Laith Al-Shawaf, Ph.D.
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Architecture of the Mind Lab

The Architecture of the Mind Lab investigates the structure and function of mental systems and how they generate behavior. We approach the mind as a set of functionally organized systems shaped by natural selection, drawing on principles from evolutionary biology, cognitive science, and psychology to characterize how the mind works and why it works that way.
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​A central goal of the lab is to develop and test unified accounts of mental processes that are often studied in isolation. We examine emotion, cognition, personality, and belief as components of an integrated architecture, asking how these systems jointly produce both adaptive behavior and systematic error.

Our work combines theoretical development with empirical research, including extensive cross-cultural studies. We use cross-cultural data to examine both universal features of mental systems and variation across populations, testing hypotheses about the structure and function of the mind. Across projects, we aim to explain how mental systems give rise to patterns of behavior, judgment, and social interaction.

Research Areas
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  • Emotion
  • Cognition
  • Personality and individual differences
  • Belief, judgment, and cognitive bias
  • Social behavior and relationships (e.g., friendship, family, romantic love)
  • Cross-cultural psychology

Join the Lab

Prospective graduate students and undergraduate researchers interested in the structure and function of mental systems are encouraged to get in touch.

People

Information about lab members will be added soon​.

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