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Hire Dr. Olga L.

United States

USD 100 /hr

Data Analyst | Statistical Consultant | Behavioral Science Expert

Profile Summary

I'm an experimental psychologist and data analyst specializing in statistical modeling, data wrangling, and interpretation of behavioral and survey data. I help research teams and organizations make sense of their existing datasets—whether it's running complex models, visualizing patterns, or translating results into clear, actionable insights. My expertise includes hypothesis testing, regression (linear, logistic, and mixed effects), GLMMs, and exploratory methods like PCA. I’m comfortable working with academic and applied projects alike, especially those involving behavioral science, health, cognition, or user data. I primarily work in R and SPSS, with experience in MATLAB/Octave and growing proficiency in Python and SQL. I enjoy projects where the data is already collected and needs thoughtful analysis, interpretation, or write-up for publication, internal use, or presentation. Services Offered: Data wrangling & preparation Statistical analysis & modeling (including GLMMs, PCA, and factor analysis) Visualization and communication of findings Scientific writing and editing Survey data interpretation Behavioral science insights Looking for: Short- or medium-term consulting projects in academia, healthcare, public policy, and nonprofit sectors, especially where data is already in hand and ready to be explored.

Subject Matter Expertise

• ★ Data Analysis
• ★ Data Exploration
• ☆ Statistics
• ☆ Applied Statistics
• ☆ Regression Analysis
• ☆ Nonlinear Regression
• ☆ Correlation Analysis
• ☆ Survey Design
• ☆ Study Design
• ☆ Medical Statistics
• ☆ Health Data Analysis
• ☆ Trend Analysis
• ☆ Decision Science
• ☆ Human Behavior & Psychology
• ☆ Cognitive Science
• ☆ Learning & Memory
• ☆ Visual Perception
• ☆ SPSS
• ☆ Matlab
• ☆ R
• ☆ Survey Design & Methodology

Services

• Writing
• Research
• Consulting
• Data & AI

Writing Translation

Research User Research, Scientific and Technical Research, Systematic Literature Review, Secondary Data Collection

Consulting Scientific and Technical Consulting

Data & AI Statistical Analysis, Algorithm Design-Non ML, Data Visualization, Big Data Analytics, Text Mining & Analytics, Data Mining, Data Cleaning, Data Insights

Work Experience

Professor

Drake University

August 2008 - Present

Editor-in-Chief

Elsevier (Behavioural Processes)

January 2014 - December 2024

Research Scientist

University of Iowa

July 2004 - August 2008

Education

Experimental Psychology

Lomonosov Moscow State University - Russian Federation

January 1998 - September 2001

Biology

Kazan State University - Russian Federation

September 1992 - June 1997

Certifications

• Certification details not provided.

Publications

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Gazes, R.P., Templer, V.L., Lazareva, O.F.(2023). Thinking about order: a review of common processing of magnitude and learned orders in animals . Animal Cognition. 26. (1). p. 299-317.

Gazes, R.P., Lazareva, O.F.(2021). Does Cognition Differ Across Species, and How Do We Know? Lessons From Research in Transitive Inference . Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition. 47. (3). p. 223-233.

Lazareva, O.F., Gould, K., Linert, J., Caillaud, D., Gazes, R.P.(2020). Smaller on the left? Flexible association between space and magnitude in pigeons (Columba livia) and blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata) . Journal of Comparative Psychology. 134. (1). p. 71-83.

Lazareva, O.F., Paxton Gazes, R., Elkins, Z., Hampton, R.(2020). Associative models fail to characterize transitive inference performance in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) . Learning and Behavior. 48. (1). p. 135-148.

Lazareva, O.F.(2019). Red is the new orange: Nonlinguistic categorical color perception . Learning and Behavior. 47. (4). p. 271-272.

Lazareva, O.F., McInnerney, J., Williams, T.(2018). Implicit relational learning in a multiple-object tracking task . Behavioural Processes. 152. p. 26-36.

Acerbo, M.J., Lazareva, O.F.(2018). Pharmacological manipulation of GABA activity in nucleus subpretectalis/interstitio-pretecto-subpretectalis (SP/IPS) impairs figure-ground discrimination in pigeons: Running head: SP/IPS in figure-ground segregation . Behavioural Brain Research. 344. p. 1-8.

