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Principal investigator
 I received my PhD in 1999 from Tel Aviv University, and spent the longest postdoc ever at NYU. After being dragged from there by four NY policemen, I moved to the Hebrew University in 2002. I am currently a member of the Psychology Department and the Center for the Study of Rationality, and I am the editor of Oxford University Press’s Social Cognition and Social Neuroscience book series.
I am interested in understanding the capabilities of unconscious processes, and in using this knowledge to gain insights into the functions of consciousness. Relatively longstanding projects in the lab include the investigation of (non-conscious) working memory and executive functions, (non-conscious) goal pursuit and motivation, (non-conscious) goal conflict and self control, and (non-conscious) nationalism. Newer projects include (non-conscious) arithmetic and reading, the study of emotional and motivational factors that determine when things pop into consciousness, and application of various of the above-mentioned projects to the area of judgment and decision making. In recent years I have also examined various aspects of emotional processes, ranging from emotion perception, to emotion regulation and phenomenology. The lab mainly uses behavioral measures, but from time to time we resort to physiological data, patient data, and even colorful (and less colorful) pictures of the brain. In one fMRI study, run by a former graduate student in the lab, we even found significant activations outside the skull.
ran.hassin[at]huji.ac.il
Graduate Students
 I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology, In which I’m working with Prof. Hassin and Prof. Deouell. My interest lies in the interface between the input we receive from the world and the phenomenal experience we have shortly after. I am studying the underlying mechanisms of selection to awareness, to better understand it’s function and the processes that must occur for consciousness. I am hoping to find ways to better describe the elusive feeling of being conscious, in both the neural and psychological levels.
I am a neuroscience graduate student (ELSC) with a background in chemistry and biology. I’m currently studying the relationship between (non)conscious visual perception and sensory memory. I am eager to further explore the contribution of non-conscious processes to the unique challenges of being human.
guri.achidror@mail.huji.ac.il
 I am a Phd student at the cognitive science department with a background in mathematics and computer science. I am interested in understanding how people form opinions and make decisions, and how unconscious mechanisms affect these processes. I also enjoy learning about the mind and space through painting, sculpting, dancing and meditating.
 I am a PhD candidate in the Psychology Department, interested in the field of social cognitive neuroscience. I am currently studying individual differences in perception of facial expressions. Specifically, I attempt to characterize individual differences in context effects when perceiving emotion from the face.
Postdoctoral Fellows
 I am a PhD candidate at the Psychology department. Generally speaking, I am interested in the study of non-conscious ideologies. In one line of research I explore the mechanisms through which non-conscious ideologies operate within our cognitive system, and in another line I examine how these ideologies affect our perceptions and reasoning styles. I believe that by examining this, we can learn a lot about the interaction between social contexts and basic cognitive functions.
rasha.kardosh[at]mail.huji.ac.il
 I have completed my PhD in behavioral cognitive neuroscience at Tel-Aviv University, and currently about to complete another PhD in molecular genetics at Sheba Medical Center and TAU. In October 2017 I will commence a very exciting joint project probing conscious and non-conscious processes in intelligent animals with Prof. Ran Hassin at HUJI and Prof. Laurie Santos at Yale University.
Shay.mbh[at]gmail.com
I did my B.Sc. in neuroscience at Bar-Ilan University, and my M.Sc. in neuroscience at the Weizmann Institute of Science. I am now completing my Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience at Tel Aviv University. My current project in the lab is in cooperation with Prof. Liad Mudrik’s lab in TAU, studying the role of unconscious processing in the planning of movement based on visual information.
urikorisky@mail.tau.ac.il
 Xi Shen is a joint postdoc at Yale University and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, supported by the Zuckerman postdoc scholars program. She recently finished her PhD in social psychology from Cornell University. In her postdoctoral work, she will study the role of implicit and explicit cognition in self-regulation and goal pursuit with Dr. Hassin. She also examines social learning in the impression formation and updating process, putting an emphasis on the context of implicit vs. explicit cognition
www.xi-shen.com
Master students
I’m currently pursuing a master’s degree in Experimental Psychology, after achieving a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Comparative Literature. I am curious about cognitive control, emotion regulation and unconscious learning. In my own research, I aspire to use unconscious exposure and training as a possible technique for mental treatment. Right now, I’m attempting to cause fear extinction among spider-phobic population, and for that – enjoy the help of a lovely and hopefully frightening tarantula.
