Research Laboratory
What We Do
We are a psychology lab at St. Thomas University focusing on multisensory perception and cognition. Under the direction of Dr. Doris Chow, undergraduate students conduct experimental research to understand how human participants respond to, interpret, and remember information from the different senses. Such an understanding has the potential to improve health and education-related outcomes. Furthermore, students in the lab develop important skills for research-oriented careers and beyond.
Current Members
Serena Bunin (BA' 24)
Major: Psychology; Minors: Anthropology and Sociology
Role: Honours thesis student (2023-24), NSERC USRA holder (2024-25)
Skills developed: Academic writing and reading, experiment design, participant communications and outreach, project management
Gavin Woodward (expected graduation in 2025)
Major: Psychology; Minor: Philosophy
Role: HMSRI Research Assistant (2023-24), NSERC USRA holder (2024-25), Honours thesis student (2024-25)
Skills developed: Academic writing and reading, experiment design, participant communications and outreach, computer programming
Lab Updates and Achievements
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Honours thesis students completed their study and presented their work at Science Atlantic, an undergraduate Psychology conference:
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Serena Bunin (2023-24): "Exploring associations between perceptual load and memory: How does perceptual load impact information retention?"
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Danyelle Fields (2022-23): "The impact of beat hand gestures on the attention and learning of adult listeners"
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Students Serena Bunin and Gavin Woodward received the prestigious NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Award for full-time summer research in the lab.
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Gavin Woodward was accepted into York University's CVR - VISTA Vision Science Summer School in Toronto.
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Danyelle Fields was accepted into the MSc program in Applied Forensic Psychology at St. Mary's University in Halifax.
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Flavia Orellana, Kyla Carter, and Alexander D'Alessandro completed their positions as research assistants in the lab.
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Five articles were published in the Journal of Vision, Vision Research, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, and Multisensory Research.
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Three new research projects were co-created with students based on their diverse interests.
We are often looking for research assistants and participants! If you are interested in learning more about what we work on, feel free to check out:
Dr. Chow's mentoring philosophy for current, prospective, and past students
Want to get involved? Contact Dr. Chow at hchow@stu.ca to ask about research opportunities.