padua, 2004) Master degrees in Legal Psychology, Criminology, and Human Rights Recent work explores neurodevelopmental disorders in zebrafish models , inhibitory control in reptiles , and environmental pollutant impacts on cognition . Her studies on fish spatial navigation and numerical discrimination have been widely cited across cognitive science and developmental psychology. Notable awards include the AIP Section of Experimental Psychology award (2000) and the Gold Medal of the Italian President (2007) . She has taught courses like Biological bases of social behavior , Animal Cognition , and Psychobiology of stress , while coordinating STEM outreach programs and serving on equality & diversity committees.
Dr. Jennifer Vonk is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Oakland University. Her academic career spans over two decades with a focus on comparative and cognitive psychology, examining cognitive continuities and discontinuities between humans and other species. She directs the Laboratory of Cognitive Origins and has made significant contributions to our understanding of animal cognition across diverse species including bears, primates, dogs, and cats. Dr. Vonk's educational background includes: PhD from York University (2002), Toronto, Ontario MA from Wilfred Laurier University (1998), Waterloo, Ontario BA from McMaster University (1994), Hamilton, Ontario As a comparative/cognitive psychologist, Dr. Vonk's primary research interests focus on two overlapping areas: animal cognition and cognitive development. Her work examines cognitive continuities and discontinuities between humans and both closely and distantly related species, with particular emphasis on both phylogenetic and ontogenetic origins of cognitive processes thought to be unique to humans. Current research centers on social cognition (theory of mind, prosociality, and reasoning about emotions) as well as physical cognition (causal reasoning, analogical reasoning, numerosity, and natural concept formation). More recent work investigates the effects of religiosity, attachment, and perspective-taking on human decision-making processes. Dr. Vonk has also expanded her research to examine how companion animals respond to the death of human caregivers in their households. Dr. Vonk's extensive publication record reveals consistent themes across species and cognitive domains. Her research demonstrates sophisticated cognitive abilities in non-human animals, particularly in areas of social cognition, physical reasoning, and numerical abilities. She has conducted groundbreaking work with American black bears, demonstrating their capacity for quantity estimation, causal reasoning, and natural concept formation. Her comparative approach, examining similar cognitive processes across primates, carnivores, and domesticated species, has provided valuable insights into the evolutionary origins of human cognitive abilities. Dr. Vonk actively mentors graduate students through Oakland University's psychology program and maintains the Laboratory of Cognitive Origins. She has secured research funding to study animal cognition across multiple species and has been involved in conservation education initiatives, particularly regarding bat conservation. Her lab frequently recruits coders interested in gaining experience in animal behavior and cognition research. Dr. Vonk has contributed significantly to the field through her editorial work, including co-editing the Oxford Handbook of Comparative Evolutionary Psychology (2012) and serving as co-editor for the upcoming Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior and Cognition. She has also authored numerous book chapters and commentaries that have helped shape the theoretical foundations of comparative psychology.
Julia Bend is a researcher affiliated with the School of Business and Economics and Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences . Her work bridges psychology, cognitive science, and technology, with a focus on human-computer interaction and perceptual dynamics. Research Interests include sex differences in numerosity perception, visuospatial abilities, cognitive load, and the impact of augmented reality and mobile technologies on human performance. Her studies often utilize eye-tracking metrics to analyze perceptual and cognitive processes. Publication Trends highlight interdisciplinary collaborations, exploring topics like driver fatigue detection, gamified workplace training, and spatial cognition. These works emphasize experimental methodologies and technological applications. Scientific Awards : CHARM-EU Open Science Recognition Award (2023) Activities : Conference presentation on sex differences in numerosity perception (2024) Keynote on augmented reality effects (2023) Public talk on eye fixation and blink activity (2023)
Melanie Palomares serves as an Instructor in the Department of Psychology at the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences, University of South Carolina. Her academic foundation includes a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University (2007), establishing her expertise in visual cognitive processes and developmental psychopathology. Education: Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology/Neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University (2007) Research Focus: Dr. Palomares investigates visual perception mechanisms through multiple lenses including attentional selection , perceptual organization , and subitizing . Her work bridges letter recognition processes with visual development in both typically developing children and clinical populations, particularly those with Williams Syndrome. Utilizing visual-evoked potentials (VEPs) as a key methodology, she explores neural correlates of perceptual abnormalities in neurodevelopmental disorders. Publication Trends: Analysis of her 2000-2011 publications reveals sustained investigation into visual cognition's intersection with developmental disorders. Core themes include attention's role in enumeration limits, visuospatial integration deficits in Williams Syndrome, and neural mechanisms underlying letter identification. Her collaborative network prominently features Howard Egeth and Denis Pelli, indicating strong ties to foundational visual cognition research. Research Infrastructure: Dr. Palomares operates within the C-Panda Lab at USC, which specializes in developmental visual cognition research using psychophysical and electrophysiological approaches. The lab environment supports her dual focus on typical perceptual development and Williams Syndrome phenotypes.
