Kristina V
- Research Program Mentor

MA candidate at New York University

Expertise

Anything involving the mind, brain, and behavior

Bio

The human experience is the combination of the physical brain, observable behaviors, and subjective sensations generated by the mind. I find it fascinating that the brain is constantly perceiving and interpreting the world below the radar of conscious awareness. I am intrigued by the ways in which physiological mechanisms that allow each individual to process the same stimuli uniquely and form distinct conclusions, as well as the neural mechanisms underlying cognition and behavior. Broadly, my research interests include social cognition, affective and behavioral neuroscience, genetics, consciousness, individual differences, developmental psychology. Psychopathology in particular has intrigued me due to the nature of its development and social implications. Furthermore, the topic of psychopaths has fascinated me ever since reading literature by Robert James Richard Blair in an undergraduate class.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Social Media Engagement and Attention

The constant influx of fast paced media such as tiktok has led many to question if these platforms will have effects on cognitive processes, such as attention and memory. This experiment will compare social media usage and/or screen time with performance on a cognitive task. One option is the flanker task, which the student can code, for example, in HTML. Demographic measures, or any other behavioral measures the student is interested in, can be added as well.

Coding skills

Python, R studio, HTML (basic), PsychoPy (beginner)

Languages I know

Spanish, Limited Working Proficiency

Teaching experience

I was a part of two collaborative labs in my undergraduate career; the human memory and behavioral and developmental disabilities labs. In these labs, students (I) started by helping with group projects, then moved on to starting their own, then eventually mentored new students to begin their own independent research projects. Additionally, as an older and more experienced student in these labs I spoke with newer lab members about narrowing down their project focus and how to begin data collection, manuscript writing, and poster creation/presentation.

Credentials

Work experience

Columbia University/ New York State Psychiatric Institute (2022 - Current)

Research Assistant/Intern- Neurocognitive and Emotion lab (NCEL)

Marist College (2019 - 2021)

Research Assistant- Behavioral and Developmental Disabilities Lab

Marist College (2020 - 2021)

Research Assistant- Human Memory Lab

Marist College (2019 - 2021)

Tutor- Biology, Chemistry, Philosophy, Psychology

Education

Marist College

BA Bachelor of Arts

Psychology

New York University

MA Master of Arts candidate