SCOPE Lab Team
Dr. Ronaldo Vigo
Director, SCOPE Lab (Structure, Concepts, & Perception Laboratory) 51ĀŅĀ×
Associate Professor of Mathematical & Computational Cognitive Science
Research Interests
Although I am interested in many areas of cognitive research, the core of my work focuses on the development of mathematical and computational models of concept learning and categorization behavior. For example, I have investigated the degree of difficulty that humans experience when learning different types of concepts. Two key questions drive this research. First, why are some types of concepts more difficult to learn than others? Secondly, can the subjective degree of learning difficulty of these concepts be reliably predicted? In my work, I argue that the key to answering these questions lies on the structural properties of the categorical stimulus from which a concept is learned and on specific mental operations that facilitate their detection.
Toward this end, I have developed several mathematical frameworks for characterizing and measuring the structural properties inherent to concepts. Historical and new empirical evidence suggests that these structural models -- algebraic, analytic, and deterministic in nature (and hence, much like the models encountered in classical physics) -- are more robust and cognitively plausible predictors of the degree of concept learning difficulty experienced by humans than the well-known alternatives. Notably, all of this is accomplished with few or no parameters. This research has been articulated in several papers and in a book entitled "Mathematical Principles of Human Conceptual Behavior" (Vigo, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014).
The SCOPE LAB (Structure, Concepts, and Perception Laboratory) at 51ĀŅĀ× seeks to extend the above research empirically and theoretically. For example, in the SCOPE Lab we conduct empirical and theoretical research on human concept learning and categorization behavior using eye tracking technology. More specifically, we use eye tracking techniques to explore correlations between saccades and the concept learning behavior predicted by a variety of models, including my concept invariance models (Vigo, 2009, 2011, 2013). Other research activities in the SCOPE Lab include empirical and theoretical research on decision making behavior as a function of similarity assessment, dissimilarity assessment, and categorization. Also, we are interested in researching how humans judge similarity and dissimilarity between structural or configural stimuli such as human faces. In related work, I introduced a mathematical model of similarity that predicts the empirical similarity ordering of a key class of configural stimuli associated with deductive inference (Vigo, 2009a, 2009b). Last, but not least, the SCOPE Lab conducts empirical and theoretical research on problem solving behavior in mathematical domains such as geometry, algebra, and physics, and on the nature of aesthetic judgments.
Doctoral Students
4th year
Abigail Bartlett
4th year
Abigail Bartlett
The Psychology Graduate Representative Council President
The Graduate Student Senate Psychology Representative
Abigail is a fourth-year experimental psychology graduate student in the SCOPE Lab at 51ĀŅĀ×, specializing in cognitive psychology. Her research mainly focuses on concept learning and similarity judgements. She obtained her bachelorās from The Ohio State University in 2021. Her time at The Ohio State University was mainly spent in the Psychology lab or at the tutoring center, in which she tutored a variety of psychology, math, physics, statistics, and American Sign Language courses.
A fun fact about her! She has two dogs which she adopted from the CHA animal shelter during the time she spent volunteering there. One is a lab mix named Titus and the other is a Belgian Malinois mix named Maggie.
Awards
- Department of Psychologyās Outstanding Graduate Student Mentor Award, 51ĀŅĀ× (2024)
- Graduate Student Senate New Member Award, 51ĀŅĀ× (2024)
- Outstanding Learning Community Award, 51ĀŅĀ× (2024)
Websites
4th year
Raghu Yadav
4th year
Raghu Yadav
Raghu is a 4th year doctoral student in the SCOPE Lab. He has an engineering background, but his interest shifted to philosophy of mind (and psychology in general) leading him to venture into the field of cognitive psychology.
Being interested in all aspects of the human mind, Raghu has focused more on concept learning, categorization, and similarity assessment during his graduate studies so far.
Apart from academic work, Raghu takes a lot of interest in arts and literature. Recently, he watched Andrei Tarkovsky's 'Solaris' and has been superbly impressed by this film.
Websites
3rd year
Cody Ross
3rd year
Cody Ross
Cody is a third-year doctoral student in the SCOPE Lab. He has always been fascinated by all things involving the human mind and how it interacts with the world to construct our experiences and our interpretations of those experiences. As an undergraduate, he triple-majored in philosophy (focused on philosophy of mind), linguistics, and computer science as a way to explore these questions from many angles.
As a first-generation student from a low SES background, he opted to work upon graduating in order to build financial stability. He picked up many useful skills working in information technology for years (mostly as a network engineer) before returning to school to pursue a doctoral degree in psychology with a cognitive focus. Thus far, he has done work with his advisor and their other collaborators on goodness of pattern and aesthetic judgments, relational similarity assessment, choice reaction times on structured sets, and the effects of contrast categories and category exposure time on categorization behavior.
Aside from questions of the mind, Cody loves hiking and camping, cats, gaming, programming, and really any sort of problem-solving or puzzles. He hopes to become a research professor and contribute further to the advancement of cognitive science while sharing his passion for it with future generations.
Websites
1st year
Aliyah Szojka
1st year
Aliyah Szojka
Aliyah Szojka is a first-year doctoral student in the SCOPE Lab. She completed a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Psychology from Baldwin Wallace University with two minors in Chemistry and Research & Data Analytics. During her time at Baldwin Wallace University, Aliyah enjoyed being a teacherās assistant for Chemistry Lab courses and working on research projects. These opportunities ignited her passion for helping others learn and conducting research based on methodological principles. She hopes to continue by pursuing a doctoral degree in Cognitive Experimental Psychology and working as a graduate teaching assistant.
She is looking forward to getting involved with research done by the SCOPE Lab. Her research interests include investigating the processes of concept formation and categorization through mathematical and computational approaches to human cognition.
Outside of her academic work, Aliyah enjoys listening to podcasts or music, spending time with her friends & family, and doing yoga.
Websites
External Affiliates
Dr. Colin Allen
Indiana University Bloomimgton
Provost Professor of Cognitive Science
and History Philosophy of Science & Medicine
Dr. Monika Krishan
Indian Institute of Science
University of Trento
Associate Professor of Psychometrics
Former Students
- Dr. Charles Andrew Doan
Marietta College - Dr. Jinling Zhao
- Dr. Adam Carlitz
- Dr. Karina-Mikayla Doan
51ĀŅĀ× - Dr. Li Zhao
University of Michigan - Dr. Jay Wimsatt
Arizona State University - Dr. Phillip (Andrew) Halsey
Air Force Research Laboratory, Write Patterson Air Force Base - Dr. Yu Zhang
51ĀŅĀ×
yz137808@ohio.edu - Dr. Derek Zeigler
West Virginia Wesleyan College
Assistant Professor
zeigler.d@wvwc.edu