Susan Ravizza
- Associate Professor
- Associate Chair and Director of Undergraduate Education
- Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience
- 517-432-3366
- Office: Psychology 285C
- ravizzas@msu.edu
BIOGRAPHY
PhD, Psychology, University of California, Berkley, 2000
MA, Communication, Purdue University, 1992
BS, Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1990
Curriculum Vitae: Susan Ravizza
RESEARCH
Dr. Ravizza's 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 attention. 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 attention 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.