MIR@W Day

Join us for a Mathematical Psychology Network event, bringing together researchers from Warwick’s Departments of Psychology and Mathematics to explore shared interests and develop new interdisciplinary collaborations. The program centers around three broad themes of agent-based, Markov chain, and reinforcement learning models.

Speakers from both departments will give short presentations on ongoing or planned work that may benefit from cross-disciplinary expertise.

Researchers from both departments, including those whose interests are not directly represented in the programme, are very welcome to attend, join the discussion, and take part in networking.

Organisers: Dr. Joyce W. Zhao, (Wenjia-Joyce.Zhao@warwick.ac.uk) and Dr. Maria M. Robinson, (Maria.Robinson@warwick.ac.uk)

Date: 15 May 2026

Location: IAS Seminar Room (C0.02 on the ground floor in Zeeman building)

Who should attend?: All staff in Psychology and Mathematics, but colleagues from other departments with relevant interests are also welcome (space permitting). Early career researchers, including PGRs, postdocs and research fellows from all backgrounds are encouraged to attend.

Confirmation of attendance registration form: Mathematics Research Centre

Programme

11:00-11:45AM	Lunch (in the Mathematics common room)
11:50AM-12:00PM	Short introduction
12:05-12:35PM	Towards using Markov Chain Monte Carlo as a standard model of human cognition Prof. Adam N. Sanborn
12:40-13:10PM	Linking choices and their response times to perception using Markov reward processes Dr. James S. Adelman
13:15-13:45PM	Mathematical modelling of behavior Dr. Markus Kirkilionis
13:50-14:20PM	Coffee break
14:25-14:55PM	Agent-based models of affective polarization Prof. Gordon D. A. Brown
15:00-15:30PM	Modelling individual differences in large-scale data from adaptive cognitive training games Dr. Maria M. Robinson
15:35-16:05PM	Optimal multi-objective reinforcement learning with psychological constraints Dr. Joyce W. Zhao
16:05-16:45PM	Informal networking reception

Talk abstracts: Coming soon.

Join (in person):

Please register here: Mathematics Research Centre

OR Just turn up.

Outcomes: Expected outputs of the day include, forming collaborations and project ideas between Psychology and Mathematics, identifying shared theoretical, methodological or analytic research interests, and discussing potential for future interdisciplinary workshops, working groups, or joint proposals.

Discussion prompts (to guide the open discussion): Through short talks from Psychology and Maths researchers, the event will present ideas in development that use mathematical and computational models to study human cognition and behaviour, with a focus on where mathematical perspectives may open up new directions for analysis.

For colleagues in Mathematics, the event offers a chance to engage with concrete psychological problems that may benefit from mathematical insights. For colleagues in Psychology, it provides an opportunity to present and discuss new and existing modelling challenges across different areas in psychology.

We hope the event will encourage a shared conversation among all participants about where collaboration between Mathematics and Psychology could be most valuable.

Discussion will center around the three talk themes as well as broader questions, such as:

Are there new ways in which mathematics can help refine psychological theories and the way we measure cognition and behaviour?

What kinds of mathematical contributions are missing in current psychological models, including from applied and ‘pure’ mathematics?

What follow-up activities (reading groups, follow-up meetings, grant workshops) would best support longer-term collaboration after the event?