Smallman, Rachel Associate Professor

Our research focuses on the social cognitive processes involved in decision-making. Our primary research focuses on counterfactual thinking, which are thoughts of "if only" or "what might have been". Imagining how events might have turned out differently is a common cognitive process, especially after negative events and near misses. Research shows that these counterfactual thoughts can be both dysfunctional and functional, depending on the situation. Our research examines both sides of the counterfactual coin: the bias and the benefits of counterfactual thinking. We are particularly interested in how and why these thoughts occur and their affective, cognitive, and behavioral consequences. Importantly our current projects examine both the basic science behind counterfactual thinking and also how it can be applied to both mental health and health behavior domains. Other research in the lab examines various factors involved in decision-making, with interdisciplinary work examining decision-making and motivation in engineering.