I am an MA student in cognitive science. The lab is collaborating with Prof. Lev Muchnik from the Business Administration Dept. to try to understand different aspects of human curiosity and the way they effect goal-pursuit and decision-making. The study will apply data science methodologies on large amounts of behavioral data.
I’m a Master student at the Department of Cognitive and Brain Sciences and an experienced software engineer. In my own research, I intend to understand the connection between non-conscious prioritization speed and ADHD. In my former position as software engineer in the lab I developed an end to end program for generating RMS experiments faster and without code. For more information: https://brmsgenerator.readthedocs.io
weisler.nadav@gmail.com
I’m an MA student at the Department of Cognitive and Brain Sciences and an RA in the lab. In my own research, I examine individual differences in meta-cognitive traits of trust in phenomenology – that is, our intuitive tendency to trust our conscious experiences, or assume and act upon them as if they were objectively true,. As a RA in the lab, I take part in broad research of a completely new theory of curiosity, a framework that allows one to model in the same theory everything from clickbait to interest in evolution.
I’m currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Clinical-Rehabilitation Neuropsychology. I am interested in perception, emotion, and subjective experience. Right now, I study how perception for action relates to understanding what we see. I’m also looking at expanding models of mental chronometry, to include sensory processing.I am grateful to be in a lab that encourages collaboration, which allows all of us to integrate behavioral, social, emotional, and physiological perspectives in building an understanding of consciousness.
 I’m about to finish my B.A in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, and plan on pursuing a master’s degree in the field very soon. I’m interested in understanding the underlying mechanisms of selection for consciousness, as well as studying the role of the non-conscious in the processing of spatial information and navigating through environments.
Alumni
 I am a PhD candidate with a background in cognitive psychology and economics. My goal is measuring goals and preferences, preferably in an applicable way, allowing prediction of real-life behaviors. During my PhD, I have developed several paradigms allowing us to measure implicit propositional representations of internal states and external objects, trying to identify the latent fundamental building blocks leading to goal achievement.
 I am a Phd student in my third year my main goal is to understand the behavioural correlations to consciousness (or more simply what does it do?), as this turned out quite difficult to research I am trying to demonstrate that high-level cognitive process could be performed without the need for consciousness.
ariel.goldstien[at]mail.huji.ac.il
I started my research with an interest is the (possibly non-existent) functional role conscious awareness plays in human cognition. As I have (as of yet) failed in finding anything that seems to hold as an a priori candidate for this alleged role, I pursued two different research paths. One aimed to prove that certain things, such as arithmetic, can be done without conscious awareness. The other attempted to generate empirical data on the phenomenon of conscious awareness, primarily finding out which cognitive events we become consciously aware of and why.
Recently, I submitted my dissertation showing evidence for unconscious arithmetic processing and started a post-doctoral position with Kentaro Fujitan in Ohio State University studying self-control.
I still have not given up on getting back to my original question and hope to perhaps find some hints for an answer in the way self-control requires (or does not require) consciousness.
asaelsk[at]gmail.com
 I am interested in many things, and as so my academic career began with the question of where to start. Drawn to the fields of history, computers and psychology, I found myself with a double B.Sc. in computer science and Middle Eastern history, followed by an M.A. in cognitive psychology, all from Tel Aviv University. Like my interests, my research fields are diverse – started with attention, continued with music perception, and then onto cognitive biases in emotional processing. My current research investigates the mechanisms through which approach and avoidance influence emotional evaluations.
asisc[at]openu.ac.il
 I’m a Master’s student in the cognitive sciences program, and still working on my B.A in psychology and cognitive sciences. In my research I study the ability to read unconsciously.
 Generally, I am interested in the ways ‘cognitive’ and ‘motivational’
processes interact. Specifically, I don’t really believe that such
a separation exists anywhere in the mind or brain. It may be more
beneficial to think of the two as different representations of
information that interact and influence each other in many complex ways.
