My research focuses on understanding factors that affect or relate to decision-making patterns. Check out my lab page, PEDL, for more information on our current research!
I am also interested in using collaborative and active learning to increase effective teaching. You can find more information on that work under Teaching.
In graduate school, my work focused on how decision-making changes across the lifespan and the neural correlates of these changes. I used fMRI and behavioral choice tasks to measure brain activity during choices. In one study, we found that older adults who show disadvantageous decision-making in real world situations tend to show less brain activation in the “value network” – a set of brain regions that helps us create value/meaning.
My dissertation work focused on the role affect plays in judgment and decision-making among older adults. I found that although older adults experiences less negative affect, their negative affective experiences were less varied/complex. Moreover, younger adults affect correlated with decision patterns, whereas older adults emotions did not correlate with decision patterns. I also found individual differences in brain activity associated with emotion regulation among older adults.
Publications
*indicates undergraduate (or former undergraduate)
Halfmann, K., & *Johnson, M. K. (revise & resubmit). Does uncertainty predict impulsive choice?
*McLennan, L., *Lyne, M., & Halfmann, K. (2025). College students’ perceptions and willingness to report intimate partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605251336336
*Mueller, D., & Halfmann, K. (2021). Dopamine, Religiosity, and Utilitarian Moral Judgment. Social Neuroscience, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2021.1974935
*Kornely, D., & Halfmann, K. (2020). The effect of psychosocial stress on substance use behaviors. Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research, 24(4), 338-348. https://doi.org/10.24839/2325-7342.JN25.4.338
Halfmann, K., Hedgcock, W., & Denburg, N. L. (2019). Neural Substrates of Cognitive Reappraisal of Positive and Negative Stimuli in Older Adults. Aging and Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2019.1693970
Halfmann, K., & Kurczek, J. C. (2018). Instructional resources for psychology: Teaching communication and scientific literacy through digital and social media. Society for the Teaching of Psychology Teaching Resources, retrieved from http://teachpsych.org/page-1603066
*Barry, C., & Halfmann, K. (2016). The effect of mindset on decision-making. The Journal of Integrated Social Sciences, 6, 49-74.
Koestner, B., Hedgcock, W., Halfmann, K., & Denburg, N. L. (2016). The role of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in purchase intent among older adults. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 8, 189. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2016.00189
Halfmann, K., Hedgcock, W., Kable, J., & Denburg, N. L. (2015). Individual differences in the neural signature of value in older adults. Social, Cognitive, and Affective Neuroscience, 1-10. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsv078
Halfmann, K., Hedgcock, W., Bechara, A., & Denburg, N. L. (2014). Functional neuroimaging of the Iowa Gambling Task in older adults. Neuropsychology, 6, 870-880. doi: 10.1037/neu0000120
Halfmann, K., Hedgcock, W., & Denburg, N. L. (2013). Age-related differences in discounting future gains and losses. Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics, 6, 42-54. PMCID: PMC4070592
Halfmann, K., & Crisp, K. (2011). A kinematic study of control of pulsation in the dorsal blood vessel of the blackworm, Lumbriculus variegatus. IMPULSE: The Premier Undergraduate Journal for Publications in the Neurosciences, 1-10. {From undergraduate research I conducted at St. Olaf College}
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