Psychology Department Faculty Information
Rosemary Krawczyk, Professor
Ph.D., State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1984
Area(s) of specialization (e.g., areas of interest)
Developmental psychology, psychology of women
Research Interests
- Gender development and gender socialization
- Gender and achievement
- Friendship development among very young children
Current research
- What characterizes effective mentoring for women in the sciences?
Selected publications / Selected presentations
- Krawczyk, R. (2005, Oct.). The math gene: faulty assumptions and new perspectives.In G. Grossi (Chair), Are there inherent sex differences in scientific ability?: A critical review of the literature. Symposium conducted at the conference on Women, Gender, and Science, New Paltz, New York.
- Krawczyk, R. (2005, Oct.). Mentoring women toward achievement: Characteristics of effective mentors. In A. Nash (Chair), AOld (and young) girls’ networks and women-friendly labs: Survival strategies of women scientists. Symposium conducted at the conference on Women, Gender, and Science, New Paltz, New York.
Current courses:
- Psyc 4/533 Child Psychology
- Psyc 4/560 Psychology of Women
- Psyc 4/597 Field Experience
Sarah K. Sifers
Stress and Resiliency- I study stress and resiliency in children. That means I want to know what enables children who have experienced stressful life events (parental divorce, moving, etc.) to be okay after the event. In particular, I'm interested in spirituality, family environment, and social support in protecting kids from the negative effects of stressful events. I'm open to looking at other factors that protect children, interventions to help children better cope with life events, and looking at children's reactions to specific life events.
Current Projects:
- Resilience - Data collection is currently underway on a survey of stressful life events, family environment, social support, spirituality and child behavioral and emotional functioning. For questions about research opportunities, please email me at sarah.sifers@mnsu.edu.
- Sifers Children's Spirituality Scale- The results of a study piloting the Sifers Children's Spirituality Scale, which I wrote are being prepared for publication. For questions about the Sifers Children's Spirituality Scale, please email me at sarah.sifers@mnsu.edu.
- Ethics- I'm interested in ethics in psychology. In particular, I am currently working on a study of cultural competence in licensed psychologists. That is, I am looking at whether psychologists are effective at working with people from different backgrounds and what about their training or experience makes them effective.
Current Projects
Cultural Competence- I am currently preparing for publication a national survey of cultural competence, training, and experience with diverse populations in licensed psychologists. A follow up survey will be conducted online spring of 2006.
Dr. Andi Rittman Lassiter
Degree, institution, year awarded
Ph.D. George Mason University 2004
Area(s) of specialization (e.g., areas of interest)
Industrial/Organizational Psychology
Research Interests
- Training and Development
- Team performance and Leadership
- Collaborative Learning
- Dispersed performance
Current research
Selected publications / Selected presentations
- Orvis, K.L & Lassiter, A.L.R. (2005) Teaching Using Virtual Teams: The Role of the Instructor. Chapter in Teaching and Learning with Virtual Teams , S. P. Ferris & S. H. Godar (Eds).
- Lassiter, A. L. R & Perez, L. (2006). Helping Practitioners Get the Most from Academic Collaborations. Symposium proposed for the 2006 Society for Industrial and organizational Psychology Conference, Dallas, TX.
Courses taught
- Employee Selection
- Performance Appraisal
- Group Psychology
- Personnel Training
- History of Psychology
Dawn N. Albertson, Ph.D.
Degree, institution, year awarded
Ph.D. in Cellular & Clinical Neurobiology
Wayne State University School of Medicine, 2005
Area(s) of specialization
I am focused on the biological basis of behavior, in particular the molecular and genetic contributions. For the last 8 years my focus has been on neuropsychopharmacology and the molecular basis of drug abuse and addiction.
Research Interests
Although drug abuse and addiction has been studied extensively for decades, the underlying molecular mechanisms are still not well understood. Drug abuse is thought to induce long-term cellular and behavioral adaptations as a result of alterations in gene expression. With the recent sequencing of the human genome, we now have the unique opportunity to catalogue and understand the molecular consequences of drug abuse and addiction.
Until recently, the dogma of drug abuse research stated that all drugs of abuse, regardless of type, activate the mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic reward pathway resulting in a flood of dopamine to the brain's pleasure center (the nucleus accumbens). This dopamine flood has been directly associated with the pleasurable feelings and reinforcing properties of drug administration.
