Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab
PI: Dr. Rachel Pizzie
In the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (CAN) Lab, our ultimate goal is to understand complex learning processes in young children, and to improve educational outcomes for deaf and hearing children. Research in the CAN lab focuses on the cognitive and affective processes that influence learning, and how negative emotions, such as anxiety, can have detrimental effects on cognitive, biological, and academic outcomes.
Math anxiety, one major focus of CAN’s work, is virtually unstudied in young deaf children. In order to understand the interplay between emotional experiences and learning outcomes during K-12 education for deaf and hearing children, CAN researchers examine neurobiological processes using fMRI and psychophysiology, and behavioral measurements in the lab and in the classroom.
Our current research studies explore:
- Math anxiety
- Language anxiety
- Social interaction and academic anxiety
- Academic anxiety and conceptual understanding
