Today I received word from both the Association for Psychological Science (APS) and the Vision Sciences Society (VSS) that my abstracts were accepted at their annual conventions. Both of these presentations are part of my dissertation work that addresses the often-flat confidence-accuracy relationship found in police lineup rejections. Below is a description of each poster and information on the talks themselves.
I’m incredibly proud to report that I recently advanced to candidacy! In our department, that means passing a qualifying paper defense (which I did in July 2020) as well as successfully “defending” a dissertation proposal paper and presentation.
My dissertation, “Evidence of Innocence: The Psychology of Lineup Rejections,” will comprise of three published or to-be-published studies. The first study was published in Law and Human Behavior earlier this year. The second and third studies will be basic-science studies investigating 1) why the confidence-accuracy relationship for lineup rejections ranges from negligible to slightly-positive and 2) the specific decision variable that is used for confidence during a lineup rejection.
Thank you to my committee: Drs. John Wixted (Chair), Tim Brady, Uma Karmarkar, John Serences, and Angela Yu.
This June, I’ll be presenting “A comparison between a rate-them-all simultaneous lineup procedure vs. standard simultaneous and show-up procedures” as a virtual poster at V-VSS.
The conference date is June 1-2nd. The poster will be presented in Poster Session 5 on Thursday, June 2nd at 7-9am (PDT).
I will present the poster “The Psychology and Neuroscience of Confidence in Memory and Perception” at Psychonomic Society’s annual convention. This poster (2427) is based on an expansion of my qualifying paper, and will be co-authored between myself and Dr. John T. Wixted.
This year’s meeting will take place on November 4-7. I will be available for live discussion within the meeting platform on November 6th, 12-1pm Central Time. Or, as always, contact me with any questions.
Abstract:
The solution to real-world problems often requires a deep, basic-science understanding of the problem at hand. Confidence and decision time are issues that matter in the real-world and have been intensively investigated in the past 20 years in both psychological science and neuroscience. In cognitive psychology, confidence is usually conceptualized in terms of signal detection theory while speeded decision-making is conceptualized in terms of evidence accumulation modeling. However, no singular model of confidence for a perceptual decision dominates. In mathematical psychology, accounts of speeded decision-making in terms of a balance-of-evidence decision variable has gained currency in recent years. In neuroscience, the field tends to approach evidence accumulation and confidence in relation to lateral intraparietal cortex (the role of which is debated) and reaction time, with some research indicating a balance-of-evidence decision variable. A review of these largely independent lines of research suggests a potentially fruitful way to naturally integrate signal detection theory and evidence accumulation models in a way that comports with the relevant neuroscience evidence.
Update: The abstract number was previously 5117. Renumbering occurred when this year’s annual convention moved from a hybrid format to strictly online. You can view a PDF of the poster here.
I will be presenting two posters at the Psychonomic Society 61st Annual Conference. The two presentations will be:
The presentations will occur from 4-6pm CT on November 20, 2020. This post will be updated with a link to my meeting room for a live Q&A session.
I’ve officially committed to the University of California, San Diego in the fall for a doctoral program in experimental cognitive psychology.
Excited, grateful and incredibly inspired are only a few of the many emotions I’m feeling at this moment in time. Thank you SO much to Dr. John Wixted who offered me a position in his memory laboratory. Every time I step on the UCSD campus, I feel like I’m at home. I know this is the place I am meant to be and that I will produce excellent work in this program. Even though I didn’t verbalize this during my interviews: I have been eyeing this program at UCSD since 2013.
Furthermore, thank you so much to UC Santa Cruz and UC Riverside for extending admission offers as well. As a first-generation college student, the privilege of being offered the opportunity to earn a Ph.D at such prestigious research programs is not lost on me.
Once again, thank you. I’m humbled, but ready to put in the work.
I am immensely happy to report that this month I will be joining the Wixted Lab as a post-baccalaureate research assistant! Even though this is a volunteer position, I am thrilled to continue studying eyewitness memory. My undergraduate thesis only scratched the surface; now it’s time to reexamine the same material through the lens of basic recognition memory science and the theories popularized within that field.
Thank you, Dr. John Wixted for this opportunity!