Cheryl Cheng
Center Manager & Research Assistant (AY 2022/23, AY 2023/24), Final Year Project Student (AY 2021/22)
Cheryl graduated from NTU in July 2022. She is passionate about using the power of research to facilitate change and make a positive impact on the lives of others. In particular, she is driven to improve mental wellness in Singapore. Besides her URECA project investigating the psychological impact of COVID-19 and resilience as a protective factor, she was also involved in volunteering activities with the youth mental health unit of Impart Singapore.
Besides her current focus on mental wellness, Cheryl had previously explored her research interests through her internships. She completed a research project with A*STAR, investigating the human factors of a technological shift to augmented reality instruction. She also completed an HR research internship with Civil Service College, working on external best practices and benchmarking for HR processes. She wishes to delve more into research about behavioural insights and using nudges to change behaviour, especially to encourage positive mental health practices. In her free time, Cheryl enjoys playing music and writing songs. She shares her aspiration to spread love through music by live-streaming on Twitch with her keyboard, guitar, ukulele, and original songs.
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, Cheryl’s final year project explored how holistic thinking can lead to the behavioural consequences of meaning-seeking choices. This study was later published in the Social and Personality Psychology Compass.
Research Projects:
- Journal Paper: Thanking in the Times of the Plague: The Role of Holistic Thinking in Meaning‐making and Gratitude
- Final Year Project (NTU): The Effect of a Holistic View of Life on Behavioural Meaning-Seeking Choices
- URECA (NTU): Investigating the Moderating Role of Resilience during COVID-19
- Final Year Project (TP & A*STAR): Comparing the Design of Instructional Systems in PC Assembly
Letisha Thamran
URECA Student (AY 2021/22), Final Year Project Student (AY2023/24)
Letisha graduated from the psychology programme in NTU. She has always been fascinated by psychological constructs and hopes to better understand the intricate workings of the human mind in relation to their displays of behavior. Throughout her time studying psychology, she has developed a great interest in various social cognition topics. She aspires to use her knowledge to understand others’ beliefs and values to guide people in nurturing their self-esteem and discovering the self.
Letisha believes in building critical thinking through meaningful conversations with other people and learning by communicating with others beyond academic writing. When she is not doing academic work, she can always be found experimenting in the kitchen as a way for her to de-stress. To her, the kitchen is like conducting research which is perhaps why both excite her. The recipe (essentially a hypothesis), adds in the ingredients which results in either good or bad-tasting food.
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, Letisha’s URECA project explored cross-cultural differences in religious beliefs and divine attributions pertaining to morality. Her FYP studies the mechanism between holistic thinking and meaning-making and the role of assimilation.
Research Projects:
- URECA Project (NTU): Believers’ Self-Construal Reflected in God’s Moral Judgements
- Final Year Project (NTU): Holistic Thinking, Meaning Making
Liu Yan Ru
URECA Student (AY 2021/22), Final Year Project Student (AY2023/24)
Yanru graduated from the psychology programme in NTU in 2024. She is drawn to Psychology by her belief in empowerment and betterment of humanity through knowledge and a better understanding of complex intricacies that underlie the mind and affect our day-to-day lives. Being new to the field, she is constantly intrigued by new insights and open to exploring different domains of the discipline. As of now, her interest lies in how different attachment styles affect the way religious individuals communicate with their respective deities and any cross-cultural differences regarding such. Born and raised in China and having spent most of her early years of education back and forth between Singapore and her homeland, she would also love to explore more on topics regarding factors that shape one’s cultural identity, the sense of belonging to one’s culture and the implications of such on our psychosocial well-being.
Outside of the classroom, Yanru enjoys meeting new people from diverse backgrounds and engaging in meaningful exchanges. Driven by such passion, she is now a member of the speaker curation team at TEDxNTU. She feels constantly rejuvenated by ideas from inspiring people that she is very fortunate to have met thanks to this endeavour, as well as from her experienced seniors in the team. She believes that the diverse sets of experiences she gains from her academic pursuits and extra-curricular activities will be invaluable in exposing her to perspectives that can facilitate personal growth.
