man with short hair standing in front of a white board with formulas and other writing.

Research Bio

William (Bill) D. Thompson is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology.  He is a cognitive scientist studying higher cognition and cognitive diversity in humans using behavioral experiments, computational modeling, and machine learning. His research takes him into debates surrounding artificial intelligence, it's relation to human cognition, and it's potential impacts on society.

Research Expertise and Interest

cognition, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, learning, Problem solving, Reasoning, decision-making, Bayesian statistics, natural language processing, machine learning, computational modeling, collective decision-making, social networks

Teaching

Courses taught during the three most recent terms
2026 Spring
  • Field Study in Psychology  [PSYCH 197]  

  • Supervised Independent Study and Research  [PSYCH 199]  

  • Directed Study  [PSYCH 298]  

  • Research  [PSYCH 299]  

  • Special Study for Honors Candidates  [PSYCH H195B]  

2025 Fall
  • Basic Issues in Cognition  [COGSCI C100]  

  • Computational Social Science 1A  [COMPSS 214A]  

  • Supervised Independent Study and Research  [PSYCH 199]  

  • Directed Study  [PSYCH 298]  

  • Research  [PSYCH 299]  

  • Supervised Independent Study and Research  [PSYCH 99]  

  • Basic Issues in Cognition  [PSYCH C120]  

  • Special Study for Honors Candidates  [PSYCH H195A]  

2025 Spring
  • Basic Issues in Cognition  [COGSCI C100]  

  • Field Study in Psychology  [PSYCH 197]  

  • Supervised Independent Study and Research  [PSYCH 199]  

  • Seminars: Cognition  [PSYCH 290Q]  

  • Directed Study  [PSYCH 298]  

  • Research  [PSYCH 299]  

  • Research  [PSYCH 299]  

  • Basic Issues in Cognition  [PSYCH C120]  

  • Special Study for Honors Candidates  [PSYCH H195B]