Office Information

Dr. Brian Rivera
Visiting Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
St. Olaf College
Northfield, MN
RNS 272

Email: rivera21@stolaf.edu

Office Hours

Schedule an appointment: Book here

Academic Profiles

  • ORCID: 0000-0002-5189-8717
  • Google Scholar: Brian Rivera
  • ResearchGate: Brian Rivera Profile
  • LinkedIn: Brian Rivera

Research Inquiries

I welcome inquiries from:

  • Prospective students interested in numerical cognition research
  • Collaborators working on educational neuroscience projects
  • Colleagues interested in EEG/ERP methodologies

I typically try to respond to emails within 24-48 hours during business days.

Curriculum Vitae

EDUCATION

2021      Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, Educational Neuroscience Concentration
                 Department of Educational Studies, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
                 Advisor: Firat Soylu, PhD
                 Dissertation: The neurocognitive mechanisms of arithmetic knowledge verification

2015-2016    Post-baccalaureate studies, Cognition and Action Lab
                        University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
                        Advisor: Rebecca Spencer, PhD

2013          B.A., Scientific and Philosophical Studies of the Mind
                 Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA

ACADEMIC POSITIONS

2023-2025      Visiting Assistant Professor
                     Department of Psychology, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN

2023-2025      Assistant Research Professor
                     Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE

2021-2023      Postdoctoral Research Associate
                     Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE
                     Advisor: Timothy Nelson, PhD

PUBLICATIONS

Published Papers

Salehzadeh, R., Rivera, B., Man, K., Jalili, N., & Soylu, F. (2023). EEG Decoding of Finger Numeral Configurations With Machine Learning. Journal of Numerical Cognition, 9(1), 206-221. https://doi.org/10.5964/jnc.10441

Rivera, B., & Soylu, F. (2021). Incongruity in fraction verification elicits N270 and P300 ERP effects. Neuropsychologia, 161, 108015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.108015

Soylu, F., Rivera, B., Anchan, M., & Nathanial, N. (2019). ERP differences in processing canonical and non-canonical finger numeral representations. Neuroscience Letters. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2019.04.032

Conference Proceedings

Rivera, B., & Soylu, F. (2018). Semantic Processing in Fraction Comparison: An ERP Study. Paper submitted to the 40th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Madison, WI: Cognitive Science Society

PRESENTATIONS

National and International Conference Presentations

Rivera, B., & Troller-Renfree, S. (2024). Associations between functional brain development and cognitive abilities in children born into poverty. Poster presented at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Fetal, Infant & Toddler Neuroimaging Group. Baltimore, MD: September 2024

Rivera, B. (2024). What Fraction am I Thinking of? Decoding Fraction Magnitude from EEGs. Poster presented at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Mathematical Cognition and Learning Society. Washington D.C.: June 2024

Rivera, B. (2022). The Neurocognitive Mechanisms of Arithmetic Verification in Children. Poster presented at the Cognitive Development Society Biennial Conference. Madison, WI: April 2022

Rivera, B., & Soylu, F. (2019). The ERP Effects of Shared Components in Fraction Comparisons. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Mathematical Cognition and Learning Society. Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada: June 2019

Rivera, B., & Soylu, F. (2018). The Effects of Shared Components in Fraction Comparisons: Evidence From ERPs. Poster presented at the 6th Biennial International Mind Brain and Education Conference. The University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA: September 2018

Rivera, B. (2018). Online Experiments with Wolfram Technologies. Poster presented at the 2018 Wolfram Technology Conference. Urbana-Champaign, IL: October 2018

Rivera, B., Shannon, N., & Soylu, F. (2017). ERP Markers for Number Gesture Processing. Poster presented at SACNAS The National Diversity in STEM Conference. Salt Lake City, UT: October 2017

Rivera, B. & Park, J. (2016). Chunking During Child Visuomotor Sequence Learning. SPINES Summer Program, Marine Biology Lab, Woods Hole, MA: July 2016

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Course Instructor

St. Olaf College, Psychology Department

  • Psych 238 Biopsychology, Fall 2025
  • Psych 290 A Big History of the Brain, January Term 2026
  • Psych 237 Cognitive Psychology, Spring 2026

University of Alabama, College of Education

  • Intro to Learning Skills & Strategies, Spring 2020
  • Research Methods in Ed. Neuro, Spring 2021

University of Alabama, OLLI

  • Intro to Educational Neuroscience, Spring 2021

INVITED PRESENTATIONS

Invited Speaker

Rivera, B. (2024). Math Development and Learning Difficulties. Guest lecture for Developmental Psychopathology, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York.

Rivera, B. (2022). How Does the Brain Do Math? Lessons From the Study of Fractions. Talk presented at the Mathematics Department Colloquium series, University of Nebraska, Omaha.

AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS

2024      FIT’NG 2024 Young Investigator Award, Baltimore, MD
2023      ERP Boot Camp Attendance Award, San Diego, CA
2018      Wolfram Summer School Attendance Award, Waltham, MA