Director
Peter Sokol-Hessner
He/him/his
Peter obtained his Ph.D. in Psychology from New York University in Elizabeth Phelps' lab. He did postdoctoral training with Antonio Rangel at Caltech, and then with Nathaniel Daw and Elizabeth Phelps at NYU. In his work, he enjoys integrating the perspectives and methods associated with different fields, including cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and behavioral & microeconomics, to understand how we assess value, how we use value to guide behavior, and the ways that emotion is integrated into those processes. Peter founded the professional development program Paths In Psychological Science in the Psychology Department at DU, is an Academic Advisor for DU psychology undergraduates, and was the department’s Professional Development Coordinator for 2020-2022. Peter also founded and leads the Application Statement Feedback Program.
CV | Google Scholar | Twitter | LinkedIn | Email
Graduate Students
Jay Von R. Monteza
He/him/his
Von is a second-year graduate student in the ASC area. Originally from the Philippines, he lived in Southern California for most of his life where he earned his Associates in Psychology and Art from Riverside City College (RCC) and his Bachelors in Psychology from California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). Before joining the Sokol-Hessner lab and the MAC lab in fall 2022, Von was a research assistant in the Koshino Lab in the Learning Research Institute at CSUSB, the STEM en familia program at RCC, and the Virtual Lab at the Center for Decision Research, Chicago Booth. He is interested in the interactions between attention, memory, emotion, motivation, reasoning, cognitive control, and decision-making in both neurotypical and neurodivergent populations. Outside the lab, Von enjoys music, manga, anime, k-dramas, hikes, and drawing.
Evrim Baykal
She/her/theirs
Evrim is a first year PhD student studying how affect, attention, and cognition interact and change over time in the computational processes underlying decision-making. Before joining the SHLab in fall 2023, she earned a B.S. in Advertising from University of Texas-Austin, an MBA from University of Miami-Coral Gables, and an M.S. in Psychology-Neuroscience & Behavior at University of Houston-Clear Lake. Evrim was faculty for the Department of Network Programming and A.I. at Houston Community College. She loves the arts and has worked as a professional singer, and in her free time, enjoys the outdoors with her son and pets!
Could this be you?
Unfortunately, Prof. Sokol-Hessner will not be reviewing graduate student applications this fall for entry in Fall 2024. For more, see our Prospective PhD Student page.
Undergraduate Students
Maud Seymour
She/her/hers
Maud is a fourth-year DU student with a double major in Psychology and Emergent Digital Practices. She joined the SHLab as a research assistant in spring 2023. Maud is deeply interested in investigating all dimensions of the relationship between the physiological structures in the brain and the human understanding of consciousness.
Natalie Rahmeier
She/hers/her
Natalie is a third-year Psychology major with a minor in Sociology at DU. She joined the SHLab in summer 2023. Natalie is interested in understanding how our emotional connections influence other dimensions of our lives and the choices we make. She plans on attending graduate school after the University of Denver.
Sophie Forcer
She/her/hers
Sophie is a third-year psychology student with a concentration in cognitive neuroscience and minors in Statistics, Biology, and Leadership Studies. She joined the SHLab in winter of 2024. She is interested in how human environmental factors influence decision making and in learning about the neuroscience of decision-making difficulty in relation to affect. She plans to attend graduate school after the University of Denver.
Justin Blake
He/him/his
Justin is a second-year Psychology major with a concentration in Cognitive Neuroscience and minors in Biology and Kinesiology. He joined the SHLab in the Spring of 2024. Justin is interested in understanding how internal and external factors are weighted in our decision-making process as well as the cognitive threshold for risky decisions. He plans on attending graduate school after the University of Denver.
Undergraduates! Do you want research experience? Do you like decision-making and psychology? Get in touch with us if you have any questions, and submit an application to be an RA here!
