Valerie Reyna, Director
Topics: Judgment and Decision Making; Risk and Rationality; False Memory; Aging and Cognitive Impairment; Cognitive and Social Neuroscience; Developmental Neuroscience.
Dr. Reyna’s research focuses on dual processes in memory, judgment, and decision making, on how these processes change with age and expertise, and on their implications for risky decision making in law, health, medicine, and neuroscience. She is a developer of Fuzzy-Trace Theory, a theory of memory and its relation to higher cognitive processes.
Sarah Edelson is a graduate student in the Ph.D. Psychology (Human Development) program and lab leader. Her recent publications include:
Edelson, S. M., & Reyna, V. F. (2021). How fuzzy-trace theory predicts development of risky decision making, with novel extensions to culture and reward sensitivity. Developmental Review, 62, 100986. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2021.100986
Reyna, V. F., Broniatowski, D. A., & Edelson, S. M. (2021). Viruses, vaccines, and COVID-19: Explaining and improving risky decision-making. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 10(4), 491–509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2021.08.004
Reyna, V. F., Edelson, S. M., & Broniatowski, D. B. (2021). Misconceptions, misinformation, and moving forward in theories of COVID-19 risky behaviors. Journal of Applied
Research in Memory and Cognition, 10(4), 537-541. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2021.11.003
Reyna, V. F., Müller, S., & Edelson, S. M. (2023). Critical tests of fuzzy trace theory in brain and behavior: Uncertainty across time, probability, and development. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 1-27. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-022-01058-0
Reyna, V. F., Edelson, S. M., Hayes, B., & Garavito, D. M. N. (2022). Supporting health and medical decision-making: Findings and insights from fuzzy-trace theory. Medical Decision Making: An International Journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making, 42(6), 741-754. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X221105473
Aadya Singh is a third-year graduate student in the Ph.D. Psychology (Human Development) program.
Jordan Roue is a third-year graduate student in the Dual Ph.D./J.D. program.
Alan Liu is a first-year graduate student in the Ph.D. program.
Research & Extension-Outreach Manager, Laboratory for Rational Decision Making
Dr. Hermann’s recent extension and community engagement grant funded her development of a financial literacy curriculum based on Fuzzy-Trace Theory and her delivery of a savings module to adolescents and young adults entering the workforce. Also, she creates and manages digital and social media communications about research and extension in the LRDM and Human Development.
Lab alumni:
David Garavito, graduate of the Dual Ph.D./J.D. program
David Garavito is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington School of Law and a licensed attorney in New York. He completed his post-doctoral training as an Interprofessional Polytrauma & Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation Research Fellow for the Department of Veterans Affairs. His research interests include criminal law and procedure, developmental cognition, and neuroscience, with a focus on judgment and decision making in legal and public health contexts.
Rebecca Helm, graduate of the Dual Ph.D./J.D. program
Rebecca Helm is Associate Professor of Law and a UK Research and Innovation Fellow at University of Exeter. Dr. Helm studies how legal procedures work in practice, and how changing aspects of procedure can enhance the ability of the justice system to achieve normative goals. Her research includes examining when and why defendants in the criminal justice system admit guilt, how juries function when making legal decisions, and how legislation can be designed to maximize desired outcomes in fields of public health and human rights.
Priscila Brust-Renck, graduate of the Human Development Ph.D. program
Priscila Brust-Renck is a professor of clinical health psychology in the Cognition and Health Research Laboratory at Unisinos University, Brazil. Dr. Brust-Renck’s research lies in the intersection of the fields of cognitive psychology, and behavioral economics and decision making. Her work focuses on judgment and decision making and numerical cognition with implications for health and medical decision making and risk communication.
Krystia Reed, former Post-Doctoral Associate
Krystia Reed is Assistant Professor and head of the Legal Decision Lab at University of Texas, El Paso. Dr. Reed studies how legal actors (i.e., attorneys, juries, judges, probation officers, and voters) make legal decisions and how those decisions can be improved. She uses social psychological methods to research three primary areas of research: attorney behavior, legal decision making, and program evaluation.