Felix Pambuccian, Assistant Professor

Bio

Welcome to my faculty profile, where you can learn a bit about my research and teaching interests! Much of my research is motivated by a desire to understand the cognitive processes we rely on to produce and understand language across a variety of motivations and social contexts. I am particularly interested in understanding the role that embodied cognition (mental simulation of bodily sensory and motor experience) plays in language comprehension. For instance, do we mentally simulate a grasping motion when we encounter the phrase "grasp the pen"? What if a motor word is being used figuratively, as in the expression "grasp the idea"? I am also interested in bilingual/multilingual language processing, especially the foreign language effect - the finding that people reason and make decisions differently in a foreign language compared to their native language.

I also enjoy pursuing research questions that connect the aforementioned interests with other areas of psychology. For instance, does embodied cognition play a role in subjective experiences like nostalgia? How is figurative language used in political speech? How do we use language differently when we talk about ourselves vs. another person?

As an educator, my primary goal is to support your academic success in my classes and beyond. Whether it's working through a difficult class concept or finding the right research experience, I'm here to help you leverage the resources and opportunities available to you at Mankato.

EDUCATION 

• Ph.D., Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2021
• M.A., Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2017 
• B.S., Psychology, University of Minnesota, 2013 

AREAS OF INTEREST 

• Cognitive processes related to experiencing language
• Role embodied cognition plays in language comprehension
• Multilingual language processing