
Lab Members
Principal Investigator

Tom Hutcheon, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology
thutcheo@bard.edu (CV)
google scholar profile
Professor Hutcheon’s research focuses on cognitive control, which is defined as the ability to select relevant sources of information in the face of distracting or competing sources of information. As everyone has experienced, the efficiency of cognitive control varies. At times we find it easy to sit down at our computers and work on a paper. At other times we end up checking our email every three minutes. What causes this variability in performance? Professor Hutcheon’s research seeks to understand the mechanisms that support cognitive control, the factors that influence the efficiency of cognitive control, and how these are influenced by healthy aging. To address these issues, Professor Hutcheon uses a variety of behavioral and statistical techniques including computational modeling and response time distribution analyses.
Current Research Assistants

Katie Panikhina, Class of 2027
Katie is a senior majoring in Computer Science and Psychology with a minor in Mind, Brain, and Behavior. In the lab, she has worked on the object substitution masking (OSM) project and is currently completing her senior thesis on the neural basis of compositional generalization, co-advised by Professor Hutcheon, Dr. Winrich Freiwald, and Dr. Lucas Tian at The Rockefeller University.
Elizabeth Bayer, Class of 2028
Elizabeth (Betsy) is in her fourth year at Bard Conservatory and Bard College. She is pursuing a dual degree in Vocal Arts Performance and Psychology. In the lab, she is working on OSM related projects, and she is interested in the cognitive connections between language and music within psychology.
Velen Fernandez, Class of 2029
Lab Alumni
Sam Gerber, Class of 2026
Prisha Bishen, Class of 2026
Polina Rafailova, Class of 2026
Becca Wintjen, Class of 2026
Aida Malikova, Class of 2026
Nicole Meselsohn, Class of 2026
Maya Gjonbalaj, Class of 2026
Clara Retzloff, Class of 2025
Alua Samat, Class of 2025
Adi David, Class of 2024
Justyne Ingwu, Class of 2024
Itzel Herrera Garcia, Class of 2023
Asa Kaplan, Class of 2023
Hominy McMahon, Class of 2023
Kirsten Ostbirk, Class of 2021
Immanuel Zion, Class of 2020
Aileen Lian, Class of 2018
Sigrun Nielsen, Class of 2018
Maayan Eldar, Class of 2016
