Olivia Hill-Cousins

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Research
CV

PhD Researcher Portfolio

Currently exploring moral cognition applied to AI

I’m a PhD Researcher at the University of Exeter with a broad analytical and methodological skillset, specialising in moral cognition and how its mechanisms differ when people evaluate AI.

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Hello,There👋

Hi there, I'm Olivia

I'm a PhD Researcher at the University of Exeter.

I've been studying psychology since 2017 when I started my A-level psychology course for which I achieved an A-grade and an A* in my EPQ on "How Psychopaths are Different?". I then pursued my passion for psychology at the University of Exeter and achieved a First-Class BSc in Psychology, which was accompanied by First-Class attainment during my studies at Maastricht University (The Netherlands). My undergraduate dissertation was also on the role of psychopathy; exploring whether psychopaths know right from wrong. The same year I completed my BSc and thesis, I secured an EPSRC scholarship for a PhD at the University of Exeter. Starting towards the end of 2023, I continued my research in the field of morality (moral cognition) but applied to AI. Specifically, my current research focuses on how people make judgments of AI's moral decisions, including the processes that occur between seeing the decision and making the decision. I am now nearing the end of my PhD and considering the next steps of my academic journey.

I work with a broad set of analytical and methodological tools, including R, Python, PsychoPy, advanced neurophysiological stimulus and methodological design, advanced data simulation and power analysis, and mixed‑effects modeling.

I work with numerous and dynamic methodological and statistical techniques.

Research Toolkit

My Interests

I've always been fascinated by morality, and how this manifests in various entities (human and non-human).

Curious by nature, I've always been drawn to the complexities of intelligent moral minds. Naturally, I gravitated towards the field of moral cognition. My academic path began with applying moral cognition to psychopathy in my BSc and now extends to AI in my PhD. Long before this, I was (am) captivated by highly intelligent mammals such as whales and dolphins, and so I am also keen to explore comparative cognition and moral behavior in non-human species.

My work is highly interdisciplinary, a feature I love about my work. Click the "next" button to read more, or click the button below to contact me about collabs, post-docs etc.

Seeking Post-Doc Opportunities

My work spans AI, computational ethics, social psychology and cognition, and I thrive in interdisciplinary environments. I’m open to collaborations across diverse research areas and am actively exploring post‑doctoral opportunities to continue developing my academic career.

My Research 👨‍💻

A Meta-Analysis: Judgments of AI vs. Humans

The preprint details my meta-analysis of 50+ studies that looked at how people judge AI agents’ moral decisions compared to humans. Broadly speaking, we do 𝗻𝗼𝘁 judge AI in a fundamentally different way (🧍 = 🤖), but our judgments are malleable to factors such as the mental capabilities we perceive the AI to have (🤖 ≠ 🧠/💕).

Solution for Sending Dynamic EEG Triggers

This preprint details the pipeline I have developed to accommodate experimental designs, previously inaccessible to neuroimaging work. The full pipeline (including a drop-in PsychoPy study) is available for download via the link below.

My Skills 💪

Open Science

I currently coordinate Exeter's ReproducibiliTea branch. ReproducibiliTea is an open science journal club with branches worldwide. This role entails leading and organizing sessions for researchers at all career stages on open science and reproducibility. This position often involves networking and collaborating with researchers (internal & external to the university) with specialization/experience with particular practices to lead sessions teaching these practices.

Coding

I have strong proficiency in R, Python, and LaTeX, with particular expertise in R for data analysis. I also work extensively with HTML and CSS to support integrated, reproducible workflows with R and GitHub.

Data Analysis

I specialize in advanced statistical modeling and data analysis, with particular expertise in multilevel meta‑analytic methods, mixed‑effects modeling, complex data simulation and simulation-based power analyses, reproducible pipelines, and computational approaches to behavioral data.

Technical Media Production

I have extensive experience in stimulus design for behavioral and EEG research, creating high‑precision visual materials using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects. This includes developing stimuli with frame‑accurate event onsets to ensure clean EEG timing and avoid transitional artifacts. Producing animated stimuli enables fine‑grained experimental manipulation, expanded stimulus sets for advanced statistical models such as GLMMs with stimuli as random effects, and greater conceptual granularity than traditional stimulus formats (e.g., written dilemmas).

Complex
Experimental Architectures

I have expertise in building complex experimental designs for both EEG and behavioral research across multiple platforms. This includes developing advanced EEG paradigms in PsychoPy with dynamic triggers and fully scripted timing logic (read more here). I have also implemented sophisticated behavioral studies in Gorilla, including partial Latin‑square designs, multi‑stage task structures, and adaptive staircase procedures for participant‑specific reaction‑time calibration.