Justin Li

Curriculum Vitae

Swan Hall #B102
Occidental College
1600 Campus Road
Los Angeles, CA 90041

(323) 341-4116
justinnhli@oxy.edu
https://justinnhli.com/
@justinnhli

Research Interest

My research is broadly on the strategies that people and artificial agents might use in their search for knowledge during problem solving, from indicators that more knowledge is needed, to strategies for acquiring that knowledge, to the mechanisms, algorithms, and representations of knowledge for efficient retrieval.

Experience

Associate Professor in Computer Science and Cognitive Science, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA. 2021 – present
Assistant Professor in Computer Science and Cognitive Science, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA. 2015 – 2021
Graduate Student Research Assistant, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. 2009 – 2015
Engineering Teaching Consultant, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. 2012 – 2014
Teaching Assistant, Center for Talented Youth, Baltimore, MD. 2008 – 2009
Teaching Assistant, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. Spring 2009
Gateway Science Workshop Facilitator, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. 2006 – 2009

Education

PhD in Computer Science. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. 2016
BS in Computer Science, cum laude. Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.
with a Certificate in Engineering Design
2009

Publications

Undergraduate co-authors are marked with an asterisk ().

Journal Articles

Justin Li. Explorable Web Apps to Teach AI to Non-Majors. The Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, 34(4), 128-133. 2019
Justin Li and Emma Kohanyi. Towards Modeling False Memory with Computational Knowledge Bases. Topics in Cognitive Science (TopiCS), 9(1), 102-116. 2017

Peer-Reviewed Conference Papers

Justin Li, Bryce Boyle. Towards a Computational Model of a Dynamic Feeling of Knowing. In Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Cognitive Modeling (ICCM). 2022
Justin Li. Integrating Declarative Long-Term Memory Retrievals into Reinforcement Learning. In Proceedings of the 8th Annual Conference on Advances in Cognitive Systems (ACS). 2020
Justin Li. A Heuristic Strategy for Identifying Misclassified Data Using Classification Labels. In Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference on Advances in Cognitive Systems (ACS), 75-93. 2019
Justin Li and Emma Kohanyi. Towards Modeling False Memory with Computational Knowledge Bases. In Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Cognitive Modeling (ICCM). 2016
Justin Li, Steven Jones, Shiwali Mohan, and Nate Derbinsky. Architectural Mechanisms for Mitigating Uncertainty during Long-Term Declarative Knowledge Access. In Proceedings of the 4th Annual Conference on Advances in Cognitive Systems (ACS). 2016
Justin Li and John E. Laird. Spontaneous Retrieval for Prospective Memory: Effects of Encoding Specificity and Retention Interval. In Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Cognitive Modeling (ICCM), 142-147. 2015
Justin Li and John E. Laird. Spontaneous Retrieval from Long-Term Memory in a Cognitive Architecture. In Proceedings of the 29th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), 544-550. 2015
Justin Li and John E. Laird. The Computational Problem of Prospective Memory Retrieval. In Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Cognitive Modeling (ICCM), 155-160. 2013
Justin Li and John E. Laird. Preemptive Strategies for Overcoming the Forgetting of Goals. In Proceedings of the 27th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), 1234-1240. 2013
Nate Derbinsky, Justin Li, and John E. Laird. A Multi-Domain Evaluation of Scaling in a General Episodic Memory. In Proceedings of the 26th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), 193-199. 2012
Justin Li, Nate Derbinsky, and John E. Laird. Functional Interactions between Memory and Recognition Judgments. In Proceedings of the 26th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), 228-234. 2012

Peer-Reviewed Symposia Papers, Edited Commentaries, and Other Publications

Justin Li, Steven Jones, and John E. Laird A Rational Analysis and Computational Modeling Perspective on IAM and Déjà Vu. Commentary on Barzykowski and Moulin (2023), Are involuntary autobiographical memory and déjà vu natural products of memory retrieval? In Behavioral and Brain Sciences, (in print). 2023
Justin Li and John E. Laird. Preliminary Evaluation of Long-term Memories for Fulfilling Delayed Intentions. In Papers from the 2011 AAAI Fall Symposium Series: Advances in Cognitive Systems (ACS), 170-177. 2011

Peer-Reviewed Abstracts

Justin Li. Weaving Diversity and Inclusion into CS Content. In Proceedings of the 48th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE). 2017
Nate Derbinsky, Justin Li, and John E. Laird. Algorithms for Scaling in a General Episodic Memory (Extended Abstract). In Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS), 1387-1388. 2012

Invited Panels

ACS Academia Panel, at the Proceedings of the 8th Annual Conference on Advances in Cognitive Systems (ACS). 2020

