THE PEOPLE
Principal Investigator
Elizabeth Tricomi
Associate Professor
Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh
B.S., Cornell University
etricomi@psychology.rutgers.edu
Broadly speaking, my research focuses on the influences of affective information on cognitive processing in the brain. The affective qualities of our experience not only produce subjective feelings that may be positive or negative, but also provide information that allows us to shape future behavior. To understand how the consequences of ones decisions can be used to determine future actions, I use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the role of the brains reward processing system in feedback-based learning. My work examines contextual influences on learning and decision making, and the neural systems that underlie these processes. For example, my research indicates that the sensitivity of the striatum, a region in the basal ganglia, to reward-related information depends on factors such as whether one feels a sense of agency in producing an outcome or whether a habit has been formed after extensive experience. This research has important implications for understanding how cognitive processes such as learning and decision making are carried out in the normal brain, as well as for understanding how impairments of the brains reward processing system may give rise to disorders such as addiction and other compulsive behaviors.
Graduate Student, Fifth Year
Wesley Ameden
Graduate Student - Rutgers University, Newark
B.S., University of Vermont
I am interested in how people make decisions. More specifically, my research investigates how context, feedback, choice architecture, and cognitive biases can nudge people to behave in ways that are counter to their goals. My dissertation focuses on how people make decisions about exerting effort, and specifically how social factors impact these decisions. Effort is sometimes seen as costly and aversive, but other times we find it valuable. Because exerting effort is crucial to achieving personal and prosocial goals, we have to understand when people are, and are not, willing to exert it. My research has implications for multiple areas, including personal goal achievement, health, and prosocial behaviors.
Graduate Student, Third Year
Darian Raizberg
Graduate Student- Rutgers University, Newark
B.A., Rutgers University, New Brunswick
My scientific interests exist at the intersection of neuroscience and education. Specifically, I am interested in the neural substrates of feedback-seeking behavior and feedback-based learning in the presence of negative feedback. Generally, negative feedback is aversive and is sometimes avoided despite its utility to improve individual work performance. How can we encourage students and those in the work force to seek out negative feedback? Here, I would like to investigate manipulations in feedback timing (e.g. increasing delay between performance and feedback) to encourage feedback-seeking behaviors/feedback-based learning in negative feedback conditions.
Lab Manager
Claire Hu
B.S., Trinity College
c.hu@rutgers.edu
I am interested in decision-making in social contexts. I am particularly eager to explore how feedback and reinforcement contribute to the formation and persistence of cognitive biases, judgments, and stereotypes. Additionally, I want to further investigate decision-making processes that conflict with personal values. Neuropsychology offers valuable insights into how these processes are represented in the brain and how interventions might modify them.
Research Assistants