About Me

My name is Thomas Ferguson, and I’m currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. My research is focused on how we make the decisions we do. I’m interested in how people are able to integrate information from complex and changing environments in order to guide their actions, with a particular emphasis on how people learn from feedback. In my research I use neuroimaging (specifically electroencephalography) in conjunction with computational modelling to understand decision making, reinforcement learning, and the explore-exploit dilemma. Some of my previous work has examined the effects of stress on navigation strategy and performance, the effect of stress on reinforcement learning, and the role of reinforcement learning in navigation.

Interests
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Reinforcement Learning
  • Electroencephalography
Education
  • PhD in Cognition and Brain Science, 2022

    University of Victoria

  • MSc in Experimental Neuropsychology, 2016

    University of Victoria

  • BSc in Psychology, 2014

    University of Victoria

Skills

Programming

R, MATLAB, Python, Unreal, Git, JASP

Data Analysis

Frequentist, Bayesian, Computational Modelling, Time series

EEG Software

EEGLab, Brain Vision, MNE

Recent Publications

(2021). Finger tapping to different styles of music and changes in cortical oscillations. Brain and Behavior.

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(2021). The role of cognitive control and top-down processes in object affordances. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics.

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(2021). What happens when right means wrong? The impact of conflict arising from competing feedback responses. Brain Research.

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(2021). Distribution of practice combined with observational learning has time dependent effects on motor skill acquisition. Perceptual and Motor Skills.

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(2021). The ERP, frequency, and time–frequency correlates of feedback processing: Insights from a large sample study. Psychophysiology.

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(2020). The effects of acute stress on the neural correlates of decision-making. The Arbutus Review.

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(2019). Passively learned spatial navigation cues evoke reinforcement learning reward signals. Cognition.

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(2016). Acute stress switches spatial navigation strategy from egocentric to allocentric in a virtual Morris water maze. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory.

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