Oriel FeldmanHall

CV  |  Email: Oriel.FeldmanHall@Brown.edu

Oriel FeldmanHall is the Alfred Manning Associate Professor of Cognitive, Linguistics, and Psychological Sciences at Brown University. Oriel received her PhD at the University of Cambridge, a BA from Cornell University, and did her post doctoral training at NYU. Her interests revolve around better understanding the neural basis of human social behavior, with a focus on morality, altruism, trust, and reciprocity. She has won numerous awards, including the Cognitive Neuroscience Society’s Young Investigator Award for outstanding contributions to science, the Association for Psychological Science’s Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions, and the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology. She teaches Social Psychology (CLPS 700) and the Moral Brain (CLPS 1760). When not in the lab, she is reading early 19th century novels, dreaming about sky-diving in the Namib desert, or trying to keep up with her energetic children (usually not in that order).

Mengxin (AvA) Ran | Contact, CV

AvA received a B.S. in Psychology from The Ohio State University in 2024, where she studied how visual properties such as size, depth and spatial location are perceived and coded in the brain in Dr. Julie D. Golomb’s lab. She is interested in the interplay between real-world uncertainty, social relationships, and internal beliefs and how they collectively influence decision-making processes. In her spare time, AvA loves reading, photographing, flying during dawn or dusk, and walking her cat on breezy days.

Yang Teoh | Contact, CV, Web

Yang received his PhD in Psychology from the University of Toronto. In his doctoral research, he used computational models of decision-making to better understand the cognitive and affective mechanisms that explain how people make complex social decisions (e.g., altruism, cooperation, emotion expression). He is extending this computational approach to mechanisms of social learning during his Postdoc, investigating how people incorporate feedback from others and adapt to uncertain and changing social environments. In his spare time, Yang can often be found with his dog at parks, by lakes, and on the couch.

Alex Walker | Contact, CV, Web

Alex received his PhD in Psychology from the University of Waterloo. During his PhD, he studied the polarizing nature of partisan language, revealing how partisan linguistic choice can amplify partisan animosities and strengthen political disagreements. During his post doc, he is using a multi-method approach to investigate how psychological processes interact with contextual influences to deepen political divides. Ultimately, through his work, he hopes to contribute to a science-based understanding of how to combat the social ills associated with rising political polarization. Outside of the lab, he enjoys going on long runs and exploring new places with his wife and daughter.

Yi-Fei (Jerry) Hu | CV

Jerry obtained a B.S. in Psychology from East China Normal University in Shanghai, China. During his undergraduate, he studied social perception using virtual reality techniques. Now, he is interested in studying how people learn the social networks and use them to guide behaviors. Outside the lab, he, a sneaker head, loves to build Lego models and play basketball.

Alice Xia | CV

Alice received a B.A. in Political Science from UC Irvine and an M.A. in Cognitive Science from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. She then worked as a Research Specialist for Sharon Thompson-Schill and Anna Jenkins at the University of Pennsylvania. She is interested in using behavioral, neuroimaging and computational methods to understand how memory and control systems act in concert to subserve the construction and use of cognitive maps for flexible social decision-making. Outside of the lab, she enjoys scouting out the best donut spots, (very slowly) learning how to play the guitar, and going on nighttime runs.

Daantje de Bruin | CV

Daantje received a BSc in Psychobiology and an MRes in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from the University of Amsterdam. After working as a research specialist in the lab for 2 years, she is now pursuing a PhD in Cognitive Science. She is interested in how prior beliefs or experiences shape psychological processing and in the neural mechanisms underlying individual differences in social decision making. She is also interested in how neuroscientific findings can be used in daily life to improve the productivity of social interactions and policies. In her free time, she enjoys exploring new restaurants, binging Netflix series or catching up with her friends.

Samantha Reisman | CV

After receiving her B.A. in Neuroscience from Skidmore College (working with Dr. Daniel Peterson), Samantha studied threat-related memory in her first RA-ship at Temple University with Dr. Deepu Murty. Next, she moved to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and worked on clinical trials examining psychopathy and trauma interventions in incarcerated populations. As a first-year graduate student in the lab, Samantha now studies relationships between emotions, uncertainty intolerance, and prosocial/antisocial behavior. In her busy time she loves to make music, ride her bike (really fast) to coffee shops, ski (also really fast), and eat croissants (slowly - to savor them).

Jiajin(Molina) Zhang | CV, Web

Molina earned a B.S. in Neuroscience and a B.A. in Anthropology from Emory University, where she studied how empathy supports adult caregiving among dementia caregivers. She then joined Dr. Dean Mobbs' lab at Caltech as a Research Assistant, where she studied safety perception under threat. She is broadly interested in using neuroimaging, behavioral paradigm, and computational modeling to study human social decision-making under uncertainty. Outside the lab, she enjoys playing with her cats, exploring new restaurants, skiing, and indulging in a good book.

Kayleigh Danowski

Kayleigh is a RUE (Resumed Undergraduate Education) student who is concentrating on psychology and art history. Before arriving in Providence, Kayleigh took her final bow as a professional ballet dancer after a decade-long career. The psychologically demanding nature of such a competitive performing career prompted her interest in the field of psychology. Outside of the lab, Kayleigh is a Cogut Institute for the Humanities Undergraduate Fellow where she is researching early 20th-century decorative arts at the intersection of race and class. She also enjoys being an advocate for other nontraditional students at Brown.’

Mia Nguyen

Mia is a sophomore from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam concentrating in Computer Science–Economics and Behavioral Decision Sciences. She is interested in the intersection of behavioral economics and technology, with a focus on decision-making models and data-driven solutions for financial services. Outside the lab, Mia is involved in Women in Business, Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere, and also works as an Economics tutor. In her free time, Mia enjoys updating her bookstagram, competing with Brown’s table tennis team, and learning new figures in ballroom dance!

Henry Lee

Henry is a senior from Toronto, Canada double concentrating in Psychology and Applied Math-Economics. He is primarily interested in the intersection between social psychology and behavioral economics, with a particular research focus on the loss of “rationality” in decision-making processes and the emergence of non-standard social preferences in socially and economically complex settings. Outside the lab, he is involved in the Brown Econ DUG, Brown Public Speaking Initiative, and numerous community service programs with the Swearer Center. He also enjoys spending his weekends playing music with the Brown Chamber Orchestra and writing poetry under the sun.

Maya Mazumder

Maya is a junior concentrating in Cognitive Neuroscience. She is interested in exploring the neural mechanisms of social cognition, particularly in the context of how relationships are mapped and represented in the brain. She hopes to pursue a career in research investigating these and other neuroscientific topics in the future. Outside of the lab, Maya is a Brown Outing Club leader and writes for the science news blog The Triple Helix. She also enjoys rock climbing, biking, and listening to podcasts about ghosts and/or science in her free time.

Samantha Shulman

Sam is a sophomore from Toronto, Canada concentrating in Computer Science with a focus on AI/ML and UI/UX design. She is fascinated by human-computer interaction and is eager to learn more about how behavioral and psychological studies can be applied to improving computer systems, algorithms, and applications. In her free time, she enjoys giving back to the community through Brown’s Best Buddies program and through teaching computer science to local high school students. She also enjoys exploring the outdoors with friends and family!

Sofía Vaca Narvaja

Sofía is a freshman planning to concentrate in Cognitive Neuroscience and Computer Science. She is interested in exploring neurobiological explanations behind social behavior and decision making, as well as modeling of artificial neural networks. In her free time Sofi enjoys exploring the city, teaching Spanish and reading about love in the brain.