Research

How do we think, remember, pay attention, communicate, form and implement goals, solve problems, and make decisions? Cognitive psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists at NYUAD use a wide array of methodologies, including behavioral methods, brain imaging techniques, and computational modeling, to investigate how the human brain performs these computations. Research on Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience at NYUAD includes the following areas:

• Attention
• Memory
• Language and Speech Processing
• Concepts and Categorization
• Cognitive Control
• Consciousness
• Decision-making

Principal Investigators

Research Institute Centers

The study of perception aims to understand how the human brain interacts with the dynamic world, via perceiving sensory inputs and making sense of them. Researchers in the field of Perception use a variety of state-of-the-art techniques, including psychophysics, eye tracking, movement tracking, computational modeling, and neuroimaging. Perception research at NYUAD includes the following areas:

• Visual Perception
• Multisensory Perception and Motor Behavior
• 2D and 3D Motion Perception
• Reading and Speech Perception
• High-level Vision (Object, Face, and Scene Recognition)
• Perceptual Expertise
• Virtual and Augmented Reality

Principal Investigators

Developmental Psychology is concerned with the complexity of human development across the lifespan. How do we develop? How do our early experiences shape who we are later in life? How can we support development so that all individuals can reach their full developmental potential? What can we learn about human development from studying individuals in different cultures? At NYUAD, researchers in the field of Developmental Psychology are interested in the following areas:

• Caregiver-child Interactions
• Supportive Parenting
• Effects of Early Experiences Across the Lifespan
• Development of Secure Attachment
• Early Childhood Education 
• School Readiness
• Development in the Context of Adversity 

Principal Investigators

Social psychology is the scientific study of how the presence of others and social situations affect our thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and behaviors. Social psychologists at NYUAD conduct experimental studies and statistical analyses of survey data to understand how situational and dispositional characteristics influence our opinions, attitudes, and actions. At NYUAD, research in social psychology is currently investigating questions in the following areas:

• Prejudice
• Intergroup Relations
• Gender Norms
• Inequality
• Political Ideology

Principal Investigators