Researcher Profiles

Adler, Scott A.

The relation between visual, perceptual and cognitive processes in young infants’ formation of future-oriented cognitive expectations for the spatial, temporal, and content information of visual events, and the interface between these expectations and memory processes. Development of infants’ ability to selectively attend to singular items in visual arrays of multiple objects, including mechanisms for active inhibition. The development of object recognition and the processes involved in infants’ control and execution of eye movements.

Aitken, Madison

Dr. Aitken’s research focuses on improving youth psychotherapy outcomes by understanding how evidence-based therapies bring about change, and by testing new interventions targeting factors that predict poor treatment response. She is also interested in innovative approaches to increasing the real-world relevance of psychotherapy outcome measures. Her research is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and the Cundill Centre for Child and Youth Depression.

Bebko, James M

Dr. James Bebko is a Registered Psychologist with a long-standing commitment to the fields of autism and developmental disabilities, as well as deafness, having worked with children, adolescents and families for more than 25 years. He is Professor and former Director of the Clinical-Developmental Psychology Programme at the Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Canada. He has been a Visiting Professor at Universities in Japan, France and the United States. Dr. Bebko has published research articles in some of the major research journals in autism, child development, deafness, and language disorders, and has been an invited speaker at a variety of regional and international conferences. He has been a consulting psychologist to many community agencies serving children with autism and developmental disabilities, as well as providing diagnostic, assessment, and consultation services directly to families.

Bialystok, Ellen

Research examines the effect of experience on cognitive ability across the lifespan. The primary experience examined is bilingualism but musical training is also a focus. Studies examine effects on cognitive development and cognitive aging. Developmental studies include the relation between language and cognitive development, literacy, and bilingualism. Research methodologies include both behavioural and neuroimaging approaches. 

Bohr, Yvonne

Our research focuses on the well being and optimal development of infants, children, youth and their parents. We study attachment and parenting practices in diverse cultural contexts, including migration, and Indigenous/rural, as well as digital cultures. We are interested in prevention and interventions that optimize mental health in all children and youth. Our investigations address the prevention of relationship ruptures in families, and client-centred treatment of disorders such as anxiety and depression. We value our relationships with community-based mental health services which facilitate ongoing knowledge exchange activities, as they pertain to evidence-based practice in clinical settings. We belong to the Faculty of Health’s LaMarsh Centre for Child and Youth Research, and benefit from exceptional research resources.

Boritz, Tali

Dr. Boritz’s research primarily focuses on psychotherapy process and outcome, with particular emphasis on the treatment of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and complex trauma. Her research aims to identify therapeutic factors (e.g., interpersonal, narrative, emotion processes) associated with therapeutic change, including therapist characteristics and behaviours linked to treatment outcomes. A current focus of this research is on alliance rupture and repair in BPD treatments, with the goal of improving the effectiveness of psychotherapy training and practice. Dr. Boritz is also focused on the advancement of psychotherapy training through innovations in training methods. 

Brown, Donald V.

In its broadest conception, Dr. Brown’s interdisciplinary research program integrates perspectives from critical theory, philosophy of science, and science and technology studies to better understand social identity-based scientific practices and knowledge production in psychological science. He is deelply interested in understanding the movement of social identity knowledge through the porous boundary between science and society.

Chalmers, Philip

Cheng, Joey

Dr. Joey Cheng’s research examines the psychological underpinnings of social hierarchy, overconfidence, and competition. She explores questions such as: How do people rise to influence in groups? What vocal signals do people use to communicate status? What causes people to become overconfident? What are the social costs and benefits to being competitive?

Choi, Ji Yeh

Particular research interests lie in areas of structural equation modeling, functional data analysis, multivariate statistics, high-dimensional data analysis, cluster analysis, and Bayesian statistics.

