Research Interests
My areas of interest are Strategic Thinking and Executive Control of Cognition and Emotion. Strategic Thinking is a concept frequently used in economics, business, and politics while not being well grounded from a cognitive neuroscience perspective. In contrast, the concept of executive control is one of the central concepts in cognitive neuroscience. I am studying how people develop cognitive strategies, how they infer their opponentsÕ strategies, and how they maintain or switch strategies depending on the dynamics of their environments. I am particularly interested to understand the neuro-cognitive mechanisms that explain how people persist in carrying out a successful strategy and how they overcome either interference from the environment or the impulsive appeal of short-term rewards.
Approach
I seek to strike a balance between theory and application in my research. From my past experience as a psychologist practitioner (industrial psychologist and consultant) I learned that practitioners need good theory. I am always in search of theoretically interesting applied problems, recognizing that Ònothing drives basic science better than a good applied problemÓ (Newell & Card, 1985, p. 238).
I tend to favor an eclectic methodological approach combining experimentation with computational cognitive modeling. I am a supporter of those approaches that carefully observe the biological plausibility of computational models. In particular, I strive to contribute toward bridging the gap between cognitive modeling and brain imaging research.
Email
me at ijuvina@cmu.edu for details on past
and current projects.
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