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, Yanru’s URECA project explored cross-cultural differences in religious beliefs and divine attributions pertaining to morality. Yanru’s FYP project explores the underlying mechanism in the link between holistic thinking and meaning-making in the context of adverse life events.
Research Projects:
- URECA Project (NTU): God’s Moral Representations as a Projection of Believers’ Self-Construals
- Final Year Project (NTU): Holistic thinking, meaning-making
Jillian Leong
Final Year Project Student (AY 2023/24)
Jillian graduated from the psychology programme at Nanyang Technological University in 2024. The study of Psychology is extremely fascinating and eye-opening to her, with specific interests in social cognition and its development across different cultures. The theories and hypotheses studied in the classroom come to life in the real world and continue to fuel Jillian’s passion for applied psychology and psychological research.
Jillian loves interacting with children and has had the privilege of working with them both in a mainstream and special educational needs setting. She finds herself constantly amazed by the children’s curiosity and inspired by their spirit for life and learning. Jillian also has been a volunteer in her church’s children’s ministry for the past 8 years. Working with children in a religious setting has led her to be particularly interested in the role that religion and God concepts play in our self-view and our view of the world.
Under the supervision of Professor Albert Lee, Jillian’s Final Year Project examines the relationship between beliefs in supernatural control and beliefs in tempting fate in a field study.
Research Projects:
- Final Year Project (NTU): Beliefs in Supernatural Control & Tempting Fate
Rina Yeo
Final Year Project Student (AY 2023/24)
Rina graduated from the Biological Sciences and Psychology programme at NTU in 2024. She is interested in psychology as it offers valuable insights into human cognition and behaviour. Additionally, it is interesting to her how the various fields of psychology are interconnected where they overlap and interact with each other to shape our understanding of human behaviour.
Throughout the 4 years in NTU, she has had the opportunity to participate in various research.
One of her significant experiences was as a research assistant at the Centre for Lifelong Learning and Individualised, where she was involved in a study exploring executive functions and learning. Her responsibilities included the administration of a wide range of cognitive assessments to research participants across multiple schools and to oversee the data collection sessions. Apart from that, she delved into consumer psychology, where she contributed as a research assistant for Prof Charlene Chen. Specifically, she participated in research that examined the effects of socioeconomic inequality on consumer well-being. By assisting her in the preparation and execution of the research design, she was able to gaining valuable insights into various fields of psychology.
Beyond research in NTU, I have a deep passion for working with children. This led me to serve as a special needs student care teacher at AWWA, where she had the privilege of supporting and guiding children with ASD, GDD, ADHD etc. Additionally, Rina is currently working at Boys’ Town Fostering Services, where she actively contributed by crafting content to raise awareness about fostering in Singapore. She also conducted assessments to evaluate potential foster parents.
Research Projects:
- Final Year Project (NTU): Effects of Holistic Thinking on Gratitude during in Context of COVID-19.
Michelle Neoh
PhD Student
Michelle completed her PhD studies at NTU in 2023. She is interested in studying interpersonal relationships and how individual differences and our interpersonal environment influence how we function in our social relationships and interactions with others. Her work focuses on criticism in social relationships and how individual differences and interpersonal factors influence the perception and response to criticism. Her studies involve both behavioural and neuroimaging methods in order to examine the behavioural, cultural, social, and neural markers underlying our perceptions and responses to criticism. She enjoys playing the piano and photography in her free time.
Research Projects:
- Dissertation: Individual Differences and Relationship Contexts in the Perception and Response to Criticism: An Investigation of Behavioural and Neural Markers
Lee Liang Ying
Center Manager (AY 2020/21), Final Year Project [URECA] Student (AY 2020/21)
Liang Ying graduated from NTU’s Psychology Programme in December 2021. She also served as the center manager of the CRCC in AY 2020/21, and created this stunning site. She has always been interested in intergroup relationships as well as human motivation, thus she enrolled in Temasek Polytechnic’s (TP) Psychology Studies programme to learn more. There, she was awarded the Changi General Course Silver Medal for graduating second in place. She also participated in several research projects, and served as the Research Participation chief at the Centre of Applied Psychology (TP), the vice-president of the Psychology Interest Group (TP), and the president of Enactus (TP). Liang Ying thoroughly enjoyed the 3-year long journey of studying psychology, and thus decided to make it a 7-year one by enrolling in NTU’s Psychology Programme. When not dealing with school, she hangs out with her toddler nephew.
