Information for Prospective PhD Applicants

Interested in decision-making and affect?

The Sokol-Hessner Lab studies decision-making at the intersection of psychology, economics, and neuroscience to understand how people assign value to their options and actions, and how they ultimately choose. Our work has a particular emphasis on monetary risk, interpersonal interactions, and affect. While we generally take a cognitive/computational approach, we follow our questions where they lead! Some of the current questions under investigation in the lab include…

• How do recent events (like winning & losing) influence how you think about subsequent risks, and the risks you take (or don’t!)?

• How do implicit race biases and acute stress interact with and affect the perception of trustworthiness and decisions to trust others?

• How can we use eyetracking to identify where people look and when, and what that reveals about what they value and how much?

• How do we form impressions of other people based on both what we learn and the order in which we learn it? How do we decide whether to connect or affiliate with those people?

No matter the precise topic, research in our lab always seeks to combine objective measures of decision-making and affect, and aims to use those to push our research and the field toward formal mathematical computational models of the cognitive processes driving our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Our work often emphasizes quantification and computation, and as a result, we rely a lot on computer code to run our studies and analyze our data (i.e. MATLAB & Psychtoolbox; R; and recently, Github, Python, PsychoPy, jsPsych, and more). We also use a variety of techniques, including advanced quantitative behavioral model-fitting, skin conductance, EKGs, eye-tracking, neuroimaging, and more. Find out more about what we do and how by clicking here, and check out some of our papers here.

What will we do next? That depends in part on you - the themes are emotion and decision-making; the tools are multi-modal and quantitative; the approach is rigorous and interdisciplinary. What do you want to do in that space?

Who we are

In a concrete sense, we are part of the Affect/Social/Cognitive (ASC) area within the Department of Psychology at the University of Denver. Find out more about graduate study in our program here and here.

Our lab values diverse perspectives, identities, backgrounds, and experiences because they make us the scientists we are, and science is better when more of us participate and contribute. We believe that the best science begins with and happens in a supportive, inclusive environment, and we are committed to fostering that climate in our research, teaching, and service. Lab members have included people who identify as men, women, and nonbinary; transgender and cisgender; first generation college; people of color; fresh-out-of-undergrad, and people who have already had careers outside of academia.

We strive to create a lab environment in which we can safely acknowledge, celebrate, support, value, and share our multiple identities and differences. Do we do this perfectly? Doubtlessly not - but we are committed to doing it better. Making science more inclusive is a ‘long game’, and one we believe in. We hope our commitment is exemplified not just in our words or even our daily conduct, but also by the significant time and energy we invest to create and maintain resources like “How Applying to Graduate School Works,” our founding and ongoing leadership of programs like the Application Statement Feedback Program (ASFP) and Paths In Psychological Science (PIPS), and even our commitment to open, accessible science via GitHub, OSF, Start Your Lab, and more. We additionally use “mentor contracts” in the lab to facilitate conversations around mentorship, clarify mutual expectations, and ensure that we’re discussing not just analyses or projects, but careers, balance, health, goals, and more. We’re all at our best when we communicate with and support one another.

It’s not just our lab that believes that inclusion is critical to developing and supporting scientists to become their best selves and thereby better the field of psychology itself (a principle often called ‘inclusive excellence’). Our department is also committed to the same, as is the University of Denver at the institutional level. We’re not there yet, but we’re working on it.

Join the lab for your PhD!

Interested in the lab? Unfortunately, Prof. Sokol-Hessner is NOT reviewing applications to the DU Psychology PhD program this fall for admission in Fall 2024. What follows below is general information.

Applications will be due on December 1. The GRE is not required for applications this fall. Note too that there is a new policy waiving PhD application fees for first-gen applicants! Contact the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) at this email to find out more: cahssgradinquiry@du.edu.

Our program’s information page for prospective PhD applicants is here, and more specific admissions & application information is here. The application requires, among other things, a personal statement, a diversity statement, a CV (curriculum vitae, aka a long-form resumé), and letters of recommendation.

If you want to know more about how applying to graduate school works (maybe you don’t know anyone else who’s done this, or maybe you just want to make sure you’re doing everything you can), we’ve written a guide called “How Applying to Graduate School Works”. Read it here.

In the meantime, contact us with questions or simply to introduce yourself! If you do, please attach your CV - it helps us get to know you better.