Lazareva, O.F., Wasserman, E.A.(2016). No evidence for feature binding by pigeons in a change detection task . Behavioural Processes. 123. p. 90-106.

Kirkpatrick, K., Lazareva, O.F.(2016). Exploring animal minds: A tribute to the contributions of Edward Wasserman . Behavioural Processes. 123. p. 1-3.

Lazareva, O.F., Kandray, K., Acerbo, M.J.(2015). Hippocampal lesion and transitive inference: Dissociation of inference-based and reinforcement-based strategies in pigeons . Hippocampus. 25. (2). p. 219-226.

Scully, E.N., Acerbo, M.J., Lazareva, O.F.(2014). Bilateral lesions of nucleus subpretectalis/interstitio-pretecto- subpretectalis (SP/IPS) selectively impair figure-ground discrimination in pigeons . Visual Neuroscience. 31. (1). p. 105-110.

Gazes, R.P., Lazareva, O.F., Bergene, C.N., Hampton, R.R.(2014). Effects of spatial training on transitive inference performance in humans and rhesus monkeys . Journal of experimental psychology. Animal learning and cognition. 40. (4). p. 477-489.

Lazareva, O.F., Young, M.E., Wasserman, E.A.(2014). A three-component model of relational responding in the transposition paradigm . Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes. 40. (1). p. 63-80.

Acerbo, M.J., Lazareva, O.F., McInnerney, J., Leiker, E., Wasserman, E.A., Poremba, A.(2012). Figure-ground discrimination in the avian brain: The nucleus rotundus and its inhibitory complex . Vision Research. 70. p. 18-26.

Lazareva, O.F., Wasserman, E.A.(2012). Transitive inference in pigeons: Measuring the associative values of Stimuli B and D . Behavioural Processes. 89. (3). p. 244-255.

Lazareva, O.F.(2012). Relational learning in a context of transposition: A review . Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. 97. (2). p. 231-248.

Lazareva, O.F., Soto, F.A., Wasserman, E.A.(2010). Effect of between-category similarity on basic level superiority in pigeons . Behavioural Processes. 85. (3). p. 236-245.

Lazareva, O.F., Wasserman, E.A.(2010). Nonverbal transitive inference: Effects of task and awareness on human performance . Behavioural Processes. 83. (1). p. 99-112.

Castro, L., Lazareva, O.F., Vecera, S.P., Wasserman, E.A.(2010). Changes in area affect figure-ground assignment in pigeons . Vision Research. 50. (5). p. 497-508.

Lazareva, O.F., Wasserman, E.A.(2009). Effects of stimulus duration and choice delay on visual categorization in pigeons . Learning and Motivation. 40. (2). p. 132-146.

Lazareva, O.F., Miner, M., Wasserman, E.A., Young, M.E.(2008). Multiple-pair training enhances transposition in pigeons . Learning and Behavior. 36. (3). p. 174-187.

Lazareva, O.F., Wasserman, E.A., Biederman, I.(2008). Pigeons and humans are more sensitive to nonaccidental than to metric changes in visual objects . Behavioural Processes. 77. (2). p. 199-209.

Gibson, B.M., Lazareva, O.F., Gosselin, F., Schyns, P.G., Wasserman, E.A.(2007). Nonaccidental Properties Underlie Shape Recognition in Mammalian and Nonmammalian Vision . Current Biology. 17. (4). p. 336-340.

Lazareva, O.F., Wasserman, E.A., Biederman, I.(2007). Pigeons' recognition of partially occluded objects depends on specific training experience . Perception. 36. (1). p. 33-48.

Nagasaka, Y., Lazareva, O.F., Wasserman, E.A.(2007). Prior experience affects amodal completion in pigeons . Perception and Psychophysics. 69. (4). p. 596-605.

Lazareva, O.F., Castro, L., Vecera, S.P., Wasserman, E.A.(2006). Figure-ground assignment in pigeons: Evidence for a figural benefit . Perception and Psychophysics. 68. (5). p. 711-724.

Lazareva, O.F., Freiburger, K.L., Wasserman, E.A.(2006). Effects of stimulus manipulations on visual categorization in pigeons . Behavioural Processes. 72. (3). p. 224-233.

Lazareva, O.F., Vecera, S.P., Wasserman, E.A.(2006). Object discrimination in pigeons: Effects of local and global cues . Vision Research. 46. (8-9). p. 1361-1374.