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, Liang Ying completed her URECA project on COVID-19 related daily hassles experienced by Singaporeans. She presented her URECA project at the ICUR-URECA conference, and was awarded the URECA Excellence Award for her outstanding performance. Her FYP-URECA project focused on the impact of holistic thinking on the perception of COVID-19 related suffering amongst Americans, to build on her past findings.
Research Projects:
- Final Year Project (NTU): Holistic Thinking and the Perception of COVID-19 Related Suffering amongst Americans
- URECA (NTU): COVID-19 Related Daily Hassles Experienced by Singaporeans
- Major Project (TP): Behavioral Strategies and Improving Civic-Mindedness
- Special Project (TP): Improving the Facilities of Our Tampines Hub
Ng An
Final Year Project Student (AY 2020/21)
Ng An graduated from NTU’s Psychology Programme in December 2021. She believes that being knowledgeable in psychology is key to understanding human behaviour and interaction. Throughout her years in NTU, Ng An has explored various research topics about human behaviour both qualitatively and quantitatively, including an award-winning research project about the categorisation of multiracial individuals to uncover and understand racial biases.
Beyond academic credentials, Ng An is an avid writer and artist. Having had over 10 years of experience in Chinese calligraphy, Ng An regularly coaches young adults and children in this artistic medium. In her spare time, Ng An often writes poetry and short stories. She had recently won first place in NTU’s U-Insight’s writing competition for her poem, “Mapping Two Worlds”, which details an immigrant’s experience in Singapore. Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee and Dr. Bobby Cheon, Ng An’s final year project examined the influence of self-perception on food choice and purchase behaviour.
Research Projects
- Final Year Project (NTU): Influence of Self-Perceptions on Food Choice and Purchase Behaviour
- URECA (NTU): Multiracial Categorisation amongst Singaporean Adults
Phyllis Tan
Final Year Project Student (AY 2020/21)
Phyllis graduated from NTU’s Psychology Programme in July 2021. She believes in using her knowledge of Psychology as well as her experience in drama to empower communities and effect change in lives. Over the past 7 years, Phyllis explored different drama methodologies to work with various communities, including a research project by Griffith University, Australia and Beyond Social Services to improve underprivileged children’s self-efficacy and working with Very Special Arts to integrate children with special needs into mainstream society.
Beyond academic credentials, Phyllis is an effectively bilingual actress, presenter-host and drama educator. She is a core member of Singapore’s only Mandarin Playback Theatre group, LongTimeNoSee, a form of applied theatre used in rehabilitative, therapeutic and social change settings. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Phyllis is often seen in the malls, hosting roadshows and live events. Now, she has turned to live-streaming and going to schools to give talks and help students to increase motivation, build confidence and lift exam performance. She is also an established drama educator and has worked with children of various ages, aged 3 to 19. At the end of the day, Phyllis aspires to use her background in Psychology, her theatrical and life experiences to empower and inspire people to live their dreams.
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, Phyllis’ Final Year Project examined how people with different thinking styles make meaning out of their suffering and in turn, expresses gratitude for others.
Research Projects:
- Final Year Project (NTU): Dialectical Thinking, Gratitude, and Coping
- URECA (NTU): Culture and its Moderating Role on the Relation between Parenting Sensitivity and Child Outcomes
- Graduation Project (SP): The Role of a Multi-Faceted Drama Programme on Understanding Depression
Helene Tan
Final Year Project Student (AY 2020/21)
Helene graduated from NTU’s Psychology Programme in July 2021. She spent a semester abroad on an exchange programme at Queen’s University, Canada, where she completed a cross-cultural research project on how thinking styles may affect perceived closeness when others present different sides of themselves.