Connolly, Jennifer A

Dr. Connolly is a Professor in the Department of Psychology and the current Department Chair. Broadly speaking she studies adolescent development and mental health with a central focus on the role of role of relationships in promoting resilience, especially those who are under stress and have experienced adversity. Within this research framework her research examines 1) the intersection of romantic relationships and gender based violence. And 2) how a person’s closest relationships, with caregivers, friends and romantic partners, promote coping and resilience or conversely undermine positive adaptation. In partnership with community agencies (York Region Children’s Aid Society and York Region Police) she is conducting research on sex trafficking of underage girls, including identification of risk factors and evidence-based early intervention

Crawford, John Douglas

For the past 25 years his work at the York Centre for Vision Research has focused on the control of visual gaze in 3D space, eye-hand coordination, and spatial memory during eye movements. This has resulted in over 160 papers in publications such as Nature, Science and Annual Review of Neuroscience, and has garnered numerous awards, including the 2004 Steacie Prize and 2018 York President’s Research Excellence Award (PREA). He has trained over 60 graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, so far guiding more than 25 of these into long-term research, clinical and teaching positions. He founded the York Neurophysiology Labs, the York Graudate Diploma Program in Neuroscience, and the Canadian Action and Perception Network (CAPnet), and co-founded the ‘Brain in Action’ International Research Training Program, with partners in Germany. Currently, he is the Scientific Director of the CFREF-funded program, Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA).

Cribbie, Robert A

Dr. Cribbie’s research centers around robust statistical analyses for analyzing psychological data, including equivalence testing, multiplicity control and the measurement of change.

DeSouza, Joseph

My specific research interests lie within the realms of converting multisensory signals of vision, audition and touch into motor movements of the eyes, hand & body and how these mechanisms are modulated by various mechanisms of short and long term cognitive control, attention and suppression. I use a cognitive and systems neuroscience approaches using the technologies of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), magnetoencephalography (MEG), eyetracking and electrophysiology.

Desrocher, Mary E

 Dr. Desrocher’s training is in neuropsychological assessment and neurorehabilitation. Her current research explores autobiographical memory, executive functions, and social cognition, as well as mental health correlates of cognitive difficulties.  Clinical populations of study include children and adolescents with stroke, early neurological injuries, epilepsy, and neurodevelopmental disorders, such as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. 

Eastwood, John D

Actively involved in two areas of research. Primary research program explores how the emotional state of an observer, and also the emotional significance of environmental information, influences the deployment of attention. Secondly exploring the experience of boredom, and individual differences that impact on susceptibility to boredom. Within these areas, I am focused on gaining a better understanding of basic psychological processes, as well as examining issues that relate more specifically to clinical psychology.

Elder, James Harvey

Our research seeks to improve machine vision systems through a better understanding of visual processing in biological systems.  Recent focus has been on natural scene statistics, perceptual organization, contour processing, shape perception, single-view 3D reconstruction, attentive vision systems, and socially-aware robotics. 

Fergus, Karen

My research focuses on the coping and adaptation processes of individuals affected by life threatening illness in general, and cancer specifically.  I have a strong interest in intimate relationships and how couples adjust to illness, adversity, and loss.  I employ qualitative methods in order to derive in depth understanding of these experiences.  These findings in turn inform the development of psychotherapeutic and psychoeducational interventions (individual, couple, group, and online) intended to reduce distress and suffering associated with illness.

Fitzpatrick, Skye

Her current research focuses on identifying ways to optimize, expedite, and broaden access to BPD and PTSD treatments on their own and as they co-occur. In the interest of optimizing and expediting borderline personality disorder (BPD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatments, Dr. Fitzpatrick has become particularly focused on harnessing the power of relationships through the development and study of conjoint or dyadic interventions. In the interest of broadening access to BPD and PTSD interventions, she has become interested in developing and studying online, peer-delivered, and brief interventions.  

Flett, Gordon L

Dr. Flett’s research interests include the role of personality factors in depression, health problems, and interpersonal adjustment. Research on perfectionism compares personal and interpersonal aspects of perfectionism, including perfectionistic self-presentation. This research adopts a life-span perspective in the sense that the role of personality in health and mental health is studied in children, adolescents, middle-aged individuals, and the elderly.” Other research examines the protective role of feelings of mattering to other people, and the role of risk and resilience factors in well-being.

Flora, David B.

I study quantitative methodology for psychological research, primarily focusing on latent variable models for psychometric data and longitudinal data. I also study the use and interpretation of effect size statistics more broadly. Some of the methods I’m interested in include exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (especially with categorical data), structural equation modeling, latent growth curve models, and item response theory. I have applied these methodologies to research on a variety of topics in psychology.