In my previous research, we utilized human postmortem brain to examine gene expression changes that resulted from the chronic administration of cocaine and heroin - two drugs of abuse that work by very different mechanisms. Our data suggest that the profiles of nucleus accumbens gene expression associated with chronic heroin or cocaine abuse are largely unique, despite what are thought to be common effects of these drugs on dopamine neurotransmission in this brain region. This data necessitates a reexamination of our current assumptions about the commonality of molecular mechanisms associated with all abused substances.
Current research
As a new faculty member, my research agenda is in the developmental stages but now finding myself in the Midwest, I am interested in expanding my previous research beyond cocaine and heroin and into studies of methamphetamine.
Selected publications / Selected presentations
- Albertson, D. N., Schmidt, C. J., Kapatos, G., & Bannon, M. J. (2006). Comparison of Gene Expression Profiles from the Nucleus Accumbens of Human Cocaine and Heroin Abusers. Submitted to Neuropsychopharmacology.
- Bannon, M. J., Kapatos, G., & Albertson, D. N. (2005). Gene Expression Profiling in the Brains of Human Cocaine Abusers. Addiction Biology, 10(1), 119-26.
- Albertson, D. N., Pruetz, B., Schmidt, C. J., Kuhn, D. M., Kapatos, G., & Bannon, M. J. (2004). Gene expression profile of the nucleus accumbens of human cocaine abusers: Evidence for dysregulation of myelin. Journal of Neurochemistry, 88(5), 1211-9.
Courses taught
- PSYC 101 - Introduction to Psychology
- PSYC 420 - Drugs and Behavior
- PSYC 421 - Biopsychology (Fall 2006)
- PSYC 429 - Drug Dependence
- PSYC 490 - Drug and Alcohol Workshop
- Summer workshop - Drugs & Your Brain
Dan Sachau, Professor, Director of the Graduate Program in I/O Psychology
Degree, institution, year awarded
Ph.D., Psychology, University of Utah, 1989
Area(s) of specialization (e.g., areas of interest)
Social Psychology,
Research Interests
- Attitude
- Motivation
- Self-presentationa strategies
- I/O psychology
Current research
I am working on three research topics at the moment. First, I am studying the planning fallacy in the workplace. The planning fallacy is the tendency to underestimate one's own task completion times. My second area of interest is escalating consumer expectations. I am testing the exptent to which escalating expectations reduce satisfaction. My third area of interest is self-presentaion strategies. I am collaborating with Bryan Gibson at Central Michigan University and we are studying the benefits and costs of self-effacing strategies including sandbagging (claiming to be less capable that you really are) and self -handicapping.
Courses taught
Organization Development, Multivariate Statistics, Social Psychology, Marketing Psychology, Motivation
Vinai Norasakkunkit, Ph.D.
Degree, institution, year awarded
Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology), University of Massachusetts - Boston, 2003
Area(s) of specialization (e.g., areas of interest)
- cultural psychology
- culture and self
- intersection between social psychology and clinical psychology in cross-cultural perspective
- intersection of social psychology, evolutionary psychology, and behavioral economics
- Examining the role of implicit values and attitudes versus explicit values and attitudes in culturally patterned psychological processes and cultural change
- Understanding the nature of Japanese and American mentalities
Research Interests
Cultural influences on: 1) self-perception, 2) basic cognition and attention, 3) emotional tendencies, 4) motivational tendencies, 5) social cognition, 6) concepts of well-being, and 6) etiology and cognitive manifestations of emotional distress (e.g., social anxiety and depression).
Most of the data collection is between US and Japan.
Current research
I am currently working on several research projects, including ones that I am collaborating with graduate and undergraduate students. However, I have three main projects that I am personally working on with more projects under development. The three projects are summarized below:
Project title: Standardizing Cultural Priming Procedure in the United States and Japan
Summary: The following study addresses a movement in cross-cultural psychological research towards being able to treat culture as a true independent variable by utilizing an experimental method called cultural priming (i.e., deliberately activating one or another cultural mode of thought and being able to randomly assign participants to one of these conditions). While social cognition research in cultural priming has established evidence that Americans can be effectively primed to think relatively more like an Easterner or relatively more like a Westerner, the same methods do not seem to be effective in priming Japanese populations to think relatively more like an Easterner or relatively more like a Westerner (see Norasakkunkit, 2003). The current study attempts to develop an equally effective standardized priming method for both Japanese and American populations so that such a method can be used for future cross-cultural research, especially since cross-cultural research traditionally requires equivalency of methods to produce credible conclusions about cross-cultural differences or similarities.
