Current Research Assistants
Dilan H. Arreguin
Dilan is a graduate student in the Master of Arts Psychological Research Program, class of 2024. Her primary research interests are multidisciplinary, concerning the intersection of psycholinguistics in cognitive psychology, interpersonal relationships in social psychology, and mental health in clinical psychology. Specifically, she is interested in researching the impacts of audism (i.e., bias towards D/deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals), linguisticism (i.e., pressure to engage in the language of the dominant culture, which is the hearing culture in this case), and language deprivation as they relate to social injustices, interpersonal relationships, education, and professional development in the D/deaf/HH community. Her research traverses social interactions, acculturation, post-secondary educational outcomes, minority stress, and the establishment of DEIJ among D/deaf/HH individuals.
Ian Vonderharr
Ian is an undergraduate honors student at Texas State majoring in Psychology, minoring in Japanese and Pre-medical studies. He is currently working at an internship serving the intellectually disabled through the Travis County Probate Court. He plans to continue into graduate school, researching bilingual psychology and Japanese linguistics.
Javier Mireles
Hi, my name is Javier Mireles, but people call me Chuc. My spirit animal is either the Large Hadron Collider or a Golden Retriever. My interests outside the lab include playing basketball, watching anime, gaslighting others into arguments, and going to Sewell Park to play sand volleyball. My duties in the lab include running participants through the eye-tracker and cleaning data. My goal is to attend grad school to study Cognitive Psychology.
Christopher R. Soens
Christopher Soens is a Research Assistant at the Language Processing Lab, pursuing a Master of Arts in Psychological Research (MAPR), with graduation expected in 2025. His philosophical background led him to explore key linguistic questions, driving his shift to psychology. Christopher’s research focuses on visual-spatial dynamics in cross-domain structural priming, examining how cognitive processes in language, mathematics, and visual perception interact. He aims to clarify the links between language processing and cognitive domains. At the lab, Christopher’s work expands the application of structural priming beyond traditional linguistic frameworks, seeking new insights into cognitive mechanisms across varied intellectual fields.
Previous Research Assistants
Jordan Westenberg
Jordan is an honors student at Texas State who is double majoring in History and Psychology. She is the lead research assistant on a project exploring the mental relationship between mathematical and linguistic structure. She is also collaborating on a project that investigates whether individuals adapt their speech prosody to that of a recently heard speaker.
Daniel Shay
Daniel recently received his bachelor’s degree from TXST, double majoring in Anthropology and Psychology. He is currently working on an eye-tracking project that explores the links between structural representation in mathematics and language as well as how this relationship varies based on mathematical training. Daniel plans to pursue graduate studies in psycholinguistics.
Natalie Castro
Natalie has a bachelor’s degree in Geology and is currently pursuing a second degree in Psychology. She is contributing to an eye-tracking study that explores the links between structural representation in mathematics and language as well as how this relationship varies based on mathematical training. Natalie plans to apply to a graduate program in Psychology in the near future.
Ashton Utzman
Ashton graduated from TXST in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She has been working in the field while she prepares to apply to graduate school. Ashton is contributing to an eye-tracking project that explores the links between structural representation in mathematics and language as well as how this relationship varies based on mathematical training.
Past Researchers and where they went after their time in the LPL:
Eduardo Hernandez completed his Master’s degree and is working in industry.
Timothy Alton completed his bachelor’s degree at Texas State and plans to attend a counseling graduate program.
Ashley Frost completed a Master’s degree in Psychological Research.
Emily Arzola went to a PhD program in Neuroscience.
Max Helfrich completed his Master’s degree and then got a job managing a university research lab.
Nicole Kuylen completed her bachelor’s degree at Texas State.
Cameron Dellis attended law school.
Shaini Smith attended an Occupational Therapy Graduate Program.
Maddie Sidoff attended a Speech Language Pathology Graduate Program.
Luis Flores attended an Applied Neuroscience Masters Program.
Sarah Torres attended an Education Graduate Program.
Ashley Devereux attended an Industrial/Organizational Psychology Masters Program.
Candice Stanfield attended a Ph.D. program in Cognitive Psychology.
Nick Guild got a job managing a business with plans to attend graduate school in the future.
If you are interested in working in our lab, please contact Dr. Tooley!