James W. Pennebaker, Chairman | SEA 4.212 | The University of Texas at Austin | Austin, TX 78712 | 512-471-1157

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Jennifer Beer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

Email: Office: SEA 3.208 Phone: (512) 471-3224 See also Social and Personality and Cognition Self Regulation Lab

Research in our lab focuses on self-processes, emotion processes and social cognition. We're interested in how these processes contribute to appropriate social functioning. For example, how do self-perceptions and emotions influence decisions in social interactions? To address these questions, we use behavioral methods such as behavioral observation (e.g., FACS coding, reaction times, self and peer-report in addition to neuroscience methods such as neuroimaging (fMRI) and studies of patient populations.

Selected Representative Publications:

Beer, J.S., & Lombardo, M. V. (in press). Patient and neuroimaging methodologies in the study of personality and social processes. To appear in R. W. Robins, R.C. Fraley, & R. Krueger (Eds.) The Handbook of Research Methods in Personality Psychology. New York: Guilford.

Beer, J. S. (2007). The default self: Feeling good or being right? Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 11, 187-189.

Quirk, G., & Beer, J.S. (2006). Prefrontal Involvement in Emotion Regulation: Convergence of Rat and Human Studies. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 16, 723-727.

Beer, J.S., John, O.P., Scabini, D., & Knight, R.T. (2006). Orbitofrontal Cortex and Social Behavior: Integrating Self-Monitoring and
Emotion-Cognition Interactions. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 18, 871-880. Beer, J.S., Knight, R.T., & D‚Esposito, M. (2006). Integrating Emotion and Cognition: The role of the frontal lobes in distinguishing between helpful and hurtful emotion. Psychological Science, 17, 448-453.

Beer, J. S., & Ochsner, K. N. (2006). Social cognition: A Multi Level Analyses. Brain Research, 1079, 98-105.

Ochsner, K.N., Beer, J.S., Robertson, E.A., Cooper, J., Gabrieli, J. D. E., Kihlstrom, J. F., & D‚Esposito, M. (2005). The neural correlates of direct and reflected self-knowledge. Neuroimage, 28, 797-814.

Beer, J. S., Shimamura, A. P., & Knight, R. T. (2004). Frontal lobe contributions to executive control of cognitive and social behavior. In M. S. Gazzaniga (Ed.) The Newest Cognitive Neurosciences (3rd Edition) (pp.1091-1104). Cambridge: MIT Press.

Beer, J.S., Heerey, E. H., Keltner, D., Scabini, D., & Knight, R. T. (2003). The regulatory function of self-conscious emotion: Insights from patients with orbitofrontal damage. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 594-604.

Beer, J. S. (2002). Implicit self-theories and shyness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 1009-1024.

Robins, R. W., & Beer, J. S. (2001). Positive illusions about the self: Short-term benefits and long-term costs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 340-352.