Cindy Luo

Bio

Kexin Cindy Luo is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Psychology, advised by Prof. Talia Konkle in the Vision Sciences Lab. She earned her B.A. in Psychology and Mathematics from Grinnell College and an M.S. in Data Science from New York University. At NYU, Luo worked with Prof. Brenden Lake to investigate the convergence of visual and language representations in neural networks while drawing comparisons to learning in children. She also collaborated with Prof. Grace Lindsay to explore neural tuning and function in vision models. Broadly, Luo is excited about using computational approaches to study the cognitive processes underpinning human learning.

Research Focus

Luo’s current research seeks to understand how both humans and machines process and integrate vision and language in learning, particularly how neural networks combine these inputs to draw parallels with human multi-modal learning. How does language facilitate learning from visual experiences? How do these experiences, in turn, enrich linguistic understanding? Drawing insights from learning trajectories in artificial systems and human cognitive development, Luo aims to uncover how our visual system interacts with language to construct rich representations of the world and guide our interactions with it.