The Psychology and Marketing Departments share a common interest in understanding factors that bias individuals to selectively attend to certain information, value certain choices more, and preferentially engage in certain actions. Both recognize that measuring physiological responses to stimuli and situations provides a window into cognitive and affective processes that cannot be gained exclusively through self-report or other behavioral measures alone. In particular, eye tracking can be used to provide data about the order in which elements of a complex visual scene are prioritized for processing (scan patterns), what information receives more sustained processing (“heat maps” that show duration of eye fixation) and the level of sympathetic nervous system arousal elicited by stimuli (pupil dilation), which can serve as a corollary of cognitive and emotional engagement. Information that receives prioritized and extended visual fixation generally has priority in downstream decision-making, and decision-making is a common outcome of interest for both our departments.
Meet Our Coordinators
Our seminar coordinators, Jennifer Mangels, Lauren Block, and Ana Valenzuela, offer extensive experience in the field of behavioral research.
Jennifer Mangels, PhD
Dr. Mangels joined the Baruch College Psychology Department as an Associate Professor in 2007 after nine years at Columbia University, where she remains as an Adjunct Senior Scientist. She was promoted to Full Professor at Baruch College in 2011 and is a member of the CUNY Doctoral Faculty in both the Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience and the Cognition, Language and Development training areas. Her research focuses primarily on learning and memory, using an interdisciplinary approach that integrates social, cognitive, and affective neuroscience. She has written numerous articles on these topics for various publications including Science, and has been awarded multiple extramural grants from agencies such as the Institute for Educational Sciences, National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Health and Department of Defense (Army Research Laboratories).
Lauren G. Block, PhD
Dr. Block is the Lippert Professor of Marketing at the Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College. Prior to Baruch, Dr. Block was on the faculty of New York University’s Stern School of Business. Dr. Block’s research is primarily in areas of health-persuasion, health-goal achievement and food well-being. Her work in these areas has been published in Marketing’s major journals, such as Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, and American Journal of Public Health. Dr. Block is a current Associate Editor for the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, and the Journal of Consumer Research, and she also serves on the Ad Council Research Committee and the Transformative Consumer Research Advisory Board.
Ana Valenzuela, PhD
Dr. Valenzuela joined Baruch College (City University of New York) eight years ago, after teaching at the Haas School of Business (UC Berkeley) for four years. She has also served as a faculty member at San Francisco State University, INSEAD, Santa Clara University, China-Europe International Business School, Hong Kong Science and Technology University, Singapore Institute of Management and Instituto de Empresa. Prof. Valenzuela began her professional career with AC Nielsen, serving as a marketing consultant for multi-country projects dealing with consumer goods markets. In addition, she has worked for PubliEspana, The Advisory Board Company, Hello America and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She has published widely, her articles on behavioral decision-making and cross-cultural consumer behavior appearing in numerous leading journals, including the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes and International Marketing Review.