Jüri Allik is Professor of Experimental Psychology at the University of Tartu's Institute of Psychology, where he serves as department head. His research spans personality psychology, cross-cultural studies, visual perception, and cognitive neuroscience. Major research initiatives include the Estonian Biobank personality cohort study examining genetic and environmental influences on traits. Publications investigate universal patterns in personality across cultures, genetic correlates of psychological traits, and perceptual processes like numerosity judgment and orientation discrimination. Honors include the Fulbright Visiting Professorship at UC Berkeley. He has supervised numerous doctoral dissertations on topics ranging from visual kinematics to cultural dimensions of personality.
Mario Pandelaere is an Associate Professor of Marketing and Graduate Program Director at the Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech. His research focuses on consumer judgment, decision-making, materialism, and social influence, with publications in top journals like Journal of Consumer Research and Psychological Science . He teaches courses on consumer behavior, experimental research methods, and marketing's societal impacts. Education: PhD in Psychology (KULeuven, Belgium), M.Sc. in Statistics and Business Engineering Editorial Roles: Editorial Board of Journal of Consumer Research and Associate Editor of International Journal of Research in Marketing His work explores how materialistic values affect well-being, the role of numerosity in consumer choices, and the social signaling behind consumption behaviors. Recent studies examine affiliation-driven consumption, domestic country bias in international marketing, and the 'light=healthy' intuition in product design. Publications span topics like decision framing effects, consumer response to product swiping interfaces, and the cognitive mechanisms behind price comparisons. His research bridges psychology and marketing, addressing real-world challenges in consumer behavior and policy.
Jeffrey Lidz is a Professor of Linguistics at the University of Maryland's College of Arts and Humanities. He directs the Project on Children's Language Learning and the Infant and Child Studies Consortium, while serving on the executive committees of the Maryland Language Science Center and Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program. His research integrates syntax, semantics, and developmental psychology to investigate language acquisition mechanisms. Jeff's research examines how infants and children construct syntactic representations through cross-linguistic comparisons (English, French, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Tsez, etc.), focusing on: Filler-gap dependencies in 18-month-olds Syntactic bootstrapping for verb meaning acquisition Cognitive constraints on quantifier interpretation Reflexive/pronoun binding and Principle C Statistical learning limitations in early language development Interface between Universal Grammar and input processing Hallmarks of his work include: Identifying structure-dependent interpretation in infants Modeling parser-grammar interactions during acquisition Investigating psychophysics of quantification Exploring cross-linguistic variation in syntactic dependencies Training students in developmental psychology and computational methods Co-editing the Oxford Handbook of Developmental Linguistics Notable awards and roles: Editor-in-Chief, Language Acquisition (2012-2021) Collaborations with institutions like Johns Hopkins, Rutgers, and University of Pennsylvania His students have pursued careers at UCLA, Amazon, University of Toronto, and other research institutions. Current lab members work on syntactic dependencies, prosody-syntax interactions, and computational models of language learning.
Michele Mazzocco is a Professor at the Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota , specializing in numerical cognition, mathematical learning disabilities, and cognitive development. Her research explores how individual differences in cognition affect problem-solving behaviors, with a focus on early numeracy skills and their long-term impact on mathematics achievement. PhD in Experimental Psychology (Arizona State University, 1988) Postdoctoral training in developmental neuropsychology Member of the Development and Research in Early Mathematics Education Network (DREME) and Early Learning Research Network Editorial Board member, Journal of Numerical Cognition (since 2015) Her research spans experimental and observational studies with preschool-to-school-age children and adults, emphasizing individual differences in numeracy, executive function, and learning disabilities. She investigates how contextual factors (e.g., parent engagement, learning materials) shape mathematical thinking and how language comprehension interacts with numerical skills. Recent publications highlight trends in early number concepts, longitudinal analysis of mathematical difficulties, and interventions to optimize numeracy development. Her work includes collaborations on developing practitioner-based mathematics assessments and understanding attentional and anxiety-related barriers to math performance. Advising opportunities in her lab focus on numerical cognition, mathematics anxiety, and cognitive contributors to math learning challenges. She leads the Math and Numeracy Lab , conducting studies on developmental pathways and contextual influences in mathematical education.
Lisa Feigenson is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, affiliated with the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences. She co-directs the Johns Hopkins University Laboratory for Child Development. Her research focuses on cognitive development, particularly numerical cognition and working memory, using behavioral methods to study infants, children, and adults. Feigenson holds a PhD from New York University. Her work explores how cognitive primitives develop across lifespan, including intuitive physics understanding, numerical abilities, and memory systems. Notable awards include the Troland Award (National Academy of Sciences), Boyd McCandless Award (APA), and McDonnell Scholar Award. Her lab investigates how infants and children process numerical information, working memory limits, and learning mechanisms triggered by expectation violations. Recent studies highlight resilience of numerical cognition in congenital blindness and links between approximate number systems and formal math skills. Feigenson has published extensively in top journals like Science, Nature, and PNAS. Her research bridges developmental psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and educational applications, emphasizing foundational cognitive capacities and their development.
