Rich Daker - Graduate Student

Rich came to Georgetown in June of 2016 as a PhD student, and works in the labs of both Dr. Adam Green and Dr. Ian Lyons. For his PhD work, Rich studies anxiety about specific types of cognition, like creativity and math. He's interested in understanding how being anxious about a particular type of thinking might affect A) your cognitive performance for in the moment for tasks you're anxious about, B) the extent to which you develop ability in that type of thinking over time, and C) decisions to pursue or avoid situations and even career paths that involve the type of cognition you're anxious about. Rich has used a variety of research approaches to study these core questions from different angles: questionnaire-based approaches (see the Publications page for our work on the development of the Creativity Anxiety Scale), lab-based cognitive tests, fMRI, cardiac psychophysiology, and using anxiety measures to predict real-world academic outcomes. His eventual goal is to apply the understanding gained from basic research on these cognition-specific anxieties to develop effective interventions to boost educational outcomes. In addition to his work in the lab, Rich also serves as Co-President of the Trainee Board of the International Mind, Brain and Education Society, an academic society committed to education-relevant psychology and neuroscience research. 

email: rjd107@georgetown.edu