Lee Q. Cui

Lee Q. Cui

Ph.D. in Psychological & Brain Sciences, specialize in social minds

This is Lee.

I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at UC Santa Barbara.

I study social minds and perception using interdisciplinary methods, including behavioral measures, machine learning, and neuroimaging, eye-tracking, NLP, and advanced statistical modeling to uncover how people think and feel—especially in emotionally and socially complex contexts. With experience analyzing 1,500+ participants and 12M+ tweets, I translate behavioral data into actionable insights for inclusive, human-centered design.

I keep my visual art world separate. Visit my artist site here. It’s so good you honestly shouldn’t miss it.

Skills

  • Experimental Design
  • Mixed Methods Research
  • Python, R, Qualtrics, Unity3D, JavaScript, HTML/CSS, SQL
  • A/B testing, ANOVA, regression, factor analysis, SEM, and text analysis

Education

  • Ph.D., Psych & Brain Sciences, In Progress

    University of California, Santa Barbara

  • M.A., Psychology, May 2021

    New York University

  • B.A., Psychology, Jan 2019

    Rutgers University

Research

How do people perceive and respond to social bias from humans versus AI?

This project examines whether individuals judge racial bias differently when it is perpetrated by humans versus AI, how blatant versus subtle bias impacts perception, and whether perceiver race (White vs. non-White) moderates these effects. The study lays groundwork for further research on agency, intentionality, and outcome severity in bias evaluation.
Apr 27, 2024 2 min read

How do government rulings shape public discourse and the emotional well-being of stigmatized communities?

Supported by advanced NLP tools and statistical modeling, this project investigates both individual- and structural-level stigma and its interaction with online behavior and societal norms.
Apr 27, 2022 2 min read

How do human social biases shape algorithmic decision-making?

This project explores how human bias in dataset selection and annotation fuels racial inequality in AI-based face classification systems.
Feb 1, 2021 2 min read

How do cultural attitudes and gender shape sexual arousal responses?

Mainstream erotic image datasets underrepresent East Asian figures, limiting research validity for East Asian populations. This project introduces a normed erotic picture dataset specifically designed for East Asian cultural contexts, incorporating self-reported arousal, pleasantness, and sexual attractiveness ratings from heterosexual men and women.
Apr 27, 2019 2 min read

Experience

 
 
 
 
 

Ph.D. Researcher & Analyst

University of California, Santa Barbara

Sep 2021 – Present California
  • Designed and implemented multiple behavioral and neuroimaging experiments applying psychological theories to investigate social cognition and participants’ lived experiences
  • Led a neuroimaging study examining stereotype exposure and reward processing in Hispanic and Latino populations; updated protocols and conducted fMRI sessions
  • Collected and analyzed qualitative and quantitative data from 1,500+ participants using advanced methodologies including experimental design, survey development, psychometrics, physiological monitoring, and eye-tracking technology
  • Directed a large-scale social media sentiment study analyzing 12M+ tweets from LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ users surrounding U.S. Supreme Court rulings on same-sex marriage
  • Applied NLP tools (e.g., BERT) and custom Python scripts to extract sentiment trends; conducted factorial and multivariate analyses to identify significant emotional differences across groups
  • Utilized statistical techniques including A/B testing, ANOVA, multiple regression, structural equation modeling, latent class analysis, and text mining to derive actionable insights from large datasets
  • Produced 3 research manuscripts, delivered 5 invited talks, and presented findings at 6 academic conferences to interdisciplinary audiences
  • Hired, trained, and mentored research teams of up to 10 assistants to support data collection, analysis, and lab operations across multiple concurrent projects
 
 
 
 
 

Lab Instructor

University of California, Santa Barbara

Jan 2021 – Present California
  • Trained students in scientific research design, data collection, data analysis, and scientific writing
  • Taught statistics, A/B testing, correlation analysis, analysis of variance, regression analysis, and survey design
 
 
 
 
 

Graduate Researcher & Programmer

New York University

Sep 2019 – May 2021 New York
  • Designed and executed a computational study to evaluate potential racial bias in facial recognition systems, applying expertise in experimental design and statistical analysis
  • Evaluated and fine-tuned convolutional neural networks (ResNet) using diverse public datasets, identifying performance disparities across demographic groups
  • Developed a Siamese network to measure facial similarity, improving accuracy in face comparison tasks
  • Created 200+ controlled morphed face stimuli using WebMorph to systematically test algorithm performance
  • Automated image preprocessing with Python scripts, reducing facial area isolation time for 200+ images from hours to under 2 minutes
  • Presented findings on algorithmic bias at NYU’s 24th Annual Master’s Psychology Research Conference, earning first place for clear communication of technical results to a broad audience
  • Secured funding through a competitive Graduate Student Research Award by crafting a compelling research proposal aligned with societal and technological impact
 
 
 
 
 

Researcher & Data Analyst

Nanjing University

Jan 2019 – Aug 2019 Nanjing, China
  • Designed, programmed, and conducted behavioral and eye-tracking studies to examine how visual cues influence perception, applying advanced experimental design skills
  • Collaborated on EEG experiments to investigate how integration of primary and secondary reward cues affects executive function, contributing to multimodal research methods
  • Developed experiments in E-Prime and Experiment Builder, ensuring high data quality and participant engagement
  • Cleaned and analyzed 25,000+ trial data points using Python and R, applying statistical modeling and visualization to extract actionable insights
  • Translated and culturally adapted five psychological questionnaires from English to Chinese for cross-cultural validity
  • Built and maintained the lab’s minimalist-style website using open-source platforms (GitHub Pages & Hugo), improving accessibility and usability for research participants and collaborators
 
 
 
 
 

Research Assistant

Rutgers University

Sep 2016 – Jan 2018 New Jersey
  • Collected and managed participant data for multiple studies on perception, identity, and attitude change, ensuring data accuracy and research integrity
  • Coordinated in-person experimental sessions, including role-based interactions to maintain study realism and participant engagement
  • Monitored attendance and documented unexpected events to support reliable analysis and study reproducibility

Contact