{"id":2696,"date":"2020-10-20T08:59:07","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T14:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michaelhout.com\/?page_id=2696"},"modified":"2025-12-21T12:59:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T19:59:34","slug":"people","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/michaelhout.com\/?page_id=2696","title":{"rendered":"People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Current lab members<\/strong>: <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Michael C. Hout (Lab Director): <\/strong>I attended the University of Pittsburgh for my undergraduate degree, in my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA. There, I received a BS in Psychology, with a minor in Neuroscience. In 2006 I moved to Tempe, AZ to attend Arizona State University, where I received my MA and PhD in Psychology, working with Dr. Stephen Goldinger<\/a>. Outside of work I try to remain very active.  I\u2019ve played ice and roller hockey since I was 8 years old, including four years for the University of Pittsburgh, and two seasons for the Phoenix Dragons in the American Inline Hockey League (AIHL<\/em>). Now, I play just recreational roller hockey. I also enjoy running, cycling, hiking, swimming, and skating. And my favorite thing to do is go on little adventures with my wife, Grisel, and our dog, Penny.  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Penny: lab mascot, designated “Science Dog”, and the best of all of us.<\/strong> She’s the sweetest pup in world. She likes long walks, longer naps, cuddles, and making people happy. Her career aspirations include eventually catching a squirrel (to play with, not harm).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Giovanna Del Sordo, post-doctoral researcher.<\/strong> Originally from France, Gio earned her B.A. in Psychology and Criminal Justice from Southern Utah University. She completed her M.A. in Psychology at NMSU in 2020, then returned to France, where she worked as a statistician at the University of Toulon for two years. She later returned to NMSU, earning her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology under Dr. Megan Papesh before joining the lab as a postdoctoral fellow. Gio\u2019s research focuses on sustained attention and the role of the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) system in attentional performance, using pupillometry. Outside the lab, she enjoys reading, painting, and spending time with her beloved cat, Georgie Boy. Her website is: https:\/\/www.giovannadelsordo.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Ashley Mathis, PhD student:<\/strong> Ashley grew up in rural Arkansas and has a BA in Psychology from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She is interested in studying how we direct and regulate our attention, as well as the reciprocal effects on related functions like perception, memory, and emotion. Outside of work, she loves being outdoors with her family, cross-stitching, video games, fantasy football, and lifting weights. She has two dogs named Odin and Skadi. After recently (2025) completing her master’s degree, she has been admitted to the PhD program here at NMSU.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Jon Art, Discovery Scholar (undergraduate):<\/strong> Jon is currently in the process of gaining his bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology with minors in biochemistry and human biology. Upon completion, he plans to pursue a PhD in neuroscience and a research focused career. Outside of academics, he enjoys playing video games, golfing, and watching movies.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Michelle Kass, Discovery Scholar (undergraduate):<\/strong> Michelle is majoring in Psychology with a minor in Human Biology and is originally from Las Cruces, New Mexico. She plans to apply to graduate school after completing her undergraduate degree, with the goal of becoming either a therapist (M.A.) or a neuropsychologist (Ph.D.). Her research interests within cognitive psychology focus on memory and attention, and her current project specifically examines memory in relation to mismatched feedback. Beyond academics, she enjoys playing pickleball, reading, traveling, volunteering, cooking, and spending quality time with her family and pets.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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ALUMNI<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PhD students<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Arryn Robbins, PhD.<\/a> <\/strong>Arryn received her PhD in 2018. She then moved on to be a post-doctoral researcher at Carthage College<\/a>. And she currently works as a research psychologist at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Collin<\/strong> Scarince, PhD. <\/strong>Collin received his PhD in 2018. He then went on to become a post-doctoral researcher at Texas A&M Corpus Christi<\/a> where he is now an Assistant Professor.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Edin Sabic, PhD<\/a>. <\/strong>Edin received his PhD in 2020. He is currently the Director of Research at Electronic Caregiver<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Bryan White, PhD<\/a>.