Kim Meidenbauer

Biography

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Classes Taught

• Psychology 592: Cognition and Affective Behavior
• Psychology 466: Environmental Psychology
• Psychology 233: Psychology of Happiness

Research Interests

• Effects of heat exposure on cognitive function, cognitive decline in aging, emotional states, and aggressive behaviors
• Developing methods to bridge lab-based experiments with computational models of large-scale environmental effects
• Using mobile neuroimaging (functional NIRS) to measure neural activity in naturalistic settings

Research in Dr. Meidenbauer’s Social, Cognitive, & Environmental Neuroscience (SCENe) Lab examines how features of the physical and social environment affect individuals’ brains and their behavior. Currently, the lab’s work focuses on how heat exposure can lead to deleterious psychological outcomes and antisocial behaviors, and how greenspace interventions can be used to buffer against the effects of heat stress. The SCENe lab is also interested in the creation and validation of research methods that allow us to “take the lab outside”, via browser-based tasks, mobile neuroimaging (fNIRS), remote sensors and wearables, and experience sampling techniques. We advocate for and prioritize the use of open science practices, including the ethical sharing of data and study materials, providing open and reproducible code, and pre-registering data collection and analysis plans.

Selected Publications

• Meidenbauer, K. L., Schertz, K. E., Janey, E., Stier, A., Samtani, A. L., Gehrke, K., Tucker, R., Hasan, M., & Berman, M. G. (2024). Evidence for environmental influences on impulsivity and aggression. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening. doi: 10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128594
• Meidenbauer, K. L., Schertz, K. E., Li, P., Sharma, A., Freeman, T. R., Stier, A., … Berman, M. (2024). Variable and dynamic associations between hot weather, thermal comfort, and individuals’ emotional states during summertime. BMC Psychology.  doi: 10.1186/s40359-024-02005-z
• Meidenbauer, K. L., Choe, K., Bakkour, A., Inzlicht, M., Meidenbauer, M. L., & Berman, M. G. (2023). Characterizing the role of impulsivity in costly, reactive aggression using a novel paradigm. Behavior Research Methods. doi: 10.3758/s13428-023-02066-9
• Zhuang, C.*, Meidenbauer, K. L.*, Kardan, O., Stier, A. J., Choe, K. W., Cardenas-Iniguez, C., Huppert, T. J., & Berman, M. G. (2022). Scale Invariance in fNIRS as a Measurement of Cognitive Load. (*authors contributed equally), Cortex. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.05.009
• Meidenbauer, K. L.*, Niu, T.*, Choe, K. W., Stier, A. J., & Berman, M. G. (2022). Mouse movements reflect personality traits and task attentiveness in online experiments. (*authors contributed equally) Journal of Personality, 00, 1–13. doi: 10.1111/jopy.12736
• Talen, E., Choe, K. W., Akcelik, G. N., Berman, M. G., & Meidenbauer, K. L. (2022). Street design preference: an on-line survey. Journal of Urban Design, 1–24. doi: 10.1080/13574809.2022.2066512
• Meidenbauer, K. L., Choe, K. W., Cardenas-Iniguez, C., Huppert, T.J., & Berman, M. G. (2021) Load-dependent relationships between frontal fNIRS activity and performance: A data-driven PLS approach. NeuroImage. 117795. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117795
• Meidenbauer, K. L., Stenfors, C. U. D., Bratman, G. N., Gross, J. J., Schertz, K. E., Choe, K. W., & Berman, M. G. (2020). The affective benefits of nature exposure: What’s nature got to do with it? Journal of Environmental Psychology, 72. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101498
• Meidenbauer, K. L., Stenfors, C., Young, J., Layden, E. A., Schertz, K. E., Kardan, O., Decety, J., & Berman, M. G. (2019). The gradual development of the preference for natural environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 65. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2019.101328