About

I am a cognitive scientist who uses computational modeling and behavioral experimentation to investigate those complex forms of cognition that are uniquely human, and indeed make us human. My primary line of research is in mathematical and computational thinking, where my students and I investigate the cognitive mechanisms underlying our ability to understand abstract mathematical concepts (e.g., in geometry and topology) and to reason about computationally hard problems (e.g., the travelling salesperson problem). My lab also works on problem solving, with an increasing focus on bounded rationality and the interface between the internal cognitive system and the structure of the environment. Our research on language understanding is characterized by the development of computational models and the use of machine learning techniques.

About

In an era in which many people can live well into their eighties or nineties, articulating pathways to a quality life becomes more critical than ever before. At the broadest sense, I am interested in identifying the affective, cognitive, and sociocultural processes that shape long and meaningful lives. My research addresses three broad questions: (1) What factors contribute to meaningful lives? (2) How do individual life experiences, particularly those that are personally significant and challenging, shape the pursuit of meaning across the adult life span in diverse contexts? (3) What emotional and cognitive gains and losses might be involved in the process of striving for meaningfulness? I address these questions from a functional approach to autobiographical memory and consider how developmental changes in motivation across the adult life span may be at play.

About

Recruiting new PhD students for the Fall of 2024

My overarching research mission is to improve human flourishing by conducting meaningful and transformational research. While my primary training is in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, my research approach is not confined to studying the human condition at work. I take an interdisciplinary, person-centric, future-looking approach to examining the human experience across various contexts. Specifically, my work is organized around two central themes: Well-Being and Teams. For more information about my current research projects, please visit The Foundation Lab page 

About

The fundamental premise of my work is that computational models from cognitive psychology and cognitive science can be adapted to provide testable process models of decision-making phenomena and optimized to support the decision-making of professionals. I direct the Decision Processes Laboratory (DPL). The DPL utilizes a range of experimental methodologies (behavioral, eye-tracking, EEG) and computational techniques (statistical, mathematical, neural networks) to investigate decision-making phenomena. Much of our applied work concerns the study and measurement of expertise; primarily in the areas of performance evaluation and the development of decision support tools. One area of specialization is the development of computational models that describe how people, generate hypotheses to explain patterns of data, which is common in everyday problem solving; and it is the basis for decision-making in many disciplines, such as medical diagnosis, criminal investigation, intelligence sensemaking, software debugging, and scientific discovery. We also seek to optimize models of human hypothesis generation to serve as decision support tools to aid the diagnostic decision-making of professionals and to improve the robustness of existing applications of artificially intelligent classification systems.

About

My early research examined neural mechanisms of sensory-based recollections. I have also become interested in understanding how memory operates under varying demands on attention, and how we arrive at decisions that are based on our memories and perceptions. The lab has been studying perceptual decision making in order to identify neural signals related to different stages of the decision process. We have recently been building from our early research in this area to study how memory, attention, and decision-making abilities change in healthy aging. We use psychophysical, modeling, and brain imaging approaches to study these topics. Recently, our research has been funded by the Alzheimer’s Association, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Science Foundation.

About

Cognitive control refers to the set of processes by which we direct our actions toward a specific goal. At the most basic level, control processes allow us to translate a presented stimulus into an appropriate motor action. However, these processes and representations quickly become more complex when trying to understand more involved behaviors such as learning peoples names or watching and understanding films. Research in our lab investigates both the cognitive and the neuroscientific aspects of the processes and representations required to carry out flexible behavior across a wide variety of domains.

About

Dr. Christopher Stanzione is an Educational Psychologist who is interested in the scientific study of human learning. He focuses on how students best acquire new skills and knowledge as they learn, and helps develop and refine instructional methods and materials to enhance the classroom learning experience. Moreover, Dr. Stanzione is interested in studying language and cognitive development in both at-risk and deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

Dr. Stanzione is the 2018 Recipient of GT's Center for Teaching and Learning Undergraduate Educator Award.  This award recognizes the outstanding contributions of non-tenure-track faculty to the education of Georgia Tech undergraduate students. "Students and colleagues say Stanzione has an unparalleled passion for teaching, which manifests in instructor effectiveness. Stanzione’s instructor effectiveness ratings for each of his classes are never lower than 4.7 and often reach 5.0." http://www.cos.gatech.edu/hg/item/604504