We are a team of scientists curious to understand how the human brain makes sense of the world. We study human perception and cognition using behavioral, computational, and neuroimaging methods. Our lab is located in the Psychology Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In the lab, we study how people perceive and mentally represent the physical world around us. Everyday life constantly requires us to anticipate the physical world through vision. Before stepping onto an icy sidewalk, we judge whether it will be slippery. Before picking up a book, we gauge its weight from how much it has sunk into a couch pillow. Before we lift a glass of water, we predict how easily the water might spill over. These rapid inferences about the physical properties of objects and substances, the relationships between them, the forces acting on them, and what is likely to happen next are required for planning any conceivable action. 

Yet, the underlying processes remain a major scientific puzzle. How does the brain transform the patterns of light entering our eyes into such rich physical understanding? And how do humans solve this task so effortlessly and with a robustness and flexibility that far exceeds even the most advanced artificial intelligence?