Project title: Self-focused social anxiety and other-focused social-anxiety: Culture as a mediator between attention strategies and social anxiety.
Summary: The purpose of this study is to attempt to examine how culture mediates perceptual and attentional processes among individuals who score high on social anxiety in order to test the thesis that socially anxious individuals in the United States and Japan may be adopting perceptual and attentional strategies afforded by their respective cultures in excessive ways.
Project title: The Cultural Construction of Emotion and Subjective Well-Being:
The Role of Social Situations in Japan and the United States in Shaping Emotional Experience and Subjective Well-Being.
Summary: The aim of the current proposed cross-national study is to examine the impact of specific cultural situations and loose sets of meanings and practices that give rise to culturally variable emotions and emotional tendencies. It is hoped that this study will give further support to the view that human diversity is also represented by psychological diversity, which includes diversity in experiencing and expressing divergent categories of emotions. Furthermore, this study should provide support that the culturally variable experience and expression of particular categories of emotions are products of participating in a world of situations and loose sets of meanings and practices that shape natural emotional tendencies and implicit preferences for culturally congruent emotions and their relationship to emotional well-being.
Other projects in the early stages
- Examining the social, economic, environmental, and technological factors that contribute to a social problem called “Hikikomori” in Japan and its possible tendencies in the United States.
- Examining the role of valence (positive versus negative) in cultural images e.g., “Declaration of Independence” versus “Slavery”) as visual stimuli for priming culturally patterned modes of thought.
- Examining the role of implicit nationalism versus explicit nationalism and genuine patriotism (the predictive opposite of nationalism) in the success of adapting to a dramatically different culture.
- Understanding the relationship between cognitive dissonance and capacity to adjust to difficult situations from a cultural framework.
Selected publications / Selected presentations
- Norasakkunkit, V., & Kalick, M.S. (under review). Self-construal priming and emotional distress: Testing for cultural biases in the concept of distress and culture-related correlates of well-being. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology.
- Lee, Y-T., Norasakkunkit, V, Liu, Li, Zhang, J, & M. Zhou (under review). Taoist altruism and wateristic personality: East and West. In Vakoch, D. (Ed)’s Altruism in Cross-Cultural Perspective. .
- Uchida, Y., Norasakkunkit, V., & Kitayama, S. (2004). Cultural constructions of happiness: Theory and empirical evidence. Journal of Happiness Studies, 5, 223-239.
Penney, S., Norasakkunkit, V., Leigh, J. (2002). New leaders for a new century. Building Leadership Bridges.
- Norasakkunkit, V., & Kalick, M.S. (2002). Culture, ethnicity, and emotional distress measures: The role of self-construal and self-enhancement. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 33 (1), 56-70.
Kitayama, S., Markus, H.R., Matsumoto, H., & Norasakkunkit, V. (1997). Individual and collective processes in the construction of self: self-enhancement in the United States and self-criticism in Japan. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72 (6), 1245-1267.
Courses taught
-
Cultural Psychology
- Personality Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Statistics
- Research Methods and Design
- Introduction to Psychology
- History of Psychology
Link to personal website: http://krypton.mnsu.edu/~norasv
Kevin J. Filter, Assistant Professor
Degree, institution, year awarded
Ph.D., University of Oregon, 2004
Area(s) of specialization
- School Psychology
- School-wide Positive Behavior Support
- Functional Behavioral Assessment
- Curriculum-Based Measurement
Research Interests
- Academic interventions for problem behavior
- Validity of functional behavioral assessment
- Effective interventions in school-wide positive behavior support
- Systems change and the role of the school psychologist
Current research
- What features of functionally aversive stimuli in applied settings, particularly academic classrooms, can be modified to improve behavior?
- How broadly do findings from traditional functional analyses generalize in applied contexts?
- How effective are function-based behavior interventions relative to non-function-based behavior interventions?
Selected publications
- Filter, K. J., McKenna, M. K., Benedict, E. A., Horner, R. H., Todd, A. W., & Watson, J. (In Press). Check in/ Check out: A Post-Hoc Evaluation of an Efficient, Secondary-Level Targeted Intervention for Reducing Problem Behaviors in Schools. Education and Treatment of Children.
