Doctoral Students

 Netanel Weinstein

Netanel Weinstein is a doctoral student in Dr. Baldwin’s Acquiring Minds Lab. Netanel completed his undergraduate degree in Psychology at Yeshiva University where he was a member of Dr. Bruno Galantucci’s experimental semiotics lab.  In the ES lab, Netanel ran a study exploring the impact perceived similarity between participant’s had on their tendency to make egocentric errors in communication.   He then completed his MA in psychology at The New School for Social Research. At the NSSR, Netanel was a member of the Center for Research with infants and toddlers (CRIT) under the supervision of Dr. Lawrence Hirschfeld.  At CRIT, he was involved in a project exploring group perception and pro-social intuition in pre-verbal infants. He was also an active member of Dr. Shai Davidai’s Judgment and Decision making lab, studying the role motivational factors play in moral judgment. At the Acquiring Minds lab, Netanel is working with Dr. Baldwin on developing a methodology for the online study of interpersonal understanding during human interaction using behavioral measures such as eye-tracking.
Scott Wallner
 
Scott Wallner is a doctoral student upholding appointments in two research labs on campus. Hailing from Chicago, Scott earned two degrees from Augustana College in Physics and Mathematics, and is a former high school teacher of these subjects. He hopes to employ an interdisciplinary and generalist approach to investigate the dynamics of the sensorimotor system for perception and action. From a Developmental Psychology perspective, Scott collaborates with Dr. Baldwin to explore the way in which individuals learn to process and understand the evolution of action streams in natural environments. They are interested in designing experiments which probe memory and learning through frameworks of information optimization, novelty and curiosity. As a Cognitive Neuroscientist, Scott works with his adviser Dr. Paul Dassonville in the Perception and Action Lab.  This research will utilize psychophysical methods, eye tracking and brain scanning to study the role of contextual information in perceptual experiences. Both projects will seek to employ analytical machine learning techniques and open science frameworks. He is determined to structure these research programs to converge on congruent concepts, and bolster common applications. Scott hopes his research will inform and generate technologies and theory that supports those with atypical or challenging sensorimotor and perceptual experiences. Specifically individuals who embody Autism Spectrum Disorders and Traumatic Brain Injury.

Scott is often overwhelmed by his ever broadening range of interests including computational geometry, fractals, optical illusions, evolutionary biology, physics and philosophy of mind. He is also in his second season of volunteering as an assistant coach for the University of Oregon Women’s Soccer Team.  When he isn’t doing science in the lab or out on the soccer field, Scott can be found running around Eugene with his dog Watson. In what little is left, he enjoys listening to music, doing puzzles, sketching with protractor and compass, watching scientific lectures on YouTube, and attempting to not buy any more used books.

Affiliated Students
Elizabeth Loi

Elizabeth (Liz) Loi is a doctoral student in the clinical area of the Psychology Department.  Liz’s research interests center around how early risk factors, from the prenatal period through the first few years of life, shape young children’s health, language, cognitive, and socioemotional outcomes.  Prior to graduate school, Liz worked for several years in the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford as a research assistant and clinical research coordinator on studies that investigated language, executive function, and gross motor development among children with, or at risk for, developmental disabilities.  Liz holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California, Berkeley.  In her spare time, she enjoys running, arts and crafts, cooking, and baking.

 
Karlena Ochoa Steigerwald

Karlena Ochoa Steigerwald is a doctoral student in the developmental psychology program at the University of Oregon. She works primarily with Dr. Lou Moses and her research interests broadly focus on children’s social-cognitive development during the preschool years. She is especially interested in children’s moral development.  More recently she worked with Dr. Kate Mills and examined prosocial behaviors in friendship groups during adolescence. Before coming to University of Oregon, Karlena finished her BA in 2014 and MA at California State University San Marcos.

 

 

 

 
John Rochelle

Research Assistants
 Anaahat Bala