Vannia Puig Rivera

Hola! I'm Vannia. I study how people think spontaneously about their own lives, both when remembering the past and imagining the future, and how that thinking changes across adulthood. My work focuses on autobiographical and episodic memory, future thinking, and the positivity bias. I pay particular attention to how cognition adapts to the contexts and environments that people experience on the day to day. To capture thought as it unfolds, I use ecological momentary assessment and analyze data using multi-level modeling. I'm also interested in how people express their inner lives through language and narrative. In the near future, I aim to integrate behavioral measures of memory and future thinking with biological markers of aging and neurodegeneration.

On a personal note, I am of Puerto Rican and Cuban heritage and am bilingual in English and Spanish. Outside of research, I enjoy spending time with my senior cat Lope, hiking, birding, weightlifting, dancing, or hanging out with my dear friends. If you're interested in collaborating, want to talk ideas, or are figuring out the road to grad school, my inbox is always open!

Research Interests:

My interests have centered on researching internally-guided cognition and its relation to emotion and behavior. Specifically, I study how internally generated thoughts guide human behavior, emotion and cognition, and vice-versa. 

• Future-Oriented Cognition
• Spontaneous Thoughts
• Emotion
• Behavior
• Threat-Detection
• Individual Differences

Selected Publications:

• Puig Rivera, V. A., Andrews, E., Cervantes, L. J., Freveletti, D., Huentelman, M., Grilli, M. D., & Andrews-Hanna, J. R. (2026). Enhanced episodic specificity and socioemotional content in older adults' everyday autobiographical thoughts. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 123(2), e2513990123. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2513990123
• Puig, V. A., Poizner, R., Read, K., & Szpunar, K. K. (2025). Mental simulation of the approximal future: Imagining what might happen next. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 154(2), 405–419. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001667
• Puig, V. A., Özbek, M., & Szpunar, K. K. (2020). A negativity bias in detail generation during event simulation. Emotion, 20(8), 1390.
• Puig, V. A., & Szpunar, K. K. (2017). The devil is in the details: Comparisons of episodic simulations of positive and negative future events. Emotion, 17(5), 867.

Selected Presentations:

• Thinking Smarter, Not Harder: the Think Aloud Protocol Reveals Age Differences in Spontaneous Goal-Oriented Cognition, Cognitive Science Conclave (2026)

Master's Thesis:

• An Examination of Age-Related Differences in Autobiographical Thinking Using an Experience Sampling Approach: Insights from the Mind Window App (2025

Media Coverage:

• Puig Rivera, V. A. (Interviewee). (2026, June). Older adults recall their memories in
  richer detail in everyday life than they do in lab, studies show. University of Arizona News. https://news.arizona.edu/news/older-adults-recall-their-memories-richer-detaileveryday- life-they-do-lab-studies-show
• Puig Rivera, V. A. (Interviewee). (2026, June 3). Study shows older adults recall memories more vividly. AZPM News (NPR affiliate, KUAZ). https://news.azpm.org/p/azpmnews/2026/6/3/230002-study-shows-older-adultsrecall- 

Courses Taught:

TA for:

• PSY 230 - Psychological Measurements & Statistics (2024)
• PSY 290A - Research Methods (2024)
• PSY 296A - Gaining Psychology Experience (2026)
• PSY 300 - Cognitive Neuroscience: a Guide to Mind & Brain (2023)
• PSY 340 - Introduction to Cognitive Development (2026)
• PSY 396C - Preparation for Graduate Programs in the Field of Psychology (2026)
• PSY 397A - Careers in Psychology & Professional Development (2026)
• PSY 456 - Psychology of Death & Loss (2025)

*Year listed indicates when this individual last worked in the specified course.

Awards and Recognitions:

• Cathleen S. and Joel B. Winburn Graduate Scholarship, University of Arizona (2026)
• Cognitive Science Summer Fellowship Award, University of Arizona (2026)
• Distinguished Research in Cognitive Science at University of Arizona, Cognitive Science Conclave (2026)
• Invited Early-Career Participant - Psychonomic Society Leading Edge Workshop: "The Future of Future Thinking: Toward an Integrated Science of Prospective Cognition." Psychonomic Society Annual Meeting (2026)  
• Dr. Elizabeth L. Glisky Endowed Fellowship in Psychology (2025)
• Outstanding Research in Cognitive Science Award, University of Arizona (2025) 
• University Fellows Award, University of Arizona (2023-2024)

Departmental Committee Membership:

• Student Wellness Committee (Fall 2024 – Present)
  • Co-Chair (Fall 2026 – present)
• Respecting Identities, Supporting Empowerment (RISE) Committee (Spring 2024 – present)

Updated: 09/30/26