Freud, Erez

The Freud Lab at York University investigates the intricate mechanisms underlying visual perception and visuomotor control. Utilizing advanced methodologies such as motion tracking, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and behavioral experiments, the lab focuses on understanding these processes in diverse populations, including young adults, children, and patients. The aim is to uncover how visual information is processed and translated into visual perception and motor actions, contributing to both theoretical knowledge and practical applications in health and psychology

Friendly, Michael

The development of methods for statistical graphics and data analysis, with particular emphasis on graphical methods for categorical data. More detailed information on this work can be found in Michael Friendly’s home page. Exploratory data analysis, interactive computing and psychological scaling. Human memory and learning, in particular with the organization and structure of information in memory and the relation between semantic memory and learning.

Goel, Vinod

I am interested in understanding and explaining human behavior.  The traditional view is that this is to be done in terms of models of rationality (with tweaks here and there).  After exploring such models for several decades, I have come to the view that rationality is tethered to, and modulated by, evolutionary older systems such as the autonomic, instinctive, and associative systems.  These ideas are laid out in a new book entitled “Reason and Less: Pursuing Food, Sex, and Politics” (MIT Press, 2022) As such, my current focus is on empirically exploring models of tethered rationality.

Goldberg, Joel

Dr. Goldberg’s current clinical and research interests surround stigma and mental illness, psychological assessment, cognitive rehabilitation and social cognition in schizophrenia.CBT for psychosis, EEG correlates of shyness and emotion perception in schizophrenia, smoking management and healthy lifestyles in schizophrenia, functional outcomes and ‘recovery’ in schizophrenia, development of a ˜voices’ questionnaire, moral injury and psychosis

Green, Christopher

Members of my laboratory are working on the history of psychology, especially on the development of statistical methods in the discipline. This includes both the origin of statistical methods in psychology and finding evidence of the misuse of statistics in recent decades. These problems tie in with the current “replication crisis” in psychology. We are also looking at broader theoretical sources of difficulty in psychological research.

Harris, Laurence

My research concentrates on how information from multiple senses is combined to create our perception of 3D space, our body, and our movement and orientation. The lab uses virtual reality with conventional head mounted displays but also specially created environments such as a room built on its side.  Some of my previous research has taken place on the International Space Station to cancel the effects of gravity and underwater to cancel tactile cues to orientation.

Hynie, Michaela

I conduct interdisciplinary multi-method community-based research on social determinants of health with communities experiencing social conflict, social exclusion, or forced displacement and migration. This work includes the development and evaluation of social, institutional and/or policy interventions that can improve health and well-being through improving access to healthcare or other services, improving living conditions, and enhancing social and economic inclusion.

Katz, Joel D

Current Research focuses on psychological, emotional, and biomedical factors involved in acute and chronic pain with a particular emphasis on:

• understanding the processes involved in the transition of acute, time-limited pain to chronic, pathological pain;
• pre-emptive analgesia and other preventive pharmacological interventions designed to minimize acute postoperative pain
• pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions to minimize pain and stress in hospitalized infants
• gender differences in acute postoperative pain and analgesic consumption
• comorbidity of posttraumatic stress disorder and chronic pain
• pain and anxiety in children
• placebo analgesia

Kawakami, Kerry

My research investigates social categorization processes using diverse methods. Some of the main issues I examine are how we perceive people from different social groups, how we react to intergroup bias, and strategies to reduce prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination.

Keough, Matthew

Dr. Keough’s research focuses on improving our understanding of the etiology and treatment of addictive behaviour, including both substance use and behavioural addiction (e.g., problem gambling). His work is mechanism-focused and is rooted in motivational models of personality and cognitive theory. He uses laboratory-based experiments, correlational studies, and prospective designs to identify who is at risk for addiction and the mechanisms underlying this risk. One specific aim of his work is to elucidate coping or self-medication pathways to substance use among young adults. Moreover, he is currently conducting a series of randomized clinical controlled trials to examine new treatments for addiction and co-occurring mental health issues (e.g., depression and anxiety).

Kohler, Peter J.

