DR. CLARA COLOMBATTO, Principal Investigator [CV] Dr. Colombatto is an Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo, in the School of Psychology, and an Honorary Lecturer at University College London. Prior to joining UW, Dr. Colombatto was a Research fellow at UCL. She earned a PhD in Psychology at Yale University, and a BS in Neuroscience and Philosophy from Duke University. Dr. Colombatto's research uses methods from vision science, cognitive psychology, and social psychology to investigate how we perceive other agents and their mental states.

DR. TRENT CASH, Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Cash is Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Psychology at the University of Waterloo. He earned a PhD in Psychology and Social & Decision Sciences from Carnegie Mellon University and a BA in Psychology and Public Management, Leadership, and Policy from The Ohio State University. Dr. Cash's research focuses on the role that metacognition plays in complex reasoning tasks - such as judgment and decision making - for both humans and artificially intelligent agents.

YUANZE HUANG, PhD Student Yuanze (David) Huang is a first-year PhD student in Cognitive Psychology. His research interests broadly focus on attention, particularly people’s intuitive theories of attention, including how people perceive others’ attention and meta-attention. David has a five-year-old Ragdoll cat named QiuZi. Outside of research, he enjoys spending time with his cat, playing video games, and snowboarding.

CAROLINE SIMPSON, MA Student Caroline is a first-year master's student in cognitive psychology at the University of Waterloo. She is primarily interested in how we acquire knowledge and understanding, trust, and consciousness. Her current research is focusing on perceptions of and trust in generative artificial intelligence. Outside of the world of psychology Caroline plays bass in a band, makes art of various forms, and is obsessed with her two adorable cats.

CARTER SMITH, MA Student Carter is a second-year master’s student investigating how the physical factors that underlie our movements, like velocity, shape other people’s inferences about our mental states. He also explores how these inferences bias human attention. Outside the lab, Carter enjoys cycling, running, reading philosophy, and watching baseball.

FAAIZA AHMAD, Research Assistant Faaiza is in her 3rd year of Psychology (BSc) at the University of Waterloo. She is interested in social cognition and how different environments can impact individual mind perception. She is also particularly interested in how increased AI use can fundamentally alter human behaviour and cognition. In her spare time, she likes to read and play video games.

ANDY BANG, Honours Student Andy is in his 4th year of Psychology (BSc) at the University of Waterloo. He is broadly interested in clinical research on self-injury, neuropsychological disorders, and how social factors can influence these phenomena. Within the lab, Andy is interested in how people use the visual system to make judgements of others' behaviours and abilities (e.g. trait inferences through facial features, visual field limits, visual perspective-taking). Outside of the lab, he is an avid tea drinker, and enjoys rock-climbing.

BRAYDEN BORIS, Research Assistant Brayden Boris is in his third year of the Psychology program (BA) at the University of Waterloo. He is interested in metacognition, social perception, and the cognitive mechanics of altered states such as hypnosis, specifically how subjective awareness and top-down processes influence human behavior. He is currently enrolled in a directed studies course (PSYCH 483) in the lab, where he is investigating confidence and person perception. Outside of the lab, he enjoys watching movies, rock-climbing, and practicing his juggling.

LILY GE, Research Assistant Lily is a 2nd year computer science student who is looking to pursue a psychology or cognitive science minor. She is interested in human-AI interaction, particularly how AI can impact human behaviour. She also enjoys the programming aspect that goes behind running psychology studies. Outside of class, she is a member of the UW Dance Company.

JESSICA HOANG, Honours Student Jessica is in her 3rd year of Psychology (BSc) at the University of Waterloo. She is interested in visual attention and perception in different environments, and how different mental disorders can impact social perception. In the past, she has helped with a study on attention during Instagram scrolling and research on DBT as an intervention for borderline personality disorder. In her spare time, she likes to play video games and watch scary movies.

DUNCAN WYLIE, Research Assistant Duncan is in his fourth year of the Psychology program (BA) at the University of Waterloo. He is broadly interested in social perception and attention, and has worked on several projects in the lab related to the perception of others’ attention. In his spare time, Duncan enjoys exploring new hobbies, such as trying different sports and games, and producing music.