PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
DR. CRISTINA SALVADOR
Dr. Cristina Salvador is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. She earned her Ph.D. in Social Psychology with honors from the University of Michigan and a B.A. in Psychology and Neuroscience from Pomona College. Her research program examines how culture influences psychology, focusing on norms, cognition, emotion, and the self. She uses a variety of methods from electroencephalography (EEG) to country-level comparisons to examine the influence of culture. One of her primary goals is to expand the scope of cultural psychology to examine how classically held tendencies differ in regions underrepresented in the current psychology literature. Specifically, some of her work aims to situate Latin America in the Cultural Psychology Literature. Growing up in South America with an Ecuadorian and American family influenced her research path.
cristina.salvador@duke.edu | CV
GRADUATE STUDENTS
MERCEDES MUÑOZ
Mercedes Muñoz is a doctoral student in Social Psychology in the Duke Department of Psychology & Neuroscience. Mercedes earned her B.A. in Psychology with Honors from Boston University and plans to use both a social and developmental approach to understand social bias development in children and adults. Additionally, her research focuses on analyzing whether the social context and norms of a adult’s cultural environment influences their use of generic language statements. Most importantly, Mercedes aims for the means and the end of her research to inform, benefit, and uplift Black, Latinx, and other marginalized communities.
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PATRICK GILBERT MERCADO REYES
Patrick Reyes is a doctoral student in Social Psychology in the Duke Department of Psychology & Neuroscience. Patrick earned his B.S. in Neuroscience with Honors and his B.A. in Psychology from the University of Delaware. His research focuses on the role of sociocultural factors in shaping the brain and our cognition, with an emphasis on the integration of psychological, neurophysiological, and neuroimaging methods. He hopes his work can add to the growing body of cultural neuroscience, as well as shed light on understudied and underrepresented cultural groups.
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NATALIA ESPINOSA
Natalia is a PhD student in Social Psychology in the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience. Her research uses methods from neuroscience and psychology to examine how culture influences cognition, emotion, and the self. Natalia hopes to expand the scope of the current literature to examine the unique psychological profile of Latinx people and test the broader idea that interdependence, although widely shared across non-WEIRD cultures, has (i) culturally variable features and (ii) psychological consequences.
natalia.espinosa@duke.edu | CV
LAB MANAGER
JANET YOUKYUNG KIM
RESEARCH ASSISTANTS
RACHEL KAMIS
Rachel Kamis is a second-year undergraduate student in the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences. Rachel Kamis is pursuing a major in psychology and minor in cultural anthropology and is interested in the intersections of cultural studies and psychology/neuroscience, like how culture impacts norms, behavior, and cultural production.
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RAFAELLA ZANATTI
Rafaella (Ella) Zanatti is a second-year undergraduate at Duke University pursuing a double major in Psychology and Neuroscience. Ella is interested in abnormal and cultural psychology. More specifically, she is interested in the different ways that culture impacts psychopathology, self-esteem and decision making.
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NICOLAS PARDO
Nicolas Pardo is a third-year undergraduate student at Duke University. Nicolas is pursing a major in Psychology and is interested in Latinx cultural identity and its influence on perception.
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SHANGCHENG ZHAO
Shangcheng Zhao is a third-year undergraduate student in Peking University. Shangcheng is pursuing a major in Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. She is interested in the neural basis of culture and the neural mechanisms of cultural influences on how we think, feel and react.
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LAB ALUMNI
Alejandra Mella (Duke 2023)
Emily Sen (Duke MA Bioethics & Science Policy 2021)
Alex Leo-Guerra (Duke 2023)
Kate Leonard (Duke 2022)