socosci






socosci

Welcome to the Social-Cognitive Science Lab at Simon Fraser University! Our lab studies how people learn and reason about each other to navigate a dynamic social world. We aim to better understand how cognition flexibly unfolds across different social contexts, and to use these insights to facilitate social connection, coordination, and change.

Here are some themes that guide research in the lab:

Mechanisms of Social Perception

  • How do we form impressions about others & ourselves?
  • To what extent are these impressions grounded in reality (and whose reality)?
  • What changes a first impression?
  • How do social and situational contexts (such as racial and gender identities, categorical stereotypes, everyday experiences, and situational affordances) constrain the way we perceive others and ourselves?

Stereotypes & Structural Bias

  • How do biases in knowledge structures (such as stereotypes) form, persist, and evolve in our minds and societies?
  • What drives the categorization of individuals into groups and their abstraction into generalized traits?
  • How do stereotypes propagate in everyday interactions, and in the cultural products we create and consume?
  • How does stereotype alignment influence mental health over time for people with marginalized identities?
  • How to intervene on these processes?

Identity Transformations

  • How do transformative experiences shape our knowledge and identity?
  • What social and cognitive mechanisms drive such profound shifts?
  • How do epistemic changes impact values, goals, and decision-making?
  • What dynamics underlie moment-to-moment changes in identity?
  • How does experiencing collective 'consciousness' impact self-identity?


...And here are some research themes we're beginning to explore:

Normative Ideals

  • What can and should we learn from others to navigate a world beyond our immediate experience?
  • How do—and how should—individuals decide who they want to become?
  • When do collective norms correct biases that individuals hold, and when do they exacerbate these biases?

Paradoxes & Play

  • What can we learn from engaging with riddles, paradoxes, koans, and playful scenarios?
  • How do puzzles that defy logic or common sense challenge our thinking and reveal hidden assumptions?
  • How might games that bend player agencies foster identity exploration, empathy, and cognitive flexibility?