Iris Vilares, Ph.D
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
Tao Jin
PhD Student
Email: jin00059@umn.edu
Tao graduated with a M.S. in cognitive neuroscience, after receiving a B.S. in Statistics with a minor in Psychology from Beijing Normal University. Her research interests focus on how people make decisions under uncertainty within both the perceptual and social domains. Outside the lab, she enjoys listening to music and hanging out in the park.
Mathi Manavalan
PhD Candidate
Email: manav003@umn.edu
Mathi graduated from the University of Washington-Seattle with a B.S. in Informatics and B.A. in Psychology. She is a 4th year doctoral student in Dr. Iris Vilares’ lab cognitive decision-making lab. She is interested in exploring how decision-making may vary between clinical population and neuro-typical populations. Outside of the lab, Mathi enjoys painting and rock climbing.
Nathan Torunsky
PhD Student
Email: torun005@umn.edu
Nathan received is B.S. in Psychology at the University of Minnesota, and worked for Professor Vilares as a research assisstant for two years before starting as a PhD student in Fall 2021. Nathan's work in the lab spans a variety of different topic areas, including information-seeking, individual differences in uncertainty judgements, and the role of individual differences in emotion recognition on decision-making. In his free time, Nathan plays flute and piccolo in the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra.
Xin Song
PhD Candidate
Email: songx953@umn.edu
Xin earned her B.S. degree in Psychobiology from UCLA in 2015 and became a full-time graduate student at UMN in 2016. Things she enjoys: video games, digital art & horror movies.
Xin's research primarily centers around decision-making under uncertainty and the ways psychiatric disorders, particularly depression, influence these strategies. She delves into questions such as: Do individuals with depression process prior and current information differently when making decisions? Can their behavioral patterns align with existing depression models in humans or animals? Currently, her projects explore the intersection of depression with decision-making in uncertain scenarios, the applicability of the learned-helplessness model, and the understanding of hedonic capacity within the context of depression.
Shulang Yue
PhD Student
Email: yuexx142@umn.edu
Shulang graduated with a M.Sc. in Cognitive and Decision Sciences from Univeristy College London and a B.S. in Management Information Systems from the University of Minnesota. Her current research interests include social decision-making, behavioral economics, interpersonal trust, risky choices, and how emotions may impact our decision-making process. Outside of the lab, she enjoys playing musical instruments and watching anime.
Changyoon Byun
Abigail Campbell
Brynn Boutelle
Halle Remlinger
Jack Glenn
Isha Mody
Summer Crow
Tianxin Zhang
Lab Managers & Full Time Research Assistants
Zuzanna Tajchman
Lab Manager
Undergraduate Research Assistants
2021-2022
Benjamin Bray
Morgan Cogley
James Elliot
Joseph Raymon
Odell Sackie
Grace Stelzner
2019-2021
Kara Wolf
Kathy Maito
Jaye Ahn
Shreya Avilala
Mansoo Cho
Christina Choung
David Kessebeh
Ailun Li
Kathy Mai
Grace Nketcha
Maykala Owens
Shiv Patel
Han Phung
Bailey Queensland
Fanshu Sun
Jiaxuan (Jocelyn) Teng
Natalie Wagner