- Calderhead, W., Filter, K. J., & Albin, R. (In Press; March 2006). Incremental effects of interspersed math items on task-related behavior. Journal of Behavioral Education.
- Patten, C. A., Martin, J. E., Filter, K. J., & Wolter, T. D. (2002). Utility and accuracy of collateral reports of smoking status among 256 abstinent alcoholic smokers treated for smoking cessation. Addictive Behaviors, 27, 687-696.
Selected presentations
- Filter, K. J., Horner, R. H., McKenna, M. K., Todd, A. W., & Fairbanks, S. (2006). Check in/ Check out: Empirical Support for a Secondary-Level, Targeted Intervention. Symposium Presentation at the 3rd Annual Convention for the Association for Positive Behavior Support, Reno, NV.
- Filter, K. J. (2005). The Functional Relationship Between Problem Behavior and Academic Variables. Symposium Presentation at the 37th Annual Convention for the National Association of School Psychologists, Atlanta, GA.
- Filter, K. J. (2004). School-Wide Positive Behavior Support: An Overview. Presentation at the Minnesota Department of Education Conference for Special Education, Duluth, MN.
- Filter, K. J., & Calderhead, W. (2002). Incremental effects of interspersed math items on task-related behavior. Symposium Presentation at the 28th Annual Convention for the Association for Behavior Analysis, Toronto, Ontario.
Courses taught
- PSYC 101 Psychology
- PSYC 103 Psychology Today
- PSYC 303 Introduction to Professional Psychology
- PSYC 4/576 Behavior Therapy
Paul Brandon
Professor of Psychology
PhD in Experimental Psychology
University of Michigan, 1969
Area(s) of specialization
Behavior Analysis
Research Interests
Reinforcement schedule behavior
Current research
Theoretic/philosophic issues
Selected publications / Selected presentations
- Brandon, Paul K. (ABA 2004). Behavior of the listener: Dichotomies True and False
- David C. Palmer, John Eshleman, Paul Brandon, T. V. Joe Layng, Christopher McDonough, Jack Michael, Ted Schoneberger, Nathan Stemmer, Ray Weitzman, Matthew Normand (2004). Dialogue on Private Events. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, Volume 20, 2004.
- Brandon, Paul K. (2004). Review of 'Days of Great Illumination: B.F. Skinner in the Gold Medal Flour Mill'. Verbal Behavior Newsletter, 4(1)
- Brandon, P. K. & Houlihan, D. (1997). Applying Behavioral Theory to Practice: An Examination of the Behavioral Momentum Metaphor. Behavioral Interventions, 12(3), 113-131.
- Houlihan, D. & Brandon, P. K. (1996). Compliant in a Moment: A Commentary on Nevin. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis., 29, 549-555
Courses taught
- Intro Behavior Analysis (Psych 207)
- Advanced Behavior Analysis (Psych 4/507)
- Behavior theory and Philosophy (Psych 649)
Kimberly J. O'Farrell
Assistant Professor
Degree, institution, year awarded
Ph.D., Tulane University, 2002
Area(s) of specialization
Social and Experimental Psychology
Research Interests
- interpersonal and organizational feedback
- the self
- close relationships
- sexual selection (evolution)
- social allergens
Current research
- Developing a model of responses to perceived relational devaluation in personal and professional relationships
- Assessing the nature of social allergens at work
- Examining individuals' responses to potential flirtation from a nonmate
Selected publications / Selected presentations
- O’Farrell, K.J., & Ruscher, J. B. (submitted for review, 2005). Self-relevant cognition in response to perceptions of relational devaluation. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
- O’Farrell, K. J., Rosenthal, E. B., & O’Neal, E. C. (2003). Relationship satisfaction and responsiveness to nonmates’ flirtation: An evolutionary explanation. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 20, 663-674.
- Ruscher, J. B., Cralley, E. L., & O’Farrell, K. J. (2005). How newly acquainted dyads develop shared stereotypic impressions of others through conversation. Group Processes and Interpersonal Relationships, 8, 259-270.
- Moore, N. L., & O’Farrell, K. J. (2006, May). Do MSF comment characteristics help or hinder perceived performance improvements? Symposium accepted for presentation at the Society for Industrial/ Organizational Psychologists Annual Meeting, Dallas, TX.
- O'Farrell, K. J. (2004, July). A proposed model for responses to relational devaluation. Symposium presented at the International Association for Relationship Research Annual Conference, Madison, WI.
