We are an interdisciplinary research lab interested in the psychological determinants and consequences of hierarchy, networks, and technology. We read about, discuss, and conduct research on a wide range of topics, including power and status, judgment and decision making, cultural transmission, morality, network formation, behavior tracking, and algorithms.

Lab Director

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Nathanael Fast is an Associate Professor of Management and Organization at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. He received his Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Stanford University.

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AFFILIATED faculty

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Jonathan Gratch is Director for Virtual Human Research at the University of Southern California’s (USC) Institute for Creative Technologies, a Research Full Professor of Computer Science and Psychology at USC and Director of USC’s Computational Emotion Group. He completed his Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Illinois in Urban-Champaign in 1995. Dr. Gratch’s research focuses on computational models of human cognitive and social processes, especially emotion, and explores these models’ role in shaping human-computer interactions in virtual environments. In particular, he studies the relationship between cognition and emotion, the cognitive processes underlying emotional responses, and the influence of emotion on decision making and physical behavior.

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Gale Lucas is a research assistant professor at the University of Southern California in the Viterbi School of Engineering and works at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT). She obtained her BA from Willamette University in 2005 and her PhD from Northwestern University in 2010. After teaching for a couple of years at small liberal arts colleges, she went back for a post-doc. She completed her post-doc with Dr. Jon Gratch at ICT, and then stayed on at ICT as a senior research associate. She works in the areas of human-computer interaction, affective computing, and trust-in-automation. Her research focuses on rapport, disclosure, trust, persuasion, and negotiation with virtual agents and social robots.

Postdoctoral scholars

Joo-Wha Hong is a postdoctoral scholar who studies the social role of autonomous machines, mainly artificial intelligence (AI). His research focuses on cognitive and psychological attributes in human-AI interaction. He is particularly interested in exploring how people cognize machine agents with roles as social entities and define relationships with them. His recent published works are mainly about the perception and the evaluation of various types of AI performance, from logical decisions to creative activities. He completed his Ph.D. in communication at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

Jimmy Narang is a microeconomist with broad interests in Behavioral Economics and Economic Development. He uses lab/field experiments to answer questions about: Social norms, social networks, and belief-formation; as well as: Persistent inequalities of income, opportunity or power. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from UC Berkeley.

Graduate Students

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Maya Cratsley is a Ph.D. student in the Management and Organization department at the USC Marshall School of Business. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from the Brown University. While at Brown, she worked as a Research Assistant in the Social Cognitive Science Research Center.

Samantha Martinez is a Ph.D. student in the Management and Organization department at the USC Marshall School of Business. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. As an undergraduate, she worked in the Self-Regulation Lab. She also worked on the Talent Acquisition team at Boston Consulting Group before joining USC. She is broadly interested in studying morality, trust, and how transgressor actions might influence networks.

Nisa Gürbüz is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the Public Policy and Management Department at the USC Price School of Public Affairs. Prior to her doctoral studies, she obtained her master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as a Fulbright Scholar. Her professional background includes a role as a Project Manager in the IT sector before she embarked on her academic journey at USC. Her research focuses on exploring the dynamic relationship between technology utilization and organizational learning, with a particular emphasis on understanding decision-making processes within organizations.

research assistants

Jessica Chen is an undergraduate at USC majoring in Cognitive Science, minoring in Digital Forensics, and specializing in Mobile App Development. She is interested in the intersection between psychology, technology, and society. She aims to study the constantly evolving relationship between humans and technology—its symbiotic nature as well as negative implications. More specifically, Jessica looks forward to learning more about machine learning and generative AI. In the future, she wants to pursue an interdisciplinary technology career in tech consulting, UX research, or cybersecurity. In her free time, Jessica enjoys going on road trips, exploring good places to eat, and listening to music. 

Sowmiya Mathanagopalan is a graduate student in the Viterbi School of Engineering at USC and she is majoring in Data Science. She hopes to work as a Data Scientist or a Data Analyst in the future. Her current areas of interest are finance, environment, and healthcare. Sowmiya's hobbies are painting and swimming.

 

Justin Luong is a Junior at USC majoring in Cognitive Science and minoring in User Experience. He is interested in studying human behavior, VR, and how to best address mental health issues in underserved communities. After graduating, Justin plans to pursue a career as a User Researcher in the technology field. In his free time, he loves hiking, going on spontaneous adventures, and finding new hobbies that he can delve into.


Evelyn Zhang is a Sophomore at USC majoring in Computer Science and Business Administration. She is interested in using data analytics to study technology's impact on human behavior and collaboration from an international perspective. Outside of school and work, Evelyn is active in advocacy work for the Asian Pacific American Student Assembly on campus and loves hiking, music, and reading new books to gain new perspectives.

Aakanksha Sangwan is a graduate student in the Marshall School of Business at USC majoring in Business Analytics. She is interested in the intersection of technology and society and aims to utilize data analytics to find insights into the impact of technology on human behavior. After graduation, Aakanksha plans to work on products that improve quality of life. Her hobbies include hiking, gardening, and cycling.

Emaan Khan is an undergraduate student at USC majoring in Cognitive Science and minoring in Artificial Intelligence and Business. She is interested in studying technology's influence on society, with a specific focus on examining how public policies can promote innovation while maintaining a strong emphasis on safety.  In her free time, Emaan enjoys concerts, hiking, and reading. 

Lab Alumni

  • Merrick Osbourne, Postdoctoral Scholar, UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business

  • Mindy Truong, Assistant Professor, UC Riverside, School of Business

  • Roshni Raveendhran, Assistant Professor at University of Virginia, Darden School of Business

  • Oliver Fisher, People Analyst, Google

  • Arthur Jago, Assistant Professor at the University of Washington, Tacoma

  • Priyanka Joshi, Assistant Professor, San Francisco State University

  • Liz Quinn-Jensen, PhD student at UC Santa Barbara

  • Brittany Torrez, PhD, Yale School of Management

  • Sam Sorkin, Strategy & Communications Analyst, Teneo

  • Joseph Gaebler, Equity Research Analyst at Goldman Sachs

  • Murali Joshi, Technology Investor at ICONIQ Capital - Technology & Venture Capital

  • Kiansiong Tey, PhD student at INSEAD