Michigan State University Department of Psychology


Cognitive Control Neurolab	Our research focuses on the cognitive processes necessary to achieve one's goals in a constantly changing environment. In our research, we emphasize two cognitive abilities that allow us to successfully perform many everyday tasks - working memory and task switching. Through the use of converging methodologies such as fMRI, neuropsychological, and behavioral techniques, we are able to investigate these abilities in novel ways. Essentially, we emphasize both words in the term "cognitive neuroscience"; that is we attempt to refine theories of working memory and task switching in cognitive psychology by determining whether its claims are supported by models of brain functioning. In the same way, we test predictions about the functions of neural regions based on theories provided by cognitive psychology.
Cognitive Imaging Research Center (CIRC)	Due to the joint efforts of the Departments of Psychology and Radiology, and support from the University, the Cognitive Imaging Research Center (CIRC) was created to expand human imaging science research and to promote the use of modern imaging methods in basic science and clinical investigations of the brain at Michigan State University.
Group for Research and Assessment of Student Potential	The Group for Research and Assessment of Student Potential works to develop and validate alternative measures of college student potential and successful performance/development. Two of our primary instruments are the Academic and Life Experiences Questionnaire (ALEQ) and the Life Events Assessment and Development (LEAD). The ALEQ is questionnaire about students' background experiences, achievements, interests, and attitudes. The LEAD is a situational judgment test assessing how students might react in realistic college situations. Both measures are designed to measure academic and extracurricular pursuits relevant to college life.
Human Development Initiative	The Human Development Initiative is a community of scholars throughout the university interested in development across the lifespan. The initiative is focused on cutting-edge research involving genetics, neuroscience, and psychosocial development and how these different factors intersect.
Knowledge in Development Lab	Our lab researches how children think about information in the world around them and how children seek out and evaluate knowledge throughout their development. We are interested in questions such as: (How do children decide where to look for answers?), (What kinds of information do children share with other people?), (How do children know when an answer is satisfactory?)
Laboratory for Cognitive and Decision Sciences	Using cognitive models to understand causes of risky behavior / Experience-based decision making / Cognitive Architecture of judgment and decision making
Neuroimaging of Perception and Attention Laboratory	How do we perceive the visual world--a world full of different types of sensory stimulation-- brightness, color, movement, shapes, etc? How do we seletively attend to certain things while ingore other things? How does the seletive processing of information guide action and affect memory? These are some of the questions that we are investigating in our laboratory. We study the brain mechanisms of perception and attention using a combination of human psychophysics and funtional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Our ultimate goal is to understand how we attend and how attention influences other cognitive functions. Our approach is to relate behavioral performance to brain activity in order to gain insight into the fundamental mechanisms of perception and attention.
Perception & Attention Lab	My lab investigates how attention alters the way visual information is represented. Some of our research suggests that conscious awareness of visual scenes is very limited, containing only the 3 to 5 items which are the current focus of attention. Further, once attention leaves an object it is no longer consciously represented. This close link between attention and conscious experience highlights the importance of allocating attentional resources efficiently to the “appropriate” parts of a visual scene.
Sleep and Learning Lab	The Sleep and Learning Lab investigates the acquisition and consolidation of complex skills and episodic memory. A primary focus of the lab is on memory consolidation, the processing of memory after initial acquisition. This processing can serve to change memory, often strengthening and stabilizing memory, and increasing resistance to forgetting. We approach this question from several different perspectives, with a special emphasis on the role of sleep in consolidating memory. While we do not understand much about the biological and psychological functions of sleep, there is growing evidence that sleep plays a role in the process of memory consolidation. The lab uses basic behavioral paradigms as well as implementing polysomnography during sleep and using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Cognitive Control Neurolab

Our research focuses on the cognitive processes necessary to achieve one's goals in a constantly changing environment. In our research, we emphasize two cognitive abilities that allow us to successfully perform many everyday tasks - working memory and task switching. Through the use of converging methodologies such as fMRI, neuropsychological, and behavioral techniques, we are able to investigate these abilities in novel ways. Essentially, we emphasize both words in the term "cognitive neuroscience"; that is we attempt to refine theories of working memory and task switching in cognitive psychology by determining whether its claims are supported by models of brain functioning. In the same way, we test predictions about the functions of neural regions based on theories provided by cognitive psychology.

Cognitive Imaging Research Center (CIRC)

Due to the joint efforts of the Departments of Psychology and Radiology, and support from the University, the Cognitive Imaging Research Center (CIRC) was created to expand human imaging science research and to promote the use of modern imaging methods in basic science and clinical investigations of the brain at Michigan State University.

Group for Research and Assessment of Student Potential

The Group for Research and Assessment of Student Potential works to develop and validate alternative measures of college student potential and successful performance/development. Two of our primary instruments are the Academic and Life Experiences Questionnaire (ALEQ) and the Life Events Assessment and Development (LEAD). The ALEQ is questionnaire about students' background experiences, achievements, interests, and attitudes. The LEAD is a situational judgment test assessing how students might react in realistic college situations. Both measures are designed to measure academic and extracurricular pursuits relevant to college life.

Human Development Initiative

The Human Development Initiative is a community of scholars throughout the university interested in development across the lifespan. The initiative is focused on cutting-edge research involving genetics, neuroscience, and psychosocial development and how these different factors intersect.

Knowledge in Development Lab

Our lab researches how children think about information in the world around them and how children seek out and evaluate knowledge throughout their development. We are interested in questions such as: (How do children decide where to look for answers?), (What kinds of information do children share with other people?), (How do children know when an answer is satisfactory?)

Laboratory for Cognitive and Decision Sciences

Using cognitive models to understand causes of risky behavior / Experience-based decision making / Cognitive Architecture of judgment and decision making

Neuroimaging of Perception and Attention Laboratory

How do we perceive the visual world--a world full of different types of sensory stimulation-- brightness, color, movement, shapes, etc? How do we seletively attend to certain things while ingore other things? How does the seletive processing of information guide action and affect memory? These are some of the questions that we are investigating in our laboratory. We study the brain mechanisms of perception and attention using a combination of human psychophysics and funtional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Our ultimate goal is to understand how we attend and how attention influences other cognitive functions. Our approach is to relate behavioral performance to brain activity in order to gain insight into the fundamental mechanisms of perception and attention.

Perception & Attention Lab

My lab investigates how attention alters the way visual information is represented. Some of our research suggests that conscious awareness of visual scenes is very limited, containing only the 3 to 5 items which are the current focus of attention. Further, once attention leaves an object it is no longer consciously represented. This close link between attention and conscious experience highlights the importance of allocating attentional resources efficiently to the “appropriate” parts of a visual scene.

Sleep and Learning Lab

The Sleep and Learning Lab investigates the acquisition and consolidation of complex skills and episodic memory. A primary focus of the lab is on memory consolidation, the processing of memory after initial acquisition. This processing can serve to change memory, often strengthening and stabilizing memory, and increasing resistance to forgetting. We approach this question from several different perspectives, with a special emphasis on the role of sleep in consolidating memory. While we do not understand much about the biological and psychological functions of sleep, there is growing evidence that sleep plays a role in the process of memory consolidation. The lab uses basic behavioral paradigms as well as implementing polysomnography during sleep and using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

MSU Department of Psychology

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