Tamara SwaabPrinciple Investigator, ProfessorTamara Swaab (Ph.D.) is a professor in the Department of Psychology and the Center for Mind and Brain, and EIC for the journal Cognition (https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/cognition). She directs the Laboratory for the Cognitive Neuroscience of Language. Dr. Swaab received her Ph.D. degree from the Radboud University and the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics (https://www.mpi.nl/) in the Netherlands. In 2021, she was named a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science for her contributions to the understanding of human language and cognition.
Together with her students and collaborators, she has established a research program that focuses on the cognitive and neural underpinnings of language comprehension in monolingual and (bimodal) bilingual young and older adults.In our research, we use multiple methods to gain a deep understanding of the psychological processes and brain mechanisms used to extract meaning from text and conversation, including eye-tracking (collaboratively), recording of brain electrical activity (EEG/ERPs), and a variety of behavioral measures. Our research program has been supported since 1997 by grants from the McDonnell-Pew Foundation, NSF, NIMH, and NIA.
Eleonora BeierPostdoctoral StudentNora Beier is a postdoctoral scholar working with Dr. George Mangun and Dr. Tamara Swaab at the intersection of language and attention. Previously, she completed her PhD in Psychology at UC Davis with Dr. Fernanda Ferreira. Her doctoral research investigated the ways people focus particular words during language comprehension and production using behavioral and eye-tracking methods. Her postdoctoral research, funded by an NIH F32 grant, explores the neural correlates of attention during speech comprehension, measured through EEG neural dynamics. In particular, her work investigates whether attention is pre-allocated to particular words in time through rhythmic and non-rhythmic temporal predictions.
Timothy TrammelDoctoral StudentTim is a fifth-year Ph.D. student in Psychology. His primary research interest is in using machine-learning to decode linguistic content represented within EEG signals. In particular, he is interested in using machine-learning classifiers to learn more about predictive processing in language comprehension.
Zoe YangDoctoral StudentZoe Yang is a Ph.D. candidate working with Mattew Traxler and Tamara Swaab. Her research interests include bilingual language processing and syntactic prediction. She is an alumna of Mount Holyoke College and the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Katherine SendekDoctoral StudentKatie (she/her/hers) is a third-year Ph.D. student in Psychology. She received her undergraduate degree in Cognitive Neuroscience from the College of Wooster, in Ohio. During her undergraduate career, Katie conducted and published research on the effects of language acquisition context on the processing of emotional and taboo words. This research has led forward to her current line of work, investigating emotion words in first versus second language and how that may influence the prediction of upcoming words. Katie plans to continue investigating bilingualism, emotion, and prediction. She also has a vested interest in spotlighting understudied languages, such as Chinese and American Sign Language.
Elaina JahanfardDoctoral StudentElaina is a third-year Ph.D. student in Psychology. Her research interests lie in the nexus between Cognitive Neuroscience and Psycholinguistics. She is currently investigating the mechanisms by which bilingual individuals engage in predictive processing.
Agnes GaoDoctoral StudentAgnes Gao is a Ph.D. candidate in the SwaabTraxler lab. Her research interests lie in predictive processing in language comprehension, speech recognition using ERPs and decoding. She finished her BA from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign in 2017 and her MS from Villanova University in 2019.
Sarah WangDoctoral StudentSarah (she/her) is a first-year PhD student in Psychology. She completed her B.A at Pomona College where she studied Cognitive Science and Music. Her research interests include bilingual language processing, cognitive control, as well as language switching. She is also interested in looking at different dialects and seeing how both known and foreign dialects may affect the bilingual mind.
Noemi DiazDoctoral StudentNoemi is a first year Ph.D. student in Cognitive Psychology. Her undergraduate studies took place at the University of California, Riverside where she received her B.S in Psychology. As a member of the Swaab lab, she hopes to investigate brain functions for linguistically diverse individuals. Her goal is to provide understanding with differences and similarities between multi-lingual and monolingual minds.
