POE Lab

Existential risks are events that can seriously reduce humanity's potential. Understanding lay judgments about catastrophic threats is important because these perceptions influence support for protective measures. The Psychology of Existence (POE) Lab investigates existential risk judgments as well as related existential concepts (e.g., death anxiety). The lab also conducts research on artificial intelligence (AI), including but not limited to its relation to existential risks.

Lab Members

Vincent Medina
Principal Investigator
vmedina1@uca.edu

Mackenzie Criner
Graduate Research Assistant
mcriner@cub.uca.edu

Lila Demirel
Graduate Research Assistant
ldemirel@cub.uca.edu

Mei Ishimura
Graduate Research Assistant
mishimura1@cub.uca.edu

Ashley Maestas
Graduate Research Assistant
amaestas@cub.uca.edu

Sophia Brooks
Research Assistant
sbrooks9@cub.uca.edu

Patrick Carpenter
Research Assistant
pcarpenter@cub.uca.edu

Zoe Carpenter
Research Assistant
zcarpenter@cub.uca.edu 

Regan Cate
Research Assistant
rcate1@cub.uca.edu

Kade Newton
Research Assistant
knewton@cub.uca.edu

Honey Norfolk
Research Assistant
nnorfolk@cub.uca.edu 

Xavier Parker
Research Assistant
xparker@ualr.edu 

Sidney Severns
Research Assistant
sseverns@cub.uca.edu

Anna Temple
Research Assistant
atemple@cub.uca.edu

Not pictured:
Jordan Miller, Graduate Research Assistant, jmiller56@cub.uca.edu
Erika Calderon, Research Assistant, ecalderon@cub.uca.edu
Kayla Evans-Kennard, Research Assistant, knovak@cub.uca.edu
Joel Ferringer, Research Assistant, gferringer@cub.uca.edu
Lexi Figueroa, Research Assistant, lmays3@cub.uca.edu
Laci Garrett, Research Assistant, lgarrett7@cub.uca.edu
Makayla Gildon, Research Assistant, mgildon@cub.uca.edu
Kaylani Hancock, Research Assistant, khancock3@cub.uca.edu
Mrityunjay Mohan, Research Assistant, mrityunjaymithranmohan@gmail.com
Lucille Jeffery, Research Assistant, ljeffery@cub.uca.edu
Justin McMinn, Research Assistant, jmcminn@cub.uca.edu
Kellirae Perrine, Research Assistant, cperrine1@cub.uca.edu
Emma Rehm, Research Assistant, erehm@cub.uca.edu
Abbey West, Research Assistant, awest18@cub.uca.edu
Flora Williams, Research Assistant, fwilliams@cub.uca.edu
Kaitlyn Wright, Research Assistant, kwright21@cub.uca.edu

Lab Pets

Annie Carpenter

Sheeda Maestas

Momma P Norfolk

Griffin Parker

Phoenix Parker

Lucy Temple

Noodle and Scarlett Temple

Active Research

Existential Psychology

AI