viktoria.csink@gmail.com
vgraep01@bbk.ac.uk
Supervisors
Prof Denis Mareschal (Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck)
Dr Teodora Gliga (University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK)
Research interests
My PhD investigates the role of unexpected events on subsequent attention, exploration, motivation and memory. I have tested infants extensively to find out if surprising event outcomes facilitate encoding and recognition memory processes.
In relation to this question, I am also interested in exploring why infants and adults find certain events surprising, while others remain largely unnoticed. More specifically, I have investigated the effect of unexpected appearance and disappearance on infants’ and adults’ responses to the events in order to gain a better understanding about the mental representations of objects and empty locations.
I use a wide variety of behavioural and eye-tracking methods to establish the mental effort involved in creating a representation, the cognitive processes following the violations of these representations, and the strength of the resulting episodic memories.
I also have a strong interest in the statistical methods and the programming aspects of experimental psychology.
As part of my PhD programme, I am also involved in teaching statistics and research methods classes in the framework of the BSc Psychology programme at Birkbeck.
Research experience
2016 – present (4 years, part-time)
Teaching Assistant, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
2015 – 2016 (1 year, full-time)
Research Assistant, Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
Education
2016 – present
PhD in Psychology , Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
2010 – 2011
MSc Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, UK
2003 – 2008
MA Philosophy, ELTE University, Budapest, Hungary
Publications
Csink, V., Mareschal, D., & Gliga, T. (2020). Does surprise enhance infant memory? Assessing the impact of the encoding context on subsequent object recognition. Infancy (in press), DOI: 10.1111/infa.12383.
Csink, V., Gliga, T., Marescahl, D. (2020). Nothing to remember: Encoding and memory processes involved in representing empty locations. Memory & Cognition (in review).
Posters
V. Csink, D. Mareschal, T. Gliga (2019). The effect of mislabelling on subsequent recognition memory. Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development 21st Anniversary Conference (London, UK).
V. Csink, D. Mareschal, T. Gliga (2019). Does violation of expectation result in better learning? A non-replication of Stahl & Feingenson (2015). Budapest CEU Conference on Cognitive Development (Budapest, Hungary).
V. Csink, D. Mareschal, T. Gliga (2018). Can something come from nothing? 12-month-old infants’ understanding of the appearance of an object at an empty location. British Psychological Society: Developmental Psychology Section Annual Conference (Liverpool, UK).