Principle Investigator

​​Stephen J. Flusberg, Ph.D.
​I am ​an Associate Professor of Psychology and the Faculty Director of Pedagogy Development at Purchase College, SUNY. I received my PhD in Psychology from Stanford University, and BAs in Psychology and Religion from Northwestern University. When I am not professing, I enjoy creating and listening to music, reading (speculative) fiction, and practicing self defense. I live in New York City with my wife and our two dogs. 

Link to my CV

Senior Researchers

Samuel Balko
​Sam is fascinated by metaphors and is interested in how they shape how people think about complex issues. His senior thesis is exploring the role that speaker and listener identities, including gender and ethnicity, might moderate the efficacy of metaphor framing. 

Edona Lazorja
Edona is passionate about mental health and wants to understand the factors that influence people's lay theories of clinical disorders. Her senior thesis is investigating the effects of war metaphors on people's intentions to engage in self-limiting behaviors that may reduce the odds of developing a drug addiction.

Katherine Lopez
Katie is interested in both forensic and clinical psychology and believes that a deeper consideration of neurodiversity is critical in both fields. Her senior thesis investigates whether people judge the alleged perpetrator of a crime differently when they are described as having a clinical disorder characterized by social communication deficits, and whether the specific language used to describe this condition matters. 

Kiera O'Connell
Kiera is fascinated by the various ways in which we use technology to increase our cognitive powers. In her senior thesis, she is examining whether a specific consequence of cognitive offloading, the "saving-enhanced memory effect," applies to memory for spatial relationships in addition to linguistic stimuli.

Abbey Cuddy
​Abbey is interested in the relationship parental mental health and the language they use when speaking to their children. Her thesis, which is co-sponsored by Professor Carolyn Cates, is specifically looking at whether the presence of maternal depressive symptoms is associated with the quantity of internal mental state language they use with their children.

Melissa Herrera
Melissa is interested in how parental language shapes the developments of their children. Her thesis, which is co-sponsored by Professor Carolyn Cates, investigates whether maternal mental state talk predicts delay of gratification abilities in low SES Hispanic preschool children. 

2017-2018

LAB ALUMNI

Michael Battersby
​
Jada Cheek

Nicholas Duci

Carly LaPlace

Robert Olejarz

Justice Marin 

2016-2017

Paul Wingate

Rachel Ubanos

Jessica Smith

Avianca Ramos

Mark Lauria

2015-2016

Kevin Collister

Conrad Hamonet

Adaira Marie Greco

​Daniel Pitti

2014-2015

Phineas Howie

Kathleen Dengler

Jessica Pivnik

Devin Stack

​Brie Massaro 

​2013-2014

Michael DellaValle

Gracie Bihn

Stacy Radich

Dean Miller

​Alicia Hwang

2012-2013

Derek Shapiro

​Chase Meyerson