The Kohler Visual Neuroscience Lab focuses on the domain of mid-level visual processing, which begins in primary visual cortex ~100 ms after stimulus onset, and then unfolds over the next several hundred milliseconds, in several, mostly topographically organized visual brain areas. In this deceptively short time-span, the visual system infers information about the shape, location and movement of the elements in the visual world, but also resolves the perceptual organization of the scene: figure-ground relationships, perceptual grouping, constancy operations and much more. These distinct classes of information are encoded by separate neural populations, but are also deeply interdependent, and in many cases represented at multiple stages of visual processing. We probe this dynamic and complex network of brain areas in humans using functional MRI, EEG and visual psychophysics, to better understand how the brain builds the visual scene representation that is the foundation for our vivid visual experience of the world.

MacDonald, Suzanne

My area of research is animal behaviour.  I work with lots of different species, both in the field in Kenya and Canada, and also at zoos. My interests are in memory and cognition, especially spatial cognition, in primates and other animals

Mar, Raymond A.

The MAR Lab researches a diverse range of topics, that often cluster around the following central questions:
1. How is one’s experience with narrative fiction (e.g., novels, movies, plays) similar to a cognitive and emotional simulation of social experience?
2. What are the cognitive, social, and emotional outcomes of exposure to narrative fiction, both in the short-term and over one’s lifetime?
In general, we examine how imagined experiences can affect real-world cognition and emotion, but we also study a variety of the other research questions.

McCann, Doug

Dr. McCann is interested in trauma, social cognition, and behavioural economics. Current projects are directed at: the nature and sequelae of complex trauma, behavioural economics, affective forecasting, and social-cognitive processes in depression and anxiety, .

Mills, Jennifer

My research interests are in the area of body image and eating disorders. I study malleable risk factors for disordered eating, including body dissatisfaction and dieting. I am particularly interested in the factors that influence how women perceive their bodies and the psychological consequences of social media use. Other recent research projects include the study of women’s reactions to eating disorder prevention messages, motivational interviewing as an adjunct to hospital treatment of eating disorders, and the nature and risk factors of “orthorexia nervosa” or a pathological obsession with clean or healthy eating.

Mongrain, Myriam

Research interesnts include examining transcendent emotions as well as the dark side of the human psyche. More specifically, Dr. Mongrain wishes to elucidate the antecedents, obstacles, and facilative conditions for flourishing and compassionate responding. 

Muise, Amy

In the SHaRe Lab, we apply theories and methods from social psychology to understand how couples can have happier, more fulfilling relationships and more successfully navigate conflicts of interest.  Our work tests the motivational, perceptual, individual difference, and behavioural factors that are associated with sexual desire, satisfaction, and the maintenance of relationships.  We aim to understand how people select romantic partners, develop and maintain relationships and navigate challenges and transitional periods in diverse relationships.

Muller, Robert Tom

At the Trauma & Attachment Lab, under the direction of Dr. Robert T. Muller, we study the treatment of interpersonal trauma in children and adults, using an attachment theory framework. We examine trauma therapy outcome and process. We look at what trauma therapies work, and why. And we’re interested in the psychotherapy relationship and what helps improve treatment response. Dr. Muller’s team is addressing these issues in several collaborative clinical-research projects.   

Murtha, Susan

Research interests include investigating external factors (such as technology, social activity) that impacts well-being. My aim is to determine the factors that would contribute to older adults living independently longer in their own homes.

Pathman, Thanujeni (Jeni)

Her research interests are in cognitive development and developmental cognitive neuroscience.  Dr. Pathman studies the development of memory.  She is especially interested in learning about the development of contextual memory (e.g., memory for time and space), semantic memory, and the development of the processes and neural substrates involved in episodic and autobiographical memory.

Pepler, Debra J

Research interests include early interventions for substance using women and their young children, interpersonal family violence prevention, Children in families at risk,  bullying prevention, wellbeing in Indigenous communities, human-robot interaction, prevention and intervention. For twenty years, Dr. Pepler focused on what went wrong in relationships. Her focus over the past 10 years has shifted to the importance of healthy relationships for healthy development. 

Perry, Adrienne

She supervises a large number of graduate students both academically and clinically in the York University Psychology Clinic. Her research focus is in the area of autism and developmental disabilities including assessment/diagnosis, family issues, and intervention effectiveness, particularly intensive behavioural intervention.

