The primary focus of our research is the various ways through which the ‘self’ influences cognition and behavior. Specifically, we study the psychological mechanisms associated with various self-processing biases in memory, attention, and perception. What are the psychological processes that give rise to self-processing biases? What are the boundary conditions under which the self exerts its influence on cognition and behavior?
Another focus of our research is the way in which prior experience serves as a ‘context’ for the current operations of the mind to unfold. In particular, we study how our prior experience influences the formation of new episodic memories, the kind of memory that enables us to subjectively experience cohesive events consisting of multiple attributes and to embed the events in our own personal history. How does our prior experience of an event affect our ability to perceive and retain contextual details surrounding similar events?