Lazareva, O.F., Vecera, S.P., Levin, J., Wasserman, E.A.(2005). Object discrimination by pigeons: Effects of object color and shape . Behavioural Processes. 69. (1). p. 17-31.

Lazareva, O.F., Wasserman, E.A., Young, M.E.(2005). Transposition in pigeons: Reassessing Spence (1937) with multiple discrimination training . Learning and Behavior. 33. (1). p. 22-46.

Lazareva, O.F., Freiburger, K.L., Wasserman, E.A.(2004). Pigeons concurrently categorize photographs at both basic and superordinate levels . Psychonomic Bulletin and Review. 11. (6). p. 1111-1117.

Lazareva, O.F., Smirnova, A.A., Bagozkaja, M.S., Zorina, Z.A., Rayevsky, V.V., Wasserman, E.A.(2004). Transitive responding in hooded crows requires linearly ordered stimuli . Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. 82. (1). p. 1-19.

Smirnova, A.A., Lazareva, O.F., Zorina, Z.A.(2003). Prototype symbolization in hooded crows . Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology. 33. (4). p. 335-348.

Smirnova, A.A., Lazareva, O.F., Zorina, Z.A.(2002). Prototype Symbolization in Hooded Crows . Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatelnosti Imeni I.P. Pavlova. 52. (2). p. 252-254.

Lazareva, O.F., Smirnova, A.A., Zorina, Z.A., Rayevsky, V.V.(2001). Hooded crows solve a transitive inference problem cognitively . Animal Welfare. 10. (SUPPL.).

Michnevich, N.V., Lazareva, O.F., Smirnova, A.A., Zorina, Z.A., Reznikova, J.I.(2001). Object permanence in young hooded crows and budgerigars . Animal Welfare. 10. (SUPPL.).

Lazareva, O.F., Smirnova, A.A., Raevskii, V.V., Zorina, Z.A.(2000). Transitive inference formation in hooded crows: Preliminary data . Doklady Akademii Nauk. 370. (5). p. 698-700.

Smirnova, A.A., Lazareva, O.F., Zorina, Z.A.(2000). Use of number by crows: Investigation by matching and oddity learning . Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. 73. (2). p. 163-176.

Lazareva, O.F., Smirnova, A.A., Rayevsky, V.V., Zorina, Z.A.(2000). Transitive inference in hooded crows: preliminary data . Doklady biological sciences : proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Biological sciences sections / translated from Russian. 370. p. 30-32.

Smirnova, A.A., Lazareva, O.F., Zorina, Z.A.(1998). Matching and oddity learning in hooded crows (Corvus Cornix L.): Same/ different concept formation . Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatelnosti Imeni I.P. Pavlova. 48. (5). p. 866-867.

BOOK CHAPTER

Lazareva, O.F., Wasserman, E.A.(2017). Categories and Concepts in Animals . Learning and Memory: A Comprehensive Reference. p. 111-139.

Lazareva, O.F., Wasserman, E.A.(2016). Categories and concepts in animals . The Curated Reference Collection in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Psychology. p. 111-139.

Lazareva, O.F., Wasserman, E.A.(2012). Figure-Ground Segregation and Object-Based Attention in Pigeons . How Animals See the World: Comparative Behavior, Biology, and Evolution of Vision.

Lazareva, O.F.(2012). Transitive Inference in Nonhuman Animals . The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Cognition.

Lazareva, O.F., Wasserman, E.A.(2010). Category learning and concept learning in birds . The Making of Human Concepts.

Lazareva, O.F., Wasserman, E.A.(2007). Categories and concepts in animals . Learning and Memory: A Comprehensive Reference. p. 197-226.

BOOK

Lazareva, O.F., Shimizu, T., Wasserman, E.A.(2012). How Animals See the World: Comparative Behavior, Biology, and Evolution of Vision . How Animals See the World: Comparative Behavior, Biology, and Evolution of Vision. p. 1-560.

Lazareva, O.F., Shimizu, T., Wasserman, E.A.(2012). Introduction . How Animals See the World: Comparative Behavior, Biology, and Evolution of Vision.

CONFERENCE PAPER

Lazareva, O.F., Wasserman, E.A.(2006). Effect of stimulus orderability and reinforcement history on transitive responding in pigeons . Behavioural Processes. 72. (2). p. 161-172.