I am fundamentally interested in the many modes of input that affect social cognition. My research examines how the cognitive, physiological, and behavioural aspects of experience play into the way we perceive and organise knowledge about the social world. To answer these questions, my research simultaneously combines dyadic, psychophysiological, social cognitive, behavioural, self-report, and quantitative methods to provide a comprehensive understanding of the factors that affect social interactions. I have a particular interest in intergroup interactions, which takes two main forms: 1) I apply experimental manipulations of cross-group friendship to examine how a close relationship with one outgroup member affects social interactions with novel outgroup members; 2) I experimentally manipulate cognitive and perceptual resources during interactions between outgroup strangers to examine the factors that facilitate or hinder successful encoding of novel outgroup members. In addition, I am interested in the way that social and political instability represented in the media play into daily social interactions, health symptomatology, and basal hormone levels. My third line of work examines the embodiment of social cognition, such as how the peripheral nervous system responds to social cognitive processes and how these bodily responses in turn affect social perception.
Jeff is interested in the formation of identity and how the self continues to be shaped by emotional experiences, cultural mythologies, and the personal narratives of others. Furthermore, he is interested in the influences of emotional sensitivity, metaperception, self-discrepancy, and existential concerns on anxiety and depression. In addition to his role in ESC, Jeff manages Dr. Michael Inzlicht's Social Neuroscience Lab. Thus, he is immersed in research spanning the embodiment of social processes in both the peripheral nervous system (through ESC) and the central nervous system (through the Inzlicht lab). He hopes to pursue graduate studies in psychology in the near future.
Nadine is in her fourth and final year at UTSC, working towards a specialist degree in psychology. She has found her passion working in geriatrics, but has also found a lot of prejudice and misunderstanding between generations. This phenomenon is the basis for her undergraduate thesis in ESC. She plans on investigating the prejudice between generations and how often a person will stand up to a prejudiced remark about someone else.
Jennifer is a thesis student in her final year at UTSC, working towards a specialist in Psychology. She is fascinated with many areas of psychology, including social, personality, and abnormal. She is interested in social cognitive psychology because it impacts everyone on a daily basis. In particular, her interest in social cognitive psychology focuses on the implications and possible ways of reducing prejudice through positive intergroup contact.
Saham is doing a double major in Neuroscience and Psychology and is in his final year of studies. His interests lie in the field of social psychology, more than neuroscience, specifically in how ingroup members' perceptions of outgroup members affect social interactions within ingroup members. At ESC, Saham's supervised study project will focus on how these perceptions and interactions lead a person to conclude stereotypical information about the members of the outgroup.
Sarah is a 3rd-year supervised study student interested in how expectations of prejudice shape social interactions. Her work at ESC will focus on the role of intergroup expectations on accurate person perception and interpersonal outcomes during intergroup interactions.
Vino is currently in her third year of studies at the University of Toronto Scarborough pursuing an Honours B.Sc. in Psychology and Neuroscience. She has always been fascinated by how prejudice and inequality can affect social interactions between people, and by the internal consequences of such interactions. At ESC, Vino studies the different physiological responses that specific social interactions elicit in individuals, and she is also interested in how anxiety and stress levels vary across race and gender. In the future, Vino hopes to further pursue social psychology and psychophysiological through graduate studies.
Reema is a second year student at the University of Toronto Scarborough campus. She is doing a double major in Neuroscience and Psychology. Reema volunteers at a hospital for the disabled and elderly and she also volunteers for a City Councillor. She is fascinated by the brain and the role it plays in social interactions. She hopes to engage in a wide variety of experiments in her university life and learn more about the mental processes that are related to prejudice, stereotypes and other behaviours. In the future she hopes to work in the medical field and assist people by doing what she is most passionate about.
