THE SUBJECTIVITY LAB

perception • consciousness • introspection

We are an interdisciplinary lab in the Department of Psychology at Northeastern University led by Dr. Jorge Morales. Our lab investigates the mind’s subjective point of view: how we perceive the world around us, how the brain creates conscious experiences, and how introspection opens a window into our own minds. 

Perception

Why does the world “out there” look the way it does “from here”? How does our perspective affect what we see? How much of what we see is really in the external world and how much is our mind’s contribution?

Consciousness

How does neural activity give rise to conscious awareness? Why do we have a conscious mind? Could our minds do exactly the same if they were completely unconscious or is consciousness special?

Introspection

How do we know our own minds? Is introspection trustworthy? How do we know that we know something (or that we don’t know it)? Do we know all the parts of our minds in the same way?

To understand the subjectivity of the mind, we leverage tools from psychology, neuroscience and philosophy. Our interdisciplinary research integrates psychophysics, neuroimaging and theoretical approaches.

Psychology

Our lab uses tools from vision science and psychophysics to tackle empirically centuries-old philosophical questions as well as current issues in perception.

Neuroscience

With neuroimaging (fMRI) and neural intervention (TMS) technologies we explore the neural basis of the subjective character of the mind.

Philosophy

Our questions are directly inspired and supported by a rich philosophical tradition that reflects upon both the mind and the sciences of the mind.

Join the lab!

We are recruiting graduate students for Fall 2023!

And we are recruiting undergraduate research assistants too! Co-op opportunities available!