Pettit, Michael

Michael Pettit is a historian of the human sciences and a critical psychologist.His current research focuses on the critical history of mental health over the past hundred years. This project focuses the history of professional psychology in the English-speaking world, including its entanglements with libertarian thought, the promotion of new personal liberties, and advocacy for consumer choice in the medical marketplace. This project examines how these political demands shaped the kind of care psychologists provided. It also explores how radical alternatives to professionalism like community care challenged the field’s narrow individualism. Fundementally this project asks, what kind of freedom did psychology promise and for whom? A related project involves a “reparative” history of mental health which draws upon psychologies of liberation to retheorize prominent concepts like trauma, resilience, and empowerment.Finally, he frequenly engages in public-facing work (such as fiction and podcasting) as other means of pursuing critical psychology questions about the relationship among minds, bodies, culture, and politics.

Pierce, Lara

Lara uses developmental cognitive neuroscience tools to explore how variation in the early environment impacts the development of neural systems. She uses language as a model system, and identifies mechanisms by which specific variables (e.g., those associated with socioeconomic variation and early life stress) shape both early neurodevelopment and the early language environment. She also investigates the role that individual differences (both environmental and physiological) play in the development of language and cognitive abilities and aims to uncover how early neurodevelopmental variation contributes to later learning. She uses tools such as electroencephalography (EEG/ERP), language recordings, and behavioural assessments in infants and children to address these questions.

Pillai Riddell, Rebecca

Dr. Pillai Riddell is the Director of the Opportunities to Understand Childhood Hurt Laboratory at York University, Canada. She is a Tier 1 York Research Chair in Pain and Mental Health. She also is Chair of the External advisory board of the Sick Kids Pain Centre and a member of the advisory board for Sick Kids Infant Mental Health Promotion Program.  As both a basic behavioural scientist and a clinical psychologist, Dr. Pillai Riddell leads a world-renown research program in infant and young child pain that seeks to understand pain from psychological, social, and a biological perspectives.  Her work as a clinical psychologist focuses on supporting parents of babies and young children.  Among her award-winning research accomplishments, her lab built the largest cohort in the world studying young child and parent interactions in vaccinations over the first five years of life. Her research focuses on parent-infant interactions during painful procedures, particularly the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Dr. Pillai Riddell is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, the 2019 American Pain Society’s Jeffrey Lawson Award for Advocacy in Children’s Pain winner, and recipient of Canadian Pain Society’s 2020 Outstanding Mentorship Award.

Pos, Alberta E

Current research focuses on Emotion Focused Therapy,  Emotional Processing, Therapist Empathy, Psychotheorapy Alliance Non-Verbal Measures of Change during Treatment, Psychotherapy Process Research and Process Analysis, Predicting Outcomes, Borderline Personality Disorder.

Prime, Heather

Dr. Prime’s research program uses a family-based approach to understanding mental health and development in children and youth. We emphasize the importance of family relationships as a key mechanism through which risk and/or resilience is transmitted in families. We consider contextual factors that influence children and their families, such as socioeconomic disadvantage, early adverse experiences, and global crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. 

Rawana, Jennine

Dr. Jennine Rawana has broad research, clinical, and teaching interests in adolescent mental health and well-being.  Specifically, her research interests are in three main areas.  First, she examines the risk/vulnerability and protective (e.g., psychological strengths) factors that are related to mental health issues, particularly depressive symptoms, primarily in adolescence and secondarily in emerging adulthood.  Second, she studies the development of emotion regulation across adolescence and emerging adulthood.  Finally, she examines the promotion of mental health and school engagement in strength-based programs in schools.  Within this area, she also uses a participatory community-based research framework to develop, implement, and evaluate strength-based and mentoring programs that promote the mental health and educational outcomes of Indigenous youth.  Across these research areas, Dr. Rawana and the REACh lab, consisting of undergraduate and graduate students, research assistants, and volunteers, have adopted a positive psychology approach that focuses on promoting individual and contextual factors that protect against the development and maintenance of mental health, well-being, and student success.  She also strives to broaden our understanding of these issues among Indigenous youth in Canada. Please see the REACh lab website for more information.

Rodrigo, Achala H.