Workshop Presentations

Retracing the Rational Analysis of Memory, at the 34th Soar Workshop Summer 2014
Do's and Don't's of Episodic Memory, at the 31st Soar Workshop Summer 2011

Grants

Ron Buckmire, Justin Li, Amanda Zellmer (PIs), Carmel Levitan, Eileen Spain (co-PIs). Evaluating Effective Inclusive Teaching and its Use for Faculty Promotion and Tenure, HHMI Inclusive Excellence 3 Initiative, $535,000. 2022
Gretchen North (PI), Janet Scheel, Ron Buckmire, Aleksandra Sherman, Justin Li (co-PIs). Creating Opportunities for High-Achieving Students in Science and Mathematics through Scholarships, Research Experiences, Leadership, and Community, NSF S-STEM, $1,000,000. 2020
Justin Li (PI). Attendee Support for the 2020 AAAI Doctorial Consortium, NSF, $17,100. 2020
Justin Li (PI), Jeff Cannon, Diana Ngo, Janet Scheel, Amanda Zellmer (co-PIs). Acquisition of a High-Performance Computing Cluster for Occidental College, NSF MRI, $493,878. 2019

Teaching

College Courses

Occidental College: 2015 – present
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor: 2009 – 2015
Northwestern University: Spring 2009

Guest Lectures

Computational Redistricting for the Multicultural Summer Institute Summer 2019
Beyond Cool Apps: Doing Research in CS for the Occidental Summer Research Program Summer 2017
Where is the Gender in AI? in From Cyborgs to Siri: Gender, Technology and Media Fall 2016

Workshops, Summer Camps, and Peer Tutoring

Computer Science and Middle/High School Math/Science, for the OxyMS Teaching Scholars Summer Institute Summer 2017
Scratch and AppInventor for Middle/High Schools, for the OxyMS Teaching Scholars Summer Institute Summer 2016
Teaching Problem Solving Skills, with Elizabeth Stewart for the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching Fall 2014
Seven (Simple) Strategies to Improve your Teaching, with Bryce Wiedenbeck for the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching Winter 2013
Handling Office Hours, with Karishma Collette for the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching Winter 2013
Agent Based Modeling Mini-Course Winter 2012
Introduction to Robotics 2008 – 2009
Engineering Analysis 2006 – 2009

Undergraduate Mentoring

Lijia Li: Comparing Word Embeddings and Information Retrieval Approaches to Affordance Extraction 2018
Chloe Zeller: Efficient Search over Episodic Memory using Classification Labels 2017
Abel Quintero: At the Crux of Memory Search and Web Search 2016
Nick Trzcinko: Exploring the Problem Space of Memory Queries 2015 – 2016
Emma Kohanyi: Towards a Computational Model of False Memory Acquisition Through the Deese, Roediger, McDermott Task (1995) 2015 – 2016
Saleem Karamali: Automatic Extraction of English Loanwords from Urdu Text 2015 – 2016
Arthur Wandzel: Solving the Tower of Hanoi Puzzle in Soar via an Activation-Based Model of Memory 2014

Service

Core Steering Committee 2017 – 2022
Computer Science Advisory Committee 2015 – 2017
GSI/IA Practice Teaching Facilitator 2012 – 2014
CSEG Secretary, University of Michigan 2012 – 2013
Reviewer for AAAI, AI Review, Cognition, GHC, IJAIT, IJCAI, ITICSE, NCWIT Seed Fund, SIGCSE

Awards

Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award, EECS Department, University of Michigan Fall 2009

Software

Justin Li and Uri Wilensky (2009). NetLogo Sugarscape 1 Immediate Growback Model. Center for Connected Learning and Computer-Based Modeling, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. 2009
Justin Li and Uri Wilensky (2009). NetLogo Sugarscape 2 Constant Growback Model. Center for Connected Learning and Computer-Based Modeling, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. 2009
Justin Li and Uri Wilensky (2009). NetLogo Sugarscape 3 Wealth Distribution Model. Center for Connected Learning and Computer-Based Modeling, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. 2009

Media Appearances

How Reddit.com’s /r/professors Provides a Glimpse Into Future Brand Issues for Universities. Inside Higher Ed, April 2, 2020.
[I'm the "mathematics professor" whose YouTube lecture was taken down.]
What Do You Need? AI Might Soon Know Before You Do. PC Magazine, August 16, 2018.
A new kind of computer science major delves into how technology is reshaping society. LA Times, March 13, 2018.
Terminator 2 took aim at the ethics of artificial intelligence. AV Club, September 23, 2016.

Design

Engineering Design Portfolio Spring 2009