Our team

Claire is a doctoral student in the Cognition program working with Boaz Keysar. She received her B.A. in Psychology with minors in Cognitive Science and Chinese from Carleton College in Spring 2021. After college, she worked as a project coordinator and lab manager for the Cognition, Learning, and Development Lab under Nicole McNeil. Claire's research interests broadly include the interplay between language context and cognitive processes in shaping the conceptual understanding that underlies the decision-making process.

Louisa is a doctoral student in the Cognition program working with Boaz Keysar. She received her B.A. in Cognitive Science in Spring 2021 from the University of California, Berkeley. Louisa is broadly interested in exploring the influence of language on perception and behavior. She is particularly interested in how verbal and visual communication relate to power, negotiation, and decision-making.

Seokhwa received her B.A. in English Language (Linguistics) and Literature, with a minor in Psychology at Yonsei University in South Korea. Her research interests lie in how bilingualism affects our emotions, decisions and behavior.

Jean is a psychology major at The University of Hong Kong. She has a passion for research in areas including multilingualism, and how autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects children's cognitive abilities such as learning and decision-making. She is also interested in researching how language modality creates different effects on decision making. Outside the lab, you can find her watching films and learning languages (inefficiently).

Mike is an undergraduate student majoring in Psychology and Economics at the University of Chicago. He is interested in the cross-cultural differences in cognition, thinking style, social interactions, leading to differences in decision-making. In his free time, Mike enjoys working out and sim-racing.

Elise Saidenberg is an undergraduate student at the University of Chicago majoring in English Language & Literature and Economics. As a first-year student, she is currently exploring a broad range of subjects to refine her academic interests. Outside of class, she enjoys ceramics, live music, and being by the water.

Alisha is an undergraduate student majoring in Psychology and Business Economics at the University of Chicago. She is passionate about studying decision-making, particularly with financial applications to consumer and investor behavior, and is interested in the intersections between language, behavior, and cognition. Her research interests primarily focus on framing, and how the nuances of language can drive both optimal and irrational decisions. In her free time, you can find Alisha dancing Kathak, scrapbooking, or exploring cafes.

Sherlyn is an undergraduate student majoring in Psychology and Public Policy at the University of Chicago. Her research interests lie broadly in the field of behavioral science, specifically exploring cognitive and behavioral biases, decision-making, and choice architecture. Outside of the lab and class, she enjoys cooking and wheel throwing in a ceramics studio.

Engelina is an undergraduate student majoring in Public Policy and Cognitive Science. Passionate about the intersection between behavior and policy, she's interested in how people's backgrounds and experiences with language shape their biases, perceptions, and decisions. In her free time, Engelina enjoys reading, playing piano and viola, lamenting the passage of time, and exploring.

Rustom is an undergraduate student majoring in Cognitive Science and Economics at the University of Chicago. When he's not exploring how the mind creates reality through biological, psychological, and philosophical lenses, Rustom can be found scaling mountains, writing poems, and gazing lovingly into tide pools. He also enjoys cooking and playing board games with friends and family.

Max is an undergraduate student majoring in Cognitive Science and Business Economics at the University of Chicago. His research interests lie in behavioral economics and how cultural or lingual differences can influence cognition, decision making, and negotiation in group settings. In his free time, Max enjoys taking care of plants, ice skating, baking, and working out.

Lizzy is an undergraduate student at Colgate University majoring in psychology and minoring in Russian. She is particularly interested in decision-making, personality, immigration/acculturation, and the role of language in these processes. Outside of school and work, Lizzy is on the Colgate fencing team and enjoys cooking, working out, and binge watching sitcoms.

Xiaosong is an undergraduate student majoring in Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Chicago. She is interested in the foreign language effect and how cultural backgrounds influences cognition and decision-making, and how autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Schizophrenia (SZ) influence people's political and/or religious beliefs, empathy and decision making. Outside of the lab, she enjoys singing with the University's motet choir, playing tennis, and hiking.

Kristina is an undergraduate student majoring in Economics, currently studying at the University of Chicago. She is passionate about exploring decision-making and behavioral science, particularly their economic applications to consumer behavior and policy design. Her research interests center on how framing, context, and linguistic nuance shape financial judgment and strategic reasoning. In her free time, Kristina enjoys playing tennis, skiing, reading, and solo traveling.

Associate Professor, University of Trento

Senior Lecturer, University of Exeter