Tim

Tim Pleskac, PhD, is Chair and Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Kansas, and Primary Investigator of the Behavioral Science Lab. He studies how people make judgments and decisions; how these processes shape behavior; and how we can help people make better judgments and decisions. He incorporates methods from the behavioral, cognitive, and neuro- sciences. When he’s not at his desk you can find him running, biking, rowing, or out in the woods. He says in a parallel world, he would own his own bike shop.

Xiaohong

Xiaohong Cai is a graduate student in KU’s Brain, Behavior, and Quantitative Science PhD program. Her research interests involve judgement and decision making. Her passion is understanding the process of judgement and decision making in adaptive environments with computational modeling and other quantitative methods. Her dream is to come up with psychological formulas so that she can do all research on the grass along the river with pencils, papers, and a good latte.

James

James Adaryukov is a graduate student in the Brain, Behavior, and Quantitative Sciences PhD program. His research is focused on decision-making in social environments, and on the effects of social information, social pressure, and competition. He aims to address these questions through statistical modeling and data science. Outside of work he enjoys creative writing (short stories and poetry), making perfumes, hiking, and reading.

Research Assistants

Krishi Vanamamaly

Lab Alumni

Sergej Grunevski (2019-2021: Lab Manager; Current: Assistant Researcher at the KU Cofrin Login Center for Addiction Research and Treatment)

Renee Kang (2020 – 2022: Research Assistant)

Brittany Huang (2021: Research Assistant; Law School Student University of North Carolina)
Cassidy Bee (2019-2021: Research Assistant; Law School Student University of Kansas)

Wesley Cudney (2019 – 2021: Research Assistant)

Ben Anderson
Maxx Lamb (2019-2020: Research Assistant)
Gregory Choong (2018-2019: Research Assistant; Current: Business Analyst at CERNER)
Charley Wu (2017-2018: Graduate Student; Current: Independent Research Group Leader at The University of Tübingen)
Josh Abbott (2017-2018: Postdoctoral Fellow; Current: Research Scientist at UC Berkeley)
Mengxi Weng (2016: Intern)
Dirk Wulff (2015-2016: Postdoctoral Fellow; Current: Research Scientist at University of Basel)
Christina Leuker (2014-2018: Graduate Student; Current: Associate Research Scientist at Max Planck Institute for Human Development)
Doug Markant (2014-2017: Postdoctoral Fellow; Current: Assistant Professor at University of North Carolina-Charlotte)
Junyi Dai (2014-2017: Postdoctoral Fellow; Current: Assistant Professor at Zheijiang University)
David Johnson (2013-2017: Graduate Student; Current: Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Maryland)
Ryan Lange (2013-2014: Research Assistant)
Kristen Kelsay (2012-2014: Research Assistant; Current: Data Scientist at Würth Group)
Patrycja Zdiarska (2012-2014: Research Assistant; Current: PhD Student in Psychology at Indiana University)
Connor Geil (2012-2014: Research Assistant; Current: Production Assistant at Tesla, Inc.)
Kyle Bort (2012-2014: Research Assistant)
Peter Kvam (2012-2017: Graduate Student; Current: Assistant Professor at University of Florida)
James Koerber (2011-2012: Research Assistant)
Claudia Passalacqua (2011-2013: Research Assistant; Current: Medical School Student at Michigan State University)
Matt Zeigenfuse (2011-2012: Postdoctoral Fellow; Current: Data Scientist at Quartet Health)
Torrin Liddell (2010-2012: Research Assistant; Current: Research and Statistics Analyst at the Indian Public Defender Commission)
Garrett Odzark (2010-2011: Research Assistant)
Mark Bogner (2010-2012: Research Assistant)
Shuli Yu (2010-2017: Postdoctoral Fellow, Graduate Student; Current: Product Manager at Judge.me)
Don Zhang (2009-2012: Research Assistant; Current: Assistant Professor at Louisiana State University)
Chris Heffner (2009-2010: Research Assistant; Current: Assistant Professor at University at Buffalo)
James Ryan Burton (2009-2010: Research Assistant; Current: PhD Student in Psychology at Miami University of Ohio)
Matt Grizzard (2009-2011: Graduate Student; Current: Assistant Professor at Ohio State University)
Jowhara Nagi Zindani (2008-2009: Research Assistant)
Kayleigh Vanenbussche (2008-2009: Research Assistant)
Alex Jendrusina (2008-2011: Research Assistant; Current: PhD Student in Psychology at University of Illinois-Chicago)
Kate LaLonde (2007-2009: Research Assistant; Current: Assistant Professor at Western Michigan University)
Avi Wershbale (2006-2010: Graduate Student)