Primary Investigator: Joe Kable, Ph.D. Joe Kable is the Baird Term Assistant Professor of Psychology at Penn. Research in his lab is concerned with how people make choices, and the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying decision-making. This work combines approaches from experimental economics, the psychology of judgment and decision-making, and social and cognitive neuroscience. For a copy of Dr. Kable’s CV, click here. To visit Dr. Kable’s Faculty webpage, click here.
Post-doctoral Fellow: Joe McGuire, Ph.D.(CV, website) Joe's research focuses on how decision makers evaluate the costs of effort and delay. His graduate work, in Matthew Botvinick's lab at Princeton, examined neural mechanisms associated with uncertainty and executive control demands.
Post-doctoral Fellow: Karin Cox, Ph.D. (CV) Karin’s research focuses on how value information is learned, encoded, and applied in the service of decision-making. Her graduate work, conducted in the Fiez lab at the University of Pittsburgh, was concerned with the hemodynamic correlates of values that have been inferred via generalizable deduction rules.
Post-doctoral Fellow: Matt Nassar, Ph.D. Matt's research focuses on the interaction between neuromodulatory signals and cortical circuits enabling behavioral optimization. His graduate work with Dr. Josh Gold (also at UPenn) explored the computational role of arousal in rational learning behavior.
Graduate Student: Nicole Senecal Cooper (CV) Nicole Senecal Cooper is from Boston, MA, and received her bachelor's degree in Neuroscience and Psychology from Brandeis University. She completed her undergraduate thesis on memory and hearing ability in elderly adults in the Wingfield lab. Nicole is currently a doctoral student in the Neuroscience Graduate Group at UPenn. Nicole’s research examines the neural mechanisms of value representation and preference change, using behavioral and fMRI experiments.
Graduate Student: Betty Kim (website) Betty Kim is from Los Angeles, CA and received her bachelor’s degree in Sociology from UCLA and master’s degree at the UPenn School of Social Policy and Practice (SP2). While at SP2, she investigated the decision-making processes and risk assessments used in the child welfare system. Betty is currently a graduate student in the Psychology Graduate Group at UPenn. Her research is concerned with how people make decisions and what factors affect decision-making, using behavioral and fMRI experiments.
Graduate Student: Dahlia Mukherjee Dahlia Mukherjee is from Kolkata, India. She received her bachelor's and master's degree in Psychology from Calcutta University. She received another master's from Glasgow University. Dahlia is currently a Clinical Psychology doctoral student at UPenn. Her research concerns decision-making in cross-cultural and clinical populations. Her current project examines the association between decision-making and depression. Aside from research, Dahlia loves wine, food and horse-riding (all she needs to do is learn how).
Graduate Student: Marieta Pehlivanova Marieta received her bachelor's degree in Statistics from American University in Washington, D.C. Prior to Penn, she was a biostatistician supporting research on a variety of medical conditions and treatments. This work, combined with her undergraduate research experience, gave her an appreciation for the philosophical and practical appeal of Bayesian inference. Marieta is interested in developing Bayesian models that elucidate the basic principles of how people learn from a changing environment and use that knowledge to make optimal decisions.
Research Specialist: Rebecca Kazinka Rebecca Kazinka is from Iowa City, IA. She attended Haverford College in Pennsylvania and received her B.Sc. in Psychology with a concentration in Neural and Behavioral Sciences. Her senior thesis project studied the effects of neonatal pain and environmental enrichment on adult pain sensitivity in mice. Currently, she is studying the neural mechanisms of empathy for pain and its effects on helping behavior with relatives. Outside of research, her interests include music and chocolate.
Undergraduate Independent Study Student: Allison Oakes Alli is currently a Senior, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Biological Basis of Behavior. Her thesis project examines the effect of emotion on decision-making and monetary choices.
Undergraduate Independent Study Student: Yael Burla Yael is a Junior from Zug, Switzerland. She is majoring in Biological Basis of Behavior and minoring in Consumer Psychology. Yael is very interested in consumer behavior and is currently doing an independent study on the different decision-making strategies people use when purchasing consumer products.
Lab Alumni
Research Specialists:
Gabe Donnay Gabe was a Research Specialist in the lab from September 2012 to April 2013. He is currently working as a junior analytics developer with Scopely in Los Angeles.
Stav Atir Stav was a Research Specialist in the lab from July 2010 to July 2012. She is currently a psychology PhD student at Cornell University, studying judgment and decision making and social psychology.
Dan Willard Dan was a Research Specialist in the lab from May 2011 to May 2012. He is currently a psychology PhD student at UT Austin, studying social neuroscience.
Annika Hillebrandt Annika was a Research Specialist in the lab from May 2010 to May 2011. She is currently a graduate student in the Organizational Behavior/Human Resource Management program at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Jessica Stump Jessica Stump was a Research Specialist at the lab from 2008 to 2010. She is now enrolled in a doctorate program in Clinical Psychology at Temple University.
Undergraduates:
Jose Robles Jose completed Independent Study with the Kable Lab in Fall 2012. Jose is a UPenn undergrad majoring in Psychology.
Khoi Vo Khoi worked as a work-study and the lab and later completed his Undergraduate Independent Study project in 2011-2012. He is currently working as a Research Assistant at Temple University's business school.
Justin Reggi Justin completed his Biological Basis of Behavior Undergraduate Honors Thesis in the Kable Lab in 2011-2012. He is now working at the PR firm Russo Partners in New York.
Shikha Saxena Shikha completed Independent Study in the Kable Lab in Spring 2011. Shikha is a UPenn undergraduate pursuing a dual degree in the College of Arts & Sciences and Wharton, majoring in Biological Basis of Behavior.
Daniel Santos Daniel completed his Undergraduate Independent Study at the Kable Lab in Fall 2011. He is currently working as a Research Assistant at the Memory Disorders Program in Georgetown Medical Center's Neurology Department
Maggie Covel Maggie completed her Psychology Undergraduate Honors Thesis at the Kable Lab in Spring 2011. She is currently attending Widener University's doctoral program in clinical psychology, with aspirations to pursue private practice.
Qintan (QT) Lin QT completed her Psychology Undergraduate Honors Thesis at the Kable Lab in Spring 2011. She is currently a graduate student in the Masters in Counseling and Mental Health Services at Penn's Graduate School of Education. She is also working on re-writing her thesis with Joe for publication
Teresa Wang Teresa completed her Undergraduate Independent Study at the Kable Lab in Fall 2010. She is a Penn undergraduate in the Vagelos Life Sciences and Management Dual Degree Program.
Lauren Brandes Lauren completed her Undergraduate Independent Study at the Kable Lab in Spring 2009. She is now a research assistant with Geoff Aguirre at Penn.
Sunny Saxena Sunny completed his Undergraduate Independent Study at the Kable Lab in Fall 2009. He is working at ZS Associates, a health care consulting firm.
Cindy Kim Cindy completed her Undergraduate Independent Study at the Kable Lab in Fall 2009-Spring 2010. She is currently a research assistant with Elke Weber and Eric Johnson at Columbia University.