Helene has a keen interest in working with children and youth from underprivileged backgrounds, and regularly volunteers her time doing so. Her work with clients who come from vastly different backgrounds from herself sparked an interest in how culture goes beyond simply nationality or ethnicity – varying attitudes and lifestyles emerge based on people’s life experience. As part of a church community, Helene is also interested in how religious beliefs shape how people view the world, behave, and cope with life stressors.
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, her final year project focused on exploring how different thinking styles can contribute to coping with negative situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Research Projects:
- Final Year Project (NTU): Dialectical Thinking, Trait Gratitude, and Coping with Familial Stressors in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Maverick Yap
Final Year Project Student (AY 2020/21)
Maverick graduated from NTU’s Psychology Programme in July 2021. He also spent a semester abroad on an exchange program at Vrijie Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam, where he completed a Cognitive Psychology research project on the perception of space time and brightness.
Unlike most other students, he started his journey in Psychology at Temasek Polytechnic’s (TP) Psychology program. There, he built a solid foundation of research, statistics and knowledge in Psychology before attending the Bachelor’s program. He was also awarded the bronze medal for graduating third in his cohort. Maverick has a strong interest in Industrial Organizational (IO) Psychology. He hopes to one day become an in-house Psychologist for a large multinational company such as Google. While his passion is in IO psychology, Maverick engages in projects across other fields of Psychology as well.
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, Maverick focused on exploring how different thinking styles can contribute to perceptions of Healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Research Projects:
- Final Year Project (NTU): Dialectical Thinking on the Perception of HealthCare Workers
- URECA (NTU): Gender Effects on the Perception of Crying in the Workplace
- Major Project (TP): Gender Differences in Spatial Memory
- Special Project (TP in collaboration with A*STAR): Medical Adherence Amongst the Elderly in Singapore
- Research Toolbox (VU): Perception of Space Time and Brightness
Darryl Wee
Final Year Project Student (AY 2020/21)
Darryl graduated from NTU’s Psychology Programme in July 2021. He is interested in cross-cultural psychology and clinical psychology, especially in the promotion of mental health awareness in Singapore. He also completed courses in sociology, cultural psychology and clinical psychology during his semestral exchange programme at Tilburg University, The Netherlands. Understanding the issues that Singaporeans face compared to those from other cultures inspires him to explore topics in the socio-cultural context.
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, his final year project focused on thinking styles, positive reframing, and gratitude among Singaporeans for their families during COVID-19.
Research Projects:
- Final Year Project (NTU): Dialectical Thinking and Gratitude amongst Singaporeans amidst Covid-19
Iylia Hutta
Final Year Project Student (AY 2020/21)
Iylia earned his success with his peers in NTU’s Psychology Programme in 2021. He is now a Media Analyst at Meltwater, a media monitoring software company. At Meltwater, he analyses big data collected from mainstream and social media to generate public relations insights for clients. Outside of work, Iylia enjoys basketball, chess, reading novels and is an avid Toronto Raptors fan.
As an undergraduate, Iylia has received training in both quantitative and qualitative research methods and has utilized them in both academic and applied settings. Before joining the Culture Lab, Iylia was the Global Undergraduate Awards 2019 Regional Winner (Asia) in the Education category for his URECA paper titled “Predictors of individual differences in math learning for primary school learners.” Subsequently, under the supervision of Assistant Professor Albert Lee, Iylia has co-authored 4 research posters presented at renowned Psychology conferences (e.g. APS, ICP, SPSP).
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, Iylia’s final-year project examined the role of the anthropomorphism of God on beliefs in tempting fate.
Research Projects:
- Final Year Project (NTU): Anthropomorphism of God on Beliefs in Tempting Fate
- URECA (NTU): Predictors of Individual Differences in Math Learning for Primary School Learners
Celine Ong
FYP- URECA Student (AY 2020/21)
Celine graduated from NTU’s Psychology Programme in July 2021. She is a deeply curious individual who hopes to integrate her passion for research and the arts to better understand human behavior and to ultimately improve the well-being of others. She is also very passionate about mental health advocacy.
