The Social Perception Experimentation (SPEx) Lab* is a research lab focused on
understanding factors that impact the way we see other people, ourselves, and the world.
You can learn about our past, current, and future projects here.
Gallery:
Billy, Christian, Nick, and Berkley in the SPEx Lab.
Clarissa explains her project at the 2024 Senior Symposium.
Alexa and Dr. Borgella at RMPA 2025.
FLC in Winter (you can see why we call it the Hawk Nest!)
Billy, Danika, and Nick in the lab.
T and Luke posing for the camera at the 2024 Senior Symposium.
Audrey gives a talk on the "Karen" stereotype at RMPA 2024.
Andy, Audrey, and Clay coding in the lab.
(Left to Right) Giselle, Liam, Alexa, and Dr. Borgella at SPSP 2025 in Denver.
Cute animals occassionally find their way into the lab!
Originally founded at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine,
the SPEx Lab now has a significantly more mountainous home at Fort Lewis College
in Durango, Colorado.
Fort Lewis College from above.
In the years since the lab began, our research has been published in several peer-reviewed academic journals,
presented at dozens of regional and international academic conferences,
and discussed in some notable media outlets
(e.g., Psychology Today,
VICE,
Gizmodo,
and others).
*We recognize the lab's acronym is a little bit of a reach (acronyms are hard!)
but we really do hope our research helps people see these topics more clearly...
not unlike a nice pair of spectacles.
People
Select a secton below to navigate, then hover over/click on the photos for more detail.
Former pre-bac RA, now studying psychology as an undergrad at Cornell University.
Research
Very broadly, the SPEx Lab conducts social psychological research on how people perceive
and relate to one another, with a focus on the many ways that stereotypes, prejudice,
and stigma impact these processes.
We also examine how artificial intelligence (AI) affects these processes.
Our work looks at how the use of AI affects trust in institutions, especially among people
of color and other marginalized groups, and how it influences self-efficacy, agency,
and identity.
Most projects in the lab can be placed under one of the following umbrellas (click below for more information):
We investigate how artificial intelligence systems change the way people see themselves
and one another, especially for communities that are often marginalized.
Projects examine how AI model outputs and institutional uses of AI shape trust among
people of color, how AI‑assisted feedback influences student self‑efficacy, and how
transparency, error framing, and human‑in‑the‑loop practices affect perceived fairness,
accountability, and willingness to engage with AI‑mediated decisions.
Publications/Presentations
(Names in bold represent SPEx researchers)
Equal opportunity emulation?: The role of text-to-image (T2I) AI representations of racial minority group members on social identity contingencies and perceptions of institutional trust.
Borgella, A.M., Antonsen-Newman, A.A., & Howard, S. (2025). Poster presented at SPSP, Denver, CO.
INTERGROUP INTERACTIONS
Conversations about social biases (e.g., racism, sexism) can be difficult and cause anxiety,
especially when between members of social minority groups (e.g., racial minority groups, sexual/gender minority groups, people with obesity)
and majority groups. With this in mind, we research how members of these groups communicate with each other, exploring strategies that might help to reduce anxiety and facilitate these conversations.
One of the strategies we have examined extensively in the SPEx Lab is how the use of identity-related humor (e.g., jokes about one's own race. gender, or other social identity) may "buffer" anxiety during these interactions when used strategically,
leading to improved interpersonal perceptions as well as a reduction in prejudice toward members of the group targeted by the humor.
Publications/Presentations
(Names in bold represent SPEx researchers)
Benign violations and perceptions of disparaging humor
Kadirvel, S., Borgella, A.M., Fenton, J.L., & Maddox, K.B. (2022). Poster presented at SPSP, San Francisco, CA.
Allies on the edge: Humor, irony, and appropriation in fraught intergroup relations
Borgella, A.M. (2021). Symposium discussant at SPSP (digital).
Borgella, A.M. (2016). The Conversation, 20 (online only).
