Hi! I’m Heather.

I am a user experience researcher with 8 years of experience measuring human behavior. I am passionate about research design, finding simple solutions to complex challenges, and mentorship. Trained as an academic studying learning, memory, and attention, I now conduct end-to-end research and make impactful recommendations to improve products and experiences.

 
 

Scroll down to check out some of my work ⇣

Education

PhD in Cognitive Psychology, 2016 - 2021

University of Pittsburgh

MS in Cognitive Psychology, 2016 - 2019

University of Pittsburgh

BA in Psychology, 2012 - 2016

The College of New Jersey

 

Publications

Bruett, H., Calloway, R. C., Tokowicz, N., & Coutanche, M. N. (2020). Neural pattern similarity across concept exemplars predicts memory after a long delay. NeuroImage, 117030. [Full Pub]

Bruett, H., Fang, X., Kamaraj, D. C., Haley, E., & Coutanche, M. N. (2018). Expertise Moderates Incidentally Learned Associations Between Words and Images. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2085. [Full Pub]

Leynes, P.A., Bruett, H., Krizan, J., & Veloso, A. (2017). What psychological process is reflected in the FN400 event-related potential component?, Brain and Cognition, 113, 142-154. [Full Pub]

Bruett, H., Leynes, P.A. (2015). Event-related potentials indicate that fluency can be interpreted as familiarity. Neuropsychologia, 78, 41-50. [Full Pub]

 

Conference Presentations

Bruett, H., Calloway, R. C., Tokowicz, N., Coutanche, M.N. (2019, November). Neural Reactivation After a Month-Long Delay for Word Concept Associations. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Montreal, Canada.

Bruett, H., Fang, X., Kamaraj, D., Haley, E., Coutanche, M.N. (2018, November). Expertise moderates incidentally learned associations between words and images. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, New Orleans, LA. 

Bruett, H., Coutanche, M.N. (2018, March). The role of inter-region synchrony in processing visual stimuli. Data blitz presented at the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Boston, MA.

Bruett, H., Coutanche, M.N. (2018, March). The role of inter-region synchrony in processing visual stimuli. Poster session presented at the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Boston, MA.

Bruett, H., Coutanche, M.N. (2017, November). The role of inter-region synchrony in processing visual stimuli. Poster session presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Bruett, H., Coutanche, M.N. (2017, June). Informational connectivity as a method for measuring synchrony in the processing of visual information. Poster session presented at International Workshop by Statistical Analysis of Neuronal Data, Pittsburgh, PA.

Bruett, H., Krizan, J., Mok, B., Stepien, D., Veloso, A., Leynes, P. A. (2016, April). Does the FN400 reflect more than familiarity? ERP evidence from viewing pre-experimentally familiar and unfamiliar product images.  Poster session presented at the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, New York, NY.

Bruett, H., Levitt, M., Quezada, C., Stepien, D., Vadakara, M., Veloso, A., & Leynes, P.A. (2015, March). Brain waves of perceptual fluency.  Poster session presented at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Philadelphia, PA.

Bruett, H., Levitt, M., Quezada, C., Stepien, D., Vadakara, M., Veloso, A., & Leynes, P.A. (2015, May). Brain waves of perceptual fluency.  Poster session presented at Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, New York, NY.

Alexander, K., Bruett, H., Cutler, D. & Leynes, P.A. (2014, April). Why the next big win will not help you stop: ERP correlates of gambling behavior. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Boston, MA.