Over the past few years, Celine has conducted a number of research studies, such as on choice architecture and mental health literacy, and is grateful for how her past experiences have helped shape the aspiring researcher she is today. Her research interests are diverse, including judgement and decision-making, mind perception, supernatural thinking, and religious beliefs (or rather, the lack thereof!). In her free time, she likes to paint, play the piano, and go horse riding.
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, Celine completed her FYP-URECA project which is an extension of her past study investigating the link between anthropomorphism of God and the beliefs in tempting fate.
Research Projects:
- Final Year Project (NTU): Anthropomorphism of God, Temporal Distance, and Beliefs in Tempting Fate.
Clara Lim
Final Year Project Student (AY 2020/21)
Clara graduated from NTU’s Psychology Programme in July 2021. Inspired by her first internship experience, she has completed multiple internships working with youth-at-risk. She is also particularly interested in working with the offending population, hence explaining her choice of internship agencies such as Singapore Prison Service and Singapore Girls’ Home. She’s an active softballer out of the academic scene, who has organised and participated in various tournaments.
Working with youths of diverse racial and religious backgrounds has sparked her interest in the different perspectives and practices these youths have, which are mostly linked to their culture. Additionally, relationships are also a common issue amongst some youths she worked with. This inspired to embark on her final year project topic.
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, her final year project focused on exploring how different thinking styles can contribute to coping with relationships/ maintain healthy relationships in negative situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Research Projects:
- Final Year Project (NTU): Dialectical Thinking, Trait Gratitude
Low Wei Ying (Genevieve)
Final Year Project Student (AY 2021/22)
Genevieve graduated from NTU in July 2022. Outside of school, Genevieve can be found indulging in a good show or crafting. When motivation pays her a visit, Genevieve brushes up her Japanese language skills in the hopes of becoming trilingual someday. As for other pockets of free time, Genevieve actively volunteers and has worked with beneficiaries such as children with autism, and elderly with schizophrenia.
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, Genevieve’s final year project explored the psychology of religion.
Research Projects:
- Final Year Project (NTU): Psychology of Religion
Ruth Lam
Final Year Project Student (AY 2021/22)
Ruth graduated from NTU in July 2022. She is an inquisitive individual who delved into the sciences as a secondary school student, the humanities as a junior college student, and is now studying two social sciences at the undergraduate level. Between her graduation from junior college and matriculation at NTU, she had a ‘gap year’ during which she explored the teaching profession in the early childhood sector, at the primary and secondary schools, and as a private tutor. In church, she is a youth leader who has served in both short-term and long-term roles. Some short-term roles have enabled her to exercise creativity as the director of drama and dance performances, drawing on her previous experience in drama and dance clubs in secondary school and junior college respectively.
As a child, Ruth experienced life in two different ‘homes’ – Chengdu, China and Singapore – and learning in three different ‘education systems’ – a private local school in Chengdu, home-schooling, and a public local school in Singapore. The diversity of experience has given her first-hand exposure to cultural and developmental issues – for example: culture shock, reverse culture shock, the relationship between one’s experience of culture and sense of self, and the impact of multiple transitions on one’s social development. This childhood experience is also likely a contributing factor to her interest in Psychology and Linguistics – subjects focusing on the mind and behaviour of humans. Ruth hopes to use her training in psychology to guide others into greater psychological well-being. Beyond her studies in NTU, she has enrolled in counselling modules as part of her exploration of a career in counselling.
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, Ruth’s final year project explored the role of holistic thinking in the face of negative life experiences.
Research Projects:
- Final Year Project (NTU): Holistic Thinking, Negative Life Experiences
Deon Sim
Final Year Project Student (AY 2022/23)
Deon graduated from NTU’s Psychology Programme in July 2023. He has pursued the study of psychology as he believes that knowledge in psychology is key to understanding not just the people around him, but also gaining a deeper understanding of oneself. Throughout his years in NTU, Deon has engaged himself in the various modules that the school offers, in hopes of better understanding how he can apply what he has learned into his workplace.