IMPLICIT BIAS
Much of the SPEx Lab's recent work has examined implicit biases (biases that exist without conscious awareness) and their effects on decision-making,
in both situations where decisions are measured and deliberate (e.g., in hiring, promotion, and retention decisions) and in
those that involve relatively dynamic, split-second reactions (e.g., in police-suspect interactions, among combat sports referees).
Publications/Presentations
(Names in bold represent SPEx researchers)
Are you even scared?: Exploring fear perception between faces of different racial groups.
Exploring Crime-related Prejudice toward Alaskan Natives in an Alaskan Sample
Borgella, A.M. & Koontz, S. (2022). Poster presented at SPSP, San Francisco, CA.
WITHIN-GROUP BIAS
Prejudice and discrimination certainly exists between racial groups (e.g., between White and Black Americans),
and over 100 years of psychological inquiry has been dedicated to understanding the cognitive, motivational, and social causes and consequences of these forms of bias.
However, significantly less work has been conducted on:
biases that exist within racial groups,
how bias between racial groups is affected by whether or not someone is a "stereotypical" member of a stigmatized group,
and, correspondingly,
differences in how members of the same racial group experience prejudice and discrimination depending on the salience of their racial identities
(e.g., how variations in skin tone impact prejudice toward Black, Hispanic, and Native Americans).
The SPEx Lab investigates these and other factors that might influence disparities
in the experience of prejudice within racial groups (e.g., how someone's name can affect perceptions of their racial affiliation).
Publications/Presentations
(Names in bold represent SPEx researchers)
Race, resistance, and rejecting religion: What draws people of color to nonbelief?
Howard, S., & Borgella, A.M. (2025; in press). In Abbott, D.A. (Ed.) Culturally Responsive Mental Health Practice with Nonreligious Clients. Lanham, MD: Roman & Littlefield.
Exploring the role of intersectional stigma on LGBTQ+ members from racial minority groups' decisions to seek therapy
Johnson, V. M., & Borgella, A.M. (2023). Poster presented at RMPA, Albuquerque, NM.
Blood, not skin: Exploring intragroup phenotypicality bias related to skin tone in an Indigenous sample
There have been many investigations into how awareness of stereotypes
about one's own social group can impact subsequent performance in educational, athletic, and other domains,
regardless of whether those stereotypes are believed to be valid about one's self. The SPEx Lab has conducted several studies on this topic,
mostly related to how stereotype threat operates in understudied minority social groups (e.g., Native Americans, people with overweight or obesity)
and those with intersectional minority social identities.
Publications/Presentations
(Names in bold represent SPEx researchers)
Perception under pressure: Stereotype threat and visual acuity among Native Americans.
SPEx IN THE NEWS! The SPEx Lab's work with AI tools was featured in Fort Lewis College News.
Read the story here!
CONGRATULATIONS to Alexa Antonsen-Newman, Autumn Harrison, Giselle Maez, and Tremon Rice
for graduating with their B.A.s in Psychology! Onward and upward!
Gallery:
Giselle, Autumn, Dr. Borgella, Alexa, and T at the FLC Psychology Senior Party
Alexa was awarded the Anderson Henio Award for conducting an outstanding research project!
Giselle was awarded the Janet Jones Award for writing an outstanding research paper!
Danika was awarded the FLC Psychology Student Athlete Award!
Alexa, Giselle, and Autumn trying on their graduation cords.
Alexa's selfie at the graduation ceremony!
Autumm and Giselle at the graduation ceremony!
Cake!
CONGRATULATIONS to Alexa Antonsen-Newman, McKenna Ford, Autumn Harrison, and Mikala Chee
for presenting their research at The Rocky Mountain Psychological Association's 2025 Annual Convention!
Gallery:
Alexa Antonsen-Newman and Dr. Borgella in front of Alexa's poster on Vicarious Sexism.
Autumn Harrison and collaborator Brandy Ray presenting their work on MMIW and Terror Management Theory (supervised by Dr. Brian Burke).
