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At the Xu Lab, we study how people reason about the social world and how these processes are shaped by cultural contexts and individual experiences.

Lab News!

Dr. Xu is co-teaching (with Dr. Michael Chen) a study abroad course "Mind & Culture in Taiwan" in Summer, 2026!
Maci presented her work ("The Impact of Social Essentialist Beliefs on Reader Identity and Reading Comprehension") at the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD 2025) Biennial Meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota! (May, 2025)
Dr. Xu gave a talk ("How Culture Shapes the Structure of Essentialist Beliefs in Early Childhood: Evidence from China and the US") at the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD 2025) Biennial Meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota! (May, 2025)
Nancy presented her work ("Using Cognitive Psychology to Probe AI Social Bias") at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR 2025) in Pittsburgh, PA! (April, 2025)
Treasure has won KSU's Undergraduate Research and Creativity Fund to support her research on racial/gender micro-aggression! (April, 2025)
Maci gave a flash talk on social essentialism and college students' reader identity perceptions at the Georgia Undergraduate Research in Psychology (GURP 2025) Conference at KSU! (April, 2025)
Mekaylah presented her honors thesis ("Gender Essentialism Increases Dispositional Attribution in Romantic Relationships") at the Georgia Academy of Science (GAS 2025) Annual Meeting in Young Harris College, GA! (March, 2025)
Juan presented his work ("Mindfulness Meditation Reduces Essentialist Beliefs about Race and Gender") at the Georgia Academy of Science (GAS 2025) Annual Meeting in Young Harris College, GA! (March, 2025)
Nancy was selected as a Sophomore Scholar funded by KSU's Office of Undergraduate Research to continue her work on exploring essentialist bias in AI! (August, 2024)
Hannah presented her capstone work ("How Do Social Essentialist Beliefs Predict Academic Self-Efficacy among First-Generation College Students?") at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR 2024) in Long Beach, CA! (April, 2024)
Reese presented her capstone work ("Essentialist Thinking and Affirmative Action Policies in College Admissions") at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR 2024) in Long Beach, CA! (April, 2024)