Two faculty members of George Mason University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Martin Wiener, associate professor of psychology, and Jonathan Beauchamp, assistant professor of economics, have been awarded two separate National Science Foundation grants.
Wiener received funding to research how people learn and become aware of the passage of time. His research “Learning and Metacognition for the Perception of Time” seeks to investigate the neural mechanisms behind interval timing and metacognitive awareness, areas that are not well understood in cognitive neuroscience.
Wiener will conduct a series of studies that will map brain regions associated with measuring time intervals and awareness and their respective functions. He holds that this work will lead to a new domain of study to further understand how humans learn and adapt to temporal intervals.
By understanding how the brain measures and learns intervals of time, we can better understand psychiatric pathologies such as schizophrenia and autism, where metacognition is impaired.
Wiener was awarded $721,141 from the National Science Foundation for this project. Funding began in August 2024 and will end in late July 2027.
Read more about Wiener’s research.
Beauchamp received funding for his research on the impacts of improved genetic prediction technology on insurance markets.
While scientific advances have led to increased predictive power of genetic data, many jurisdictions prohibit insurers from using genetic information to evaluate consumer risk in underwriting. This situation could in principle lead to what economist call “adverse selection,” whereby consumers who know they are genetically predisposed to develop certain diseases decide to buy more insurance. This, in turn, could lead to the unraveling of some insurance markets.
Beauchamp’s research “Measuring Selection in Insurance Markets Due to Genetic Prediction” combines large-scale genetic data, economic theory, and econometrics to inform the debate on whether improved genetic prediction poses risks to the future good functioning of insurance markets, due to adverse selection. The research will inform the design of better policies to regulate insurance markets.
Beauchamp was awarded $302,227 from the National Science Foundation for this project. Funding began in August 2024 and will end in late July 2027.
Read more about Beauchamp’s research.
September 26, 2024