Members

MEMBERS


Principal Investigators
Jan De Houwer, Pieter Van Dessel

Post-Doctoral Researchers
Yannick Boddez, Martin Finn, Marine Rougier, Jamie Cummins

(not on picture: Sean Hughes, Alex Macias)

Doctoral Students
Maura Nevejans, Tilia Linthout, Matthias Raemaekers, Zita Meijer, Zhefei Mao


Principal Investigators

Prof. dr. Jan De Houwer

Head of the LIP lab research group





Research Interests


My research concerns the manner in which spontaneous (automatic) preferences are learned and can be measured. Regarding the learning of preferences, I focus on the role of stimulus pairings (evaluative conditioning). With regard to the measurement of preferences, I developed new reaction time measures and examined the processes underlying various measures. Other research interests include associative learning, learning via instructions, and stimulus-response compatibility. I am also interested in meta-theoretical issues such as the relation between cognitive and functional psychology (i.e., behaviorism).


Academic Bibliography

Prof. Dr. Pieter Van Dessel





Research Interests


In my research, I try to unravelthe automatic mental processes that underlie behaviour and behaviour change. I focus on mental processes that involve the automatic application of beliefs (i.e., automatic inferential processes). I have developed new theories and interventions in different domains of psychological science, such as in research on learning; persuasion; automatic evaluation; prejudice; addiction; and psychopathology. I strive for the large-scale application of scientific evidence about the (cognitive) determinants of behaviour to tackle important problems at the individual, organizational or societal level. I am also a major proponent of integer and open science.


Academic Bibliography


          Contact

          Post-Doctoral Researchers

          Prof. Dr. Yannick Boddez






          Research Interests


          My research concerns learning principles and their application. I have, for example, studied the role of learning in (the reduction of) psychological suffering (e.g., anxiety, grief, insomnia / fatigue) and in art appreciation. Generalization and extinction are recurrent topics in this work. 


          Academic Bibliography



          Dr. Martin Finn





          Research Interests


          My research interests include analyses of complex behavior, relational responding, and how exploring these issues informs our understanding of applied domains. Other areas that contribute to forwarding my primary research interests include the procedural features of implicit measures, measurement and experimental manipulation of implicit attitudes, functional psychology and learning psychology.


          Academic Bibliography



          Dr. Marine Rougier





          Research Interests


          My research interests are mainly about the measure of spontaneous preferences (such as approach and avoidance reactions) as well as on the modification of these preferences, that is, learning effects (e.g., approach/avoidance training, evaluative and attribute conditioning) and impression formation (e.g., spontaneous trait inferences). Relying on the feature transformation effect framework, my current research focuses more on how previous conceptual beliefs about features (and how they relate; e.g., trustworthiness and intelligence) can determine future learning effects.



          Academic Bibliography



          Dr. Jamie Cummins (affiliated)






          Research Interests


          My research focuses on developing and using computerised training procedures, based on basic principles of learning, to train relational reasoning skills in children, typically-developed adults, and older adults with cognitive impairment and dementia. I examine whether training these skills can offer clinically-meaningful improvements in the cognitive performances of these groups (e.g., better performance at school for children, reduced cognitive decline in older adults). I am also interesting more generally in the psychology of learning, implicit measures, and the philosophy of science and language. I am a strong proponent of Open Science.



          Academic Bibliography


                  Contact

                  Dr. Alejandro (Alex) Macias







                  Research Interests


                  My research interests lie in the field of experimental psychology, with a particular focus on the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (EAB). I primarily study behavior and learning, investigating the behavior of an organism as a function of its environment.


                  Currently, I am expanding this functionalistic perspective beyond individual organisms to encompass other systems. By extending the principles and methodologies of behavior analysis, I aim to explore how the behavior of various systems—such as groups, plants, artificial intelligence, fungi, and others—can also be understood as functions of their respective environments.


                  Academic Bibliography


                          Dr. Sean Hughes (affiliated)






                          Research Interests


                          A Senior Learning Innovator and Design Specialist who partners with global leaders and institutions to revolutionize their educational practices for a post-AI era. I do so by building and managing interdisciplinary programs that draw on the latest advances in (active) learning science to equip learners with technical and durable skills (e.g., critical and creative systems thinking, ethical reasoning, emotionally intelligent leadership and social influence).


                          Doctoral Students

                          Maura Nevejans 








                          Research Interest


                          My research focuses on social imitation: when we’re in conversation with someone, we often take the same pose as our interaction partner and even copy the gestures they make. These imitative tendencies are thought to support successful social interactions. Based on this idea, it has been argued that imitation should be moderated by the social context and that it is disrupted in individuals with autism, causing them to show difficulties during social interaction.


                          My Ph.D. project investigates these two claims. More specifically, I study how imitative tendencies are influenced by social factors, such as eye contact or the social group the interaction partners belong to, in adults with and without autism. To do this, I use a functional-cognitive perspective, starting from the idea that imitation is operant behavior that is moderated by reinforcers, discriminative stimuli, and establishing operations.



