David Amodio, Ph.D.
Professor of Social Psychology, University of Amsterdam
Dr. Amodio studies the psychological processes involved in prejudice, impression formation, and social cognition, with a focus on roles of learning and memory in how social biases are formed, expressed, regulated, and reduced. His current work examines the sociocognitive mechanisms through which prejudice is transmitted between individuals and society, as well as the role of AI in propagating human social biases.
Amodio is a Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Amsterdam, an appointment he began in 2017 and held part-time between 2018 and 2021. Prior to returning to Amsterdam fulltime in 2022, he worked at New York University from 2005 to 2021, serving as coordinator of the NYU Social Psychology program from 2013 to 2016.
Amodio served as President of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, was a co-founder of the Social and Affective Neuroscience Society, and served as Associate Editor for the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (2011-2016). He is an elected fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and Society of Experimental Social Psychology.
Amodio’s research is funded by a VICI Award from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research and was previously funded by grants from the US National Science Foundation, including an NSF CAREER Award. Awards for his scientific contributions include the Career Trajectory Award from the Society for Experimental Social Psychology, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from The White House, the Janet T. Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions from the Association for Psychological Science, the Early Career Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Study of Social Cognition from the International Social Cognition Network, the F. J. McGuigan Young Investigator Prize from the American Psychological Association, the SAGE Young Scholars Award, from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and the Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.
Inga Rösler, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scientist
Inga is broadly interested in social interactions, social learning, and cooperation. She combines computational and neuroscientific methods to study how we form impressions of other people’s morality.
Marius Vollberg, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scientist
Using behavioral, neuroimaging, and computational approaches, Marius investigates the algorithmic ingredients of intergroup bias by asking how our thoughts and feelings reflect and perpetuate our valuation of others.
Johanna Falben, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral scientist
Johanna applies computational modelling techniques to unpick biases that affect decision making in person perception (e.g., stereotypes). She is also interested in how instrumental learning can influence impressions of other individuals.
Michael Berkebile, Ph.D.
Starting fall '24, Postdoc at Columbia University
Michael is interested in the sociocognitive and neural bases of prejudice. His current research examines the effects of economic scarcity on racial stereotyping and dehumanization–processes.
David Schultner, Ph.D.
Postdoc, Karolinska Institutet
While still a collaborator in the lab, David is now a postdoc in the lab of Björn Lindström. He investigates the sociocognitive and computational mechanisms of social learning for decision making and intergroup bias.
Iris Traast
Doctoral Student
Iris is interested in the neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying social behavior. She uses computational, neuroimaging, and behavioral methods to research the formation and reduction of implicit prejudice.
Jan Shujun Yang
Research MA student, UvA
I am interested in studying social learning, decision-making, and memory using behavioral, computational, neuroimaging, and clinical approaches. I am currently investigating how feedback timing might modulate social instrumental learning in the lab.
Bastian Weitz
Research MA student, UvA
Basti is interested in the cognitive basis of trait inference and how this shapes intergroup relations. He is currently examining how feedback delay shapes learning about others. In fall 2024, he will begin his PhD work in Social Psychology at Columbia University.