Hi, I’m Ben, a post-bacc psychology researcher with a background in biology and bioinformatics.

Much of my interests center around social, emotional and behavioral skills, individual differences in social functioning and approaches to supporting skill development.

I’m curious about how abilities such as perspective taking, emotion regulation and verbal and nonverbal communication contribute to effective social performance and how their roles differ across situations such as first impressions, relationships and public speaking.

Alongside this, I am interested in how personality, developmental experiences and neurodevelopmental differences shape how people navigate social interactions, including their motivations, strengths and difficulties, and how these differences could inform intervention approaches.

Relatedly, I’m drawn to the potential of tools like virtual social interaction partners and neurofeedback to make interventions for skill development more accessible and effective, particularly in the context of social anxiety disorder and autism spectrum disorder.