                          Academic Bibliography


                                  Contact

                                  Tilia Linthout







                                  Research Interests


                                  During this Ph.D., the primary goal is to develop new interventions to help solve current problems related to the prison environment. To develop these interventions, we draw upon the goal-directed predictive processing theory. One of our projects focuses on developing an intervention aimed at improving impulse control among prisoners. We will test this intervention across various contexts, namely online, in the lab, and eventually in prison where there is a high demand for such intervention. Another project centers on understanding and addressing the needs of Flemish correctional officers, with the ultimate goal of informing the development of more effective and targeted correctional officers’ training programs.


                                  I intend to collaborate closely with various stakeholders, such as prison directors, educators, and correctional officers, and to actively engage them in the development of the interventions. I also hope to foster a more informed and empathetic perspective among the general public regarding these challenges faced in the prison environment.


                                  Academic Bibliography


                                          Contact

                                          Matthias Raemaekers





                                          Research Interests


                                          My work at the LIPLab involves the study of learning from a functional psychological perspective. Currently, we are investigating complex learning effects (i.e., changes in behavior that are due to the joint effect of multiple regularities, or regularities in the presence of regularities, in the environment), including the functions that relations can have in relational learning effects and the moderators of these functions. I am also interested in the possible practical applications of this work on relational learning (e.g., relational training to increase scholastic aptitude or symbolic thinking in ASD), as well as implications for research in cognitive psychology. Furthermore, for my doctoral project, we aim to interface functional learning psychology with computational reinforcement learning models, to address the limitations of these models as well as suggest improvements, additions and predictions from a functional perspective.


                                          Academic Bibliography


                                                Zita Meijer






                                                Research Interests


                                                During my PhD, I focus on the impact of training relational skills in children with an online training intervention called SMART (Strengthening Mental Abilities with Relational Responding). I investigate whether, and how, this programme can enhance real-world abilities, such as academic performance in areas like numeracy, literacy and problem solving.

                                                A key aspect of my research is the use of single-case experimental designs to rigorously evaluate the effects of SMART on individual participants, allowing for detailed analysis of cognitive improvements. This also provides us insights into children's subjective experience with online training programmes. Additionally, I want to examine SMART's potential in clinical settings, specifically with children who have learning or developmental disabilities, to assess its effectiveness as a cognitive intervention. Through this work, I aim to contribute to a deeper understanding of relational reasoning and its applications in both educational and clinical contexts.




                                                Academic Bibliography



                                                      Zhefei Mao





                                                      Research Interests


                                                      My research focuses on reducing prejudices and discriminatory behaviors, especially in real-life contexts. To do this, I currently follow the idea of inferential processes that underlie behavior change and test the effectiveness of inference-based evaluative conditioning interventions (implemented in the real world). One feature of such interventions is that people can theoretically make inferences from stimuli pairings and subsequently feel fewer reactances towards interventions. I also pay attention to other interventions that can improve intergroup evaluations and reduce discrimination.


                                                      Interns



                                                      Former members of the LIP lab


                                                      Senne Braem

                                                      Evelien Bossuyt

                                                      Femke Cathelyn

                                                      Jamie Cummins
                                                      Evelyne Debey
                                                      Mieke De Clercq

                                                      Marie Delabie

                                                      Maarten De Schryver

                                                      Jeffrey De Winne 
                                                      Tom Everaert
                                                      Anne Gast
                                                      Niclas Heider

                                                      Sean Hughes

                                                      Ian Hussey

                                                      Ariane Jim

                                                      Sarah Kasran

                                                      Baptist Liefooghe
                                                      Valerie Maresceau 

                                                      Simone Mattavelli
                                                      Gaetan Mertens 

                                                      Agnes Moors

                                                      Tal Moran
                                                      Lies Notebaert 

                                                      Sarah Opsomer

                                                      James Schmidt
                                                      Colin Smith

                                                      Adriaan Spruyt
                                                      Kristina Suchotzki
                                                      Helen Tibboel
                                                      Marijke Theeuwes
                                                      Jolien Vanaelst

                                                      Katrien Vandenbosch
                                                      Julia Vogt 
                                                      Dorit Wenke 
                                                      Riccardo Zanon

                                                      Visiting scholars


                                                      2007: Matt Field
                                                      2008: Jorg Huijding 
                                                      2009: Helena Matute, Robert Balas
                                                      2011: Miguel Vadillo
                                                      2012: Bertram Gawronski 
                                                      2013: Marco Perugini
                                                      2013: Mandy Hütter 
                                                      2013-2014: Ayumi Tanaka
                                                      2015: Brian O'Shea
                                                      2015: Benedek Kurdi
                                                      2016: Juliane Scheill
                                                      2017: Christina Ffeuffer

                                                      2018: Marco Perugini

                                                      2019: Niels Kukken

                                                      2021: Catalina Bunghez, Florina Huzoaica, and Cristina Zogmaister

                                                      2022: Anca Lazar, Cristina Maroiu

                                                      2023-2024: Francesco Fedeli

                                                      2024: Deborah Ferrante, Reinout Wiers