The SPUR Team
Dr. Chante Cox-Boyd, Co-Director
Area of Expertise: Social Psychology
Read Dr. Cox-Boyd's bio
Dr. Erik Theissen, Co-Director
Areas of Expertise: Cognitive Science, Developmental, Learning Science
Read Dr. Theissen's bio
Lauren McCarthy, Academic Advisor
Contact Lauren
Emilie O’Leary, Senior Academic Advisor & Undergraduate Program Coordinator
Contact Emilie
Faculty Mentors
While faculty mentors may range from year to year, below is a sampling of faculty whose labs have been involved in the training and mentoring process within the past two years.
Dr. Anna Fisher
Areas of expertise: cognitive science, computational, developmental and learning science
Cognitive Development Lab
Read Dr. Fisher's bio
Dr. Brad Mahon
Areas of expertise: cognitive neuroscience, cognitive science, and perception
Concepts, Actions, and Objects Lab
Read Dr. Mahon's bio
Dr. Abby Noyce
Areas of expertise: auditory research, behavioral methods, executive control & memory, non-invasive brain monitoring, and spatial cognition & attention
LiMN Lab
Read Dr. Noyce's bio
Dr. Vicki Helgeson
Areas of expertise: health psychology and social psychology
Gender, Relationship and Health Lab
Read Dr. Helgeson's bio
Dr. Danny Oppenheimer
Areas of expertise: causal discounting, charitable giving, perceptual fluency, and people's perceptions of randomness
Read Dr. Oppenheimer's bio
Dr. Catarina Vales
Areas of expertise: cognitive science, computational, developmental, and learning science
Cognitive & Social Development Lab
Read Dr. Vales' bio
Dr. Roberto Vargas
Area of expertise: cognitive neuroscience
Read Dr. Vargas' bio
SPUR Cohort 2025
Andres Torres
Home Institution: Franklin & Marshall College
Project: "Children's frontal connectivity while viewing digital media"
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Erik Thiessen
Toro Ayoade
Home Institution: University of South Florida
Project: “Active Maintenance Fails to Explain Visual Working Memory Repulsion Effects”
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Susanne Ferber
Melody Justnes
Home Institution: Minnesota State University Moorhead
Project: “Understanding Climate Challenges Using Virtual Reality”
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Laurie Heller
Ilianie Ventura Ayala
Home Institution: Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras
Project: “The Role of Visual Cues in Shaping Object Interaction”
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Brad Mahon
Salma Hassab
Home Institution: Grinnell College
Project: “Understanding Racial Diversity in Children’s Media”
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Catarina Vales
Kali Whitaker
Home Institution: University of Texas San Antonio
Project: “Lines Under Pressure: What is Choking?”
Faculty Mentor: Dr. JT Tsay