Meet the people in the Implicit Social Cognition Lab!

For information on joining, go to the "Join the Lab" page or click here.

 


 

Lab Director

MELISSA FERGUSON is an experimental social psychologist. She received her doctorate in social psychology from New York University in 2002, was a faculty member in the psychology department at Cornell University from 2002-2020, and then joined the psychology department at Yale University in 2020. Her research focuses on the implicit cognitive processes that enable evaluation, goal-pursuit, self-control, and social behavior. Three recent topics of research in the lab are how we can change our memories, how we control our behavior, and how we express prejudice. Her research has appeared in outlets such as Psychological Science, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. Her CV is available here.

 

Visiting Fellow

RASHA KARDOSH  (rasha.kardosh[at]gmail.com) is a provost postdoctoral fellow at NYU and a visiting fellow at the implicit social cognition lab. Rasha’s research examines people's (mis)perceptions of the diversity of their social environments.
Building on classical theories in social psychology and cognitive science, and through controlled studies and field experiments, Rasha's work explores the different cognitive processes that shape our perceptions of social diversity, and how these perceptions may guide public opinion.

 

 


Graduate Student Advisees

HOPE HARRINGTON (hope.harrington[at]yale.edu) is a third year PhD student is a fourth-year graduate student Yale. She studies the perception of wrongdoing in various settings, including companies and government institutions. Before coming to Yale, she was the Assistant Director for the Berkeley Culture Center, a center devoted to facilitating industry-academic partnership on the study of organizational culture, at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. She received her MA in Sociology and BAH in Psychology at Stanford.

ARIN KORKMAZ (arin.korkmaz[at]yale.edu is a fourth-year Social Psychology PhD Candidate at Yale University. Arin received his B.A. in experimental psychology from the University of Michigan and his M.A. in social psychology from Koc University, Turkey. Arin’s research interests lie in the intersection of implicit social cognition, impression formation, and updating. Specifically, he is interested in evaluative complexity and ambivalence arising from the process of changing our minds about others. In his free time, he enjoys reading, experimenting with international cuisines, and scuba diving in the summer.

MING MA (ming.m.ma[at]yale.edu; she/her/hers) is a fourth-year graduate student in social psychology at Yale. She is interested in (a) how people form impressions of individuals and groups and update them after learning new information, especially implicitly, (b) how target and perceiver characteristics (such as their social group memberships, personality, and life experiences) influence person perception, and (c) how judgments derived from people’s appearances (for example, how competent or trustworthy someone’s face looks) can fuel social inequalities and how to best reduce biases in first impressions. Ming earned her Honors BSc with high distinction in Psychology and Statistics at the University of Toronto where she worked with Dr. Nick Rule in the Social Perception & Cognition Lab. Outside of the lab, Ming enjoys taking nature walks, doing yoga, and trying out new restaurants.

TONY MAIOLATESI (tony.maiolatesi[at]yale.edu) is a fifth-year, combined-degree graduate student in the Departments of Psychology and Public Health at Yale. Tony studies how individuals belonging to stigmatized social groups learn from their social experiences and how prior experiences with stigma influence social cognition. He is particularly interested in the social-cognitive and perceptual mechanisms that might be shaped by developmental exposure to various forms of sexual minority stigma and contribute to sexual orientation disparities in mental health and wellbeing. Before Yale, Tony received a B.A. in Psychology from Columbia University. Outside the lab, Tony enjoys hunting for the best espresso in town and binge-watching medical dramas.
 


EMILY RITCHIE (emily.ritchie[at]yale.edu) is a fourth-year graduate student at Yale. Emily studies the nature of implicit and explicit cognition during impression formation and updating, with a particular interest in intergroup prejudice. She is currently examining how and when people incorporate new information into their impressions over time, aiming to identify the best methods and schedules by which to deliver bias interventions and persuasive campaigns. Much of her work aims to a) understand the malleability of negative associations driving group-based social stigmas and b) explore new approaches to counteract misinformation. Before Yale, Emily received her B.A in Psychology from Miami University where she worked with Dr. Jonathan Kunstman and later served as the lab manager for Dr. Karina Schumann at the University of Pittsburgh. In her free time, Emily enjoys cooking and baking without a recipe, petting all the dogs she can, and camping with her huge family.

NICHOLAS SURDEL (nicholas.surdel[at]yale.edu) is a third-year graduate student at Yale. He received his M.S. in Psychological Sciences from William & Mary and his B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida. Nick's research explores how people form mental models of AI, and how people respond when they misbehave. Outside of the lab, you can find Nick at the docks with the crew team, at the gym, or playing with his cat, Rex. As a FGLI student, he encourages all other FGLI prospective students to send him an email.

