LAB DIRECTOR
Dr Ben Dyson is a lecturer at the School of Psychology, University of Sussex, UK. He graduated from York University, UK, in 2002 after completing his thesis on auditory cognition and went on to a postdoctoral fellowship position at the Rotman Research Institute, Canada (2002-2004) to learn about event-related potentials. His first academic position was at the (then) Department of Psychology at the University of Sussex, UK (2005-2008). He returned to Canada to work at Ryerson University, Toronto for six and a half years where he remains an Adjunct Professor. Ben returned to Brighton in January 2015.
RESEARCH FELLOW
Lewis Forder obtained his BSc from Cardiff University, Wales, in 2004, and a Masters degree in Psychological Methods from the University of Sussex, UK, in 2012.
Prior to starting in the Re:Cognition Lab he completed a doctoral degree at the University of Sussex, investigating the time course that language can affect colour processing in the human brain using ERPs.
It was here that he became interested in using ERPs to investigate questions about higher-level cognitive mechanisms and is currently examining the processes involved in decision making during recursive interactions with adversarial opponents in gaming environments. Lewis is now at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Jukka Sundvall obtained his BA (2014) and MA (2016) in Cognitive Science from the University of Helsinki, Finland. Jukka joined the Re:Cognition lab in the Autumn of 2016. He is generally interested in judgment and decision making, and the effects of risk, reward and other affective factors on these processes. He has done some previous research on utilitarian judgment in moral dilemma situations. His current focus is on rationality and irrationality in gaming decisions.
Tea Meneghetti joined the Re:Cognition Lab as a Masters student in 2016. She completed her BSc in Cognitive Science and Psychobiology from the University of Padua (Italy) in 2016. She has previously conducted research on the relationship between cognitive abilities and complications of diabetes in older individuals, and she is interested in the biological substrates of cognition and decision-making in neurodegeneration. She is currently investigating neural activity in different competitive environments, and people's behavioural and neural patterns of response to loss, using EEG.
Ben Albert Steward joined the Re:Cognition Lab as a Masters student in 2016. He obtained his BSc in Psychology with Clinical Psychology from the University of Kent in 2014. He is interested in the neurological patterns observed during cognitive control, extending into rational and irrational decision making in competitive situations. Previously he has worked on research investigating intentional memory suppression. He is currently researching how neural responses are mediated by individuals control of the competitive environment.
Bre Labos obtained her BA in Psychology from the College of Wooster in 2016 before joining the Re:Cognition Lab as a Masters student later that year. She is interested in embodied cognition, cross-modal correspondences and visual perception. Previously, she has conducted research looking at cross-modal perceptions of threat as well as face perception in art. Her current research examines the relationship between lateralization, affect and memory.
Adrian Dobson joined the Re:Cognition Lab as a Masters student in 2016. He obtained a BA in Social Work and Psychology from the University of Port Elizabeth in South Africa in 1985. Much has been experienced, achieved or attempted in the intervening years! His interest is in the dynamics of cognitive and emotional effects in learning and decision making in general. He is currently investigating the behavioural and neural effects of observation on subsequent play strategy in simple games.
Raj Sandhu joined the Re:Cognition Lab as a Masters student in 2009. She obtained her B.Sc from the University of Waterloo, Canada, in 2003. Her interest in multi-modal perception was sparked while investigating the rare condition of synasthesia, where individuals report sensory experiences not inherent to the eliciting stimuli. She is currently investigating multi-modal interactions and specifically the relationship between perceptual load and sensory degradation. Raj graduated in the Summer of 2016. Way to go Raj!
Jonathan Wilbiks joined the Re:Cognition lab in 2010 as a Masters student, and has been working on his PhD since 2012. He has his BSc from the University of Toronto, and an MA in Psychology of Music from the University of Sheffield in England. He has conducted previous research into the effects of expertise on the relationship between memory for music and language, as well as the relationship between temporal and stimulus factors on audiovisual integration. His current research focus is on the capacity of audiovisual integration. Jonathan graduated Winter 2016. Congratulations Jonathan!
RESEARCH ASSISTANTS
Petra Marcotti completed her BA in Philosophy and Cognitive Science from the University of Sussex, an MSc in Psychology from the University of Westminster and an MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience at University of Sussex. Her current research focus is on the impact of perspective (first or third person) on the subsequent retrieval of certain memory details. She is also interested in the study of consciousness, particularly the brain mechanisms underlying conscious and unconscious processes.
Charlotte Kemp obtained a BSc in Psychology and an MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of
Sussex. She has conducted previous research using EEG to investigate visual consciousness from the perspective of a ‘predictive coding’ framework, in addition to investigating the effects of early adversity on hippocampal and amygdala volume in adulthood. Her current research concerns the impact of mindwandering on the perception of external events.
Special thanks to Christine McLean who worked tirelessly on the recent Cognition paper.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
A warm welcome to the 2016-2107 intake of
Lilli Baxter
Chloe Campbell
Millicent Darby
Sophia Douglas
Lea Meisel
Elsa Richmond-Seaton
Carl Taylor
and many thanks to the 2015-2016 cohort
Sila Jittayuthd
Krisztina Karolyi
Max Lovell
Celine Moya
Stephen Restarick
Abigail Stone
who contributed to the lab in numerous ways.
COLLABORATORS
Dr Claude Alain (Rotman Research Institute, Canada) continues to tolerate questions from Ben regarding the finer points of the electrophysiological recording of sound.
Dr Andrew Dunn (Nottingham Trent University, UK) and Ben have produced theoretical models and experimental designs on the back of various napkins, all of which will be published one day.
Dr Philip Quinlan (University of York, UK) collaborates on aspects of auditory cognition. Ben also worked with Philip in finishing up an undergraduate textbook on Cognitive Psychology.
Dr Michael Schutz (McMaster University, Canada) is working with Raj and Ben in looking at neural representations of auditory information.
Dr Julia Spaniol (Ryerson University, Canada) is currently leading a series of projects related to attentional networks in the elderly and Ben is happy to be involved with the electrophysiological aspects of this work.
Dr Stephen Want (Ryerson University, Canada) recently finished up a series of experiments with Ben examining the application of embodied cognition in the context of viewing artwork. Neither of us can paint.
RE:COGNITION ALUMNI
Piggy was rescued from a lab clear-out at Sussex University in 2006 and has been an honourary member of the lab ever since. He’s not sure whether he likes the UK or Canada better.
Despite his cheery disposition, Piggy gets very upset when participants do not turn up.
