Zheng (Joyce) Wang

Currently I am an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication and direct the Communication and Psychophysiology (CAP) Lab. I received my Ph.D. in Communications & Cognitive Science at Indiana University-Bloomington (2007). I have been trying to pursue new ideas and approaches from cognitive science to the study of communications.

One new direction is the use of real time data (e.g., psychophysiological measures, real life experience sampling) in conjunction with formal dynamic models to study how people process information and how they are affected by this information. This has led to the development of new dynamic models of information processing and choice behaviors in a mediated environment. My current focus is the dynamic reciprocal effects between media use/choices and their impacts on emotion and cognition over time. I have employed the approach to study media entertainment, ads and health campaign messages processing, program context effects, news selection, daily media use, etc. They help design more effective messages and news programs. Also, they may help better understand the long-term dynamic reciprocal influences between media use, communications, cognitive functions and neuro-substrates, and personal traits from a dynamic, developmental perspective.

Another new direction is to study contextual influences on judgment and decision by building new probabilistic and dynamic systems based upon quantum rather than traditional classic probability principles. Quantum probability theory turns out to be highly suitable for explaining puzzles associated with the highly contextual nature of choice and judgment.  I have applied the dynamic quantum models to study paradoxical findings on interpersonal interactions (e.g., categorization-decision interference effects), measurement order effects (e.g., order effects of attitude questions), and episodic memory overdistribution effects. This line of work has been supported by National Science Foundation (2009-2013) and Air Force Office of Scientific Research (2012-2015).

Currently I am co-editing a special issue for Topics in Cognitive Science on the topic The Potential of Quantum Probability for Modeling Cognitive Processes, and also co-editing the Oxford Handbook of Computational and Mathematical Psychology.