Shweta is a second year student doing a double major in Integrative Biology and Psychology at UTSC. She is also involved on campus with organizations such as Scarborough Campus Students' Union and The Biology Students' Association. She is interested in studying how stereotypes exist and can be reduced among intergroup interactions. Her role at ESC is to investigate how prejudice exists between generations. In the future, she hopes to further pursue social psychology and further study stereotypical behaviour through graduate studies. Being a part of ESC and working with amazing people who excel in their areas of research is a perfect opportunity to learn more! :)
Angelina is in her fourth and final year at the University of Toronto about to graduate with a HBSc. with a double major in Neuroscience and Mental Health. She is participating in the Science Engagement Program at UTSC and helping to conduct various experiments in the Lab. She is fascinated by human interactions and why each person is so different. In the future, she hopes to complete her masters in neuroscience.
Jiwon is a second year student specializing in psychology at UTSC. He is strongly driven by the desire to help others through his current volunteer work and future career aspirations. Jiwon plans to continue down the path of research in psychology, ultimately attaining his PhD. His translational research interests focus on psychosocial factors that impact the lives of marginalized populations. At ESC, Jiwon is an Experimenter on multiple projects examining factors that mitigate the effects of stigma and intergroup biases.
Angela is currently in her third year, enrolled in the Human Biology specialist program with a psychology minor. She is also a part of the Emergency Medical Response Group (EMRG) on campus, to offer immediate medical assistance for anyone when necessary. Though she has mainly involved herself around the field of biology in her undergraduate years, she has great fascination with the way people interacts with one another--social interactions. This led her involvement in the ESC at the University of Toronto where she studies how prejudice affects people of different generations. In the future, Angela hopes to thrive in the medical field and become a pediatrician whom not only provide medical assistance, but also able to provide care through the understanding of people interactions.
Marian is a third year student who is currently completing her H.B.Sc. degree with an Integrative Biology major and a double minor in Psychology and Health Studies. Her involvement at the ESC lab was sparked with a deep interest to learn more about the realm of social psychology. She is fascinated mainly in the area of person perception because of how interesting it is to observe the different social stimuli, biases and attributions that people have about others while interacting in the social world. Aside from the sciences, she is also passionate about music and can often be found at the music department with the UTSC Concert Choir. Ultimately, she is aspiring to become a doctor. However, she is also interested in pursuing a Masters degree in social psychology to further explore how certain social interactions may affect one's health.
I'm a 3rd year student doing a double major in Integrative Biology and Pshychology at UTSC. My area of interest is in-group and out-group interactions and factors effecting these interactions such as prejudice, stereotypes, etc. I'm also interested in the physiological responses elicited by such interactions. My future goal is to do graduate school in the field of social psychology.
Tanya is entering her fourth year at UTSC, pursuing a double major program in Integrative Biology and Mental Health studies. She's actively involved with several groups on campus, such as the AccessAbility Outreach team, PACE, and the yearbook club. Being apart of the EMRG team at UTSC has sparked her interest in the dynamic of inter-group relations for people who work closely with one another. She's also interested in the nature of stereotype threat. In the future, Tanya aspires to go into medicine. She feels that her time in the lab will allow her to understand human interactions in greater depth, helping her in the medical field.
Nana is currently finishing up her 3rd year, double majoring in Integrative Biology and Mental Health Studies. The root of her fascination with inter-group relationships and friendships comes from living in NYC, moving to Tokyo, and now residing in Toronto. Her experience and interactions with people across the globe with various cultural backgrounds has made her an observer, curious as to when and under what basis people interact together. Ultimately, she hope not only to learn more about her self, but to also discover what makes people feel embraced by another person or group. She aspires to further her education in graduate or medical school.
Martin is an undergraduate student at UTSC pursuing to become a specialist in mental health with a biology minor. In short, Martin is interested in humans. His ultimate goal is to become a psychotherapist. He is interested in the hypothetical relationship between intergroup attitudes towards the interaction between a negatively evaluated ingroup member and a stereotyped nongroup member. As a research assistant of the ESC lab and working along side professor Elizabeth Page-Gould, he is excited as a contributor and a humble learner to the forever expanding body of knowledge of the social world.
