Xiao Yang

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  5. Xiao Yang

Quantitative Methods and Mental Health

Health Sciences and Computer Sciences

Northeastern University

Website

I am a quantitative psychologist focusing on developing novel methods to study complex psychological processes and how these psychological processes impact important outcomes, such as mental health. The methods I have been developing focus on dynamical system methods, control theory, network analysis, and machine learning, which rely heavily on intensive longitudinal data (e.g., experience sampling). In recent years, my research started integrating more passive sensing data via smartphones and wearables, and finding new ways to push our understanding of psychology. I am excited to explore the possibilities of applying AI methods, such as reinforcement learning, to research how people adapt to their environment and balance their inner world.

Publications

Yang, X., Albert, R., Molloy, L. E., & Ram, N. (2024). Modeling and managing behavior change in groups: A Boolean network method. Advances.in/Psychology, 2, e55226. https://doi.org/10.56296/aip00009
Yang, X., Ram, N., Molenaar, P. C. M., & Cole, P. M. (2022). Describing and Controlling Multivariate Nonlinear Dynamics: A Boolean Network Approach. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 57(5), 804–824. https://doi.org/10.1080/00273171.2021.1911772
Yang, X., Ram, N., Molenaar, P. C. M., & Cole, P. M. (2021). Describing and Controlling Multivariate Nonlinear Dynamics: A Boolean Network Approach. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 0(0), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/00273171.2021.1911772
Reeves, B., Ram, N., Robinson, T. N., Cummings, J. J., Giles, C. L., Pan, J., Chiatti, A., Cho, M., Roehrick, K., Yang, X., Gagneja, A., Brinberg, M., Muise, D., Lu, Y., Luo, M., Fitzgerald, A., & Yeykelis, L. (2021). Screenomics: A Framework to Capture and Analyze Personal Life Experiences and the Ways that Technology Shapes Them. Human–Computer Interaction, 36(2), 150–201. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370024.2019.1578652
Brinberg, M., Ram, N., Yang, X., Cho, M.-J., Sundar, S. S., Robinson, T. N., & Reeves, B. (2021). The idiosyncrasies of everyday digital lives: Using the Human Screenome Project to study user behavior on smartphones. Computers in Human Behavior, 114, 106570. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106570
Ram, N., Yang, X., Cho, M.-J., Brinberg, M., Muirhead, F., Reeves, B., & Robinson, T. N. (2020). Screenomics: A New Approach for Observing and Studying Individuals’ Digital Lives. Journal of Adolescent Research, 35(1), 16–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558419883362
Yang, X., Ram, N., Robinson, T., & Reeves, B. (2019). Using Screenshots to Predict Task Switching on Smartphones. Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290607.3313089
Chiatti, A., Cho, M. J., Gagneja, A., Yang, X., Brinberg, M., Roehrick, K., Choudhury, S. R., Ram, N., Reeves, B., & Giles, C. L. (2018). Text extraction and retrieval from smartphone screenshots: building a repository for life in media. Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Symposium on Applied Computing, 948–955. https://doi.org/10.1145/3167132.3167236
Yang, X., Ram, N., Gest, S. D., Lydon-Staley, D. M., Conroy, D. E., Pincus, A. L., & Molenaar, P. C. (2018). Socioemotional dynamics of emotion regulation and depressive symptoms: A person-specific network approach. Innovation in Aging, 2(suppl_1), 15–16.
Chiatti, A., Yang, X., Brinberg, M., Cho, M. J., Gagneja, A., Ram, N., Reeves, B., & Giles, C. L. (2017). Text Extraction from Smartphone Screenshots to Archive in situ Media Behavior. Proceedings of the Knowledge Capture Conference, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1145/3148011.3154468