Alexandra Paxton

Dr. Alexandra Paxton is an Associate Professor in the Psychological Sciences Department at University of Connecticut, specializing in data-rich approaches to human social dynamics. She leads the dyscord lab which explores interpersonal coordination, embodiment, and ecological perspectives.

• Ph.D. in Cognitive and Information Sciences (University of California, Merced)
• Moore-Sloan Data Science Fellow (Berkeley)

Her research spans:

• Dynamical Systems: Quantifying real-time social interaction patterns
• Ecological Psychology: Contextual influences on behavior
• Data Science Ethics: Applying Belmont principles to modern research

Recent publications examine movement coordination (2024), emotional synchrony in rituals (2024), and linguistic alignment across communication modalities (2023). She develops the open-source ALIGN Python library for conversational analysis and advocates for open science practices.

Scientific awards:

• Moore-Sloan Data Science Fellow (2016-2018)

Current mentees include Caitrín (Cat) Hall, Gray Thomas, Lucia Rivas, and Caleb Owen. The dyscord lab emphasizes diversity, equity, and inclusion in scientific practice while developing novel methodologies for studying social dependencies.