With Ran I studied how motivational processes affect Implicit learning
and have proceeded to study how these affect intuitive problem solving
and selective attention. Other than that I am married to Tami and basically that’s it.
be2169[at]columbia.edu
I was an MA student in cognitive Sciences.
“What are the cognitive implications of having an open task in the back of your mind while attempting to complete a current task?”
This is what I tried to look into in my current research project. This question will hopefully lead to insights applicable to a wider question that concerns the way our ongoing goals and motivations effect our information processing and coding.
chen.or-bach[at]mail.huji.ac.il
 I am a Doctoral candidate in the social psychology department. I am a proud member of both Ran Hassin’slab and Ruth Mayo’s social cognitive lab. My research work examines the effect of non-conscious goal pursuit on emotions. In different studies we have shown that non-conscious goal pursuit directs people’s emotion in goal-compatible ways. My dissertation work (under the supervision of Ruth Mayo and Yaacov Schul) explores the role of imaginary memories in the process of self- deception.
 Hillel Aviezer graduated the clinical neuropsychology program at HU and his PhD thesis was carried out under the joint supervision of Ran Hassin and Shlomo Bentin. His research explores the influence of emotional body context on facial expression perception using a wide range of methodologies and testing rare neuropsychological patient populations. After being scotch-taped to his chair by his own lab members, Aviezer left the holy land with his wife and multiple offspring to start a joint postdoc with Alex Todorov in Princeton and Yaacov Trope in NYU. After completing his postdoc, he returned to the Hebrew University and joined the faculty at the psychology department. Still suffering from caffeine abuse, Aviezer rarely sleeps but when he does doze off, he dreams of tenure and an overweight BMI.
http://aviezerlab.com/
haviezer[at]princeton.edu
 I spent 2 great years at the lab as a cognitive science student. My research dealt with the differences in the ways the conscious and the unconscious processes the same information; I believe that analyzing these differences will shed some light on the nature of the conscious and unconscious and their role in the process of evolution. Nowadays I’m a student at the ELSC Ph.D program, trying to add to my toolbox some more ways for studying consciousness while staying updated with what’s going on at the lab.
ido.rivlin[at]mail.huji.ac.il
I am a student in the accelerated MA program of the Cognitive and Brain Sciences department. In the latest research that I have conducted and reviewed in my MA thesis, I combined two of my major interests: cinematography and perception. I am the first student in a program which combines cognitive studies in HUJI with arts studies in Bezalel Academy. Accordingly, I sought to research one focal point of the fields’ intersection: the realm of color psychology. I focused on color-palettes related conventions in the film world, and their established associations with cinematic genres. I am interested in further researching the impact of the color-palettes on audiences’ experiences, and to further develop means to “utilize color” to convey/enhance distinct semantic messages.
 In my PhD, I investigated neural correlates of self-control with fMRI at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. I came to HUJI because I am interested in the relevance of the unconscious for everyday life. I am working with Prof. Ran Hassin and Prof. Leon Deouell on unconscious processes related to self-control and overcoming addiction. More specifically, I am planning to investigate active and past tobacco users in fMRI and EEG studies. To this end, I have received a Postdoc mobility grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation.
 I spent a fantastic time in the lab investigating the influence of motivation on use of unconscious information. Then, after getting my PhD, I was extremely lucky to find a postdoc at Arie Kruglanski’s lab at the University of Maryland. There, I led several empirical projects related to emotion regulation and motivation, and arrogance, and was an active part of two grandiose theoretical projects — one — charting the road from attitudes through goals to behavior (Kruglanski, Jasko, Chernikova, Milyavsky et al., 2015) and another — reconsidering the Cognitive Consistency Theory (Kruglanski, Jasko, Milyavsky et al., 2018). Nowadays, I am a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Business Administration, Ono Academic College.
