The Lab

Our goal is to understand the causes and consequences of rational and irrational judgment. To do this, we take a highly interdisciplinary approach that combines cognitive science and behavioral economics. We investigate a wide range of decisions using a blend of computational cognitive modeling and behavioral experiments.

Rahul received his undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of British Columbia, followed by an MS in Behavioral and Social Neuroscience and PhD in Computation and Neural Systems from Caltech. He completed his postdoctoral training in the departments of Psychology and Economics at Harvard University before moving to MIT. He is currently the Class of 1958 Career Development Assistant Professor of Marketing at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Outside of the lab, Rahul enjoys reading, taking walks, and smiling in pictures.

Rachit is a postdoctoral research associate at MIT Sloan. His research focuses on understanding the human motives that drive environmentally-damaging behaviors and designing and refining interventions that drive action on climate change. Before coming to MIT, he completed his PhD in Computer Science at Princeton University. Outside of the lab, he enjoys hiking, biking, playing cricket, and spending time with his family.

Reed is a PhD student in management science at MIT Sloan. His interests center broadly on the motivations for and barriers to prosocial and cooperative behavior, especially in addressing climate change. Before starting at MIT, Reed completed a BA in economics and political science at Swarthmore College and worked for two years as a research analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Outside of the lab, he enjoys playing volleyball and guitar, spending time in nature, and reading.

Josh is a PhD student in Management Science at MIT Sloan. His academic interests center on understanding the social world from a computational and interdisciplinary perspective, with a particular focus on laws, morality, cooperation and pro-social behavior. He earned a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) from the University of Queensland, a Master of Laws from Washington University in St. Louis, and a Graduate Diploma and Advanced Graduate Diploma, both in Psychology, from the University of Melbourne. He has previously worked as a lawyer in Australia, practicing in insolvency litigation, and a data scientist for Cogstate, a company which specializes in the development and administration of computerized cognitive tests. Outside of work, Josh likes travel, exercise, and watching sport, particularly Australian Rules Football.

Yang is currently a PhD student in the Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at Harvard University. Her PhD work focuses on developing an intuitive theory of competence. Prior to grad school, she worked as a full-time research associate with Rahul. Outside of the lab, she enjoys playing piano and doing yoga.

Lion is a PhD student at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics and is visiting MIT as a Fulbright scholar. Broadly, he is interested in the computations underlying misinformation, metacognition and trust, both in humans and artificial intelligence. Prior to his PhD, Lion did a BSc in Psychology in Dresden and an MSc in Cognitive and Decision Sciences at University College London. Outside of the lab, he enjoys cycling, reading, and photography.

Roma is a Predoctoral research associate with Rahul. She graduated from the Johns Hopkins University with BAs in Economics, Mathematics, and Applied Mathematics and Statistics. Having an interdisciplinary background, she is interested in developing Bayesian models to explain how people perceive and process information. Outside of the lab, she likes singing, studying Chinese culture, and reading social science literature.

Lydia is a Predoctoral Research Associate with Rahul and the Rationality Lab. She graduated with a BS in Cognitive Science from Yale University. At Yale, she worked on computational models of confidence in moral decision-making with Dr. Molly Crockett. Lydia is also interested in how widespread messaging can be applied for impact, particularly at the intersection of public health and new technologies. Outside of the lab, Lydia enjoys live music (she led the planning team for Yale's annual music festival), practicing German, and podcasts.

Shivani is an MIT undergraduate student studying Computer Science, Economics, Data Science, and Finance and is working with the lab through the MIT Climate and Sustainability consortium. Outside of the lab she enjoys dancing and learning new languages!

Tyler is an MIT Undergraduate Student currently studying Business Analytics, and he is currently researching decision-making in financial markets. Outside of academics, Tyler is a member of Chocolate City, and he enjoys fashion, sneakers, and working out.

Breakdancing skills not required.

Eric Hong - Undergraduate Research Assistant

Victoria Lu - Undergraduate Research Assistant

Sari Strizik - Undergraduate Research Assistant

Yang Xiang - Predoctoral Research Associate

Vicky Zheng - Undergraduate Research Assistant