Courses taught
- Research Design and Statistics (Psych 610)
- Attitudes (Psych 441)
- Experimental Psychology (Psych 211)
- Introduction to Psychology (Psych 101)
- Love and Flirtation Workshop (Psych 490)
- Personality Psychology (Psych 456)
- Sex and Evolution Workshop (Psych 490)
- Social Psychology (Psych 340)
Barry J. Ries, Ph.D.
Director of Clinical Training
Degree, institution, year awarded, Ph.D.
Oklahoma State University
1996
Area(s) of specialization
- Clinical Psychology, Anxiety Disorders, Behavioral Medicine
- Research Interests [can be bulleted points]
- Adult Anxiety Disorders
- Pain
- Behavioral Medicine
Current research
- The impact of social anxiety and nonverbal audience feedback on anxiety and attribution in an impromptu speech task
- Analysis of insight using a behavioral avoidance task: Checkers versus washers.
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Clusters Associated with Physical Health and Health Care Utilization in Rural Primary Care Patients
- Exposed to a Natural Disaster
Selected publications / Selected presentations
- Carter, L. E., McNeil, D. W., Vowles, K. E., Sorrell, J. T., Turk, C. L., Ries, B. J., & Hopko, D. R. (2002) Effects of emotion on pain reports, tolerance and physiology. Pain Research and Management, 7, 21 – 30.
- Boone, M.L., McNeil, D W., Masia, C., Turk, C.L., Carter, L.E., Ries, B.J., Lewin, M. R. (1999). Multimodal comparisons of social phobia subtypes and avoidant personality disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 13, 271-292.
- Ries, B. J., McNeil, D. W., Boone, M. L, Turk, C. L, Carter, L. E., & Heimberg, R. G. (1998). Assessment of contemporary social phobia verbal report instruments. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 983 - 994.
- Cisler, J. M., Widner, R. J., Powers, S., Brockel, M., Farnsworth, D., & Ries, B. J. (2005, November). Examining Information Processing in Spider Phobia Using the Rapid Serial Visual Presentation Paradigm. Presented at the 39th Annual Convention for the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies,Washington, D.C.
- Farnsworth, D., Wright, J., Brocket, M., Cisler, J., & Ries, B. J. (2005, November) Math Performance as a Function of Math Anxiety and Arousal Performance Theory. Presented at the 39th Annual Convention for the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Washington, D.C.
- Nelson, E. A., Kraft J. E., Peters, C. L., & Ries, B. J. (2005, November). Social Anxiety and the Recall of Interpersonal Information as a Function of Attractiveness of Conversation Partners. Presented at the 39th Annual Convention for the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Washington, D.C.
Courses taught
- Abnormal Psychology
- Clinical Psychopathology and Behavioral Therapy
- Clinical Case Management
Dr. Jeffrey A. Buchanan
Ph.D., University of Nevada, 2004
Area(s) of specialization
Applied Behavior Analysis, Alzheimer's disease and related conditions
Research Interests [can be bulleted points]
Management of challenging behaviors in dementia patients
Identification of preferences in nonverbal populations
Education of caregivers of persons with dementia
Ageism
Benefits of written emotional expression on physical and psychological well-being
Current research
We are currently working on projects that involve examining methods for identifying preferred activities/stimuli in persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD) that have impaired verbal abilities. We are also conducting a study examining the effects of an intervention to reduce aggressive behavior in persons with AD. In addition, I have students working on a study that will involve assessing college student's knowledge and stereotypes about older adults. However, I am open to working with students to develop their own research ideas in the general area of geropsychology.
Selected Publications
- Buchanan, J.A. & Berg, T. (in press). Evidence based practices by service delivery
process. To appear in E. McDonel Herr, S. Levkoff, H. Chen, J. E. Fisher, J. McIntyre (Eds.) Beyond Experience: Implementing Evidence-Based Behavioral Health Practices for Older Adults. New York: Springer
- Fisher, J.E., Cardinal, C., Yury, C. & Buchanan, J.A. (in press). Dementia. In J.E. Fisher
& W. O’Donohue (Eds.) Practice guidelines for evidence-based psychotherapy. New York: Springer.
- Henderson, D., Varble, D., & Buchanan, J. (2003). Elder abuse: Guidelines for treatment.
In W.T. O’Donohue & E.R. Levensky (Eds.), Handbook of forensic psychology. San Diego, CA: Elsevier.
