Principal Investigator
I am an Associate Professor in the Cognition, Neuroscience, and Social program in the Psychology Department at USF. I use eye tracking, electroencephalography, and computational modeling to study how visual perception and prior experience lead to the activation of internal representations (e.g., word meanings) and execution of external actions (e.g., eye movements, explicit choices) when people comprehend/produce language, view objects/scenes, and make decisions. I love working with all the talented people on this page and I am proud that they have decided to join this lab!
Curriculum Vitae
Postdoctoral Researcher
I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Eye Movements and Cognition Lab at USF. I use psycholinguistic techniques such as eye-tracking and mixed-effect statistical modeling to understand the role of American Sign Language (ASL) and English knowledge on reading strategies in Deaf and hard-of-hearing signers. I am particularly interested in the role of ASL-English bilingualism on English literacy and I hope to translate the knowledge gained through this research to influence education policy and practices for all children, particularly students who use minority languages.
Curriculum Vitae
Graduate Students
I am a third-year graduate student in Cognition, Neuroscience, and Social. I got my BA in Psychology and English from USF and I am excited to return after a stint as a research assistant at the University of Colorado. I am interested in how cognitive differences between people affect perception and comprehension of language. I am also interested in studying the relationship between auditory processing of spoken language and visual processing during reading.
I am a first-year graduate student in the CNS program at The University of South Florida studying Cognitive Neuroscience. I earned my bachelor degrees in Psychology and Vocal Performance from Stetson University. My research interests lie at the crossroads between music cognition and psycholinguistic. I am specifically interested in studying the Neuro-Cognitive overlap of prediction for musicians and non-musicians using ERP and Eye tracking methodology.
Curriculum Vitae
Lab Manager
I am currently in my second year at USF majoring in psychology. I am very interested in the field of Cognitive Psychology and love to learn about how the human mind works. After graduation, I hope to attend graduate school to further study psychology, and eventually pursue a career in research. I am excited to be a part of the EMaC Lab!
Lab Techs
I am a senior at USF majoring in biomedical sciences and minoring in psychology. My interests in neuroscience and cognitive psychology pushed me to join this team. I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge and being part of the EMaC Lab. My ultimate goal is to pursue a career in the medical field.
Undergraduate Honors Student
I am a second year student pursing a major in Psychology along with Biomedical Sciences. I am interested neuroscience and cognitive psychology. I am excited that I get to pursue my interests at the EMaC Lab and can’t wait to learn more about these topic from our research.
Visiting Graduate Student
I am a first-year Ph.D. student in the Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) program at USF. I received my B.S. from UCF and M.S. from University of Hawaii in the same major. I am interested in how executive function skills( e.g. emotional regulation, self-monitoring, etc.) influence literacy and social communication. I am excited to be visiting with the EMAC lab to learn more about using psycholinguistics techniques to explore language processing.
Undergraduate/Post-baccalaureate Research Assistants
I am a sophomore majoring in computer science at USF. I love to see intersections of technology and other areas. My goal is to be a software engineer, solving real-world problems in healthcare and education. I am excited to learn more about human cognition and language processing at the EMaC Lab!
I am a second-year student at USF majoring in psychology. I am interested in cognitive psychology and neuroscience. My goal is to attend graduate school and pursue a career in psychological research. I am excited to be a part of EMaC Lab and to learn more about cognition!
I’m an incoming senior at USF majoring in psychology with a minor in nutrition. Learning how the brain works has always been fascinating to me which is why I chose to pursue a career in psychology. I plan to continue doing research in grad school and want to pursue a PhD and Master’s in Psychology as well. I love doing research based around cognition and can’t wait to see what I’ll learn from this lab.
I am a junior at USF, majoring in psychology and minoring in philosophy. My interest in neuropsychology drove me to apply to the EMaC Lab, through which I am excited to continue extending my experiences and refining my interests. In the future, I hope to continue my studies in graduate school to participate more avidly in research. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn more about cognitive psychology as a member of this lab.
I’m a first-year student at USF, majoring in psychology and information sciences. After undergrad, I’m planning on graduate school to continue surrounding myself in research environments. Cognitive psychology is super interesting to me, learning what’s behind human comprehension and processing is fascinating so I’m excited for the opportunity to do so with EMaC!
I am a sophomore at USF majoring in Biomedical sciences and minoring in Psychology. I am extremely interested in the field of neuroscience and how the physiology of the brain affects cognition process such as when reading. In the future I hope to pursue a career in the medical field. I am very much looking forward to being a part of the EMaC lab and learning about a new field of science.
I am a sophomore at USF majoring in Psychology. My fascination with cognition and different brain processes has led me to the EMaC lab, and I’m so excited to continue expanding my knowledge on the neuro-cognitive mechanisms in charge of processing in the brain! I plan to continue my studies in grad school, where I can continue to reach my research goals.
Lab Alumni
Graduate Students:
- Martín Antúnez
- Andrea Tibbetts
Lab Managers:
- Susan Rodriguez: now @ University of South Florida Ph.D. program in Health Psychology
- Neslihan Caliskan
Lab Techs:
- Brain Nestor
Undergraduate Honors Students:
- Alex Sciuto
- Anna Marie Fennell: now @ Columbia University Ed.M. program in Mental Health Counseling
- Dimitri Brunelle: now @ University of Illinois Ph.D. Program in Neuroscience
- Emily Johnson
- Jamie Newland: now @ University of Florida Ph.D. Program in Developmental Psychology
- Victoria Estevez
Undergraduate Research Assistants:
- Abigail Norris
- Alexandra Carey
- Alexis Wishart
- Alyssa Thompson
- Anne Eible
- Caitlin Nethercoat
- Cassandra DeGaetano
- Courtney Clark
- Daniel Alboukrek
- Danielle Ferusi
- Eva Barton
- Grayson Nobles
- Hailey Stein
- Jade McNitt
- Jillian Hansen
- Jordan Houk
- Julianna Kirschner
- Kaitlin White
- Kaitlyn Hennessy: now @ Palm Beach Atlantic University M.S. program in Mental Health Counseling
- Karina Ortiz
- Katie Pioszak
- Kayla Idzior
- Magdelin Lopez
- Makayla Hodges
- Marcellus Howell
- Mei Sugawara
- Melissa Pierre
- Nicole Brown
- Rebecca Klarer
- Richard Rogers
- Roger Joyce-Nyak
- Shivam Patel
- Sierra Juncal
- Tamara Kaiser
- Vince Gyongyosi
- Zoe Grossman
Dr. Brennan Payne
The EMaC Lab 