Learning Alters Salience and Proactive Attentional Priority
Communications Psychology, 2026
Howdy!
I am a Postdoctoral Researcher Exploring How Learning Shapes Attention.
Currently working at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam under the supervision of Prof. Jan Theeuwes. I received my
PhD (Cum Laude) from VU Amsterdam investigating the dynamic interplay of attention and statistical learning
using EEG and computational models.
I am preparing to transition to the University of Birmingham/Oxford via an NWO Rubicon Grant to continue this
research using concurrent EEG/fMRI with Rapid Invisible Frequency Tagging (RIFT).
Employment
Postdoctoral Researcher
NWO Rubicon Fellow researching priming effects on visual representation using combined EEG/fMRI and RIFT with Dr. Clayton Hickey & Prof. Ole Jensen.
Postdoctoral Researcher
Supervised by Prof. Jan Theeuwes in a project exploring the neuro-cognitive factors underlying attentional guidance by task regularities.
Education
PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience (Cum Laude)
MSc in Neuroscience and Cognition
BA in Cognitive Systems (Linguistics)
Research & Grants
My work combines psychophysics, encephalography, and computational modeling.
€221,324
Rubicon Grant (NWO)
Two year fellowship working with Prof. Clayton Hickey & Prof. Ole Jensen at Univ. of Birmingham & Oxford researching priming effects on visual representation using concurrent EEG/fMRI and RIFT.
$48,477
NSF Conference Grant
Co-executor of an NSF grant awarded to the Object Perception, Attention, and Memory (OPAM) conference to increase its reach and engagement among ECRs.
Publications
A selection of published work. GoogleScholar may be more up-to-date.
Learning modulates early encephalographic responses to distracting stimuli: A combined SSVEP and ERP study
Journal of Neuroscience, 2025
40 ms matters
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2025
Visual statistical learning requires attention
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2025
Secondary capture: Salience information persistently drives attentional selection
Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance, 2024
Pinging the brain to reveal the hidden attentional priority map using encephalography
Nature Communications, 2023
The Electrophysiological Markers of Statistically Learned Attentional Enhancement
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2023
Statistical learning in the absence of explicit top-down attention
Cortex, 2020
Talks
- Poster (2026) - European Workshop
on Cognitive Psychology (EWICS)
A Multiple Trace Theory of Statistical Learning - Speaker (2026) - Psychologie
und
Gehirn (PuG)
The Electrophysiological Correlates of Visual Distraction: a Combined ERP, Decoding, and SSVEP Approach - Speaker (2026) - Vision
Sciences
Society (VSS)
History-Driven Suppression Reshapes Visuospatial Tuning Across the Visual Hierarchy - Poster (2026) - Cognitive
Neuroscience Society (CNS)
A Multiple Trace Theory of Statistical Learning - Speaker (2025) - Dutch
Society For
Brain And Cognition Winter Conference (NVP)
A Multiple Trace Theory of Statistical Learning - Speaker (2025) - Psychonomic
Society
A Multiple Trace Theory of Statistical Learning - Poster (2025) - International
Conference on Neuroscience (ICON)
Salience, Similarity & Search Modes: Deconstructing the Distractor Positivity Component - Poster (2025) - Cognitive
Computational Neuroscience (CCN)
A Multiple Trace Theory of Statistical Learning - Speaker (2025) - Working
Memory
Symposium (WMS)
Disassociating active and passive human short-term memory using continuous shape space decoding - Speaker (2025) - Advances in
the
Encephalographic Study of Attention Symposium
Salience, Similarity & Search Modes: Deconstructing the Distractor Positivity Component - Poster (2025) - Vision Sciences
Society (VSS)
Electrophysiological markers of distractor suppression are interactively shaped by search mode and distractor salience - Speaker (2025) - Vision
Sciences
Society (VSS)
Unraveling Learned Distractor Suppression: Insights from Psychophysics and Computational Modeling - Poster (2024) - Psychonomic
Society
Learning Alters Salience - Speaker (2024) - Perception
Day
Learning Alters Salience - Poster (2024) - Vision Sciences
Society (VSS)
Tracking the Temporal Dynamics of Statistically Learned Distractor Suppression Using SSVEP’s - Poster (2023) - Dutch Society For
Brain And Cognition Winter Conference (NVP)
The Electrophysiological Markers of Statistically Learned Attentional Enhancement - Speaker (2023) - European
Conference on Visual Perception (ECVP)
Statistical Learning Alters the Latent Saliency of Attentional Priority Maps - Speaker (2023) - Perception
Day
Pinging the Brain to Reveal a Hidden Attentional Priority Map - Speaker (2022) -
Interdisciplinary
Advances in Statistical Learning Conference
Pinging the Brain to Reveal a Hidden Attentional Priority Map - Speaker (2022) - Vision
Sciences
Society (VSS)
Pinging the Brain to Reveal a Hidden Attentional Priority Map - Poster (2021) - Dutch Society For
Brain And Cognition Winter Conference (NVP)
Pinging the Priority Map - Poster (2019) - Dutch Society For
Brain And Cognition Winter Conference (NVP)
Constancy Bias: When We "Fill in The Blanks" of Unattended or Forgotten Stimuli
Teaching & Service
Teaching
- Seminar in Cognitive Psychology (2023-2025): Co-teacher (~33% of classes), supervised work groups & exams.
- Intro to Python (2021-2022): Teaching Assistant for hands-on programming labs.
Conference Organization
- OPAM Conference (2024 & 2025): Organizing committee, financial manager, and graphics designer.
- Int. Symposium on Encephalographic Study of Attention (2025): Principal organizer for two-day symposium (50 attendees).
Supervision
- PhD Students: Ya Gao - Co-supervised with Jan Theeuwes. Defense scheduled for 2026.
- Master's Students: Mentored 7 MSc students in neuroscience and cognition projects (2022-2026).
- Bachelor's Students: Guided 5 BSc students in their final thesis projects (2022-2025).
Thesis
Awarded "Best Thesis Award for 2024/2025" by the
Dutch Psychonomic Society (2025)
[View Full Thesis]
The Mind is a River:
The Neuro-Cognitive Factors Underlying Attentional Guidance by Task Regularities
Cum Laude | Defended 2025 | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
My dissertation investigated how statistical learning impacts human visual attention. Using a combination of psychophysics, cutting-edge steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP), and computational modelling, this work established that visual statistical learning profoundly reshapes the layout of the brain's priority map, persistently driving attentional selection even independently of explicit top-down goals.
[View Full Thesis]