Rate My Professor Cassandra Crone

Cassandra Crone is a Postdoctoral Fellow and Professional Casual in the School of Psychological Sciences at Macquarie University. She earned a Master of Research in Psychology from Macquarie University in 2022, with a thesis titled 'Interview with an Avatar: Comparing Online and Virtual Reality Perspective Taking for Gender Bias in STEM Hiring Decisions.' Her earlier degrees include a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) in 2020, a Bachelor of Human Sciences majoring in Human Movement in 2019, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours in Contemporary Dance Performance in 2011, all from Macquarie University. Crone's research integrates social psychology, human-computer interaction, machine learning, and AI to address basic and applied questions. Her PhD research employs virtual reality as an intervention to enhance intergroup relations, focusing on gender diverse identities through virtual embodiment and immersive technologies. Her interests encompass gender, LGBTQIA+, identity, intergroup relations, diversity equity and inclusion, virtual reality, computational social science, virtual embodiment, social justice, prejudice and discrimination, embodied cognition, intergroup contact, perspective taking, experimental psychology, and statistics.

At Macquarie University, Crone lectures in PSYU3333 Advanced Topics in Social Psychology and has served as a guest lecturer on virtual reality, social interaction, and movement dynamics (2022-2025). She has tutored courses such as PSYU3333 Social Interaction in the Modern World, PSYU3336 Advanced Topics in Personality and Individual Differences, PSYU2236 Biopsychology and Learning, PSYU2234 Social and Personality Psychology, PSYU1101 Introduction to Psychology 1, and PSYU2247 Perception (2021-2025). Her scholarly output includes 19 research items from 2018-2024, with key publications: 'Centering the margins: reimagining resilience and resistance for transgender and nonbinary people of color' (Journal of Social Issues, 2024), 'Measuring virtual embodiment: a psychometric investigation of a standardised questionnaire for the psychological sciences' (Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 2024), 'A critical review of cognitive behavioural therapy for hoarding disorder: how can we improve outcomes?' (Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 2022), and 'Embodied virtual interactions: what does equity mean to you? preliminary results for the impact of transgender avatar embodiment on empathy' (HAI Conference Proceedings, 2022). Awards include Highly Commended Finalist (Sessional Staff) for the Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Education (2024), Best Student Poster Presentation from the Australian Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy (2021), and multiple travel grants from the same association (2021-2022).