<\/strong> Bryan holds a BA in English from the University of New Mexico, an MA in Experimental Psychology, and completed his PhD in our lab in 2025. His research interests include cognition, human factors and engineering psychology, visuospatial attention, haptics and proprioception, multidimensional scaling and similarity, and psycholinguistics. He is now College-Track faculty in the Psychology Department at NMSU.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Eben Daggett, PhD:<\/strong> Eben attended Carroll University in Southeast Wisconsin where he earned a dual B.S. in Biology and Psychology with a minor in Biochemistry. After college, he joined the Army where he served for 8 years. He eventually planted some loose roots in Boulder, Colorado where he worked as a data scientist and AI researcher in the medical technology field. His research interests are centered around the role of perceptual similarity in selective attention, connectionist modeling of attentional phenomena like the Attentional Blink and Visual Search, and the utilization of psychometric techniques to increase the interpretability of artificial intelligence. In his free time, he enjoys fly fishing, mountain biking, backpacking and reading. His website is https:\/\/www.ebenwdaggett.com\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Masters students:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Casey<\/strong> Tunstall. <\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>Casey got her masters degree in 2014. She is now a Human Factors Engineer at INQU LLC.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Ryan Sams.<\/a> <\/strong>Ryan got his masters degree in 2015. He is now an adjunct faculty member at the University of New Mexico.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Rebecca Skulsky. <\/strong>Becca finished her masters degree in 2021 and is on her way to a job in industry back on the east coast.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Jessica Madrid.<\/strong> Jessica holds a BA and MA in Psychology from New Mexico State University. Her research interests included visual search and the ways that it interacts with memory, the use of cognitive strategies during search, executive control, object recognition, and the use of eye tracking to study these topics. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Rebecca Penn.<\/strong> Rebecca defended her master\u2019s thesis in 2020. Her research interest was on applied instances of unmitigated visual attention and visual search with a particular emphasis on search and rescue. She has two dogs named Leika and Motley. Her website is: https:\/\/www.rapenn.net\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Visiting researchers:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Paean Luby, Visiting Researcher (from the University of Richmond<\/a>).<\/strong> Paean (pronounced like “payin’ the bills”), is in the class of 2025 at the University of Richmond. She is also an aspiring virtual and augmented reality software engineer with a hope to eventually impart this experience as a computer science professor. After her grandparents\u2019 deaths from dementia and stroke, she dedicated her schooling to slowing neurodegenerative diseases using digitally simulated enriched environments. She is currently pursuing pre-clinical behavioral neuroscience research in the Lambert Lab with an emphasis on how enriched environments influence vascularization, as well as conducting a machine-learning-based visual search project in Dr. Robbins<\/a> (an alum of our lab!) Visual Cognition Lab. In her graduate studies, she wants to expand into clinical models of neurodegenerative diseases and virtual reality’s potential as a treatment.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Building Research Advances in Neuroscience (BRAiN) student researchers (undergraduate):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Maggie Sabic<\/strong>. Maggie was a Building Research Achievement in Neuroscience (BRAiN)<\/a> student in our lab and got her bachelor’s degree in 2016.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Juli\u00e1n<\/strong> Welsh.<\/strong> Julian was a Building Research Achievement in Neuroscience (BRAiN)<\/a> student in our lab and got his bachelor’s degree in 2021.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Discovery Scholars Researchers (undergraduate):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Garrett Bennett. <\/strong>Garrett was the first Discovery Scholars<\/a> researcher in our lab.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Alexis Lopez. <\/strong>Alexis was a Discovery Scholars<\/a> researcher in our lab and continued to collaborate with us after she got her bachelor’s degree in 2016.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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John Desgeorges. <\/strong>John was a Discovery Scholars<\/a> student in our lab and got his bachelor’s degree in 2019.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Sydney Luna. <\/strong>Sydney was a Discovery Scholars<\/a> student in our lab and got her bachelor’s degree in 2019.