Lab Members

Principal Investigator

Dr. Ryan Hubbard, Ph.D.

Ryan is an Assistant Professor in the Cognitive Area of the Psychology Department at the University at Albany, SUNY. He received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where he also conducted research as a Beckman Institute Postdoctoral Fellow. He has also had research roles at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center, as well as HRL Laboratories. Ryan’s research interests are primarily focused at the intersection of prediction, language comprehension, memory, and aging, from both a cognitive and neurophysiological perspective. Ryan adopts a multi-method approach to this research, combining physiological measurements with well-designed behavioral experimentation.

Likes: Creative experimental design, drumming, hiking, metal music, roguelikes, cold weather

Dislikes: Combative scientists, country rock, light beer, summer heat, gelatinous / squishy food

Graduate Research Assistants

Sam Zinssar, B.S.

Sam is a Ph.D. student in the Cognitive Psychology program at the University at Albany, SUNY. They previously graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Psychology from the same institution in 2026. Sam’s current research interests involve understanding the mental processes that may influence visual perception irregularities and failures such as prediction, attention, memory, and the effects of environment interaction.

Likes: Illusion research, house plants, whales, pasta, retro sci-fi/ horror movies, Depeche Mode, overanalyzing Pixar movies

Dislikes: Inaccurate research reporting, hot weather, tomatoes, gritty textures, movie remakes, painting

Undergraduate Research Assistants