Program

Vote for the best poster award:

Link to survey for Poster session 1: to be provided 

Link to survey for Poster session 2: to be provided

In each poster session you should choose the best 3 posters. 

Thursday Feb 5th, 2026

12:00 - 1:00 pm: Registration desk open (Hotel check-in)

1:00 - 1:15 pm: Opening remarks

1:15 - 2:15 pm: Coraline Rinn Iordan - introduced by Michelle Greene

2:15 - 4:00 pm: Coffee break and posters I

4:00 - 5:00 pm: Erin A. Maloney - introduced by Evan Risko

5:00 - 5:15 pm: Break 

5:15 - 6:15 pm: Chris Fiacconi - introduced by Skylar Laursen

6:15 - 8:15 pm: Dinner

8:15 pm - 1:00 am: L.O.V.E. Affair

Friday Feb 6th, 2026

9:00 - 11:00 am: Registration desk open, Posters II and coffee

11:00 am - 12:00 pm: Gary R. Turner - introduced by Asaf Gilboa and Dale Stevens

12:00 - 1:30 pm: Lunch

1:30 - 2:30 pm: Mel Rutherford - introduced by Allison Sekuler

2:30 - 2:45 pm: Closing Remarks and Poster Award

Invited Speakers:

Keynote 1: Coraline Rinn Iordan

Introduced by Michelle Greene

Abstract

Title: Unraveling the Neural Mechanisms of Episodic Memory and Communication for Naturalistic Narratives.

Our world unfolds in stories. There are stories we experience personally, stories we tell each other, and stories we tell ourselves. But how does our prior knowledge influence the way we perceive and remember stories? How do we use attention to select the most relevant information to focus on and remember from stories? How do we briefly summarize long and complicated stories in a few sentences? In this talk, I will discuss a couple of ongoing studies that seek to elucidate how we perceive, remember, and communicate the complex narratives that we encounter when we experience the world naturally, such as when we watch a captivating movie or when we talk to our friends about our adventures. I will also briefly explore a framework for investigating the causal link between how we remember and communicate naturalistic narratives and the neural mechanisms that support these tasks. This framework leverages neural sculpting, a recent method we developed using machine learning, neuroimaging, and real-time neurofeedback to access and alter human subjective experience by directly modifying activity patterns in the brain related to vision and memory in a non-invasive way. Our work provides insights into multiple mechanisms of naturalistic perception and memory that are central to human cognition and social interaction in everyday situations and, as such, has implications for several key endeavors of the human experience, including teaching, cooperation, and building consensus between multiple minds.

Bio

Dr. Coraline Rinn Iordan is an Assistant Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Neuroscience, and Visual Science at the University of Rochester. She earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University (PIs: Fei-Fei Li & Diane Beck), followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the Princeton University Neuroscience Institute (PIs: Jon Cohen, Ken Norman, & Nick Turk-Browne). Dr. Iordan’s research aims to understand how the human brain perceives, remembers, and communicates naturalistic stories and experiences. Her lab employs a varied portfolio of research methods, including psychophysics, functional neuroimaging (fMRI), real-time neurofeedback, and computational modeling. Dr. Iordan is also a leading expert in neural sculpting, a framework based on real-time fMRI neurofeedback and machine learning that affords the investigation of the causal link between neural representations and behavior by directly modifying activity patterns in the human brain in a non-invasive way. As an enthusiastic advocate of science communication and outreach, Dr. Iordan is also the founder of the Rochester Science Teaching Through Art (STAr) professional development and outreach program.

Keynote 2: Erin A. Maloney

Introduced by Evan Risko

Abstract

Title: When 2 + 2 = Anxiety: Why Success in Math Is About More Than Math Competency.

Math anxiety-feelings of tension, apprehension, and fear that arise for many people in situations involving mathematics-has long been recognized as a noteworthy barrier to mathematical performance and engagement. Early research on math anxiety was rooted primarily in cognitive psychology, focusing on how anxiety interacts with working memory and relates to problem solving in the moment. In recent years, however, the study of math anxiety has expanded well beyond its cognitive origins. Drawing on evidence from developmental psychology, education, and social psychology, this talk will trace what we know thus far about how math anxiety emerges across development, how it is shaped by learning environments and social influences, and why it persists over time. The talk will review research examining potential causes of math anxiety, including early negative experiences with mathematics, socialization processes, parental and teacher attitudes, and individual differences in emotion regulation and cognitive control. By integrating findings across disciplines, this talk highlights key insights into math anxiety and highlights future directions for research and intervention.

Bio

Dr. Erin Maloney is an Associate Professor of Psychology and a Canada Research Chair in Academic Achievement and Well-Being at the University of Ottawa. She is a world-leader in the study of math anxiety. Having published several research articles on the topic in some of the top scientific journals in the world, she is a sought-after speaker, often speaking to parents, educators, and students on the topics of academic achievement and emotional well-being. Her scientific work has been funded by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario, and the University of Ottawa. Dr. Maloney passionately advocates for the importance of supporting girls and women in math and science-based careers, and being blind herself, advocates for the importance of accessibility, equity, and diversity in education.

