Research Labs
Our department includes many different laboratories and research groups conducting research in a broad cross-section of psychology sub-fields. Use your browser's search feature to search for keywords that are common among our labs.
Adolescent Development Lab
We study normative and atypical psychological, social, emotional, and behavioral development during adolescence and young adulthood. The ultimate goal of our research is to inform interventions to promote child, adolescent, and young adult physical and mental health and well-being.
Keywords: adolescent; developmental psychopathology; prevention science; behavioral genetics; developmental methodology
Alberta Brain and Cognitive Development Lab
We study how children develop the ability to regulate their behaviour, attention, cognition, and emotions, and neural correlates of these developments using ERP and EEG.
Keywords: Developmental, Cognitive Neuroscience, Early Childhood, Executive Function, Electroencephalography
Complex Cognition Lab
Our lab examines issues related to conceptual representation, categorization, and language processing.
Keywords: Cognitive, Language
Group Processes and Leadership Lab
Drawing on social identity theory, Dr. Rast examines how leaders influence members of their group (intragroup leadership) to incite social and organizational change, and how they influence other groups (intergroup leadership) to reduce conflict and improve intergroup harmony.
Keywords: Social
Intercultural Communications Lab
We focus on the social and cultural psychology of language and communication processes, particularly as they pertain to intercultural relations and communication. I am interested in how aspects of the social context, including opportunities for intergroup contact, relative group status, and situational norms are implicated in communication processes.
Keywords: Cultural, Language, Educational, Social
Memory for Events (ME) Lab
The ME Lab investigates the cognitive and neural mechanisms that support memories for naturalistic events, including autobiographical experiences from our personal past. We are particularly interested in understanding the role of visual perspective during the formation and retrieval of memories.
Keywords: Memory, Neuroscience, Virtual reality
Nash Social Neuroscience (NSN) Lab
The Nash Social Neuroscience (NSN) Lab investigates the links between basic neural, motivational, and affective mechanisms with personal convictions, social decision-making, and intergroup behaviors.
Keywords: Social Neuroscience, Emotion, Self-Regulation, Decision-Making, Intergroup Processes, Belief
Psycholinguistics Lab
Our works focuses on understanding the functional structure and neurological underpinnings of language processing, with an emphasis on the role of semantics (word meaning) in written language. We use mainly experimental methods and computational modelling, as well as occasionally using functional imaging and patient studies.
Keywords: Cognitive, Neuroscience, Language
Representations Lab
We study how computer models (typically backed by Neural Networks) learn to represent their input data, and how those representations are (or are not) similar to the way the brain represents the same inputs. We study language primarily, but have explored similar ideas for visual processing.
Keywords: Machine Learning, Neural Networks, Brain Imaging, Language, Semantics
The Emotion, Neuroscience & Development Lab
In the END Lab, we study the processing of socioemotional information in children and adolescents and how these processes, via interactions with other individual and environmental factors, are implicated in both typical socioemotional development and the development of psychopathology (e.g., anxiety, depression, eating problems). We take a multi-method approach to investigating these questions, including behavioral, EEG/ERP, MRI, and eye-tracking measures.
Keywords: Socioemotional processing, socioemotional development, developmental psychopathology, developmental cognitive neuroscience, children, adolescents, EEG, MRI
The Navigation & Memory Systems Lab
We aim to understand how the brain represents the environment around us to support navigation and memory, and how we can use brain-inspired solutions to address emerging challenges in AI.
Keywords: Neuroscience, Neurophysiology, Animal Behaviour, Artificial Intelligence, Learning, Navigation, Memory
Visual Attention and Social Processes Lab
The VASP lab studies attention, and its relationship to (i) individual people, (ii) processes such as perception and reward/motivation, and (iii) how attention varies across different contexts and populations
Keywords: Social cognition, Attention, Neuroscience