Dr Amy Perfors

Dr Amy Perfors

Amy Perfors is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychological Sciences and Deputy Director of the Complex Human Data Hub at the University of Melbourne. Amy studies computational cognitive science, which relies on a combination of computational models and controlled experiments to better understand higher-order cognition. Her research topics include how people learn and form concepts and categories; how these concepts (and the language used to express them) changes in response to changing linguistic and social environments; how people make decisions within these environments; and how these decisions shape those environments themselves. Her research focus is on the what and the why within these topics. What goals are human learners and reasoners trying to achieve in particular situations? What constraints (cognitive, informational, environmental) do they operate under? How do these factors shape their behaviour?

Amy earned her PhD in Brain in Cognitive Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as honours and masters degrees from Stanford University. She is an author of more than 80 published papers with over 2500 citations, has served on multiple editorial boards, and has given invited talks at multiple universities on three continents.