Academic Credentials
  • Ph.D., Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, 2023
  • M.A., Cognitive Psychology, Koç University, 2016
  • B.A., Psychology, Dogus University, 2012
Professional Honors
  • Koç University GSSSH Excellence Award for master’s thesis, 2015
  • The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey Scholarship for graduate studies, 2013
  • Valedictorian from Doğuş University, 2012
  • Higher Council of Education, full merit scholarship for undergraduate studies, 2007-2012

Dilara Berkay, Ph.D., is a cognitive scientist and neuroscientist with more than 13 years of experience in human learning, judgment, and decision-making. She is particularly experienced in studying how people form beliefs, learn, and make judgments under uncertainty and how cognitive, perceptual, and contextual factors influence behavior.

Dr. Berkay's research has examined the effects of both internal factors, such as mood and perceptual variability, as well as external influences, including time pressure and social context, on learning, judgment, and decision-making. Her research integrates behavioral experimentation, neuroscience, quantitative analysis, and cognitive theory to identify when and why human behavior deviates from normative models and to explain these deviations through underlying cognitive mechanisms.

Prior to joining Exponent, Dr. Berkay completed her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania followed by a postdoctoral fellowship, where she investigated the role of uncertainty in social judgment, learning, and belief updating. Before her PhD, she received an M.A. in Cognitive Psychology from Koç University, where she focused on understanding how cognitive limitations and environmental uncertainty relate to optimal decision-making.