Keynote 3: Chris Fiacconi

Introduced by Skylar Laursen

Abstract

Title: The Strategic and the Automatic: How Memory and Metamemory Inform Each Other.

Prevailing theoretical models of memory typically assume that experiences are ‘copied’ into memory and later retrieved in the presence of a triggering cue. In other words, what is stored in and later recovered from memory is a direct function of what is available in the current environment. However, such models often neglect the metacognitive sophistication of the learner and fail to consider how encoding and retrieval processes are shaped by the goals, strategies, experiences, and expectations that learners naturally bring to the learning environment. In this talk, I will emphasize how memory and metacognition work together to shape both encoding and retrieval across different task contexts using both behavioural and computational modelling approaches. The findings from these studies illustrate not only how mnemonic processes are shaped by metacognitive strategies, but also, how our metacognitions are informed by mnemonic processes. Together, this work highlights the highly integrated nature of memory and metacognition and suggests that a complete understanding of human learning and remembering must consider how automatic mnemonic processes operate in tandem with strategic control.

Bio

Dr. Chris Fiacconi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Guelph. Following his undergraduate training at the University of Western Ontario, he completed his PhD in cognitive psychology from McMaster University in 2012 under the supervision of Dr. Bruce Milliken. Dr. Fiacconi then returned back to the University of Western Ontario for a post-doctoral fellowship where he worked with Drs. Stefan Kohler and Adrian Owen examining psychophysiological measures of memory functioning. He began his current position at the University of Guelph in 2016, where he leads the Guelph Memory & Cognition Lab. His NSERC funded research program is centered on advancing our understanding of human memory processes at both the basic and applied levels and utilizes behavioural, psychophysiological, and computational methods.

Keynote 4: Gary R. Turner

Introduced by Asaf Gilboa and Dale Stevens

Abstract

Title: Aging Cognition: An Insider’s Perspective.

Getting older is generally better than the alternative. The journey through the adult life course often comes with the joys of insight, perspective, expanding life experiences, knowledge gains and, some might argue, even wisdom. But the collective weight of a lifetime of acquisition may also narrow one’s path, and lead us away from roads less travelled. Over the course of my career investigating the cognitive neuroscience of aging, I’ve come to consider this possibility as one of the more vexing features of the human central nervous system: Efficiency over elasticity. In this talk I’ll unpack these ideas and describe how my colleagues, my team, and I have been investigating them in the lab. Along the way I will also reflect on the beauty of acquisition and the rewards that accompany a career of new experiences, new knowledge, new friendships, and continuously expanding horizons.

Bio

Dr. Gary R. Turner is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at York University and is a registered Clinical Neuropsychologist in the Province of Ontario. Dr. Turner was a graduate of York University (twice!), having first completed a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration some years ago (he remembers the Ross Ramp!). He later returned to York to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Atkinson College, where he was the Class Valedictorian in 1999. He went on to complete his MA and PhD in Psychology at the University of Toronto and then pursued post-doctoral studies at the University of California at Berkeley. He returned to Toronto to take up a scientist positional the Sunnybrook Centre for Stroke Recovery before joining the faculty at York in 2011.​ Dr. Turner's program of research investigates how age-related brain changes impact cognitive and real-world functioning (including financial decision-making) both in normal aging and brain disease. A core objective of this work is to leverage neuroscience discoveries to guide the design of more effective interventions toward sustaining cognitive and brain health, ultimately helping older adults live healthier, longer. His work is funded by the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Keynote 5: Mel Rutherford

Introduced by Alison Sekuler

Abstract

Title: Adaptive Perceptions: The Visual System is Designed to Process Fitness-Relevant Information. 

The human visual system is designed to detect, attend to, and process fitness-relevant information, and social information has consistently been important in our evolutionary history, including visual cues to animacy, emotion, and social categories. Converging evidence suggests that the visual system includes specialized perceptual mechanisms for processing such social visual information. Psychophysical evidence from my lab reveals that human faces capture our attention and are processed rapidly, human hands capture visual attention, and social orienting is automatic in neurotypical observers. Specialized mechanisms perceive animate motion, suggesting that humans have evolved adaptations tuned to detecting animacy, distinct from general motion processing. This specialized processing develops early. Four-year-olds show a pop-out effect for chasing motion, and 11-month-olds show attention to animate stimuli in a change-detection paradigm. Differences in social perception among people on the autism spectrum further support the hypothesis that these abilities rely on specialized adaptation. An association between biological motion perception and IQ suggests that individuals with ASD may rely on higher-order cognitive strategies. This association is most pronounced in tasks requiring emotion perception. Together, these findings support the idea that the visual system has evolved specialized mechanisms for detecting fitness-relevant information, distinct from general-purpose motion or object perception.

Bio

Dr. Mel Rutherford is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University. After graduating from Yale University, Mel earned a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he explored human cognition through an evolutionary lens. A Fulbright Fellowship took Mel to Cambridge, England, where he collaborated with Simon Baron-Cohen. Mel’s work focuses on how evolutionarily relevant stimuli—such as faces, food, and animate objects—impact visual attention, memory, and cognition in adults and across development. A recent empty nester, Mel is filling the void with voice lessons, Spanish classes, tap dancing, and improve comedy classes, and he is learning how to crochet.

Financial Contributors