Personal profile
Research Interests
As an experimental psychologist, my research seeks to understand how humans adaptively respond to new information and how learning unfolding in individual minds is modulated by constraints present in the broader environment. I examine learning primarily in the context of basic social processes. Specifically, I study the ordinary decisions we make every day that are critical to our well-being and even survival: our evaluations of and beliefs about other people. In doing so, I rely on a combination of traditional online and laboratory experiments as well as computational approaches, while drawing on a variety of learning paradigms, including reinforcement learning, evaluative conditioning, propositional learning, and causal learning. These methods help me uncover the basic mechanisms involved in how we acquire and update our impressions of individuals, especially against the backdrop of information about their social group memberships, such as gender, sexual orientation, age, race, and ethnicity.
Education
Bachelor of Arts, Eotvos Loránd University
Master of Arts in Political Science, Central European University
Master of Arts in Psychology, Harvard University
Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology, Harvard University
Honors & Awards
Berlin Scholarship, Humboldt University of Berlin
Program in International Education, Bard College
Outstanding Academic Achievement Award, Central European University
Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, Harvard University Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning
Rising Star, Association for Psychological Science
SAGE Early-Career Trajectory Award, Society for Personality and Social Psychology
List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students, University of Illinois
Early Career Award, International Social Cognition Network
Fellow, Society of Experimental Social Psychology
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Reorienting Implicit Bias Education in Organizations: The MAIBE Checklist
Kurdi, B., Mar 2026, In: Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 13, 1, p. 204-211 8 p., 23727322251386798.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Cognitive underpinnings and ecological correlates of implicit bias against non-Americans in the United States
Kurdi, B., Okura, K., Hehman, E. & Ferguson, M. J., Dec 2025, In: Scientific reports. 15, 1, 15191.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
International stability and change in explicit and implicit attitudes: An investigation spanning 33 countries, five social groups, and 11 years (2009–2019)
Kurdi, B., Charlesworth, T. E. S. & Mair, P., 2025, In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. 154, 6, p. 1643-1666 24 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Logical Operations Shape the Formation of Implicit Attitudes: Evidence From the Negation of Bipolar and Unipolar Adjectives
Kurdi, B., Weinreich, Z., Dunham, Y. & Mandelbaum, E., Aug 22 2025, In: Open Mind. 9, p. 1277-1307 31 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Model-based algorithms shape automatic evaluative processing
Melnikoff, D. E. & Kurdi, B., Jun 24 2025, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 122, 25, e2417068122.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access
Press/Media
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Is unintentional bias changeable?
10/22/25
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment / Interview
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Study finds global downturn in bias against stigmatized groups
4/7/25
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Research
Honors & Recognition
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Association for Psychological Science Rising Star Award
Kurdi, B. (Recipient), 2023
Prize: Prize/Award
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