News
Looking back at UQAM’s Department of Psychology 2026 Research Day
Congratulations to everyone who took part in the event and shared their research on March 25.
A special mention to our two students who presented a poster for the first time at this event: Béatrice Hillier-Rodrigue (Honours thesis student) and Juliette Blain (research assistant).
Three Successful Doctoral Exams at the CORE Laboratory – March 2026
The CORE Laboratory warmly congratulates three of its students on successfully passing their doctoral exams:
- Clara de Coëtlogon-Claveau (March 24) whose doctoral thesis will focus on the role of clinical expertise on interpersonal accuracy
- Juliette Careau (March 27), whose doctoral essay will focus on the subjective experience in a DBT-inspired group psychotherapy among LGBTQ+ individuals experiencing emotional difficulties in the context of minority stress
- Annika Rozéfort (March 31), whose doctoral essay will focus on the influence of cultural identity on the relationship between eye contact and perceived partner responsiveness
Award Distinction at UQÀM’s Sexual and Gender Diversity Celebration Week
The Cognitions and Relations Laboratory is proud to announce the exceptional performance of Laeticia Fatima Gibbs during the most recent edition of the Sexual and Gender Diversity Celebration on March 20, 2026.
As part of a Poster Session competition featuring several graduate students from UQÀM, Laeticia stood out by winning two major distinctions for her work on the PARLA project:
- 2nd Prize from the Jury: Awarded in recognition of the scientific rigor and theoretical contribution of her research.
- People’s Choice Award: A testament to her ability to communicate her findings in a clear, engaging, and accessible manner.
These awards highlight not only the quality of her research but also the significance of the themes championed by our laboratory within the scientific community.
Special thanks to Francesca Capozzi and to the funding provided by the Aune Foundation and the McGill University Sexual Identity Centre (MUSIC) for their support in carrying out this work.
Congratulations on this inspiring achievement!
International presence: The Cognitions and Relations Lab at the SPSP Annual Convention in Chicago
Last month (February 2026), two members of our team had the opportunity to represent the laboratory at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) annual convention in Chicago.
This world-renowned event allowed Clara de Coëtlogon-Claveau and Laeticia Fatima Gibbs to present the progress of their respective research projects, FORMA and GENCA. It was a privileged occasion for them to engage with international experts, enrich their theoretical perspectives, and initiate promising future scientific collaborations.
We would like to extend our warm thanks to Francesca Capozzi, as well as to our funding partners—the FRQ, NSERC (CRSNG), and SSHRC (CRSH)—for their logistical and financial support, which made this formative experience possible.
New publication
How does visual attention influence our altruistic behavior toward different social groups? The JADIS project team has just published an article exploring the link between cognitive processes and prosocial behavior, marking the culmination of their research. You can consult the detailed results in the scientific publication or access a accessible version of the study.
Our laboratory director, Francesca Capozzi, gave an interview to La Presse where she introduces the FOBO syndrome (Fear of Better Options). She adresses this phenomenon with compassion, highlighting its prevalence in today’s society. Consult the La Presse article to read the interview.
Video clip – promote research in health and society
Our lab director, Francesca Capozzi, took part in a video clip presented by the Institut de santé et société de la Faculté des sciences humaines, in which she shares her research interests and their connection to health. Among other topics, she discusses social cognition, social well-being, couple dynamics, and visual attention. This video is a great opportunity to learn more about the CORE lab.
Invitation to Passion Psy podcast
In the 12th episode of Passion Psy podcast, Francesca Capozzi talked about her academic journey, her interests, and current research projects. She also discussed about the CORE lab and its team, while demystifying social psychology to provide a more accurate perspective. Passion Psy podcast is a student initiative that allows psychology students and enthusiasts of the field to broaden their horizons.
A new article
Change in couples can be hard as we are stuck between bad habits and blaming attitudes. Can couple therapy and research join forces to illuminate clear paths toward relational well-being? In this new publication, Francesca Capozzi summarizes the best practices for goal identification toward change in couples in a step-by-step flowchart.
Psychonomic Society Annual Meeting – November 2024
This year in New York, Francesca presented the preliminary data of our GESTA project at the lively Psychonomic Society Annual Meeting. These data are very interesting as they suggest that human attention may be biased and preferentially attend to certain information depending on the gender, status, and ethnicity of the people who are around us. You can’t wait to know more? Stay tuned as we complete data collection and write the paper!
SQRP Congress – May 2024
For the second year running, we attended the annual convention of the Société Québécoise pour la Recherche en Psychologie, held at CentrExpo Cogeco in Drummondville. At this event, we presented a poster on our JADIS project. Our study looks specifically at the impact of joint attention on intergroup altruistic behavior.
Here is the link for the poster.
A new article
Have you ever considered how visual attention can be important for social behavior? Francesca Capozzi and Alan Kingstone just published a paper on this topic, and you can find it at this link!
SQRP Congress – May 2023
We went to the annual congress of the Société Québécoise pour la Recherche en Psychologie which was held at the Delta Hotel in Sherbrooke. We presented a poster on our GAZEDY project, in which we took interest in gaze behaviours from interviews with immigrant couples.
Here is the link for the poster.