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Rene<\/strong> Mcpherson. <\/strong>Rene was a Discovery Scholars<\/a> student in our lab and got his bachelor’s degree in 2019. He is currently a masters student in the Psychology Department at NMSU<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Victoria<\/strong> Arvizu. <\/strong>Victoria was a Discovery Scholars<\/a> student and got her master’s degree in 2020. She is currently a graduate student in Forensic and Legal Psychology at Marymount University.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Christine Dellefield-Lopez.<\/strong> Christine was a Discovery Scholars<\/a> student and got her bachelor’s degree in 2020.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Mariana Cazares Rodriguez. <\/strong>Mariana was a Discovery Scholars<\/a> student and got her bachelor’s degree in 2021.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Jonathan Ayavar.<\/strong> Jonathan is a proud NMSU alumnus who double-majored in 3D Computer Animation, Visual Effects, and Computer Science, and was a Discovery Scholar. He was born and raised in Mexico, but is currently living in El Paso along with the rest of his family. For more than three years, he worked with Dr. Hout and the rest of his team (at the AddisonCare Virtual and Augmented Reality Laboratory) to create virtual simulations for use in cognition research. He graduated with his bachelors and would like to get into the animation industry or the video game industry. After graduating, he was hired on as a Senior Computer Operator. In his free time, he likes to work on his own projects, learn new software, or just sit down in his bed and enjoy a movie. His website is: https:\/\/web.nmsu.edu\/~ayavar\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Marko Hernandez.<\/strong> Marko received his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. He will be attending a Master’s program in cognition at Sam Houston State University in Fall 2024, and has aspirations to pursue his Doctorate after that. In the meantime, he continues to collaborate with us on research into threat perception.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Emily Stutesman.<\/strong> Emily received her undergraduate degrees in Kinesiology and Psychology, with a double minor in Chemistry and Biochemistry. She ran cross country and track for NMSU, specializing in long distance events including the 5k and 10k. She continues to collaborate on our medical image perception research, and is currently applying to Physician Assistant schools.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Janelle Hernandez, Discovery Scholars (undergraduate) researcher.<\/strong> Janelle received her bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology with a minor in counseling and educational psychology. She plans to pursue a masters in counseling, but isn’t not sure in what specialty yet. She has interest in child, trauma, family, and relationship counseling and hopes to travel the world throughout her twenties. In her free time she likes to draw, paint, sculpt, etc. (pretty much any artistic medium). She also spends her free time with her dog; they go on walks, play outside, and often take naps together or just relax because he\u2019s a big Rottweiler.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Mayte Alonso, Discovery Scholars (undergraduate) researcher.<\/strong> Mayte majored in Psychology. She plans to pursue a PhD in Cognitive Psychology\/Science starting in Fall 2027. In addition to her academic work, Mayte served as the Student Governor for SPARK society and as the Secretary for Psi Chi. Outside of her studies, she enjoys exercising, practicing ceramics, and spending time with family and friends.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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NMSU Honors College undergraduate student researchers:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Emily Green. <\/strong>Emily was an NMSU Honor’s College<\/a> student in our lab and got her bachelor’s degree in 2018.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Virginia Millsap.<\/strong> Virginia was an undergraduate student pursuing a bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology and a minor in counseling and educational psychology. After graduating (which happened in Fall of 2024), Virginia plans to pursue a Doctorate in clinical psychology where she hopes to focus on working with children. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Current lab members: Michael C. Hout (Lab Director): I attended the University of Pittsburgh for my undergraduate degree, in my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA. There, I received a BS in Psychology, with a minor in Neuroscience. In 2006 I moved to Tempe, AZ to attend Arizona State University, where I received my MA and PhD in… Continue reading…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2696","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P5B8lj-Hu","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhout.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2696"}],"version-history":[{"count":104,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3985,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2696\/revisions\/3985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhout.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}