My work falls broadly within the sphere of understanding how higher-order aspects of cognition (e.g., cognitive control, social cognition, etc.) translate into behaviour. One focus is on understanding the complex relationship between executive dysfunction and clinically relevant behavioural constructs (e.g., interpersonal problems, impulsivity, etc.). Another focus is on understanding and quantifying factors that may impact aspects of executive function, and in turn influence behavioural outcomes. For example, examining the impact of psychological distress (e.g., trauma-related distress, anxiety, etc.) on behaviour regulation, and how that relationship might be reflected in real-world outcomes (e.g., quality of relationships, treatment adherence, health-care utilization, work performance, etc.). My lab uses a multi-method approach that looks across self/informant-report, neuropsychological assessment, and brain-based biomarkers (e.g., fNIRS, EEG, fMRI, etc.). 

Rosenbaum, R. Shayna

Shayna Rosenbaum is a Professor and York Research Chair in the Department of Psychology and Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) Program at York University and is an Associate Scientist at the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest. She is registered as a Clinical Neuropsychologist with the College of Psychologists of Ontario. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Toronto in 2004 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Rotman. She has published extensively on the topics of memory and decision-making, and has received awards for her neuroimaging and patient research, including a Sloan Research Fellowship and early career awards from the Canadian Association for Neuroscience, Canadian Society for Brain Behaviour and Cognitive Science (CSBBCS), and International Neuropsychological Society. Her research is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. She is an elected member of the Royal Society of Canada College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists and is a past member of the Board of Trustees of the Ontario Science Centre.

Rutherford, Alexandra

I use critical historical and qualitative approaches to analyze the development and contemporary status of the human sciences. I am interested in how psychologists have used their scientific ‘expertise’ to impact society and how, in turn, social and political factors have shaped the nature of this expertise and its influence. In my current project I examine the relationship between feminist psychology and policy in the United States from the 1940s-present.

Steele, Jennifer

We examine the development and consequences of racial prejudice and gender stereotyping in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Some of our research takes an intersectional approach, recognizing the unique experiences of discrimination that people can face based on their multiple identities. Other lines of research are designed to help us better understand when biases are more likely to be expressed and how they might be overcome. A number of our studies make use of implicit measures, including those found at Project Implicit, a non-profit organization where Dr. Steele is on the Scientific Advisory Board.

Steeves, Jennifer

York Research Chair in Non-invasive Visual Brain Stimulation. Visual neuroscientist using neuroimaging (MRI) and non-invasive neuromodulation techniques to study the visual brain in healthy individuals and rare neuro-ophthalmological patients. Currently serving as Associate Vice-President Research at York University.

Stevens, W. Dale

His program of research broadly investigates the neurocognitive specialization, organization, and interaction of brain systems that underlie human conceptual processing, and the related processes of memory and perceptual abstraction. He uses a combination of behavioral, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging methodologies (e.g., MRI) to elucidate how cognitive abstraction underlies our ability to grasp, retain, and retrieve information in the form of conceptual knowledge. He also investigates how these processes are affected by healthy aging, and by developmental and neurological disorders.

Struthers, C. Ward

My primary area of research concerns social motivation or the scientific study of how we evaluate and judge ourselves and others and then use those evaluations and judgements to guide our social interactions. I use a broad range of theories and research methods from social, personality, and evolutionary psychology to understand how individuals negotiate and repair their relationships following interpersonal transgressions. My research is primarily focused on answering questions associated with how, why, and when intrapersonal and interpersonal factors associated with victims and transgressors influence their respective post-transgression responses such as seeking revenge, harboring grudges, forgiving, and apologizing. From an applied and practical perspective, this research will help pave the way to promoting functional uses of revenge, forgiveness, grudges, and apologies toward the goal of reconciliation between individuals and groups whose relationships have been damaged by transgressions. Given that social bonding is fundamental to the ongoing success of individuals and groups, the knowledge gained from this research has far reaching implications and applications for societal challenges such as bullying, discrimination, divorce, domestic violence, gang violence, hate crimes, terrorism, conflict resolution, and reconciliation

Teo, Thomas

His research has been meta-psychological to provide a more reflexive understanding of the foundations, trajectories, and possibilities of human subjectivity.

Till, Christine

Dr. Till’s research bridges developmental neurosciences and children’s environmental health with a focus on understanding how exposures to environmental contaminants can impact neurodevelopment, including cognitive and behavioural outcomes. She is currently leading multi-disciplinary studies examining the effects of exposure to fluoride and other neurotoxicants on maternal thyroid functioning and child neurodevelopment. Dr. Till and her research team are determined to improve child health outcomes through prevention of risk. 

