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Carter Johnson

Research

Studies and lab work

My research interests run from clinical neuropsychology into forensic psychology, with a current side focus on public health and regulatory science. What follows is the active work, an independent study I am running myself, and a placeholder for publications as they appear.

Active

Lab affiliations and ongoing studies

  1. In progress 2026 – Present Independent study

    Caffeine Product Labeling and Adverse Health Outcomes

    Principal investigator · Independent IRB review

    A mixed-methods public health study examining whether current FDA labeling practices leave consumers unable to accurately estimate their daily caffeine intake, and whether opacity in product labels correlates with documented adverse events.

    The design pivots around a novel Caffeine Label Opacity Index (CLOI), combining a PRISMA-guided systematic literature review, a large consumer survey delivered through Prolific (target n ≈ 750), a market and label audit of high-caffeine products, and secondary analysis of public databases (FAERS, CAERS, NPDS, NEISS, NHANES).

    Because I am running this independently and without university IRB access, the project is preregistered on the Open Science Framework and reviewed through an independent IRB. Funding for IRB review, Prolific recruitment, and database access is being raised through a public Experiment.com campaign.

  2. Current October 2025 – Present Volunteer research assistant

    Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Lab

    University of California, Irvine

    Supporting the lab as a volunteer research assistant. Day-to-day tasks include organizing study data in structured spreadsheets, piloting an fMRI study protocol prior to live participant testing, and a range of related digital responsibilities.

    This is my first formal lab affiliation. The goal is exposure to how cognitive neuroscience research is actually planned, piloted, and run, which is the kind of ground-level exposure I want before doctoral training in clinical neuropsychology.

Interests

Long-term research directions

Clinical neuropsychology

Cognitive assessment, particularly the use of neuropsychological testing to characterize brain–behavior relationships in clinical populations. Long-term: board certification through ABPP-CN.

Forensic psychology

Forensic consulting and assessment, including competency and risk evaluations. The intersection with neuropsychology (forensic neuropsychology) is the eventual specialty target, with board certification through ABPP-FP.

Behavioral intervention

Applied behavior analysis in clinical practice, drawing on ground-level experience as a Behavioral Health Technician working with individuals on the autism spectrum.

Public health and regulation

A growing interest, sparked by the caffeine labeling project. The general thread is how regulatory gaps translate into measurable public health outcomes and how consumer-facing information design shapes risk.

Publications

Peer-reviewed work

No publications yet. The caffeine study is the first manuscript in development. Listings, preprints, and DOIs will appear here as they are released. The most up-to-date author record is maintained on ORCID.

In development

Manuscript drafts and preregistrations will be linked from this section once submitted or posted.

View ORCID record