Wenrui WangLab Manager/Junior SpecialistWenrui recently graduated from UC Davis as a double major in Managerial Economics and Psychology. She will apply to master's programs in Human Development and Psychology for fall 2024 admission. She is especially interested in programs with a higher education concentration, where she can broaden her knowledge in effective college pipelines for underserved student communities, targeted data-driven student success strategies, and advising theories for holistic college student development.
Tamara Swaab (Ph.D.) is a professor in the Department of Psychology and the Center for Mind and Brain, and EIC for the journal Cognition (https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/cognition). She directs the Laboratory for the Cognitive Neuroscience of Language. Dr. Swaab received her Ph.D. degree from the Radboud University and the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics (https://www.mpi.nl/) in the Netherlands. In 2021, she was named a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science for her contributions to the understanding of human language and cognition.
Together with her students and collaborators, she has established a research program that focuses on the cognitive and neural underpinnings of language comprehension in monolingual and (bimodal) bilingual young and older adults.In our research, we use multiple methods to gain a deep understanding of the psychological processes and brain mechanisms used to extract meaning from text and conversation, including eye-tracking (collaboratively), recording of brain electrical activity (EEG/ERPs), and a variety of behavioral measures. Our research program has been supported since 1997 by grants from the McDonnell-Pew Foundation, NSF, NIMH, and NIA.
Nora Beier is a postdoctoral scholar working with Dr. George Mangun and Dr. Tamara Swaab at the intersection of language and attention. Previously, she completed her PhD in Psychology at UC Davis with Dr. Fernanda Ferreira. Her doctoral research investigated the ways people focus particular words during language comprehension and production using behavioral and eye-tracking methods. Her postdoctoral research, funded by an NIH F32 grant, explores the neural correlates of attention during speech comprehension, measured through EEG neural dynamics. In particular, her work investigates whether attention is pre-allocated to particular words in time through rhythmic and non-rhythmic temporal predictions.
Tim is a fifth-year Ph.D. student in Psychology. His primary research interest is in using machine-learning to decode linguistic content represented within EEG signals. In particular, he is interested in using machine-learning classifiers to learn more about predictive processing in language comprehension.
Zoe Yang is a Ph.D. candidate working with Mattew Traxler and Tamara Swaab. Her research interests include bilingual language processing and syntactic prediction. She is an alumna of Mount Holyoke College and the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Katie (she/her/hers) is a third-year Ph.D. student in Psychology. She received her undergraduate degree in Cognitive Neuroscience from the College of Wooster, in Ohio. During her undergraduate career, Katie conducted and published research on the effects of language acquisition context on the processing of emotional and taboo words. This research has led forward to her current line of work, investigating emotion words in first versus second language and how that may influence the prediction of upcoming words. Katie plans to continue investigating bilingualism, emotion, and prediction. She also has a vested interest in spotlighting understudied languages, such as Chinese and American Sign Language.
Elaina is a third-year Ph.D. student in Psychology. Her research interests lie in the nexus between Cognitive Neuroscience and Psycholinguistics. She is currently investigating the mechanisms by which bilingual individuals engage in predictive processing.
Agnes Gao is a Ph.D. candidate in the SwaabTraxler lab. Her research interests lie in predictive processing in language comprehension, speech recognition using ERPs and decoding. She finished her BA from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign in 2017 and her MS from Villanova University in 2019.
Sarah (she/her) is a first-year PhD student in Psychology. She completed her B.A at Pomona College where she studied Cognitive Science and Music. Her research interests include bilingual language processing, cognitive control, as well as language switching. She is also interested in looking at different dialects and seeing how both known and foreign dialects may affect the bilingual mind.
Noemi is a first year Ph.D. student in Cognitive Psychology. Her undergraduate studies took place at the University of California, Riverside where she received her B.S in Psychology. As a member of the Swaab lab, she hopes to investigate brain functions for linguistically diverse individuals. Her goal is to provide understanding with differences and similarities between multi-lingual and monolingual minds.
Wenrui recently graduated from UC Davis as a double major in Managerial Economics and Psychology. She will apply to master's programs in Human Development and Psychology for fall 2024 admission. She is especially interested in programs with a higher education concentration, where she can broaden her knowledge in effective college pipelines for underserved student communities, targeted data-driven student success strategies, and advising theories for holistic college student development.
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