Andrea L. Patalano is the RDM Lab director. She is a cognitive scientist and faculty member in the Department of Psychology and the Program in Neuroscience and Behavior. Her interests in high-level cognition include decision making, judgment, and reasoning. Her faculty profile and the lab’s publications are here. | |
Bethany Rutkowski is the full-time joint lab coordinator for the RDM Lab and the Cognitive Development “Yellow” Lab. She graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 2024 with a B.A. in Psychology, where she researched children’s understandings of intersecting identities of race, gender, and class. She also completed a senior thesis in health psychology on smoking and vaping stigma. She plans to attend graduate school in social or developmental psychology. Outside of the lab, she loves to read, hike, and spend time with her cat, Billy. | |
Zuha Anjum ‘25 is majoring in MB&B and Psychology. She is interested in how education, employment, and income affect the process of decision making. Outside of the lab, she enjoys reading, hiking, and re-watching old TV shows. | |
Celeste Borletti ‘25 is an English and Psychology double major with a minor in Film Studies. She is curious about understanding why we do the things we do, particularly in the intersection of cognitive psychology and neuroscience. When not in the lab, she enjoys writing, acting, dancing, sewing and trying new things. | |
Nate Fogarty ‘25 is a Physics and Neuroscience & Behavior double major on the premed track. He is curious about how certain stimuli may induce cognitive biases and influence behavior. He is also a committed runner on the Wesleyan Cross-Country and Track and Field teams. In his free time, you can find him playing pool or tossing around a frisbee. | |
Xavier Kim ‘26 is a Computer Science and Psychology double major. He is interested in how the digital world shapes cognitive processes and behaviors at the individual and group levels. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball and watching sitcoms. | |
Catherine (Kate) King ‘27 plans to double major in Neuroscience and Behavior and Psychology. She is interested in how different factors such as age, environment, and socioeconomic status impact decision making. Outside of class, she enjoys playing a variety of sports, having fun with friends, listening to music, and baking. | |
Renna Mohsen-Breen ‘25 is a Psychology and Science in Society double major. She is interested in the effect of cognitive biases and how cultural, racial, and socioeconomic differences affect decision making. Outside of the lab, she is a member of the Varsity Tennis Team, and enjoys exploring new places, baking and spending time with friends. | |
Javier Orellana ‘25 is a Psychology Major and Data Analysis Minor. He is interested in how data affects decision making, specifically how the various ways it can be presented may affect decision-making processes. He is a member of the Wesleyan Men’s Track and Field Team. In his spare time, he enjoys reading. | |
Abby Sosnow ‘26 is a Neuroscience and Behavior and Science in Society double major from Los Angeles, CA. She is interested in the reasons behind why people make specific decisions, and how learning from previous mistakes plays a role in this. Outside of classes, she enjoys spending time with friends, listening to music, and reading. | |
Ana Ziebarth ‘25 is a Psychology and English double major. She is interested in the factors that influence people’s decision making when presented with a risk as well as more broadly exploring the connection between law and decision making. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis, reading, and crocheting. |
Past Postdoctoral Associates Chenmu (Julia) Xing, Assistant Professor, Tarleton State University Mariah Schug, Associate Professor, Widener University |
Past Lab Coordinators Nicholas Alia, PhD Student, University of Minnesota Kelsey Kayton, PhD Student, Ohio University Katherine Steele, PhD Student, University of Texas at Austin Alexandra Zax, PhD Student, University of Kansas |
Past Undergraduate Lab Members (reverse chronological order) Xavier Kim, Catherine King, Zuha Anjum, Celeste Borletti, Nate Fogarty, Javier Orellana, Abby Sosnow, Larissa Yu, Renna Mohsen-Breen, Ana Ziebarth, Nolan Collins, Richard Ettinger, Nicole Deng, Prakriti Mittal, Christina Xu, Jordan Green, Greg Fischer, Gina Gwiazda, Anjali Prabhu, Charlie Bondhus, Gillian Weeks, Claudia Stenbaek, Camila Rodlauer, Daniel Stein, Kayla Zentmaier, SeArah Smith, Bryce Gillis, Kolbi Bradley, Melanie Nelson, Julia Kirsch, John Neil, Karolina Hetesova, Mika Braun, William Liang, Tracy Cui, Jenna Shelby-Glick, Marcia Mata, Lily Segal, Joanna Paul, Liana Mathias, Amanda Yeoh, Jane Levy, Christina Glusac, Sofia Navarrete Zur, Eloise Flechon, Tima Zeng, Suet Ning Wong, Anna Rojek, Sydney Lolli, Bennett Gelly, Jason Saltiel, Matthew Donahue, Lily Kaplan, Alexandra Anderson, Shayoni Nair, Emma Weizenbaum, Emily Berman, Estee Rubien-Thomas, Laura Machlin, Joanna Seirup, Zachary Kramer, Jenna Doctoroff, Chelsea Osterman, Allie Southam, Jennifer Cheng, Netta Levran, Ankit Kansal, Priscilla Bustamante, Zachary LeClair, Joanna Dicke, Kirsten Haller, Romej Caro, Harrison Peck, Susie Kim, Eyal Bar-David, Steven Wengrovitz, Samuel Duncan, Yaneez Nojib, Alexandra Sedlovskaya, Julia Fox, Jessica Jacobson, Rebecca Gould, Darren Becker, Tamara Carroll, May Chao, Katherine Krug, Sam Fentress, Timothy Harrington, Rebecca Pryor, Elizabeth Perry |