Beyond academic credentials, Deon enjoys trying new experiences, which ranges from taking up new sports and bringing creativity into the kitchen. Most recently, Deon has engaged in Dragonboat and is currently actively rowing together with both his work team and recreational team.
Under the supervision of Dr. Professor Albert Lee, Deon is currently undertaking a Final Year Project examining how psychological separation can be manifested through physical means and influence human behavior.
Research Projects:
- Final Year Project (NTU): Psychological Separation and Human Behavior
Eunice Gan
URECA Student (AY 2021/22), Final Year Project Student (AY 2022/23)
Eunice graduated from NTU’s Psychology Programme in July 2023, with a minor in Special Needs Education. Through her experiences working with vulnerable communities, she is empowered to delve deeper into Applied Social Psychology for the larger community. She has explored varying research topics about human social behaviours, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Such topics include altruism, gratitude, interpersonal relationships, and motivation during life changes in adults.
At Happiness Initiative (a mental health social enterprise), Eunice is currently one of their Assistant Research Managers. Here, she has designed well-being workshops and studied their impact in corporates and schools by zooming into the importance of healthy interpersonal relationships and altruistic communities.
Beyond academics and work, Eunice enjoys connecting with people and advocating for the social causes she is passionate in. As a Youth Corps Singapore (YCS) Ambassador and an Istana Ambassador, she advocates for youth voices at national and regional platforms, such as during ASEAN Youth Forums and engagement sessions for Singapore’s Ministries. While she emcees for different youth events, she also enjoys facilitating challenging conversations and moderating panel discussions regarding vulnerable communities and mental health. Additionally, she regularly volunteers as a mentor for underserved youth and children.
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, Eunice is embarking on her Final Year Project examining the relationships amongst Holism, Meaning-Making, and Gratitude.
Research Projects:
- Final Year Project (NTU): Holistic Thinking, Meaning-Making, and Gratitude
- URECA (NTU): Lifelong Learning
Lee Yu Jing
URECA Student (AY 2021/22), Final Year Project Student (AY 2022/23)
Yu Jing graduated from NTU’s Psychology Programme in July 2023. She is currently working as a research assistant at the Center for Religion, Culture, & Cognition. In addition, she is completing her FYP under Dr. Albert Lee. She is drawn to research in social and cultural psychology as everyday interactions and phenomena can be transformed into empirical, scientific questions. She hopes to use Psychology in bridging different groups of people through providing a better understanding of each other and their differences.
Yu Jing was a part-time intern under A*STAR, attached to a project that explores overcoming childhood adversities among children and youths. She has been inspired by the resilience of these individuals and finds value in interacting with people from different walks of life.
In her free time, Yu Jing experiments in music production and arrangement. She enjoys re-imagining songs in different genres or transforming simple voice samples. She is also an avid listener of jazz and wants to spread her love for it through her drumming.
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, her Final Year Project examines how thinking styles influence perception of competence through the observation of demeanour.
Research Projects:
- Final Year project (NTU): Thinking Styles and Perception of Competence
- URECA Project (NTU): Gendered Anthropomorphism and Beliefs in Tempting Fate
Teo Wei Ning, Genevieve
URECA Student (AY 2021/22), Final Year Project Student (AY 2022/23)
Genevieve graduated from NTU in July 2023 with a major in Psychology and Linguistic & Multilingual Studies. She strongly believes in the power of psychological research and its applications in empowering individuals and communities to improve the environment and people’s lives. During her recent internship at Singapore Counselling Centre, she spearheaded a project to raise awareness of teachers’ mental health in light of the COVID-19 pandemic by surveying over a thousand teachers in Singapore. As a mouthpiece for Singapore’s teachers, the project successfully shone a light on the stress and issues they commonly face with the findings being featured on various local news media platforms. Having had the opportunity to be part of the mentorship circle with The Psychology Atelier which explored attachment theory and its applications in the clinical setting, she has developed a keen interest in this area and hopes to use this knowledge in future projects.
