Our research builds on the notion that people’s internal representations of percepts and memories are not veridical. Rather, our mental representations of what we encounter and what we remember are heavily shaped by various factors, often with many of these forces acting together. As a result, our internal representations are systematically distorted reflecting the interactions between our cognitive capabilities (and limitations), prior experiences, cultural lens and beliefs and sociopolitical identity. These representations drive our attitudes, decisions and behaviors. Our research program investigates the capabilities and limitations of the basic mechanisms underlying human cognition and expanding on these by taking a cross-cultural and applied cognition perspective.
This broad agenda has naturally developed into a multi-pronged, collaborative research program.
