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Jason Chein

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Jason Chein

  • College of Liberal Arts

    • Psychology and Neuroscience

      • Professor

        Programs

        • Neuroscience

      • Director of Temple University Brain Research & Imaging Center

        Programs

        • Temple University Brain Research & Imaging Center

Curriculum Vitae  

Expertise

Cognition, Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuroimaging (fMRI), Executive Functioning, Working memory, Decision making, Adolescence

Biography

Jason M. Chein, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Temple University, where he directs the Temple University Brain Research & Imaging Center (TUBRIC) and leads the Control & Adaptive Behavior Laboratory. Dr. Chein’s research uses a convergent methodologies approach that features traditional behavioral experimentation, training studies, and brain imaging (magnetic resonance imaging) to explore the development, training, and deployment of self-regulatory control processes, and to deepen our understanding of how these processes serve adaptive decision making and behavior, especially under conditions of distraction and socio-emotional arousal. His work addresses issues of concern for basic foundational science as well as topics that have direct translational and applied relevance; such as studies on the central mechanisms of working memory and cognitive control, the enhancement of working memory and attention control through training, the normative development of executive control and its role in adolescent decision-making, and the links between self-regulation, cognitive and affective functioning, and technology use. 

Dr. Chein earned his Ph.D. in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience at the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, a joint program of the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Princeton University before starting his professorship at Temple University. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIAAA, NIDA, NICHD), National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Defense, and private foundation support. He is a former Associate Editor for Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience and was a Network Scholar for the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Law & Neuroscience. An award-winning educator, Dr. Chein is a past recipient of the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching and the 2025 winner of the Temple University Great Teacher Award. He is also a recipient of the 2025 Psychonomics Society Mid-Career Award, which recognizes his significant contributions to research advancing our understanding of human cognition and its role in everyday life.

Website

Selected Publications

  • Chein, J. M., Martinez, S. A., & Barone, A. R. (Dec, 2024). Human intelligence can safeguard against artificial intelligence: Individual differences in the discernment of human from AI texts. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 25989.
  • *Beard, E, Venkatraman, V & Chein, J (Apr, 2024). Neurodevelopmental Theories of Adolescent Decision Making: Overview and Implications for Consumer Behavior. Journal of Applied Consumer Research, 9(2), 131–142.
  • *Tanriverdi, B, Cowan, E, *Metoki, A, *Jobson, K, Murty, V, Chein, J, & Olson, I (Sep, 2023). Awake Hippocampal-Cortical Co-reactivation Is Associated with Forgetting, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 35(9), 1446-1462.
  • *Rosenbaum, G., Venkatraman, V., Steinberg, L., Chein, J. (August, 2021). Do adolescents always take more risks than adults? A within-subjects developmental study of context effects on decision making and processing. PLOS One. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255102
  • *Wilmer, H.H., *Hampton, W., Olino, T., Olson, I., & Chein, J.M. (2019) Wired to be connected? Links Between Mobile Technology Engagement, Intertemporal Preference, and Frontostriatal White Matter Connectivity. Social Cognitive Affective Neuroscience, 14(4), 367-379.
  • *Icenogle, G., Steinberg, L., Duell, N., Chein, J. et al. (2019). Adolescents’ Cognitive Capacity Reaches Adult Levels Prior to Their Psychosocial Maturity: Evidence for a “Maturity Gap” in a Multinational Sample. Law & Human Behavior. 43(1), 69 – 85. 
  • †Sherman, LE; Steinberg, L., & Chein, JM (2018). Connecting Brain Responsivity and Real-World Risk-Taking: Strengths and Limitations of Current Methodological Approaches. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 33, 27-41. DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2017.05.007
  • *Rosenbaum, G., Venkatraman, V., Steinberg, L., & Chein, J. (2018). The Influences of Described and Experienced Information on Adolescent Risky Decision-Making. Developmental Review, 47, 23-43. doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2017.09.003
  • *Wilmer, HH, †Sherman, LE, & Chein, JM. (2017). Smartphones and Cognition: A review of research exploring the links between mobile technology habits and cognitive functioning. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 605. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00605
  • *Wilmer, H. & Chein, J. (2016). Mobile Technology Habits – Patterns of Association Among Device Usage, Intertemporal Preference, Impulse Control, and Reward Sensitivity.  Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 23(5), 1607-1614.
  • *Morrison, A.M., *Rosenbaum, G.R., Fair, D.A., & Chein, J.M. (2016). Variation in Strategy Use Across Measures of Verbal Working Memory. Memory & Cognition, 44, 922-936.
  • *Cohen, A., *Briener, K., Steinberg., L., et al. (2016). When Is an Adolescent an Adult? Assessing Cognitive Control in Emotional and Nonemotional Contexts. Psychological Science, 27(4), 549-562.
  • †Shulman, E., *Smith, A., *Silva, K., *Icenogle, G., *Duell, N., Chein, J., & Steinberg, L. (2016). The Dual Systems Model: Review, Reappraisal, and Reaffirmation. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 17, 103-117.
  • Steinberg, L., & Chein, J. M. (2015). Multiple accounts of adolescent impulsivity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(29), 8807-8808.
  • *Blacker, K., Curby, K., *Klobusicky, E., & Chein, J. (2014). The Effects of Action Video Game Training on Visual Working Memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 40(5),1992-2004. doi: 10.1037/a0037556
  • *Richmond, L., Wolk, D., Chein, J., Olson, I. (2014). Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) Enhances Verbal Working Memory Performance Over Time and Near Transfer Outcomes. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 26(11), 2443–2454.
  • Chein, J.M., & Weisberg, R.W. (2013). Working memory, insight, and restructuring in verbal problems: Analysis of compound remote associate problems. Memory & Cognition, doi:10.3758/s13421-013-0343-4
  • Chein, J. & Schneider, W. (2012). The brain’s learning and control architecture. Current Directions in Psychological Science. 21(2), 78-84.
  • Chein, J., *Albert, D., *O’Brien, L., *Uckert, K., & Steinberg, L. (2011). Peers influence adolescent risk-taking by heightening sensitivity to reward. Developmental Science, 14(2), F1-F10.
  • *Morrison, A.B. & Chein, J.M. (2011). Does working memory training work? The promise and challenges of enhancing cognition by training working memory. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 18(1), 46-60.
  • Chein, J.M., *Moore, A.B., & Conway, A.R.A. (2011). Domain general mechanisms of complex working memory span. Neuroimage, 54, 550-559.

Courses Taught

Undergraduate

  • PSY/HONORS 2901: Honors Cognitive Psychology
  • PSY 2101: Foundations of Cognitive Psychology
  • PSY/HONORS 3921: Honors Topical Seminar on Cognitive Enhancement  “Rise of the Super Brains”

Graduate

  • PSY 8015: "Teaching of Psychology"
  • PSY 8110/8310: “Topical Seminar on Human Neuroimaging Methods”, “Topical Seminar on Cognitive Enhancement”
  • PSY 8312: Graduate Core in Cognitive Psychology
  • PSY 8317: Graduate Core in Neuroscience