Maura Nevejans

In 2022, I graduated as M.Sc. in theoretical and experimental psychology. During my studies, I did a research internship at the Learning and Implicit Processes lab (LIPlab, https://liplab.be/) on relational learning. I further conducted research on imitation for my master thesis. Because I enjoyed doing research on both learning and imitation, both topics are part of my PhD project, combined with research on autism.

More specifically, my PhD focuses on how imitative behavior is influenced by social factors, such as eye contact or the social group the interaction partners belong to, in individuals with and without autism. I investigate this using a learning perspective, starting from the idea that imitation is learned (operant) behavior with an important social function. Because my PhD project is a mix of different topics, I am a member of both the EXPLORA research group and the LIPlab.