CCS Lab at Comm Horizons 2026

The Cognitive Communication Science Lab is excited to be part of Comm Horizons @ UCD 2026, hosted at UC Davis May 15–17. This year’s conference, Communication in the Age of AI and Algorithms, brings together scholars examining how artificial intelligence and algorithmic systems shape media use, human connection, persuasion, information environments, and everyday social life. We’re sharing work on attention, news selection, high-throughput communication science, and mobile data collection. Here’s what we’re presenting and when to find us.

Poster Session A: Friday, May 15, 6:00–7:00pm

Ziyu Zhao presents “Attention Networks in the Digital Age: From Short-Form Video Consumption to AI Contamination.” Coauthored with Jacob Fisher, Douglas Parry, and Richard Huskey, this project examines how contemporary digital media environments intersect with attentional systems. The work extends the lab’s ongoing research on short-form video use, attention networks, and the cognitive consequences of media engagement.

Panel 4a: Human Minds in Algorithmic Systems — Saturday, May 16, 12:30–1:30pm

Yachen “Jocelyn” Xie presents “Decoding Negativity Bias in News Selection: An fMRI Multivariate Pattern Analysis of Value-Based Decision-Making.” Coauthored with Xuanjun Gong and Richard Huskey, this study uses neuroimaging and computational approaches to investigate how value-based decision processes contribute to negativity bias in news selection.

Panel 5a: Computational Measurement and High-Throughput Science — Saturday, May 16, 1:45–2:45pm

Rachael Kee presents “Introducing High-Throughput Communication Science.” Coauthored with Richard Huskey, this talk outlines a framework for scaling communication research through intensive, repeated, and computationally enabled measurement. The project reflects the lab’s broader effort to build methods that can capture communication processes as they unfold across people, platforms, and contexts.

Poster Session B: Saturday, May 16, 3:00–4:00pm

Rachael Kee also presents “Introducing Inoxity: An iOS Platform for High-Throughput Data Collection.” Coauthored with Laasya Madgula, Aaron Luellen, and Richard Huskey, this poster introduces Inoxity, a modular iOS platform designed to support real-world, high-throughput data collection. The system integrates passive sensing, media use capture, and experience sampling to help researchers study communication, media, and behavior outside the lab.

Come Say Hi!

If you’re at Comm Horizons, we’d love to connect. Come find us during the panels and poster sessions, or say hello around the UC Davis Student Community Center throughout the weekend.