About Me
I am a PhD Candidate at the Universtiy of Western Ontario (AKA Western University; London, Ontario). I study Psychology in the
Cognitive, Developmental, and Brain Sciences stream. I joined Western in September 2020 under the supervision of Dr. John Paul Minda. I defended my MSc in 2022 and aim to defend my dissertation in 2026. I received my BA in Psychology and Mathematics from Ohio University in 2020.
Click here for a copy of my CV (last updated April 2024).
See below to learn more about my work.
My Research
I study categorization, the cognitive process by which we sort stimuli into groups (categories) based on shared features. Categorization makes it easier to understand the world around us, breaking it down into bite-sized chunks. We are always putting things into categories, consciously and unconsciously, but we aren't born knowing how to do this. We learn categories throughout our lifetimes. I'm interested in this learning process. Specifically, I'm interested in factors that benefit this learning process. I approach my work using a mix of behvioral and computaitonal methods. My research often utilizes smartphone-based methods, making my research more accessible to diverse participants and increasing its ecological validity relative to lab-based work.
I am also passionate about science communication. I appear in several episodes of the
GradCast podcast, where I work with a fantastic team of hosts and producers to highlight graduate student research being conducted at Western. Listen to me discuss my research in
Episode 444!
Publications
Cruz, A. & Minda, J. P. (2024). The spacing effect in remote information-integration category learning. Memory & Cognition, London, ON. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-024-01569-w
Presentations
Talks
Cruz, A. (2023, October 3). Harnessing smartphone power: A breakthrough approach to medical diagnostic category learning.
Centre for Education Research and Innovation (CERI) 2023 Research Symposium, London, ON.
Cruz, A. & Minda, J. P. (November 2022). Sorry, I Can’t Talk Right Now: Category Learning on the Go.
Talk presented at the 63rd annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Boston, MA.
Posters
Cruz, A. & Minda, J. P. (2024, July 24-27). Was that my cue? Reactivity to Category-Level Judgments of Learning.
Poster to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Rotterdam, NL.
Cruz, A. & Minda, J. P. (2023, November 17-19). Give Me a Break: Pausing to Reflect May Lessen Attention Attenuation in Massed Learning.
Poster presented at the 64th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, San Francisco, CA. (
X)
Cruz, A. & Minda, J. P. (2023, July 17-19). PRaM-Scaping: Efficient Similarity Data Collection through Trial Reduction.
Poster presented at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behavior, and Cognitive Science (CSBBCS), Guelph, ON. (
X)
Cruz, A., Saulnier, K. G., Huet, A. & Allan, N. P. (May 2020). Attentional control as a potential mechanism linking worry and error monitoring: An event-related potential study.
Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) 2020, Virtual.
Cruz, A. (July 2019). Understanding patterns of interlock use based on failure times, failure rates, invalid test rates, and rolling retest rates.
Poster presented at the University of Missouri Summer Undergraduate Research & Creative Achievements Forum, Columbia, MO.
Cruz, A. & Sharrock, A. (April 2018). National suicide trends and suicide trends in Southeast Ohio.
Poster presented at the Ohio University Student Research and Creativity Expo, Athens, OH.
Workshops
Cruz, A. (2024, March 9-11). Come see your brain waves with the Muse hadband!
Workshop presented at Inspiring Diversity in STEM, London, ON.
Kalra, P. &
Cruz, A. (2023, December 1-3). Modern Realities of Behavioural Research.
Talked presented at Western University BrainHack, London, ON.
Kalra, P. &
Cruz, A. (2022, November 30-2). Modern Realities of Behavioural Research.
Talked presented at Western University BrainHack, London, ON.
Teaching
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Psychology 9040 - Scientific Computing
Psychology 9041 - Introduction to Data Management and Linear Modeling Using R
Psychology 2802 - Research Methods in Psychology II
Psychology 2820 - Research Methods & Statistical Analysis in Psychology
Psychology 3139 - Introduction to Cognitive Science
Supplemental Instruction Leader
Psychology 2110 - Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences
Mathematics 1350 - Survey of Calculus
Private Tutoring
I have worked as a private mathematics and statistics tutor since 2018, covering content from Grade 7 math through University calculus. Having taught various age groups and topics, I have refined my approach to one-on-one tutoring, often using research that I have conducted on learning. Feel free to contact me for tutoring inquiries!
Code
Random Response Simulator
During a feedback-based category learning study, participants are often expected to use a random guessing strategy to make their decisions early in the task. However, some participants never stop random guessing. By the end of the task, it is important to dissociate random guessers from learners. How well could a random guesser be expected to perform? This question is highly dependent on task design. My random response simulator predicts the highest level of achievement that a random guesser should reasonable be able to achieve.
Click here to access.