Senior Research Scientist
Obelisk lab, Astera Institute
2022 - Present
Overview My trajectory in research started with algorithms for scientific modeling and extends to my present work in artificial intelligence and cognitive science. At Astera, I started a research direction called Fluid to develop a unique AI agent architecture capable of lifelong learning, with all the ingredients required for emergent reasoning and planning. It integrates short-term memory and reasoning via cellular automata, hierarchically clustered episodic memory, a novel meta-learning based exploration policy, and dynamic, selective attention to inputs. Fluid has served as an integrative framework for many useful problem areas and an experimental tool for cognitive neuroscience, allowing simulation of complex cognitive mechanisms in problem solving.
I am personally interested in the nature of metacognition and self awareness, and hope that developments in artificial intelligence can serve as theoretical scaffolds for cognitive neuroscience. I also deeply enjoy the relationship between philosophy and computation, finding that many timeless questions can be better answered through simulation and invention.
Links
OSF for supplemental materials of published projects
Recent Preprints (2024-2025)
Miconi, T., McKee, K., Zheng, Y., & McCaleb, J. (2025). Thinking agents for zero-shot generalization to qualitatively novel tasks. arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.19815.
Zheng, Y., Wolf, N., Ranganath, C., O’Reilly, R. C., & McKee, K. L. (2025). Flexible prefrontal control over hippocampal episodic memory for goal-directed generalization. arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.02303.
McKee, K. L. (2025). Meta-Learning to Explore via Memory Density Feedback. arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.02831.
McKee, K. (2025). A Method of Selective Attention for Reservoir Based Agents. arXiv preprint arXiv:2502.21229.
McKee, K. (2024). Reservoir computing for fast, simplified reinforcement learning on memory tasks. arXiv preprint arXiv:2412.13093.
McKee, K., Crandell, I., Chaudhuri, R., & O’Reilly, R. (2022). Adaptive Synaptic Failure Enables Sampling from Posterior Predictive Distributions in the Brain. arXiv preprint arXiv:2210.01691.
McKee, K. L., Crandell, I. C., Chaudhuri, R., & O’Reilly, R. C. (2021). Locally learned synaptic dropout for complete bayesian inference. arXiv preprint arXiv:2111.09780.
Peer-Reviewed Publications
McKee, K.L. (2021). Hierarchical Biometrical Genetic Analysis of Longitudinal Dynamics. Behavior Genetics.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-021-10060-0
Kaplan, B. A., Franck, C. T., McKee, K. L., Gilroy, S. P., Koffarnus, M. N. (2021). Applying Mixed-Effects Modeling to Behavioral Economic Demand: An Introduction. Perspectives on Behavior Science.
Hunter, M. D., McKee, K. L., Turkheimer, E. (2021). Simulated Nonlinear Genetic and Environmental Dynamics of Complex Traits. Development and Psychopathology.
McKee, K. L., Crandell, I. C., Hanlon, A. L. (2020). US County-Level Social Distancing and Policy Impact: A Dynamical Systems Model. Journal of Medical Internet Research.
https://doi.org/10.2196/23902
McKee, K. L., Russell, M., Mennis, J., Mason, M., & Neale, M. C. (2019). Emotion Regulation Dynamics Predict Substance Use in High-Risk Adolescents. Addictive Behaviors.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106374
McKee, K. L., & Neale, M. C. (2019). Direct estimation of the parameters of a delayed, intermittent activation feedback model of postural sway during quiet standing. PLoS one, 14(9).
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222664
McKee, K. L., Hunter, M. D., & Neale, M. C. (2019). A Method of Correcting Estimation Failure in Latent Differential Equations with Comparisons to Kalman Filtering. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 1-20.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00273171.2019.1642730
McKee, K. L., Rappaport, L. M., Boker, S. M., Moskowitz, D. S., & Neale, M. C. (2018). Adaptive Equilibrium Regulation: Modeling Individual Dynamics on Multiple Timescales. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 1-18.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2018.1442224
Moscati, A., Verhulst, B., McKee, K. L., Silberg, J., & Eaves, L. (2018). Cross-Lagged Analysis of Interplay Between Differential Traits in Sibling Pairs: Validation and Application to Parenting Behavior and ADHD Symptomatology. Behavior Genetics, 48(1), 22-33.