Welcome! I’m Allie, a psychologist studying how motivation and emotion shape our memories, beliefs, and behaviors. I develop interventions that help us learn from error, update beliefs, and make choices that are better for our health and planet.

I am currently the Joan Bossert Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, primarily working with Prof. Emily Falk and others in the Communication Neuroscience Lab. I am also a member of the Annenberg School for Communication and the Center for Science, Sustainability, & the Media.

I completed my Ph.D. in Psychology & Neuroscience at Duke University, where I was co-advised by Prof. Alison Adcock and Prof. Gregory Samanez-Larkin. Prior to my Ph.D., I earned an Honours B.Sc. in Psychology from the University of Toronto. There, I worked with Prof. Morgan Barense and Prof. William Cunningham to explore how surprise influences episodic memories and social decisions.

Research Overview

How can we motivate prosocial behavior to address climate change and public health issues? How can we correct misinformation and increase the spread and impact of high-quality information? How can educators help students learn from their mistakes?

These diverse real-world challenges are unified by common psychological and neural mechanisms. I study how emotion, motivation, and social identity shape our memories, beliefs, and actions. I translate findings from controlled experiments in the lab to real-world settings.

My research program combines behavioral experiments, brain imaging (fMRI), and large-scale online field studies. I curate a metaphorical intervention toolbox filled with flexible, generalizable strategies that can be used to enhance learning, belief updating, and prosocial behavior across domains.