Computational Psychology Lab
The Computational Psychology Lab (CPL) at the University of Birmingham is a research group focused on developing mathematical and computational models to understand a wide range of psychological phenomena.
Core objectives
- Modeling Psychological Phenomena: CPL aims to create detailed, quantitative models that go beyond traditional qualitative theories in cognitive psychology.
- Experimental Validation: The models are developed in close interaction with behavioural data, meaning the lab also conducts experimental research to test and refine it's theories.
Latest news
July 2025
Chen Wei, Chi Zhang, Jiachen Zou, Haotian Deng, Dietmar Heinke and Quanying Liu present a paper at the machine learning conference ICML.
Wei C., Zou J., Heinke D., Liu Q. (2025) Synthesizing Images on Perceptual Boundaries of ANNs for Uncovering and Manipulating Human Perceptual Variability, Proceedings of the 42 nd International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML).
May 2025
Poster presentation at the vison Sciences Society
VSS# 36.32 Do time-dependent decision boundaries exist? Evidence from empirical data from random-dot kinematograms (RDK) and a drift-diffusion model. D. Heinke, Casimir Ludwig, Jordan Deakin
February 2025
Fan Zhang, Mukesh Makwana, Dietmar Heinke and Joo-Hyun Song on their paper in APP.
Zhang, F., Makwana, M., Heinke, D., Song, J.-H. (2025). Characterizing individual differences in selection history bias manifested in goal-directed reaching movements, Attention, Perception & Psychophysics. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-025-03068-9
January 2025
Mandar Patil, Dietmar Heinke and Fan Zhang on their paper in PeerJ
Patil, M. M., Heinke, D., & Zhang, F. (2025). Computational modelling reveals the influence of object similarity and proximity on visually guided movements. In PeerJ (Vol. 13, p. e18953). PeerJ. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.18953
Research themes
The lab explores several key areas using computational Modelling; behavioural experimentation and neuroimagng techniques:
- Visual Attention & Perception: Investigating how humans process visual scenes, perform visual searches, and balance speed vs. accuracy in object recognition.
- Movement & Decision Making: Studying how visual processing interacts with movement execution, including choice-reaching tasks and goal-directed actions.
- Tool Use & Affordances: Understanding how people perceive and act upon the possibilities offered by objects.
- Psychological Disorders: Using computational models to study conditions like autism and psychosis.
- Social Cognition: Exploring how people recognize and interact with others, including false recognition and agent-based modeling.
- Learning & Cognitive Control: Modeling how attention and learning processes are configured and controlled.
Members of the Lab
Members of the Lab
Lead
Collaborators
- Howard Bowman University of Birmingham
- Wieske van Zoest University of Birmingham
- Alan Wing University of Birmingham
- Chris Miall University of Birmingham
- Andrew Schofield Aston University, UK
- Carmel Mevorach University of Birmingham
- Shan Xu Beijing Normal, China
- Ahmad Abu-Akel Lausanne, Switzerland
- Joo-Hyun Song Brown University, USA
- Charles Leek University of Liverpool, UK
- Quanying Liu Southern University of Science and Technology, China.
PhD Students
Chen Wei EEG source localisation using deep neural networks (co-supervision with Quanying Lui) cxw141@student.bham.ac.uk
Jordan Wilson Modelling of visual search tasks. JXW1172@student.bham.ac.uk