My name is Shelby Wilcox. I’m a PhD candidate of the Department of Communication, Michigan State University. I am a member of the NOM Lab, and advised by the NOM lab’s PI, Dr. Ralf Schmaelzle.
Health messages sometimes deeply impact us, whereas other times they are completely forgettable. My research focuses on understanding how messages “stay” with us. Specifically, I am interested in increasing positive behavior change and decreasing negative outcomes associated with prescriptive health messages by examining message processes (e.g., attention, motivated cognition, and encoding) during exposure and message effects like counterarguing, reactance, and recall. I use various methods, including diary surveys, functional neuroimaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), natural language processing/machine learning, and lab experiments. I study message processing and effects across contexts such as social media posts, movies/television, health campaigns, and interpersonal conversations. The goal of this work is to better understand how people intake information from health messages, especially information contrary to their own beliefs, and how this impacts their subsequent behavior and relationships. I love coding and learning new ways to simplify my code. I have been fortunate to lead workshops and teach others how to combine research and data analysis to better understand their interests.
During my undergraduate career, I was able to work under incredible mentors and developed a love for research. That passion has driven me to pursue a career where I can spend my life advancing social science, collaborating with experts across subject matters, and working with collaborators to tackle data analysis challenges.
My short term goals are to improve my SQL skills, transition what I have learned in terms of computational modeling to real world data (i.e., industry roles), and continue my working relationships with all of the wonderful people I have met in academia!
I am always looking to collaborate and work with other graduate students/ early career researchers! If you have stumbled across this page and are interested in chatting more, please contact me!
If you’re wondering what I do outside of academia, here are a few things:
- Spending time with my dog, Kona.
- Finding ways to reduce my waste and be more eco-friendly!
- Getting involved with campus or community work.
- Advocating for better systems and resources to protect graduate students mental health.
- Reading manga, anything psychological. My all-time favs are Tokyo Ghoul and Dorohedero.