Welcome to the Human Learning Lab in the School of Psychology/ Te Kura Matai Hinengaro at Victoria University of Wellington/Te Whare Wanaga o te Upoko o te Ika a Maui.
News about one of our impulsivity projects https://www.victoria.ac.nz/science/about/news/studying-the-struggle-of-self-control
Click here to see information about current studies you might be able to participate in.
We are interested in understanding complex, real-world human behaviours using experimental analogues of important real-world situations. Our areas of focus are:
(1) Gambling. We use experimental simulations of pokies to investigate how features of the way they are programmed can drive persistent gambling.
(2) Impulsivity. We develop engaging experimental tasks where participants make choices about whether to wait for delayed outcomes that they will actually experience within the session. This helps us understand why people are often unwilling to forego something small now even if they miss out on something more valuable later.
(3) Risk taking. Would you rather have $100 for certain or $200 if you win a coin toss? What about $100 for certain or $2 each time you win from 100 coin flips? How these types of decisions are presented affects how we choose. We aim to understand the individual and contextual factors at play.
Human Learning Lab 