About me
I'm currently a Game User Researcher at Activision Blizzard. I received my Ph.D. in Psychology from University of Southern California in 2024.
I am interested in human behaviors, cognitive processes, and social interactions that unfold in both reality and virtual worlds. To be more specific, my interdisciplinary exploration focuses on how people perceive and interact with the environments they are in, including the social world, physical world, and virtual world.
During my Ph.D. studies, I am focusing on the Theory of Mind, which involves understanding others' desires, beliefs, intentions, and more, as well as examining social learning in both children and adults. This foundation continues to shape my work as I explore perception, attention, decision-making, and emotional engagement in interactive media.
As a game user researcher, I specialize in mixed methods research with an emphasis on quantitative analysis, telemetry data, and biometric tools like eye tracking and GSR. My goal is to uncover actionable insights about player behavior and cognition to inform UX strategy and game development.
Check out my Google Scholar page and my LinkedIn profile
Contact: qni@usc.edu or Follow @QianhuiNi
Education Background
University of Southern California (USC)
Aug 2019 - May 2024
- Ph.D. in Psychology
- Minor: Quantitative Methods
- Primary advisor: Dr. Henrike Moll
- Dissertation committee: Dr. Henrike Moll (chair), Dr. Leor Hackel, Dr. David Schwartz, Dr. Mark Schroeder, Dr. Adena Schachner
- Lab Affiliations: Minds in Development Lab, Social Learning & Choice Lab, Annenberg Game Lab
University of Southern California (USC)
Aug 2019 - Aug 2021
- M.A. in Psychology (earned at the end of the second year in the Ph.D. program)
East China Normal University (ECNU)
Sept 2015 - Jun 2019
- B.S. in Psychology
Summer Schools
- University College London 2017: Action in Psychology
- Central European University 2021: Representing the world in the developing mind: From objects to context
Honors & Awards
- USC Department of Psychology Doctoral Research Grant Award 2023-2024: $2,000
- USC Graduate School Summer Research and Writing Grant 2023: $2,000
- Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Graduate Student Travel Award 2023
- USC Department of Psychology Doctoral Research Grant Award 2022-2023: $2,000
- USC Dornsife PhD Academy Scholarship and Research Fund Award 2022
- USC GSG Professional Development Fund 2022
- USC Department of Psychology Travel Award 2022
- USC Department of Psychology Doctoral Research Grant Award 2021-2022: $2,725
- USC Dornsife PhD Academy Scholarship and Research Fund Award 2021
- USC Department of Psychology Doctoral Research Grant Award 2020-2021: $1,900
- USC Department of Psychology Doctoral Research Grant Award 2019-2020: $1,705
- USC Department of Psychology Travel Award 2021
- USC Department of Psychology Travel Award 2020
- Title for Outstanding Graduates in Shanghai 2019
- ECNU Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis Award 2019
- Shanghai Municipal Fellowship 2017-2018
- ECNU Title for Outstanding Student 2017-2018
- ECNU University Fellowship (First-class) 2016-2017
- ECNU Title for Advanced individual of Summer practice 2017
- ECNU Title for Outstanding Officer of Student Union 2016
- ECNU Third Prize in English Speech Contest 2017
- ECNU First Prize in the Essay Competition 2019
- ECNU Grand Prize in the Essay Competition 2018
Skills
R Programming
Python
HTML & CSS
Eye Tracking
Expression Analysis
fNIRS