My current research focuses on the effects of personal agency on pro/anti-social behavior, motivation and advice-taking. You can learn more about my research on my Research Gate.
maxim.milyavsky[at]mail.huji.ac.il
 I’m a MA student in social psychology. I received my B.A in psychology and business as well as my MBA in finance & organizational behavior from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In my research I study the algebraic and the semantic capabilities of the unconscious.
nir.levy[at]mail.huji.ac.il
 My M.A thesis (2009-2010) concerns the boundaries of subliminal multi-string processing, mainly focusing on the ability to process the meaning of word pairs and short sentences without awareness. Today, the foundations of my hard labored work serve as the basis for some wonderful work conducted by others in the lab.
roi.mandel[at]mail.huji.ac.il
 I’m a master student in the lab and my main interest is mind set, a mode of the mind that influences a variety of cognitions, mostly unconsciously. There can be many different mind sets. My current line of research addresses the possibility of emotion regulation mind set, in which engagement of emotion regulation leads to an emotion regulation mode that has the potential of influencing attention, decisions and many other cognitions.
 I’m an MA student in the lab, as part of the clinical psychology training program. My main interest is neuropsychological mechanisms of emotion, and specifically of empathy. My work focuses on the impact of contextual visual factors, such as body posture and environment, on our empathic emotional reactions to others facial expressions.
I have been a part of this lab for many years, first as a research assistant, and later as a master student and PhD candidate.
I received my PhD in May 2015, and currently I am an intern neuropsychologist at the neuropsychiatric clinic at Hadassah medical center.
My main interests are implicit motivational processes and executive functions. In my research I investigate how non-conscious processes change as we age, and how might those changes effect executive functioning among older adults.
shira.zimerman[at]mail.huji.ac.il
 I am a Master’s student in cognitive science with a background in psychology. My research passions include the unconscious, and trying to understand its mysteries, along with abstract psychological constructs such as imagery, emotion and deception. my research tools include eye-tracking, behavioral experiments, and physiological methods.
Very broadly I am interested in conflicts, incongruencies, and mismatches, and how our cognitive and motivational systems are affected by them on the one hand, and handle them on the other.
I have started exploring these issues in my PhD dissertation with Ran, where we looked into the possibility of goal conflicts occurring outside of conscious awareness.
I am now a postdoc at the Trope Lab at NYU where I try to pinpoint general (what a lovely linguistic incongruency) processes that may underlie both cognitive and self control.
I do, on occasion, emerge out of the lab to explore the fabulous NYC.
-tali.kleiman[at]nyu.edu
 I’m an MA student and a RA in the lab, interested in decision-making.
My work focuses on unconscious subjective feelings and sensations.
Using a nonconscious subjective-reports paradigm that was developed in the lab, we want to study whether people can report their current feelings and sensations despite having no awareness of the questions nor of their reports.
 I spent three fascinating years at the Labconscious, exploring non-conscious goal pursuit, i.e. implicit processes which help us achieve our goals without attention or awareness. These days, my research itself is mainly non-conscious, as I pursue my goal of obtaining a PHD in cognitive psychology, while working as a lawyer at the education department of KNK Law.
 I have received my MA in psychology from the Moscow State University, and after a year of internship at the laboratory of Ran Hassin joined it as a Ph.D. student.
I have been involved in a number of research projects, starting with the work on face perception done with Hillel Aviezer. Then I’ve spent a couple of years studying unintentional activation of executive functions in joint actions. Currently my main interest is how non-conscious processes shape conscious experiences. Specifically, I am trying to understand how memory, both conscious and unconscious, affects conscious perception.
veronica.dudarev[at]mail.huji.ac.il
 I am a gradute student at the cognitive sciences department. I am interested in modelling the process of selection for consciousness.
 I’m an MA student in the lab with background in psychology and biology, interested in the field of selection into consciousness. In my work I try to model the processes of selection for consciousness of human faces, and explain what high-level unconsciousness processes contribute to the awareness to them.
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I received my PhD in 1999 from Tel Aviv University, and spent the longest postdoc ever at NYU. After being dragged from there by four NY policemen, I moved to the Hebrew University in 2002. I am currently a member of the Psychology Department and the Center for the Study of Rationality, and I am the editor of Oxford University Press’s Social Cognition and Social Neuroscience book series.
