University of Tennessee - Knoxville
Department of Psychology
In the Social Perception and Cognition lab, we examine how subtle patterns people encounter every day can reinforce and even challenge social inequities. We integrate social cognition, vision science, and developmental methods to answer questions about the maintenance of power differences among social groups. We draw on various approaches with the goal of designing research questions so that they contribute to scientific knowledge and have clear, broad social benefits. Click the links above to learn more about the lab and how you can get involved.
Note: I will review applications for PhD students who would like to join the SPAC lab in Fall 2024. Please email me if you plan to apply and check out more info about applying here.
LAB
News
Undergraduate Student News: (5/21/23) Congratulations to Clara Bunnell for being awarded a position in the Advanced Undergraduate Research Activity (AURA) program and Emmanuel Brock for being selected for the Faculty Research Assistant Fund for Summer 2023!
(5/9/23) Congratulations to Gigi Petrella, Hayley Simpson, and Sarah Lerner for being recognized with Awards of Excellence for their research presentations at the annual undergraduate research symposium (EURECA).
Graduate Student News: (5/26/23) Congratulations to Darla Bonagura for successfully proposing her Masters, titled: Survivors as Objects: How Media Coverage of Sexual Assault Impacts Perceptions of Survivors and Perpetrators and for being selected for the Graduate Diversity Advocacy Award in the Experimental Psychology program!
(3/1/23) Welcome Gillian Preston to the PhD Program! We are delighted to have you join us.
(12/21/23) Congratulations to Haley Beck, for successfully defending their Masters, titled: Stoic Savages?: Media Oversimplification of Native Emotions and for being selected as recipient of a RISE (Research for Indigenous Social Action and Equity Center) Grant to support their work!
Grant News: (6/1/22) Congratulations to PI, Sarah Lamer, for her recent National Science Foundation Social Psychology grant to explore biases in the perception of a crowd's emotion.
Publication News: (11/1/22) Check out our recent pub in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and our corresponding blog in SPSP's Character & Context about the role of nonverbal behavior in socializing gender roles among children.