Vicky T. Lai is an assistant professor in psychology and cognitive science. The overarching theme of her research is the processing of meaning and language in context. Specific topics include non-literal language, emotion and language, and language and thought. In her free time, Vicky likes to swim, hike, cook and eat gourmet foods with friends and colleagues, and watch sci-fi movies and dark comedies.
People

Post-Doc

Graduate Students
Li-Chuan "Matt" Ku is a PhD student in the cognition and neural systems (CNS) program in the department of psychology. He is interested in emotion and non-literal language processing (e.g. jokes). He is particularly fascinated by how emotion concepts are encoded in our mental lexicon and how individual differences in cognitive abilities can affect the processing of implied emotions in language. He uses EEG, fMRI, and MEG. In his free time, Matt likes cycling, reading thrillers, and traveling.
Valeria Pfeifer is a PhD student in the cognition and neural systems (CNS) program in the department of psychology. She uses EEG to study the interplay of non-literal language and emotion. She is also interested in the connection between language and thought, such as the perception and representation of objects and events. In her free time, Valeria enjoys dancing, yoga, and cooking.
Stanley Donahoo is a PhD student in the linguistics department with a minor in cognitive science (advisor Thomas G. Bever). He is interested in experimental pragmatics and sentence processing in context. He is also interested in using neuroscience approaches towards a better understanding of both literal and non-literal language. His current work in this lab examines the processing and effects of swear words (e.g., damn, shit). In his free time, Stanley likes cycling around Tucson and trying out new coffee roasteries.
Anna Katikhina is a Ph.D. student in the Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT) program. She is interested in how first and second languages shape human cognition. Anna’s research focuses on event representations in speakers of languages that encode verbal aspect and those that don't. In her free time, Anna enjoys traveling around the world.