Wardell, Jeffrey

Dr. Wardell studies substance use behaviour, especially cannabis and alcohol use, in populations at risk for substance-related problems (e.g., young adults, people living with HIV). His research examines how personality, cognitive, social, and biological factors interact to increase risk for, or provide protection against, negative consequences and health risks of substance use. A current focus of his research is understanding the predictors and consequences of combined use of cannabis and alcohol. He also has a current line of research investigating the (blurred) boundaries between medicinal and recreational cannabis use.

Weiss, Jonathan

Dr. Weiss is a Professor in the Department of Psychology, and a Clinical Psychologist. His research focuses on mental health in autistic people or people with intellectual disabilities across the lifespan. He conducts studies into how people with developmental disabilities access mental health care, and is interested in their service needs, use, and experiences. His work is also focused on understanding and supporting family wellness when at least one family member has a developmental disability. He is interested in program development and evaluation, and in particular on the impact of Special Olympics on the psychological well-being of participants, and of psychosocial interventions to promote resilience and improve the mental health of children and adults with developmental disabilities.

Westra, Henny Alice

My current research is focused on improving and evaluating training in psychotherapy. I am especially interested in evaluating training focused on process-sensitivity including acuity and responsivity to resistance and ambivalence markers. The development of therapist skill using deliberate practice methods is also of interest. In addition, my research is focused on the application of Motivational Interviewing (MI) to anxiety disorders and the integration of MI with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for anxiety. My collaborators and I have conducted several clinical trials to examine the efficacy of MI-CBT. My research is focused on understanding resistance in psychotherapy, especially disharmony in the therapeutic relationship, lack of collaboration, and disengagement. 

White, Cindel

A brief description of my program of research: My research investigates variation in religion, supernatural beliefs, and cultural values, and how diverse worldviews affect social psychology, cognition, and interpersonal behavior.

Wilcox, Laurie

In my basic research program, I use psychophysical methods to reveal properties of the neural mechanisms which underpin stereoscopic depth perception. A recurring theme in my basic research is the stereoscopic interpolation of surfaces and the impact of this on suprathreshold depth perception. I am also interested in how and when stereoscopic depth information is used in more complex environments (both virtual and physical). I also have a strong interest in industry collaboration and have a number of ongoing projects with companies (Qualcomm) and organizations (VESA, DRDC).

Wiseheart, Melody

We study methods for improving educational outcomes, including the spacing effect. We are developing and validating a new socioeconomic status scale. 

Wojtowicz, Magdalena

The overall objective of my research program is to improve our understanding of cognitive dysfunction, psychological functioning, as well as mechanisms of compensation and recovery, in patients suffering from neurological disorders. My current research efforts are focused on mild traumatic brain injury and sport-related concussion in civilians, service members and veterans, as well as student and professional athletes. I am pursuing projects focused on 1) understanding how pre-morbid factors influence concussion risk and recovery, and (2) examining potential long-term consequences of multiple concussions and exposure to repetitive head trauma over the lifespan.

Zhang, Xijuan

Our lab’s research program consists of three streams: 1) developing new methods for computing point or interval estimates of fit indices in structural equation modelling (SEM); 2) developing new scale formats with better psychometric properties; and 3) improving social science researchers’ understanding of statistics by writing a series of tutorial and teaching papers. The first stream is the primary research focus. The second and third streams naturally evolve from the first stream as we discover and address new problems in my research. Our experiences in applied research (e.g., item format projects) give us unique insight into the type of methodological problems that applied researchers encounter, and thus inspire us to conduct methodological research (e.g., SEM fit indices projects) to address these problems. Our methodological research, in turn, makes us realize the misconceptions in the existing literature and thus inspires us to write tutorial and teaching papers to address these misconceptions. Together, with these three research streams, we hope to reach a wide range of audiences and make a substantial impact in both the applied and methodological fields.

Zoidl, Georg R

Project Area 1: Role of Electrical Synapses in Vision

Project Area 2: Role of Electrical Synapses in Neuronal Plasticity: From Genes to Function

Project Area 3: Development of Zebrafish Models of Neurological Disorders