Three Psychology Faculty Recognized with Early Career Honors

Three faculty members in the Department of Psychology have received early career awards recognizing the contributions they’ve already made to the field and fostering their continuing research.

Associate Professor Sudeep Bhatia won a 2023 Early Career Impact Award from the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (FABBS). The FABBS Early Career Impact Awards recognize scientists who are in the early stages of their professional careers and have already shown promise as a leading researcher.

Bhatia was also awarded membership to and received the Early Investigator Award from the Society of Experimental Psychologists. The award is given to individuals who early in their careers have already made significant contributions to experimental psychology.

Bhatia specializes in the study of decision-making processes and cognitive neuroscience. His work has focused on unraveling the complexities of human behavior and exploring the underlying neural mechanisms that govern our choices, using computational behavioral science such as behavioral experiments, large-scale digital data, and computational modeling. His research has shed light on topics such as risk-taking, judgment, and the impact of emotions on decision-making.

Assistant Professor Michael Arcaro won an American Psychological Association Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution in the areas of perception and motor performance. This award honors early career scientists who have advanced the psychology discipline with extraordinary scholarly accomplishments.

Arcaro specializes in the study of visual perception and the neural processes that underlie it. His current work focuses on understanding how the brain processes and interprets visual information, with a particular emphasis on the visual cortex. His research has provided insights into the organization and function of the visual system. He is also involved in the development and application of advanced neuroimaging techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), to explore the neural mechanisms of perception.

Assistant Professor Anna Schapiro won the 2023 Cognitive Neuroscience Society’s (CNS) Young Investigator Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions by scientists early in their career. Schapiro was one of two awardees and was honored at the CNS Annual Meeting.

Schapiro specializes in the study of memory, learning, and cognitive control. Her work has focused on investigating how the human brain processes and retains information, with a particular emphasis on the interplay between memory and decision-making. Her research has provided insights into the mechanisms underlying memory formation and retrieval, as well as the factors that influence our ability to make informed choices.