Wixted Lab

Advancement to Candidacy

Personal Blog, Psychology, UC San Diego, Wixted Lab

I’m incredibly proud to report that I recently advanced to candidacy! In our department, that means passing a qualifying paper defense (which I did in July 2020) as well as successfully “defending” a dissertation proposal paper and presentation.

My dissertation, “Evidence of Innocence: The Psychology of Lineup Rejections,” will comprise of three published or to-be-published studies. The first study was published in Law and Human Behavior earlier this year. The second and third studies will be basic-science studies investigating 1) why the confidence-accuracy relationship for lineup rejections ranges from negligible to slightly-positive and 2) the specific decision variable that is used for confidence during a lineup rejection.

Thank you to my committee: Drs. John Wixted (Chair), Tim Brady, Uma Karmarkar, John Serences, and Angela Yu.

 

The Reveal Procedure: Enhancing Evidence of Innocence from Police Lineups

Psychology, UC San Diego, Wixted Lab

Law and Human Behavior chose to highlight a recent paper of mine in their “Research Highlight” series. The paper explores the viability of new police lineup procedure — a “Reveal” procedure — that enhances evidence of suspect innocence in a police lineup. (Lineups are typically designed to gather information about a suspect’s guilt.) This exploration was done using signal-detection-based model of eyewitness memory. LHB created a nifty graphic in their tweet below that explains what the paper is about, whom the paper is for, and why the paper is important. (Links to the original tweet and paper are below if the embed ever fails.)

 

 

View the original tweet.

 Read the paper in full.

 

 

 

Presenting: Cognitive Science Society (CogSci 2022)

Psychology, UC San Diego, Wixted Lab

I will be presenting a flash talk at CogSci 2022! The talk is entitled: “Decision Variables in the Case of Police Lineup Rejections.” If you’re interested in learning about the decision rules which participants may use when rejecting a set of stimuli for a recognition memory task, come on by. The 4-5 minute talk will be uploaded virtually for those not going to the in-person conference in Toronto, Canada.

This poster will presented live during the Decision Making 3 session (1:50-2:35pm EST). If you miss the presentation, slides will be posted on the conference website, but a recording will not be available. 

Presenting: Psychonomic Society 62nd Annual Meeting

Psychology, UC San Diego, Wixted Lab

I will present the poster “The Psychology and Neuroscience of Confidence in Memory and Perception” at Psychonomic Society’s annual convention. This poster (2427) is based on an expansion of my qualifying paper, and will be co-authored between myself and Dr. John T. Wixted.

This year’s meeting will take place on November 4-7. I will be available for live discussion within the meeting platform on November 6th, 12-1pm Central Time. Or, as always, contact me with any questions.

Abstract:

The solution to real-world problems often requires a deep, basic-science understanding of the problem at hand. Confidence and decision time are issues that matter in the real-world and have been intensively investigated in the past 20 years in both psychological science and neuroscience. In cognitive psychology, confidence is usually conceptualized in terms of signal detection theory while speeded decision-making is conceptualized in terms of evidence accumulation modeling. However, no singular model of confidence for a perceptual decision dominates. In mathematical psychology, accounts of speeded decision-making in terms of a balance-of-evidence decision variable has gained currency in recent years. In neuroscience, the field tends to approach evidence accumulation and confidence in relation to lateral intraparietal cortex (the role of which is debated) and reaction time, with some research indicating a balance-of-evidence decision variable. A review of these largely independent lines of research suggests a potentially fruitful way to naturally integrate signal detection theory and evidence accumulation models in a way that comports with the relevant neuroscience evidence.

Update: The abstract number was previously 5117. Renumbering occurred when this year’s annual convention moved from a hybrid format to strictly online. You can view a PDF of the poster here.

Presenting: APS Annual Convention (Virtual)

Psychology, UC San Diego, Wixted Lab

Tomorrow is the first day of APS Virtual! I’ll be presenting the poster, “Enhancing Evidence of Innocence from Police Lineups,” which you can find here. You will need to login to APS in order to access it. 

Additionally, I’ll be leading a Hot Topic Discussion on Memory in Forensics. I’m excited to see what ideas other APS members bring to the 30-minute discussion on the state of the field, where it’s going, and what questions we hope to be answered in the future. On a personal note, it’s super cool seeing my name listed as a speaker and being able to engage with other attendees in a live-session. This is my first time engaging with the APS research community in a manner other than a poster.

Presenting: Psychonomic Society 61st Annual Meeting

Psychology, UC San Diego, Wixted Lab

I will be presenting two posters at the Psychonomic Society 61st Annual Conference. The two presentations will be:

  1. Enhancing Evidence of Innocence from Police Lineups
  2. The Effect of Rate-Them-All Lineup on Diagnostic Accuracy

The presentations will occur from 4-6pm CT on November 20, 2020. This post will be updated with a link to my meeting room for a live Q&A session.

Master of Art

Personal Blog, Psychology, UC San Diego, Wixted Lab

For those of you who aren’t aware, I’m a first-generation college student and I recently completed the requirements for my master’s degree! The degree is a Master of Art in Experimental Psychology.

In our Ph.D program, getting a master’s degree isn’t typically celebrated. It’s seen as something you “pick up along the way” on the journey of earning a doctorate and entering a research career. (Also, a good proportion of our graduate students enter with a master’s degree already, so this isn’t a new milestone for them.)

I, however, have not experienced this milestone before, meaning I’m mentally celebrating! I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again: I’m in my dream program, at my dream institution, with an amazing adviser, and residing in my favorite city in the world. I am incredibly grateful and do not take any of this for granted.

For now, I have three years left (minimum) in this program—and I’m looking forward to every single one of them. There is a lot of hard work ahead, but that’s the fun.

Thank you,

-A.Y.

CARTA Fellowship Receipient

CARTA, UC San Diego, Wixted Lab

I am incredibly humbled and elated to share that I have been selected as a recipient for a CARTA Program Fellowship for the 2020-21 academic year!

Thank you so much to the Center of Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny and to the committee that is responsible for the selection process. I am ecstatic for the new year to begin so that I can fully take advantage of the freedom this will give me in pursuing my own research.

Due to pandemic-related circumstances, I’m unable to show my gratitude to CARTA faculty in person, but I have every intention of giving my thanks properly once COVID-19 allows for it.