Research Associate, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge
Emotional Cognition Lab | Cambridge, UK
gunnjordanb@gmail.com | ORCID: 0009-0005-1024-6113 | github.com/githubpsyche
I develop and compare computational models that integrate behavioural and neural evidence to explain how goals and context shape human memory. My work examines how people distinguish repeated experiences, reconstruct past events, and retrieve emotional memories, seeking shared mechanisms across tasks and forms of remembering. I also develop and maintain research software used across multiple labs for memory modelling and experiment design.
Ph.D., Cognitive and Cognitive Neuroscience, Vanderbilt University | July 2025
Dissertation: Same item, distinct contexts: Episode-specific reinstatement in free and serial recall.
A.B., Psychology, Princeton University | June 2017
Certificates in Cognitive Science and Neuroscience. Senior thesis: Differential Evidence of Multiple Hypothesis Tracking in Statistical Learning.
Research Associate, University of Cambridge, UK | 2025 – present
Doctoral research, Vanderbilt University, USA | 2019 – 2025
Research Specialist, Princeton University, USA | 2017 – 2019
Gunn, J. B., Henson, R. N., Holmes, E. A., McConnell, T. G. W., & Talmi, D. (2026). Intrusive and voluntary memory from a single system: A retrieved-context account of selective interference in the trauma-film paradigm. PsyArXiv. Preprint. doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/9tvkw_v1
Gunn, J. B., & Polyn, S. M. (2026). Same item, distinct contexts: Episode-specific reinstatement in free and serial recall. Manuscript in preparation. githubpsyche.github.io/repfr/
Liu, Q., Gunn, J. B., Sommer, T., & Talmi, D. (2026). The contribution of retrieval processes to behavioural markers of event segmentation. PsyArXiv. Preprint. osf.io/dz3pu/
Hellerstedt, R., Gunn, J. B., & Talmi, D. (2026). Contribution of the Late Positive Potential to Emotional Memory: A Joint Neuro-Cognitive Approach to Memory Prediction. Submitted for publication. githubpsyche.github.io/lpp_ecmr/
Kaşgöz, E., Gunn, J., & Talmi, D. (2026). When “why” meets “how” in episodic memory: Towards a computational model of Boyle and Brown’s functional analysis. Learning & Behavior. Commentary; advance online publication. doi.org/10.3758/s13420-026-00724-4
Gunn, J. B., & Polyn, S. M. (2025). Bridging CRU and CMR in free and serial recall: A factorial comparison of retrieved-context models. The American Journal of Psychology, 138(2), 203–230. githubpsyche.github.io/cru_to_cmr/
Hong, M. K., Gunn, J. B., Fazio, L. K., & Polyn, S. M. (2024). The modulation and elimination of temporal organization in free recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 50(7), 1035–1068. doi.org/10.1037/xlm0001311
Fan, J. E., Wammes, J. D., Gunn, J. B., Yamins, D. L. K., Norman, K. A., & Turk-Browne, N. B. (2020). Relating visual production and recognition of objects in human visual cortex. Journal of Neuroscience, 40(8), 1710–1721. doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1843-19.2019
Yu, R., Gunn, J., Osherson, D., & Zhao, J. (2018). The consistency of the subjective concept of randomness. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 71(4), 906–916. doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2017.1307428
jaxcmr | Developer and maintainer. Python/JAX library for memory-model simulation and likelihood-based parameter estimation. github.com/githubpsyche/jaxcmr
jspsych-ado | Developer and maintainer. Library for adaptive design optimization (ADO) in jsPsych experiments, running entirely in the browser. github.com/jspsych/jspsych-ado
online_experiments (VUCML) | Developer and maintainer. Research framework developed for Vanderbilt’s Computational Memory Lab using jsPsych and JATOS. Supports browser-based memory experiments, local previews and shareable demos. github.com/vucml/online_experiments
Teaching Assistant, Vanderbilt University | 2020–2025
Courses included Principles of Experimental Design (multiple semesters), Models of Human Memory, Depression, and Health Psychology. Delivered lectures and tutorials and supported students with computational modelling assignments.
Research supervision | Vanderbilt University | 2024–2025
Supervised Milind Muthiah and Shreyas Teegala on When do birds of a feather flock together? A binary-choice task for context-dependent homophily, culminating in a manuscript submission. githubpsyche.github.io/homophily/index.pdf
Outstanding Student Teaching Assistant Award, College of Arts and Science, Vanderbilt University (university-wide) | 2024
William F. Hodges Teaching Assistant Award, Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University (departmental) | 2024
Provost’s Graduate Fellowship (Russell G. Hamilton Scholar), Vanderbilt University | 2019
Awarded $5,000 annually in supplemental doctoral funding.
Gunn, J. B., & Polyn, S. M. (2026, May). Same item, distinct contexts: Episode-specific reinstatement in free and serial recall. Poster. Context and Episodic Memory Symposium, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Gunn, J. B. (2026, February). Same item, different traces: Dissecting the structure of memory for repeated experience. Research seminar. MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit Wednesday Lunchtime Seminar, University of Cambridge, UK.
Gunn, J. B., & Polyn, S. M. (2026, January). Same item, separate contexts: Dissecting the structure of memory for repeated experience in free and serial recall. Poster. Experimental Psychology Society London Meeting, University College London, UK.
Gunn, J. B., & Talmi, D. (2025). Assessing neurocognitive hypotheses using likelihood-based models. Talk. Cambridge Methods in Cognitive Neuroscience Day, University of Cambridge, UK.
Gunn, J. B., & Polyn, S. M. (2024, May). Some problems for the retrieved context account of repetition and spacing effects. Poster. Context and Episodic Memory Symposium, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Gunn, J. B., & Polyn, S. M. (2024). An instance-based retrieved-context theory of memory search in free recall. Poster. Context and Episodic Memory Symposium, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Hong, M. K., Gunn, J. B., Polyn, S. M., & Aboud, K. S. (2024, May). The role of temporal and semantic factors in encoding and recall of expository text. Poster. Context and Episodic Memory Symposium, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Research Assistant, Social Neuroscience Lab, Princeton University | 2016 – 2018
Developed web experiments on social signalling and emotion; conducted machine-learning analyses of geotagged social-media data.
Research Assistant, Turk-Browne Lab, Princeton Neuroscience Institute | 2015 – 2017
Developed online experiments and computational models of word-referent and statistical learning.
Research Assistant, Osherson Lab, Princeton University | 2014 – 2015
Programmed experiments and modelled randomness judgements, contributing to Yu et al. (2018).
Sean M. Polyn, Associate Professor of Psychology, Vanderbilt University
Doctoral adviser
Deborah Talmi, University Associate Professor, University of Cambridge
Department of Psychology | Current research supervisor