Maheen Masood is a fourth year student at UTSC and is doing a double major in Neuroscience and Psychology. Her research interests include looking at how cognitive resources affect social interactions with outgroup members. She is also highly interested in looking at the role of stress on outgroup interactions. Aside from volunteering with the ESC, Maheen also works at a doctor's office. In the near future, she plans on going to graduate school to become a Speech Language Pathologist.
Jothi is an undergraduate student in her 3rd year, pursuing an Honours B.Sc Specialist in Mental Health Studies and a Minor in Health Studies. She has always been interested in human behaviour in general, especially in what influences people to act in the ways that they do, with an emphasis on the social aspects that can shape a person’s behaviour. She is interested in the topic of prejudice, most specifically, in the development of attitudes and stereotypes. As well as the impact they can have on how outgroup members are perceived by others. She joined the ESC lab to further her understanding of this, and many other related topics. She hopes to go to graduate school, so that she can eventually become a clinical psychologist.
Hatty is currently in her 4th year at UTSC, working towards the completion of bachelor of science (Psychology specialist) degree. Having the opportunity to work as an undergraduate research at Dr. Page-Gould's lab allows her for the first time throughout her postsecondary education to acquire more about the social-physiological aspect of behaviors in relation to Psychology. In addition to being an undergraduate researcher for Dr. Page-Gould, she also volunteers in AccessAbility center and a nursing home outside of school. She is specifically intrigued by to notion of "self-serving bias" and how it alters to an individual's perception of situations and others who are within their own group vs. Intergroup individuals. Her goal in the near future is to pursue graduate study in the field of Psychology.
Clara is in her fifth year finishing her B.Sc. in co-op Psychology (Behavioural Disorders Stream). She is intrigued with the interactions within and between cross-group relationships due to her own experiences with moving to many different neighborhoods throughout her life (10 times and counting!). These different environments led people to treat her differently and gave her different opportunities to develop relationships. Ten years from now she hopes to have finished her Masters and PhD in Clinical Psychology, helping children and adolescents in a private clinic or hospital.
Chenthila is a third year student pursuing a Double Major in Integrative Biology and Psychology at the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus. Her interests in psychophysiology are what attracted her to the ESC lab, more specifically, the link between stress (derived from social experiences) and its physiological implications on the body. For the past four years, Chenthila has volunteered at Rouge Valley Centennary Hospital feeding patients incapable of doing so themselves, and is also an executive member of two charity organizations on campus, Right to Play, and Oxfam Canada. Her passion to provide first-hand aid to those in need drives her hopes to someday work in the Public Health sector.
Sandra is a second year student at the University of Toronto Scarborough, pursuing an H.B.Sc. Specialist in Neuroscience and a Minor in French. Sandra is also a part of the Psychology and Neuroscience Departmental Association at UTSC, offering help and advice to students. As her first time working in a lab, Sandra is fascinated by the social-physiological aspect of psychology, as well as her interest in neuropsychology. Her involvement in Dr. Page-Gould’s lab is a great step towards her personal growth and discovery. In the future, Sandra hopes to further her education in Graduate or Medical school.
Kaja is fundamentally interested in language. She is a Ph.D. candidate in Prof. Petitto’s laboratory currently studying neural and genetic bases of language processing. Kaja is also interested in the relationship between physiological response and cognitive processes, specifically language. In the Embodied Social Cognition Lab, she is working a project that examines the link between physiological stress response, working memory and phonological processing. In the Petitto Lab, she is working on projects that examine the patterns of neural activity during bilingual and monolingual children’s language processing and a project investigating the pattern of neural activity of cross- and same-gender conversation partners using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).
Nikki is currently pursuing her PhD in Social Psychology at York University under the supervision of Dr. Kerry Kawakami. She is currently interested in placing modern accounts of prejudice within a goals framework. She is collaborating with Dr. Page-Gould and Dr. Kawakami on the physiological indices of having made progress on egalitarian goals or the failure to make progress on such goals. A secondary area of research is on how embodied states impact how people perceive of their identities.