Lab Members
Lab Members
Purdue Lab Members
Brooke N. Macnamara
Principal Investigator
Brooke N. Macnamara
Principal Investigator
I’m interested in a range of predictors (e.g., cognitive, experiential, affective, environmental) of variance in complex human performance—both intra-individual change (skill acquisition, skill decay) and inter-individual differences (expertise, achievement, job performance). I’m also interested in the theories that predict variance in accomplishments and why people might believe a given factor is more important than the evidence suggests.
Mariel Barnett
Graduate Student
Mariel Barnett
Graduate Student
I’m interested in learning, academic performance, and achievement. Specifically, I study academic performance under pressure, with a focus of my research being on the cognitive (i.e., distraction) and behavioral (i.e., avoidance) links with math anxiety. I am also interested in interventions that promote academic achievement, and whether the evidence supports claims about intervention efficacy.
Kat Hradek
Lab Manager
Kat Hradek
Lab Manager
My name is Kat, and I am the lab manager of the Skill, Learning, and Performance laboratory at Purdue University. I aspire to become a graduate student and carry out my own research. My research interests pertain to early life stressors and their clinical/mental health impacts within emerging adulthood.
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Rachel Benson
Elaalia Mhidra
Notable Alumni
Post-docs
David J. Frank
Current Position: Associate Professor at Youngstown State University
David J. Frank
Current Position: Associate Professor at Youngstown State University
Research Interests
– Learning and skill acquisition
– Strategies and performance
– Metacognition
– Aging
Ashley Miller
Current Position: Assistant Professor, The University of Texas at Arlington
Ashley Miller
Current Position: Assistant Professor, The University of Texas at Arlington
I am broadly interested in how memory and attention interact, why individuals differ in these abilities, and what factors shape performance within individuals over time. A central goal of my work is to clarify how attention supports learning. To investigate this, I use physiological methods such as pupillometry and eye-tracking to examine how attention is dynamically allocated during learning. I am also interested in how motivational and affective factors influence attention allocation (and decision making) throughout the learning process. Ultimately, my research aims to identify effective strategies for enhancing task engagement and reducing attention and memory difficulties across the adult lifespan, with the goal of improving learning and performance outcomes in diverse contexts.
Graduate Students
Anne Kotynski
Current Position: Acting Section Chief at NIH
Anne Kotynski
Current Position: Acting Section Chief at NIH
Research Interests
– Emotion and Motivation
Michael King
Current Position: Human Factors Engineer at Quantum Improvements Consulting
Michael King
Current Position: Human Factors Engineer at Quantum Improvements Consulting
Research Interests
– Attention
– Visual search
– Working memory
– Spatial ability
– Intelligence
Amanda Merner
Current Position: Instructor, Research Scientist at Harvard Medical School
Amanda Merner
Current Position: Instructor, Research Scientist at Harvard Medical School
Research Interests
– Emotion Regulation
– Executive Function
– Neurodegenerative diseases
Huangqi Jiang
Current Position: Data Scientist at Bloomberg
Huangqi Jiang
Current Position: Data Scientist at Bloomberg
Research Interests
– Cognitive Control
– Decision Making
– Cognitive Aging
Kyle LaFollette
Current Position: Principal Researcher, Roman Family Center for Decision Research at The University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
Kyle LaFollette
Current Position: Principal Researcher, Roman Family Center for Decision Research at The University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
Research Interests
– Decision-making
– Emotions and implicit preferences
– Computational modeling of affective and cognitive processes
Carly Lubowe
Recent Position: Graduate student, Case Western Reserve University
Carly Lubowe
Recent Position: Graduate student, Case Western Reserve University
Research Interests
– Skill acquisition in children
– Developmental disabilities
– Environmental effects on development
Lab Managers/Research Assistants
Victoria Sisk
Current Position: Senior Data Analyst, Goodwill Industries International
Victoria Sisk
Current Position: Senior Data Analyst, Goodwill Industries International
Research Interests
– Attitudes and beliefs
– Social influence
– Implicit theories
– Social psychological interventions
– Decision making
Megha “Tani” Maitra
Current Position: SLP for Chicago Public Schools
Megha “Tani” Maitra
Current Position: SLP for Chicago Public Schools
Research Interests
– Cognitive Rehabilitation
Jonathan Daniels
Current Position: PhD student at Princeton University
Jonathan Daniels
Current Position: PhD student at Princeton University
Research Interests
– Cognition
– Intelligence
– Computational Cognition
Bao Ho
Current Position: PhD student at Bowling Green State University
Bao Ho
Current Position: PhD student at Bowling Green State University
Research Interests
– Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Essence Leslie
Current Position: Research Coordinator, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry
Radha Patel
Current Position: Research Assistant at National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Jaylene Vázquez
Current position: Lab Manager, Diversity & Social Cognition Lab at University of Oregon
Alexandra Valocchi
Current position: Tutor, Cuyahoga County Libraries