 

 

Undergraduate Students

Lab Programmers

MAX SU (max.su[at]yale.edu) is a junior in Saybrook College studying mathematics and computer science. In the lab, he works as a programmer, helping code web-based experiments such as IATs and AMPs, and is interested in implicit memory biases. Outside of work, he loves playing classical percussion, video games, and football.
ANN ZHANG (ann.zhang[at]yale.edu) is a junior at Yale double-majoring in computer science and film. She loves thinking creatively, whether it’s about technology or playwriting (or both?). At the moment, she’s hoping to learn more about UI/UX design and maybe animation!
SHRIYA ANAND (shriya.anand[at]yale.edu) is a sophomore majoring in Computer Science and Economics at Yale. In her spare time, she enjoys dancing, crocheting, going on walks, and learning languages. Other than English, she is proficient in Hindi and has intermediate fluency in Korean and Spanish. Her dream is to one day travel around the world with her friends and family.

Research Assistants

 

ANTHONY BOOTH, JR. (anthony.boothjr[at]yale.edu) is an assistant vice president of business development at Pursuit as well as an Eli Whitney student at Yale studying cognitive science. Anthony brings his financial knowledge and experience from working with JPMorgan Chase for over 13 years to his work and his studies to pursue his goals of community development through financial knowledge and empowerment and research on the nature of belief as a cognitive process. Anthony has worked with not-for-profit organizations throughout his career, including volunteering as a big brother through Big Brother’s Big Sisters of New York City. Anthony is also a musician and enjoys writing music and traveling in his spare time.
CATHERINE XU (catherine.xu[at]yale.edu) is a senior double majoring in Psychology and Sociology at Yale. Within the fascinating field of social psychology, she is particularly interested in the construction of one’s self-concepts under the influence of various social norms and how it goes together with one's achievement and interpersonal processes. Beyond the lab, Catherine enjoys engaging in service-oriented activities like volunteer teaching, playing different kinds of board and card games, and FaceTiming the stray cats that her family takes care of back home in China.
KEENAN MILLER (keenan.miller[at]yale.edu) is a senior at Yale majoring in psychology. He will be working with Emily Ritchie on her research and his senior thesis at the Ferguson Lab and has previous experience supporting research on how perception affects moral judgement in the Crockett Lab. He is particularly interested in why people behave counter to their values and how people can be persuaded to change and maintain new perspectives and behavior. Keenan once interviewed Lee Brice on the country singer's birthday and started bouldering this year, way behind the trend.
RORY SCHOENBERGER (rory.schoenberger[at]yale.edu) is a freshman at Yale majoring in cognitive science. She is particularly interested in the differences in how we behave and think about those in in-groups and out-groups, particularly in the context of political polarization. She is also curious about how we can work to eliminate bias and change implicit associations. Outside of the lab, she loves to take photos, read, and draw.

Former Lab Attendees

Post-docs

Paul Stillman, Benedek Kurdi, Yochanan Bigman, Xi Shen

Graduate Students

Stav Atir, Emily Balcetis, Jeremy Bentley, Travis Carter, Jeremy Cone, Clayton Critcher, Shai Davidai, Jun Fukukura, Chelsea Helion, Erik Helzer, Karlene Henko, Yoel Inbar, Amit Kumar, Thomas Mann, Shanette Porter, Jane Risen, Emily Rosenzweig, Benjamin Ruisch, Michael Wojnowicz

Undergraduate Students

Sevi Burget-Foster, Doga Unlu, Sophia Lee, Ahmed Darfur, Iris Zhao, Faiza Ahmad, Alejandra Alvarez, Hyewon Park Andres, Luiza Baroni, Thora Bjornsdottir, Rebecca Braimon, Iwona (Ivy) Chmielewska, Adam Davis, Hannah Deixler, Sarah Dickerman, Josh Eibelman, Colleen Giblin, Olivia Goldring, Alisa Hand, Selma Helal, Michelle Ip, Olivia Jackson, David Kalkstein, Faaiza Khan, Hong Seon (Kahlen) Kim, Devon Kimball, Taylor Knibb, Amanda Kumala, Minae Kwon, Vanessa Lazaro, Michele Lee, Thomas Lee, Brian Meagher, Danila Medvedev, Sonia Mehra, Dami Ojo, Annika Pinch, Melissa Quartner, Ramirez Nicolas Ramos, Jaime Rappaport, Jesse Reynolds, Dani Rodriguez, Kyra Rodriguez, Ruth Rose, Julia Sanderson, Samara Selden, Jihee Son, Austin Starks, Justin Starks, Anu Subramaniam, Amartya Utkarsh, Ariana Wolk, Kaitlin Woolley, Iris Yang, Lillian Yuan, Nadia Yusuf, Yijing Zhao, Mimi Zhuravitsky, Aleksandar Zvorinj Congratulations to Yochanan Bigman who started an assistant professor position at the Hebrew University in July 2022! (https://ybigman.wixsite.com/ybigman)

 

Recent News on Lab Alums

Congratulations to Benedek Kurdi on starting as an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign! (https://www.benedekkurdi.com/)
Congratulations to Paul Stillman on starting an assistant professor position at San Diego State University this August 2023! (https://www.paulstillman.com/)
Congratulations to Yochanan Bigman who started an assistant professor position at the Hebrew University in July 2022! (https://ybigman.wixsite.com/ybigman)
Congratulations to Xi Shen who started a postdoctoral position at the University of Pennsylvania in September 2022! (https://www.xi-shen.com/)