Carolina Feher da Silva

Dr Carolina Feher da Silva is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Surrey's School of Psychology. Her research focuses on decision-making in humans, employing methods such as behavioral experiments, computational modeling, eye-tracking, and neuroimaging. She is affiliated with the Cognitive Psychology research group and the Institute for Sustainability. Dr da Silva's work bridges cognitive psychology with sustainability, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to understanding human behavior.

Her research interests are centered on model-based and model-free learning strategies, particularly in two-stage decision tasks. She explores how mental effort and neural mechanisms (e.g., striatal prediction errors) influence decision-making processes. Her publications often highlight the dominance of model-based reasoning in complex tasks, challenging traditional reinforcement learning paradigms.

Dr da Silva has contributed to open science initiatives, including the Open Library of Bioscience and the development of the neat-python computational tool. Her work has been recognized through her fellowship at the Institute of Sustainability, reflecting her commitment to integrating environmental and social dimensions into cognitive research.

Her research has been published in high-impact journals like Nature Human Behaviour, with a focus on experimental psychology, computational modeling, and neuroscientific insights. Collaborations with global researchers underscore her role in advancing interdisciplinary cognitive science.