Background
I completed a BA in English at the University of Colorado at Boulder. I then took a detour through the film business, but returned to academic life at Pepperdine University in California, where I focused on clinical psychology in their Graduate School of Education and Psychology. I also worked as a social skills behavioral coach and interventionist with children, adolescents, and young adults with autism, ADHD, depression, anxiety, and/or intellectual disabilities. After completing a master’s at Pepperdine, I headed north to UBC. My current research centers on mind wandering in autistic individuals, specifically, I investigate what autistic individuals think about when they mind wander, how frequently they mind wander, as well as the intentionality of their mind wandering.
When I’m not in the lab running experiments, I am probably hanging out with my husband, two lively children, and a feisty cocker spaniel.
Research Interests
Autism, mind wandering, social attention
Works
Forby, L., Anderson, N. C., Cheng, J. T., Foulsham, T., Karstadt, B., Dawson, J., Pazhoohi, F., & Kingstone, A. (2023). Reading the room: Autistic traits, gaze behaviour, and the ability to infer social relationships. Plos one, 18(3), e0282310. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0282310
Forby, L.*, Pazhoohi, F., & Kingstone, A. (2021, June). Autism and masks: Effects on perceived attractiveness and trustworthiness [Conference session]. Understanding Vision: Social, Cognitive, and Clinical Perspectives. Colchester, United Kingdom.
Pazhoohi F., Forby L., Kingstone A. (2021) Facial masks affect emotion recognition in the general population and individuals with autistic traits. PLOS ONE 16(9): e0257740. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257740 
Hole, R.*, Barnes, S., Schnellert, L., Ngieng, N., Stainton, T., Forby, L., & Polushin, S. (2019, August). Transitioning youth with disabilities and employment: The TYDE project. Published abstract at the Congress 2019: International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Glasgow Scotland.
Forby, L.*, Ganel, A., Dahiya, A., Rosen, N., Veytsman, E., & Laugeson, E. (2016, November). Comparing social skills outcomes in adolescents with ASD and adolescents with ADHD following the UCLA PEERS® intervention. Poster presented at both the International Meeting for Autism Research, San Francisco, CA, and the American Psychological Association Convention, Washington, D.C.
Dahiya, A.*, Rosen, N., Ellingsen, R., Forby, L., Veytsman, E., & Laugeson, E. (2016, November). Symptoms of ADHD, depression, and social anxiety as predictors of social skills outcomes among adolescents with ASD following the UCLA PEERS® intervention. Poster presented at both the International Meeting for Autism Research, San Francisco, CA, and the American Psychological Association Convention, Washington, D.C.