Primary Investigator
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Dr. Buss studies executive function using a combination of behavioral, neural, and computational methods. His research examines how perception and action are integrated to give rise to controlled, goal-directed behavior. Dr. Buss uses dynamic field theory, which is a class of dynamic systems models, to formally integrate behavioral and neural processes. Using this computational toolbox, his theoretical approach aims to explain how cognition arises from neural processes. His primary neuroimaging techniques are functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), which allows for measuring functional neural activation in infancy and early childhood, and fMRI. In his free time, Dr. Buss likes to visit breweries, play volleyball, and hang out with his son.
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Graduate Students
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Email: [email protected]
Alexis is a fourth year Ph.D student in the Experimental Psychology program with a concentration in Cognitive and Developmental Science. She graduated from the University of Tennessee with a bachelors in psychology in 2022, but she is originally from Memphis, Tennessee. She is interested in the ways that language development affects categorization behaviors in typically developing children and how this in turn may shape executive function development. In her free time, Alexis likes to spend time outside hiking or swimming, visiting coffee shops or breweries with her friends, and spending time with her two guinea pigs.
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Kubra is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Experimental Psychology program with a concentration in Cognitive and Developmental Science. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey, and her M.A. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to examine how perceptual color variability influences numerosity perception. Her research broadly explores the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying numerosity and ensemble perception. Specifically, how humans across development perceive and represent non-symbolic numerical magnitude and
statistical features in visual arrays. Outside of the lab, Kubra enjoys baking (with a special love for sourdough bread), traveling, and watching movies, spending time with her cat, Momo. |
Lab Alumni
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Hollee graduated with her PhD in psychology with a concentration in Cognitive and Developmental Science in Spring of 2025. Her research focuses on the development of attention in young children. Specifically, children's ability to inhibit distractors in the environment. In her free time, Hollee enjoys quilting, cross stitching and watching movies.
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Email: [email protected]
Jackie defended her dissertation for the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program in Summer of 2025. She is now doing her internship year at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. Previously, she earned her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University and her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Virginia. She is broadly interested in how early child experiences may influence socio-emotional development and contribute to the development of psychopathology. Jackie is also interested in exploring factors that may be associated with the development of anxiety and depression among children of anxious parents, and the downstream effects of early onset internalizing disorders. In her free time, she enjoys running and spending time at local coffee shops.
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Haylee Hudson
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Haylee graduated with her MA in spring of 2025. Previously, she earned her undergraduate degrees in Chemistry and Neuroscience from Creighton University. Before coming to our lab she worked with Anastasia Kerr-German on projects related to Exectutive function, Autism, and ADHD at Boys Town National Research Hospital. In her free time, Haylee likes to read, hike, and hang out with her dog Deluca (and watch Grey's Anatomy of course)
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Anastasia Kerr-German
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Anastasia previously worked as PI of the Brain, Executive Function, and Attention Research Laboratory in the Center for Childhood Deafness, Language, and Learning at Boys Town National Research Hospital. She is currently an assistant professor at Mercer University in Georgia.
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Meagan Beckerson
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Meagan graduated from UTK with a Masters in Experimental Psychology. Her thesis focused on changes in functional connectivity associated with developing cognitive flexibility in childhood. She is now a member of the Cognition, Brain and Autism Lab at the University of Alabama, where she is pursuing her doctorate in Clinical Psychology.
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Bhoomika Nikam
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Bhoomika served as lab manager of the ABC Lab for 2 years. Since being with our lab, she has gone on to complete her Masters degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and is currently seeing clients in the Knoxville community and in the Student Counseling Center at UTK. Bhoomika has 2 cats at home, and loves to cook and bake in her free time.
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Kara Lowery
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Kara graduated from UTK with a Ph.D in experimental psychology. Her dissertation examined working memory and color boundary precision in young children. She now works as a Research Associate at the social work office of research and public service at the University of Tennessee. In her free time, Kara enjoys watching Netflix, baking, and reading.
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Jessica Defenderfer
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Email: [email protected]
Jessica earned her PhD in Audiology in the Spring of 2022 and completed an audiology residency at the Kansas City VA Medical Center. She earned her doctorate of Audiology (Au.D.) in May of 2023 from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. She is now a clinical audiologist at Advantage ENT and Audiology. Jessica uses fNIRS and pupillometry to investigate the neurophysiological response underlying degraded speech perception and listening effort. When she’s not at work, she loves being outside, traveling, and making art.
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Kaleb Kinder
View CV
Kaleb finished his Ph.D. in the ABC Lab in 2022. He obtained his B.A. from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. Kaleb’s research focuses on cognitive control processes that support flexible, goal-directed thinking and behavior. Past projects include using fNIRS and fMRI to examine visual working memory encoding and movement tracking to examine selective attention. He is currently a data scientist at LinQuest.
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Rachel Eddings
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Email: [email protected]
Rachel is a graduate of the Masters in Experimental Psychology program at UTK, with her thesis focusing on factors that affect visual working memory performance in young children. Rachel was a part of the ABC Lab from 2016 to 2023. She loves animals, and has a four-year-old cat. In her free time, Rachel enjoys reading and crafting. |
