Cleotilde Gonzalez

Cleotilde (Coty) Gonzalez is a Research Professor of Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, with primary affiliation in the Department of Social and Decision Sciences (SDS). She serves as the Founding Director of the Dynamic Decision Making Laboratory (DDMLab) and Research Co-Director of the NSF National Institute for AI for Societal Decision Making (AI-SDM). Her extensive academic affiliations include the Security and Privacy Institute (CyLab), the Societal Computing program in the Software and Societal Systems Department (S3D), the Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) in the School of Computer Science, and the Center for Behavioral Decision Research (CBDR) and Center for Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC).

Dr. Gonzalez holds a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems and has developed Instance-Based Learning Theory (IBLT), a significant contribution to cognitive science that explains how people make decisions based on past experiences. Her research spans experimental studies and computational modeling of cognitive processes in dynamic decision environments, with applications in cybersecurity, human-machine teaming, and societal decision making.

Her recent publications reveal a strong focus on human-AI collaboration, collective intelligence, cybersecurity, and cognitive modeling. The research trends show increasing integration of AI systems with human decision processes, particularly examining how humans and AI can complement each other in complex decision environments. Her work increasingly addresses cybersecurity challenges through behavioral science perspectives, exploring how cognitive models can improve defense mechanisms against social engineering attacks.

• Lifetime Fellow of the Cognitive Science Society
• Lifetime Fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
• Member of the Governing Board of the Cognitive Science Society
• Member at Large of the Policy Council of the System Dynamics Society
• Committee member of the National Academies Division Committee for the Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education

Dr. Gonzalez has mentored over 50 post-doctoral fellows and doctoral students, with many going on to successful careers in academia, government, and industry. Her research has been supported by major collaborative efforts including Collaborative Research Alliances (CRA) and Multi-University Research Initiative grants from the Army Research Laboratories (ARL) and Army Research Office (ARO), as well as projects with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). She directs the Dynamic Decision Making Laboratory, which conducts research involving laboratory experiments and cognitive computational models to derive theoretical conclusions about dynamic decision making and develop applications for societal problems.