- Yury, C.A., Buchanan, J.A., Gentry, R.A., LeRoux, H., & Fisher, J.E. (2003). Assessing
mental competency in the elderly. In W.T. O’Donohue & E.R. Levensky (Eds.), Handbook of forensic psychology. San Diego, CA: Elsevier.
- Fisher, J.E. & Buchanan, J.A. (2003). Stimulus preference assessment. In W. O’Donohue,
J.E. Fisher, & S. Hayes (Eds.), Cognitive-behavior therapy: A clinician’s step-by-step guide to empirically-supported treatments (pp. 402-406). New York: Wiley and Sons.
- O’Donohue, W., & Buchanan, J.A. (2002). The mismeasure of psychologists: A review
of the psychometrics of licensing requirements. In W. O’Donohue & K.E. Ferguson (Eds.), Handbook of professional ethics for psychologists (pp. 81-100). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
- Buchanan, J.A. & Fisher, J.E. (2002). The use of noncontingent reinforcement in the
treatment of disruptive vocalization in elderly dementia patients. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 35, 99-103.
- Henderson, D., Buchanan, J.A., & Fisher, J.E. (2002). Violence and the elderly
population: Issues for prevention. In P. Schewe (Ed.), Preventing violence in relationships: Interventions across the life span (pp. 223-246). Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association.
- O’Donohue, W., Buchanan, J.A., & Fisher, J.E. (2000). Characteristics of empirically-supported treatments. Journal of Psychotherapy Research and Practice, 9, 69-74
Selected presentations
- Buchanan, J.A. & Berg, T. (2005, October). “Strategies for managing challenging
behaviors in persons with dementia.” Presentation at the 11th annual Alzheimer’s and
Dementias conference, Mankato, MN.
- Buchanan, J.A. (2005, September). “Falls and feelings.” Presentation at the Putting the
Breaks on Falls conference sponsored by the Age Well Network, Mankato, MN.
- Fisher, J.E. & Buchanan, J.A. (2004, November). “Designing restraint-free environments
for elderly persons with cognitive disorders.” Workshop presented at the meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, Washington, D.C.
- Buchanan, J.A., Fisher, J.E., & Hadden, J.E. (2003, October). Presentation of preferred
stimuli as an intervention for escape-maintained aggressive behavior in dementia patients. Paper presented at the meeting of the Mid-American Association for Behavior Analysis, Milwaukee, WI.
- Fisher, J.E., Buchanan, J.A., & Fredericks, D. (2000, November). Behavior analytic
interventions for dementia patients: Restraint-free methods for maintaining behavioral repertoires. Paper presented at the meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, New Orleans.
- Hadden, J.E., Fisher, J.E., Buchanan, J.A., Fredericks, D., & Porter J. (1999, November).
Assessing the functions of problem behavior in dementia patients. Paper presented at the meeting of The Gerontological Society of America, San Francisco, CA.
Courses taught
- Abnormal Psychology
- Health Psychology
- Psychology of Aging
- Behavioral Assessment
Jonathan W. Page, Assistant Professor
Degree, institution, year awarded
Ph.D., University of Nevada, 2004
Area(s) of specialization
Vision and Cognitive Neuroscience
Research Interests
My research interests are in finding and describing the functional aspects of certain neural processes related to cognition, such as visual imagination. I am also interested in the differences in brain processing between experts and novices. For example, does a pilot’s brain process certain and competing visual and auditory stimuli differently than a non-pilot? To assess brain processing, I generally use electrophysiological techniques, like evoked-potential measures.
Current research
Some of the areas currently being pursued in my lab:
- Visualization at early visual cortex
- Cortical measures of crossmodal attention
- Cortical measures of attentional blink
Selected publications / Selected presentations
- Page JW, Crognale MA, & Duhamel P (Submitted). Evidence for visualization at early visual cortex.
- Page JW, Findley J, & Crognale MA (2005). An electrophysiological analysis of the effects of Ginkgo biloba on visual processing in older healthy adults. Journals of Gerontology: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 60(10), 1246-1251.
- Page JW & Crognale MA (2005). Aging in the visual pathways: Behavior and electrophysiology. Vision Research, 45(11), 1481-1489.
Courses taught
- PSYC 101 – Psychology
- PSYC 201 – Statistics for Psychology
- PSYC 5/404 – Memory & Cognition
- PSYC 5/413 – Sensation & Perception
- PSYC 5/421 – Biopsychology