Frank H. Durgin is the Elizabeth and Sumner Hayward Professor of Psychology at Swarthmore College , specializing in Perception & Cognition and Cognitive Science & Neuroscience . His research explores visual perception, spatial cognition, and sensorimotor integration, with a focus on illusions like the horizontal-vertical illusion, angular expansion, and perceptual adaptation. Research Trends: His recent articles (2022-2025) examine numerical cognition, change blindness, and metaphorical language processing. Key themes include Perceptual distortions in spatial and numerical estimation Role of ground planes and reference frames in visual direction Interaction between sensorimotor experience and cognitive metaphors Applications of virtual reality in perceptual studies Affiliations: Member of the American Psychological Society Psychonomic Society Vision Sciences Society Contact: Email fdurgin1@swarthmore.edu for collaboration or inquiries. His lab at Swarthmore investigates foundational questions in perception through empirical and theoretical approaches.
Rajesh Bagchi is the R.B. Pamplin Professor of Marketing at Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business. He holds dual roles as Associate Dean for Research, Graduate Programs, and Centers. His academic journey includes a B.Tech in Civil Engineering from IIT Mumbai (1998), an MS in Environmental Engineering from the University of Cincinnati (2000), and a PhD in Marketing from the University of Colorado Boulder (2008). His research bridges marketing, psychology, economics, and education, focusing on consumer decision-making gaps and interventions. Key areas include numerical information processing, market mechanisms (auctions/negotiations), and post-purchase societal impacts. His work has been published in top journals like Journal of Consumer Research and Journal of Marketing . He currently serves as Associate Editor for Journal of Consumer Research and Journal of Consumer Psychology . Awards: Marketing Science Institute Young Scholar (2013), Scholar (2020), Society for Consumer Psychology Early Career Award (2016) Teaching: Marketing Analytics, Consumer Behavior, Judgment & Decision-Making at both undergraduate and doctoral levels His articles explore topics like deadline effects, crowding impacts on consumption, and socio-moral pricing. Recent work highlights behavioral nudges to improve consumer choices and societal outcomes. Bagchi’s interdisciplinary focus and editorial leadership position him as a pivotal figure in consumer psychology.
Ulrik Beierholm is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Durham University, with affiliations in the Biophysical Sciences Institute and the Durham Research Methods Centre. He previously held positions at the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Cognitive Robotics. His research lies at the intersection of psychology, neuroscience, and machine learning. His research focuses on how the human brain processes uncertainty in perception, decision-making, and learning. He employs Bayesian inference and reinforcement learning models to understand human behavior, validated through psychophysics , fMRI , and pharmacological methods. Key areas include multisensory integration , causal inference , perceptual clustering , and behavioral vigor . His work often explores developmental and aging effects on perception. His recent publications reveal a strong trend in modeling multisensory perception under uncertainty, with increasing focus on open-source tools (e.g., BCI Toolbox) and educational outreach (e.g., Neuromatch Academy). Themes include reliability-weighted cue integration, dopamine’s role in motivation, and developmental changes in perceptual strategies. Facebook Faculty Award - Virtual Reality (2016) Leverhulme Trust Grant (£250k) for 'Learning to perceive and act under uncertainty' (2017) Tubingen-Durham Joint Seedcorn Fund for 'The effects of mood on effort allocation during uncertainty' (2019) Dr. Beierholm has supervised PhD students and research assistants such as Nathanael Larigaldie, Denise Foresteire, and Laura Bird. He has secured competitive grants from the Leverhulme Trust and joint university funds, supporting projects on uncertainty, effort allocation, and multisensory perception. His collaborative network spans institutions in the UK, Germany, and the US. He co-organizes research workshops including the Probabilistic Brain Workshop and Computational Models of Social Interaction , and is involved in the Biophysical Sciences Institute Executive Board . His lab conducts behavioral experiments on multisensory integration, equipped with a soundproof room, projector, and 17-speaker array.
Andrea Messina is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science and a Researcher Tenure Track in Physiology at the Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC) , University of Trento. His research focuses on neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly autism and Williams-Beuren syndrome, using zebrafish models to investigate brain asymmetries and genetic mechanisms. Education: PhD in Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Pharmacology and Toxicology (2005-2009), University of Siena MSc in Biological Science (1999-2005), University of Pisa Research Interests: The Brain Asymmetry & Neurodevelopmental Disease (BAND) group, led by Dr. Messina, uses zebrafish to model neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., autism, Williams-Beuren syndrome) by studying gene expression, brain lateralization, and cognitive/behavioral outcomes. Key projects explore how mutations in WBS-linked genes affect sociality, anxiety, and numerical abilities, leveraging sister syndromes like 7qDuplication to dissect hemispheric specialization. Publication Trends: His recent work (2023-2025) spans ASD modeling , neural bases of numerosity , GABAergic neuromodulation , and retinopathy studies , with methods including CRISPR/Cas9, behavioral assays, and neuroimaging. Scientific Honors: EMBO course: Developmental Neurobiology (2017) Clarity Workshop (2015), Stanford University Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Fellowship (2010) Teaching & Collaborations: Dr. Messina teaches laboratory courses in Cellular Neuroscience , Animal Cognition , and Molecular Physiology . He collaborates with international institutions and serves as a reviewer for journals like Scientific Reports and Frontiers series.
