Chenxu Hao (Stella), Ph.D., Postdoctoral Researcher

Stella is a scientist at the Chair of Autonomous Systems, Department of Electrical Engineering of FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg since January 2022.

Stella completed her undergraduate degrees in Interdisciplinary Visual Art and Psychology in 2016 at the University of Washington. She then joined the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan for her Ph.D. in Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience. Her work investigates value-based decisions in the framework of bounded rationality through two lines of research: context effects in multi-attribute decisions and value learning through experience. Her research combines empirical experiments and computational models. Stella has also worked on how different types of information visualizations and presentations affect people’s attitudes and decisions in pandemic-related decisions.

She has received various university and department fellowships and grants during her Ph.D. including the Hough Summer Research Fellowship for Psychology & Ethics in 2020 and the Clyde H. Coombs Memorial Fellowship in 2019.

Research interest: Bounded rationality, ethical decisions, decision strategy, planning, computational modeling

Key references

• Hao, C., Lewis, R. L. (manuscript in preparation). Ethical Choice Reversals.
• Hao, C., Cabrera-Haro, L. E., Lin, Z., Reuter-Lorenz, P., & Lewis, R. L. (under review). Explaining valence asymmetries in value learning: A reinforcement learning account. Preprint available at https://psyarxiv.com/23kuf/