Who we are

Jack graduated from the University of Arizona in May 2026. He grew up between Tucson and New Hampshire and has always had a love of reading, science, and the outdoors. His research interests focus on the neuroscience of judgment and decision-making, with a specialization in computational modeling of behavioral data. His work draws on computational models, with particular emphasis on the exploration–exploitation dilemma and the foraging dynamics underlying spontaneous thought. He is especially interested in how the successor representation relates to model-based and model-free reinforcement learning, and how these learning systems interact with working memory processes. Jack has a brain-based visual impairment. He has total sight for things close to him, but limited visual capacity for movement and distance. His guide dog, Laredo, is highly trained to accompany him around obstacles and guide him through life.

Eric is a Ph.D. student in the Cognition and Neural Systems Program. He is interested in how people learn what things are worth — using computational modeling and behavioral experiments to ask how value becomes attached to states, actions, and expected outcomes through ordinary experience, and how those learned values guide decisions across multiple timescales. He is also interested in applying these models to real-world decision settings, including how clinicians integrate AI recommendations into diagnosis. Before joining the lab, he studied statistics and psychology (B.S.) and data science (M.S.).

Mika Gisches is a senior at the University of Arizona pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Psychological Sciences through the College of Science and W. A. Franke Honors College. Her research interests include clinical and experimental psychopathology, child and adolescent mental health, psycho-oncology, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. She is interested in pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology and exploring how psychological disorders affect the mental health of children, adolescents, and their families. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends.