Principal Investigators

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.

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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.

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Dr. Liesbeth Bogaert

Research Interests

My research focuses on evaluating an integrative cognitive framework that combines goal-directed models, predictive coding theory, and relational frame theory for use in (behavioral) therapy. By working closely with clinicians and refining the framework through case analyses, the project bridges rigorous theory with direct therapeutic application.

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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.

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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).

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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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.

Serena Haya Tobing

Research Interests

My current PhD project aims to bridge impression formation (e.g., stereotyping, halo effect, spontaneous trait inference and transference) with learning effects (e.g., evaluative conditioning). More specifically, I am interested in measuring and modifying impression formation. Before starting my PhD, I also worked in the domain of learning in psychopathology.

Hailey (Ziling) Cheng

Research Interests

I specialized in behavioral research in the consumer domain. My work focuses on the Goal-Directed Predictive Processing framework, which integrates Predictive Coding Theory and Goal-Directed Theory, to evaluate how inferential processes can be leveraged in nudging interventions that encourage sustainable consumption. By examining the inferential processes that underpin decision-making, the research aims to shed light on how to reshape consumer beliefs and behaviors toward more environmentally responsible actions.

Guilherme Sbrocco (visitor)

Research Interests

I am pursuing a PhD in Behavioral Analysis of Cognition, supported by FAPESP. My research focuses on providing data to collaborate in a theoretical debate between Stimulus Equivalence (SE) and Relational Frame Theory (RFT) using behavior and electrophysiological measures (i.e., EEG).

RFT posits that opposing relations between stimuli can lead to the derivation of coordination relations, whereas SE relies solely on equivalence relations to explain its findings, claiming that its approach is more parsimonious. In my first experiment, I trained a linear series of opposition relations using abstract stimuli. Behavioral tests confirmed the derivation of coordination relations, though neurological data were inconclusive. Ongoing experiments aim to refine EEG acquisition procedures and behavioral measurement techniques to not only demonstrate the derivation of coordination relations but also to assess the alternation between coordination and opposition throughout the linear series.

Academic Bibliography

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