FRaME Lab
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PRINCIPLE INVESTIGATOR

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STEPHEN J. FLUSBERG  [sflusberg at vassar dot edu]  [CV]
I am ​an Assistant Professor of Cognitive Science at Vassar College. Previously, I held the position of Associate Professor of Psychology and Faculty Director of Pedagogy Development at Purchase College, SUNY. I received my PhD in Cognitive 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 training in self defense. I live in the New York City area with my wife and dog. 

CURRENT LAB MEMBERS

Zach Garfinkle is a senior Cog Sci major at Vassar interested in the role of metaphor and analogy in explanation. He is currently exploring how people think about time travel and whether using multiple explanatory metaphors helps people understand complex topics more than individual metaphors or literal explanations, a process known as metaphorical triangulation. 
Jane Zhang is a freshman at Vassar interested in the relationship between language and thought. She is currently developing a smartphone app for a project that will test whether training to use absolute spatial language (i.e., cardinal directions) will enhance people's allocentric spatial awareness. 

LAB ALUMNI and RESEARCH/THESIS TOPICS

2024-2025
2022-2023
Asher Donnelly: Victim framing shapes attitudes across diverse contexts
Emily Doucet: Investigating the factors that contribute to action slips in piano performance
JD Jarolimek: Victim framing shapes attitudes across diverse contexts​​
Esmé Nix: Victim framing shapes attitudes across diverse contexts
Alex Spitzer: The role of movement labeling in dance sequence learning
Lindsey Anderson: How celebrity status of alleged assailants impacts victim framing
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​Madison Buttice: How language and athlete identity impact social judgment
Amna Khan: The impact of mixed metaphor framing​​
Nicole Brea Ortiz: Investigating the impact of age on essentialist reasoning in kids​​
Andrew Raska:
 A critical evaluation of cognitive reappraisal for stress management
2021-2022​
Yasmine Compare: Effects of a brief educational intervention on mental illness stigma
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Matthew Cohen: Effects of phonetics and celebrity on preference for neologisms
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Deborah Hoffman: Investigating the social and cognitive consequences of bilingualism
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Natalie Kurek: Factors associated with resistance to gender-fair language
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Raja Mazar: The impact of anthropomorphism on cognitive development
Hadiyah Phillips: 
Bicultural identity and belonging in a college setting
2020-2021
​Olisa Bajgora: The foreign language effect in moral judgment and mental imagery
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Kelly Baxter: Linguistic framing and stigma for substance use disorders
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Angelica Castaldo: Investigating the prevalence and predictors of the Mandela Effect
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Dylan Ciolfi: The role of gender stereotypes in victim framing
Jasmine Pacheco: The relationship between aphantasia, daydreaming, and rumination
Riley Philistin:
 Barriers to education in a non-native language
2018-2019
Sam Balko: Effects of speaker and listener identity on metaphor framing
Abbey Cuddy: Does maternal history of depression predict internal state talk?
Melissa Herrera: Does maternal internal state talk affect executive functioning?
Edona Lazorja: War metaphors for addiction
Katherine Lopez: Framing effects for neurodiverse persons in a criminal context
​Kiera O'Connell: Is there a saving-enhanced memory effect for spatial layouts? 
2017-2018
Michael Battersby: Metaphorical framing for the treatment of social anxiety
Jada Cheek: Linguistic framing and attitudes towards law enforcement
Nicholas Duci: How smartphone presence affects lecture learning
Carly LaPlace: Agent framing moderates effects of the moral history of money
Robert Olejarz: Do smartphones function as security blankets?
​Justice Marin: Framing effects on attitudes towards mental illness
2016-2017​
Mark Lauria: The influence of communication modality on metaphor framing
Avianca Ramos: Saving-enhanced memory effects in the real world
Jessica Smith: How access to the internet affects problem-solving
Rachel Ubanos: Cognitive consequences of schema violations
Paul Wingate: Do schema violations reduce top-down processing? 
2015-2016
Kevin Collister: Effects of schema disruptions on visual pattern detection
Adaira Marie Greco: The effects of thought disposal on feelings of guilt
Conrad Hamonet: Illusory behavioral synchrony and prosocial behavior
Daniel Pitti: Effects of metaphor on perceptions of social mobility 
2014-2015
Kathleen Dengler: The role of acting experience in lie detection
Phineas Howie: Effects of information availability on memory and attitudes
Brianna Massaro: Do metaphors enhance text learning?
Jessica Pivnik: How low illumination affects the empathic response
Devin Stack: The effects of musical experience on sequential memory
2013-2014
Gracie Bihn: Does yoga enhance attentional abilities?
Michael DellaValle: The role of metaphor in reasoning about mental illness
Alicia Hwang: Effects of dance expertise on sequence learning
Dean Miller: Multiple reference frames in the learning of spatial layouts
Stacy Radich: Movin’ on up: Spatial metaphors and social standing
2012-2013
Chase Meyerson: Do actors make better liars and lie detectors?
Derek Shapiro: Life journey metaphors predict locus of control 
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