About Me

Hi, this is Shan. I’m a graduate student studying cognitive science at the University of Chicago with Monica Rosenberg and Yuan Chang Leong. My interest lies in the emergence of meaningful representations in brain and machine, during online processing and across cultural evolution.

My current line of research focuses on understanding the emergence of individual differences in narrative comprehension. Previously, I studied how varying communicative needs play a role in efficient semantic categorization in the Language and Cognition Lab at Berkeley (PI: Terry Regier) and examined the cognitive mechanisms underlying variations of relational reasoning in the Language and Cognition Lab at Stanford (PI: Mike Frank).

Before entering the fascinating world of (empirical :D) cognitive science, I took a theoretical approach and received my Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Fudan University in Shanghai, China, which led me to unearth my passion for the empirical inquiry of mind.