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Attention, Memory, Information Processing, Learning and Skill Acquisition, Language |
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 The Department of Cognitive Sciences has
faculty with research interests covering a broad range of topics in the
area of cognition and information processing. Special areas of emphasis
include: attention, memory, learning and skill acquisition, information
processing, and language. Most of the faculty in Cognitive Sciences are
actively involved in both theoretical and experimental research in
these areas. Attention Research in attention deals with quantifying the selective processing of perceptions and actions. For instance, visual attention research emphasizes the study of selective processing of spatial locations, objects, stimulus attributes, and the relation of attention to visual motion perception. Similar issues are studied in auditory recognition, where attention may focus on different auditory cues. Current faculty research programs investigate: which kinds of features are available preattentively; the neural mechanisms of attentional modulation of perception and action using human brain imaging; quantitative models of how attention is focused, distributed, and switched among sensory stimuli; how well different forms of attention can be entrained and how long attention can be maintained. Memory The ability to learn and remember are fundamental cognitive capacities. Current faculty research programs in memory investigate: the mechanisms of forgetting in different memory domains; metamemory, including the feeling of knowing and judgements of familiarity; assessment of deficits in Alzheimer's disease and aphasia; speed and accuracy of retrieval and its relation to encoding; quantitative models of memory including models of storage and retrieval, of priming, of source discrimination, and of the form of forgetting; the relation of short-term memory function to reading; very short-term visual memory; neural mechanisms of short- and long-term memory using human brain imaging.  Information ProcessingInformation processing analyses of the performance of cognitive tasks trace the sequence of mental operations and their products (information). Current faculty research programs in information processing investigate: the ways that speed is traded for accuracy in both retrieval from memory and in the production of aimed movements; quantitative models that characterize how distributions of response times are related to characteristics of component processes; new measures of the sensitivity and bias of decisions; variability in cognitive parameters. Learning and Skill Acquisition Research on learning and skill acquisition brings together many elements of memory, attention, and information processing. Current faculty research programs in learning and skill acquisition investigate: the development of reading ability; motor learning and generalization in normal subjects and clinical populations; mathematical models of classical learning theory such as Markov processes; the mapping of knowledge spaces to provide a principled basis for computer aided instruction. Language Current faculty research programs in language investigate: the development of language abilities; real-time processing of linguistic stimuli; the structure of the breakdown of linguistic capacities following brain damage; learning of concepts in language; the relationship between language perception and production; the interaction between linguistic capacities and aspects of memory. |
Cognitive Sciences
Psychology & Social Behavior
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