Collaborators
Colin Camerer, Ph.D., Caltech [web]
Liz Phelps, Ph.D., Harvard University [web]
Nathaniel Daw, Ph.D., Princeton University [web]
Antonio Rangel, Ph.D., Caltech [web]
Mauricio Delgado, Ph.D., Rutgers Newark [web]
Robb Rutledge, Ph.D., Yale University [web]
Cate Hartley, Ph.D., New York University [web]
Jay Van Bavel, Ph.D., New York University [web]
Kateri McRae, Ph.D., University of Denver [web]
Tim Sweeny, Ph.D., University of Denver [web]
Kimberly Chiew, Ph.D., University of Denver [web]
Paige Lloyd, Ph.D., University of Denver [web]
Leanne ten Brinke, Ph.D., University of British Columbia [web]
Jian Li, Ph.D., Peking University [web]
Dominic Fareri, Ph.D., Adelphi University [web]
Steve Fleming, Ph.D., University College London [web]
Candace Raio, Ph.D., New York University [web]
Damian Stanley, Ph.D., Adelphi University [web]
Oriel FeldmanHall, Ph.D., Brown University [web]
Amy Krosch, Ph.D., Cornell University [web]
Karolina Lempert, Ph.D., Adelphi University [web]
John Thompson, Ph.D., University of Colorado Anschutz [web]
Gidon Felson, Ph.D., University of Colorado Anschutz [web]
Alumni
Hayley Brooks (she/her) - Hayley was a doctoral student in the lab from 2017-2023, studying temporal context effects in risky decision-making. After successfully defending her PhD in spring 2023, Hayley moved to Brown University where she began a postdoctoral fellowship in the Shenhav Lab. [Web] [LinkedIn]
Anna Rini (she/her) - Anna was an undergraduate volunteer research assistant in the lab from Spring 2020 until her graduation from DU in June 2023 with a double major in Psychology and Biology with a concentration in cognitive neuroscience and a minor in Chemistry. She completed an honors thesis, winning the Shaklee-Trowill Award for Best Honors Thesis. Anna started a medical and surgical assistant position at US Dermatology Partners in June 2023 and planned on applying to postgraduate careers in medicine. [LinkedIn]
Mia Cudahy (she/her) - Mia was an undergraduate volunteer research assistant in the lab from fall 2020 until her graduation from DU in June 2022. She worked on an independent research project on how partisan identities influence decisions to trust others and the reciprocation of others’ trust. As of summer 2022, Mia is a research coordinator at Northwestern Medical School in the Center for Applied Health Research on Aging.
Ari Dyckovsky (he/him) - Ari was an undergraduate volunteer research assistant and lab manager in the lab, and graduated from DU in 2021. During that time, he also worked in Amit Goldenberg’s lab in the Harvard Business School Negotiations, Organizations, and Markets Unit. Ari started as a PhD student in Alin Coman’s lab at Princeton University in Fall 2021. [Web] [LinkedIn]
Simon Haats (he/him) - Simon graduated from DU in 2021 as a Psychology, Computer Science, and Political Science triple major, and did his honors thesis in the lab on the intersections of acute and chronic stress, and trust perceptions and actions.
Chelsey Pan (they/them) - Chelsey is a former lab manager and is currently a PhD student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Southern California, working with Jonas Kaplan.
Taylor Dobyns (she/her) - Taylor graduated from DU in 2020 as a psychology major and marketing minor. She did her undergraduate honors thesis in the lab, and is pursuing her JD degree at the University of Denver Sturm School of Law.
Eric Andrews (he/him) - Eric is a former lab manager and began his PhD with John Allen and Jessica Andrews-Hanna in Cognition and Neural Systems at the University of Arizona. [Web]
Logan Atkinson (he/him)- Logan is a former undergraduate research assistant and DU graduate of 2018. Logan was a double major in Economics and Psychology, and is now a Distribution, Manufacturing & Retail Rep at Oracle Netsuite.
Ali Watson (she/her) - Ali graduated from DU in 2018 as a double major in Psychology and Biology, with minors in Chemistry and Physics. She did her honors thesis in Psychology in the Sokol-Hessner Lab. She is pursuing her MD at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, class of 2024.
Priscilla Stecher (she/her) - Priscilla is a former undergraduate research assistant and a DU graduate of 2017. She is currently pursuing her MD and MBA at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, class of 2022.
Kelsey Shaffer (she/her) - Kelsey is a former lab manager. After leaving the lab, she got her Master's degree in Psychology at Williams & Mary in Williamsburg, VA, and is currently a Data Scientist at Accenture Federal Services.