Academic and Professional History

 Education

New York University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, New York, NY
Masters of Arts in Social and Consumer Psychology, May 2016

Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY                                                                                                                            
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, May 2014

Research Experience

 The Integrated Science Lab at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC             
Research Assistant June 2021-Present
Primary Investigator: Dr. Brian Fisher

·         Review questionnaires for virtual reality related studies, including interface design and human perception.

·         Attend lab meetings to discuss current research in the private and academic sectors of data visualization.

·         Evaluate and provide feedback for presentations and research of other lab members.

The Visual Thinking Lab at Northwestern University, Chicago, IL                                                  
Research Assistant February 2020-Present
Primary Investigator: Dr. Steven Franconeri

·         Design, conduct, and analyze, using R and Excel, studies that investigate visual perception in relation to graphs.

·         Experimenter for multiple studies exploring color saturation, graph size, shape rotation, and scatterplot area.

·         Create and prepare study stimuli, create online and offline coding sheets, develop and write scripts and methods.

·         Provide feedback on other lab members’ presentations as well as pilot studies to ensure they are copacetic.

The DePaul University Social Cognition Lab, Chicago, IL                                                                   
Research Assistant September 2019-Present
Primary Investigator: Dr. Kimberly Quinn

·         Help write potential publications using materials and data from previous studies.

·         Analyze data in JASP and present findings to Dr. Quinn.

·         Review primary and secondary sources to better understand the research interests of the lab and present them to Dr. Quinn for future discussion at lab meetings.

The Attention, Perception and Experience Lab at The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL       
Research Assistant May 2019-November 2019
Primary Investigator: Dr. Howard Nusbaum

·         Reviewed and contributed detailed feedback on experimental surveys to confirm their understandability and ensured they would provide the necessary data. 

·         Reviewed upcoming presentations and papers to make sure they were ready for public dissemination.

·         Attended lab meetings to understand project needs.

Posters and Presentations

Smith, R., Bellovary, A., & Quinn, K. (February 2021). Sense of Place and Student Wellbeing: Preliminary Evidence for Impact of Liked but Not Disliked Spaces. Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Virtual.

Smith, R., Krenzer, W., Quinn, K., & Gomez, P. (November 2020). The Cheerleader Effect: Replication and Extension. Psychonomic Society, Virtual.

In Process and Non-Published Research

Krenzer, W. L. D., Smith, R., Quinn, K. A., & Gomez, P. (in preparation). The Cheerleader Effect: Replication and Four Extensions.
Anderson, E., Smith, R.¸Franconeri, S. (in preparation). The Effects of Color Saturation on Perceived Bubble Plot Size.
Anderson, E., Smith, R.¸Franconeri, S. (in preparation). Speed and Comprehension of Slope Graphs Versus Bar Graphs in Relation to Item-wise and Chart-wise Positioning.
Anderson, E., Smith, R.¸Franconeri, S. (in preparation). The Effects of Numerosity on Perceived Cumulative Area.
Smith, R. & Moody, E. (2014). Conformity of Individuals with Non-Direct Contact.
Smith, R. & Dingman, S. (2012). Asch’s Conformity Experiments Applied to the Anonymity of Second Life.
Smith, R. & Hanusch, E. (2012) The Effects of Emotional Stimuli on Item Recall.

Programing Languages and Technical Skills

Python, R, C#, Unity (including applications for AR and VR), SPSS, SQL, Tableau, MatLab, Qualtrics, JASP, PsychoPy

Work Experience

PrizeLogic, Chicago, IL 

Account Executive March 2018-Present 

• Measure and analyze primary data from ongoing marketing campaigns to better understand the alcohol industry from a holistic  viewpoint 

• Create reports which profile the psychographic identities of target consumers, using data from promotional campaigns, in order to  recognize key demographics 

• Perform regressions to highlight the differences between multiple campaigns and understand which factors influence consumer  behavior 

• Use SPSS and Excel to compare the engagement of current campaigns with previous ones and generate computer models from synthesized data to tell a compelling narrative 

TippingGardner, New York, NY 

Freelance Research Analyst May 2016-March 2018 

• Developed, designed, and implemented custom surveys, discussion guides, and field research instructions that were used to better  understand the target segments 

• Used SPSS to perform quantitative and qualitative analysis of research data to uncover patterns and insights between brand identity  and consumer behavior 

• Reviewed primary and secondary research to better understand the industry and created internal presentations on valuable trends  that could be used for new product launches 

Solable, Melbourne, Australia 

Market Research Analyst June-December 2017 

• Found unsaturated market space by performing focus groups and secondary research on the electronic accessory industry which  facilitated new products to market, including Solable’s flagship solar powered phone battery 

• Created project timetables and coordinated with other consultants, designers and producers to create strategies which target the correct psychographics