McKenna Ford presents her poster on the social consequences of "pretty privilege".
Mikala Chee and collaborator Araeliah Cooche in front of their poster on Indigenous historical trauma (supervised by Dr. Megan Wrona).
Alexa fields questions.
CONGRATULATIONS to Alexa Antonsen-Newman, Liam O'Shields, and Giselle Maez
for presenting their senior capstone research at The Society for Personality and Social Psychology's 2025 Annual Convention!
Gallery:
(Left to Right) Giselle, Liam, Alexa, and Dr. Borgella after Alexa's poster session.
Alexa presenting her work on vicarious sexism!
Giselle explaining her research on anti-fat bias and attributional ambiguity.
Liam explaining his findings on racial disparities in perceptions of fear.
NEW PUBLICATION! Drs. Simon Howard and Alex Borgella have published a new article in The Journal of Social Psychology
exploring the role of stereotype threat on White peoples' rhythmic performance.
CONGRATULATIONS to Alexa Antonsen-Newman, Liam O'Shields, Giselle Maez, McKenna Ford, Luke Weber, and Caribeth Gundran
for presenting their senior capstone research at FLC's Undergraduate Research Symposium!
Gallery:
Alexa presents her Sociology capstone work.
Caribeth poses in front of her cool poster!
Liam talks to some interested folks about his capstone work.
McKenna talks about "pretty privilege", her capstone topic.
Luke talks about his capstone work (part of the Social Ethology Lab).
Giselle poses in front of her poster.
Caribeth discusses her project with Dr. Tidwell.
T and Luke posing for the camera!
McKenna posing for the camera!
Giselle emphatically ending the poster session!
NEW RESEARCH GRANT! Dr. Alex Borgella, Alexa Antonsen-Newman (SPEx Lab Manager, FLC '25) and Dr. Simon Howard (University of Miami) were awarded
the 2024 Mamie Phipps Clark Faculty Research Award from The American Psychological Association and Psi Chi: International Honor Society for Psychology!
This award will fully fund new research on how
text-to-image (t2i) generative AI representations of people of color impact well-being, self-esteem, and other psychosocial outcomes.
The award announcement!
NEW RESEARCH SUPPLY GRANT! Alexa Antonsen-Newman has been awarded a supply grant from FLC's Undergraduate Research Fund for her work on vicarious sexism!
Go Alexa!!!
GRADUATION! Audrey Shorty, Andy Sprung, Nick Heim, and Edelawit Hoag have earned their bachelors degrees in Psychology!
Gallery:
Left to Right: Aiden, Dr. B, Audrey, Andy, and Nick.
Proud advisor moment!
Andy and Edel.
Pre-photo adjustments.
Clarissa and Andy.
Andy and Clay.
Andy and Audrey.
...and Clarissa graduated in Winter!
CONGRATULATIONS to Audrey Shorty, Andy Sprung, Clarissa Pflug, Nick Heim, Edelawit Hoag, and SPEx Alum Emma Franklin (U. of Utah) for presenting their research at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association's 2024 annual meeting in Denver!
Gallery:
Audrey gives a talk on the "Karen" stereotype.
Andy beaming with accomplishment!
A very happy Clarissa!
Emma talks about sexism and stealing thunder.
ACCEPTED! Clarissa Pflug has been accepted into the Counseling M.A. Program at the University of Arizona!
Clarissa at her new institution!
CONGRATULATIONS to Andy Sprung, Audrey Shorty, Kate Skees, and SPEx alum Abbey Semivan (U. of Arizona) for presenting their research at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology's 2024 annual meeting in San Diego!
Gallery:
Audrey right after putting up her poster on the intersection between sexism and ageism.
Andy talks about anti-fat bias in social media.
Kate standing proudly in front of her project on Native mascots and social conservatism.
Abbey explains her project to an interested fellow graduate student.