Beyond the classroom, Genevieve enjoys creating various art forms including drawing and photography. Besides being a means to de-stress, she strongly believes in the importance of designing visually attractive designs that convey messages that resonate with the audience, especially in the case of psychological knowledge and know-how that can often be difficult to break down. This has led her to take on publicity-related roles over the years in school committees and internships in designing publicity collaterals including mental health-related materials.
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, Genevieve is currently undertaking a Final Year Project examining the effects of holistic thinking on gratitude in the Context of COVID-19.
Research Projects:
- Final Year Project (NTU): Effects of Holistic Thinking on Gratitude during in Context of COVID-19.
- URECA (NTU): Influence of Anthropomorphism of God on Beliefs in Tempting Fate
Hilda Nah
Final Year Project Student (AY 2022/23)
Hilda graduated from NTU’s Psychology Programme in July 2023. She has always been drawn to Psychology and fascinated by the enigma of human psychology and the complex intricacies of the human mind. She is inquisitive in nature, eager to learn, and aspires to grasp understanding of the totality of the experience of being human and the human condition. Hilda has always had an undoubted sense of self-assurance and confidence in her interest in pursuing clinical psychology even before commencing her psychology journey in NTU. Throughout her years in NTU, Hilda has explored research topics pertaining to clinical and social psychology, including applying methods of neuroscience. Such firm self-assurance in her psychology journey is continually nurtured by her experiences in NTU’s Volunteer Movement, Project It’ll be Alright in Singapore’s Youth Mental Well-Being Network, and in the Institute of Mental Health. Through this, she has found special interest in the topic of mental resilience for research. She aims continue venturing into mental resilience research far beyond graduation into her future career as a psychologist. Under the supervision of Asst Professor Albert Lee, Hilda is currently undertaking a Final Year Project examining the association of holistic thinking, positive reframing, with mental resilience.
Research Projects:
- Final Year Project (NTU): Holistic Thinking, Positive Reframing and Mental Resilience
- URECA (NTU): Investigation of Levels of Spousal Criticism and Parental Criticism, Marital Relationship Outcomes, Parenting Outcomes
Alicia Chua
URECA Student (AY 2021/22), Center Manager (AY 2022/23), Final Year Project Student (AY 2022/23)
Alicia graduated from NTU’s Psychology Programme in July 2023. She believes in the use of psychological research to impact and better the lives of those around her. In her time having studied psychology, she has gained a deep interest in topics in social and cognitive psychology, judgement and decision making, behavioural insights, and design thinking.
Having had the opportunity to work in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, as well as Singapore’s Health Promotion Board in the past has inspired her to know that tangible impacts have and can be made past what she learns in school. She thus hopes to be able to use the knowledge that she has gained in the aforementioned areas to shape policies of the future.
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, Alicia’s final year project is an extension of her URECA project, which examines the psychology of life-long learning.
Research Projects:
- Final Year Project (NTU): Life-Long Learning
- URECA (NTU): Life-Long Learning
- URECA (NTU): Examining the Effects of Virtual Backgrounds on Video-conferencing
- Major Project (TP): Factors Affecting Engagement in Civic Discourse in Singaporeans
- Special Project (TP): Using Behavioural Insights to Increase Voluntary Sign-Up Rates of a Smoking Cessation Programme
- Singapore Psychological Society Student Research Awards (TP): Relationship between Sociocultural Factors and Prejudice towards Non-Locals in Singapore
Marcus Goh
URECA Student (AY 2021/22), Final Year Project Student (AY 2022/23)
Marcus graduated from NTU’s Psychology Programme in July 2023. He also holds a diploma in Psychology Studies from Temasek Polytechnic (TP). Shaped by the various opportunities for conducting research in both of his academic programmes, he believes in the use of empirical methods to advance the field of psychology. Key research projects include a study on the bilingualism advantage in cognitive abilities and the development of a multi-dimensional scale to assess social-emotional competency in youths.
