Graduate Students & Postdoctoral Researchers

Picture of Chihiro Honda

Chihiro Honda is a PhD student in Cognitive Psychology at the University at Buffalo, SUNY, where she is a member of the Auditory Perception and Action Lab (APAL). She studies music and language perception and production, and she is particularly interested in how these two domains overlap. Her current research examines the effects of musical and language backgrounds on behavioral performance (e.g., pitch imitation) as well as brain activities. Her main research goal is to understand the mechanisms involved in auditory processing in both music and language domains and the transfer of pitch processing ability from one domain to another. She received a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and a master’s degree in Psychology from the University at Buffalo, SUNY. Visit her website.

Picture of Nicole Coleman

Nicole Coleman is a cognitive Ph.D. student working with Dr. Pfordresher in the Auditory Perception and Action Lab.  She received her B.A. from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. There, she studied music’s influence on individual time perception in Dr. Nicholas Van Horn’s Cognitive Lab. She began playing the violin at a young age which sparked her interest in how music can affect aspects of everyday life. She currently collaborates with the Communicative Disorders and Sciences department at UB to explore how Melodic Intonation Therapy and different timing cues can aid speech production, specifically in individuals with aphasia and individuals with Parkinson’s related speech deficits.  In her free time, she enjoys crocheting, painting, and hiking with her mini bernedoodle Cleo. 

Picture of Sarah MacDougall

Sarah MacDougall is a cognitive Ph.D. student working primarily with Dr. Buxó-Lugo. She completed a master’s in linguistics at UB, where she looked at the social and psychological factors that play a role in longer-term language change, including how we process and resolve things like ambiguities in sound and meaning. She is also interested in similarities between music and language processing, particularly in tone languages and/or in geographic areas with a lot of language contact. A recovering music major, she shifted to psychology and got her BS in psych from The Artist Formerly Known As IUPUI (now IU Indianapolis). Sarah mostly plays piano, but has also played saxophone, French horn, and trumpet in various jazz, Afro-punk, and orchestral and band settings. During her copious free time, Sarah enjoys crocheting, skateboarding, basking in the sun like a cactus, watching live music, and getting marginally better at Spanish. 

Picture of Adwoa Ampiah-Bonney

Adwoa Ampiah-Bonney is a PhD student in Cognitive Psychology and a member of the Auditory Perception and Action Lab. She earned her B.S. in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from the University of Rochester. Growing up in a richly musical environment, Adwoa developed a strong interest in understanding how music shapes human behavior. Her current research explores vocal imitation abilities across song and speech from diverse languages and cultures. She is particularly interested in how personal background influences musical engagement and its connections to identity and community. Adwoa’s research interests also delve into the musical traditions of Africa and the African diaspora, investigating how musical engagement in these communities compares to others worldwide. Outside of research, Adwoa enjoys singing with the UB Choir, performing in theatrical productions, watching films, and learning new languages.

Picture of Logan Barrett

Logan Barrett is an MA student in General Psychology and the Lab Manager of the Auditory Perception and Action Lab. He is also an MSc student in Neuroscience at Memorial University of Newfoundland and a member of the Cognitive Aging and Auditory Neuroscience Lab. He earned a Professional Performance Certificate in Music Education Research at Penn State. Before that, he completed an MA in Music and Science at Durham University, working with Tuomas Eerola on the perception of musical emotions, and a BM in Music Cognition and Neuroscience from Ithaca College, having worked with Carol Krumhansl at Cornell University as well. He is primarily interested in the perception and production of music and how one would impact the other. His current research looks into the effect of gender dysphoria on the perception and production of singing in transgender and nonbinary individuals.