A FRIEND ON THE FORCE! SPEx Lab Alum Tory Stancampiano (FLC c/o '22) has passed the police academy and is now a Durango LEO!
Officer Tory in the news hunting counterfeit money!
2023
GRADUATION! Clarissa Pflug and Clay Siekman have earned their bachelors degrees in Psychology!
Clarissa and the FLC Clocktower.
CONGRATULATIONS to Clarissa Pflug, Audrey Shorty, and Andy Sprung for presenting their research at the 2023 FLC Undergraduate Research Symposium!
Gallery:
Clarissa explains benevolent sexism to a large group.
Audrey fields questions about the intersection of sexism and ageism.
Andy impresses FLC President Tom Stritikus with his research on anti-fat bias in social media.
NEW WORK FOR FALL! The Fall '23 SPEx Lab is in full swing, multitasking on a few different projects!
Alex leading one of our lab meetings!
Implicit Racial Bias in Combat Sports: The lab has now coded EVERY SINGLE bout in the UFC between a White and Black athlete or White and Latine athlete ending in a "stoppage" (KO or TKO)!
Tattoo Prejudice: Our very own Danika has spent countless hours meticulously coding the tattoos of every White, Black, or Latine fighter involved in an interracial bout!
Senior Capstone Work: SPEx Lab senior capstone projects are currently underway! This semester, project topics include benevolent sexism, Native American sports mascots, anti-fat bias, and gendered ageism. More soon!
THE SPEx LAB HAS STARTED OUR SUMMER RESEARCH!
Our RAs are hard at work coding data for our newest project investigating implicit biases among combat sports referees.
So far, we've compiled and sorted a list of every fight in the UFC, and we've moved on to watching (and meticulously coding) every single UFC fight ending in a KO or TKO.
Gallery:
Andy, Nick, and Edel getting ready to code a fight between Ronda Rousey and Amanda Nunes.
Liam during a coding session.
Andy and Clay expressing a range of emotions while coding a bout
between Glover Texiera and Anthony Smith.
Anthony Smith vs. Glover Texiera: a very fun fight!
CONGRATULATIONS to Kate Skees, Clay Siekman, Lexi Mitchell, and Abbey Semivan for presenting their projects at
The Rocky Mountain Psychological Association's 2023 Meeting in Albuquerque!
Gallery:
Kate, Lexi, and Abbey at a talk.
Kate's poster!
Clay fields some clinical psychology-related questions.
Lexi and her proud advisor!
Abbey and her poster!
CONGRATULATIONS to Abbey Semivan, Tory Stancampiano, and Lexi Mitchell for their presentations at
the Society for Personality and Social Psychology's 2023 Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia!
Gallery:
Tory and Lexi attracted a huge crowd at their poster!
Abbey's poster looked amazing!
Abbey fields questions from Dr. Keith Maddox (see the People section of this website).
Lexi and Tory in a comically oversized chair.
ACCEPTED! We are thrilled to announce that Abbey Semivan has been accepted into the Social Psychology Ph.D. Program at the University of Arizona!!
2022
CONGRATULATIONS to Kate Skees, Clay Siekman, Lexi Mitchell, and Tory Stancampiano for presenting their projects at
FLC's 2022 Undergraduate Research Symposium!
Gallery:
Kate explains her title.
A proud Clay!
A proud Tory and Lexi!
Media
The SPEx Lab's research has been featured in many popular media outlets.
Please check out the links below if you'd like to read more!
Can People be Too 'Woke' to Joke?
Citing the SPEx Lab's work, Psychology Today explores how identity and relationships influence reactions to stereotype-based humor.
The SPEx Lab is currently recruiting undergraduate students at Fort Lewis College. We are
especially interested in students in their first or second years in the psychology major.
If you are interested in applying, please contact Dr. Alex Borgella (SPExLab P.I.) at amborgella@fortlewis.edu
with your name, year, and a short blurb about who you are. We're looking forward to meeting you!
