Position Title
Graduate Student
Education
- Psychology (B.S.) - Biology Emphasis, UC Davis 2019
About
I am a scholar of Communication and a research fellow of the UC Davis V.I.C.T.R. Lab. My interests are wide and varied: primarily, I seek to create laboratory, computational, and physiological research that provides purposeful application to the uncanny valley phenomenon. I enjoy interacting with my UC Davis community, and encourage all graduate students interested in learning programming to join the Imposter Club: Weekly Introductory Computational Skills, of which I lead.
Research Focus
I apply quantitative and computational methods to examine Communication questions of interest. Primarily, I hope to advance our interaction with the digital other through uncanny valley scholarship. I forward that our innate uncanny valley perceptions hold great, if unrealized, application to the realm of health communication.
Publications
Weisman W, Peña J. Face the Uncanny: The Effects of Doppelganger Talking Head Avatars on Affect-Based Trust Toward Artificial Intelligence Technology are Mediated by Uncanny Valley Perceptions. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. 2021 Mar;24(3):182-187. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2020.0175.
Teaching
Associate Instructor CMN 001: Introduction to Public Speaking, Summer Session 1, 2021
Awards
Dean's Distinguished Graduate Fellowship Letters & Science - 2019
Graduate Studies Travel Award - 2020