Beginning his journey in psychology nine years ago through his fascination in the domain of rational decision making, his interests have expanded over the years to include the wider field of judgement and decision making, social cognition, and learning and memory. As a student, he is an active user and advocate of the empirically supported spaced-repetition technique to prepare for his assessments.
Being well-versed in mathematics, he is most interested in theories that attempt to model human processes and behaviour with mathematical precision, which he believes should be the ultimate goal of theory development in psychology. To this end, he deeply enjoys developing his skills and understanding of research methods and statistics.
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, Marcus’ final year project will focus on behavioral evidence of the anthropomorphism of God and beliefs in tempting fate.
Research Projects:
- Final Year Project (NTU): Behavioural Evidence of the Anthropomorphism of God Account for Beliefs in Tempting Fate
- URECA (NTU): Life-Long Learning
- URECA (NTU): Construal of Self, Cultural Thinking Styles
Hazel Teo Jia Ying
Research Assistant (AY 2021/22, AY 2022/23), URECA Student (AY 2020/21)
Research Projects:
- URECA Project (NTU): Causal Complexity and Beliefs in Tempting Fate
Meryl Woon
URECA Student (AY 2021/22)
Meryl graduated from NTU’s in July 2023 with a double major studies; Psychology and Philosophy. Her philosophy in life is to be a positive influence, no matter how small, in the lives of people she crosses paths with. Over the past 6 years, Meryl finds herself striving to be an advocate for a dementia-friendly Singapore, including being part of a research team at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital to reduce caregivers’ stress levels whilst care for seniors with dementia and collaborating with AWWA to educate the general public on how to create a safe space for seniors with dementia to continue living within their communities.
Meryl’s passion for working with seniors motivates her to volunteer with various VWOs. She has proactively learnt dialects to effectively communicate with seniors and allow them to feel comfortable in sharing about their daily life and the struggles they face. These interactions have allowed her to see different viewpoints in life and learn from the many pieces of advice that she receives. Most importantly to Meryl, she feels that these conversations show the seniors that there is someone who cares dearly about them, that they are not just a ‘forgotten past’. Ultimately, Meryl believes that by capitalizing on her background in philosophy and psychology, she can use her skillsets to effect positive changes in the world.
Under the supervision of Dr. Albert Lee, Meryl’s URECA project examined how culture can influence the basic assumptions about the world.
Research Projects:
- URECA Project (NTU): Culture, Basic Assumptions
Gabrieli Giulio
PhD Student
Giulio graduated with a PhD in Psychology. He obtained both his B.S. in Interfaces and Communication Technology and M.S. in Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Trento (Italy). Giulio’s research focus is on empirical aesthetics, neurophysiology, and reproducibility of psychological sciences. As artifacts of his research work, he also designed and developed multiple python packages for the analysis of physiological signals and for computer vision. His Ph.D. dissertation discusses the generalisability of the Halo Effect across individuals of different age groups, genders, and ethnicities.
Research Projects:
- Dissertation: Is The Halo Effect Universal? An Investigation of the Generalizability and Applications of the Halo Effect
Richelle-Joy Chia
PhD Student, Teaching Assistant
Richelle graduated from NTU with a PhD in psychology. She received her B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from the University of British Columbia (Vancouver). Prior to that, Richelle was living in Townsville, a small cosy city in Australia, where she completed a part of her undergraduate education. It was during then when she realized her passion for research and decided to transfer out to a research powerhouse in Canada so she can get herself ready for graduate school. Outside of the lab, Richelle enjoys travelling, spending time with nature, learning how to code, and sipping on tea!
Richelle’s research interests lie in the intersection of social cognition, religion, and judgements and decision making. Her current work with Albert focuses on the perception of a God with human-like capacities who can influence people’s fear of tempting fate. Moreover, Richelle is also working on several other projects such as a meta-analysis that examines the outcomes associated with free-will beliefs and the validity of latent variables across and within subjects.
Research Projects:
- Dissertation: The Effects of Anthropomorphism of God and Beliefs in Tempting Fate