Mentor: Dr. Anna Kosovicheva
Assistant Professor
Project Description
If you’re watching a tennis match, you’ve probably seen a player argue with a line judge about whether a ball was in-bounds or not. Surely they can both agree about where the ball bounced? You’d think this is a pretty simple task, but work from our lab has shown that people can disagree about simple visual judgments, like where they saw a brief flash of light. Our goal is to understand why these individual differences in visual perception exist, whether they are stable over time, and how these differences can influence more complex behavior (for example, where people tend to look around in a scene). To study this, we’ll build an experiment in which participants make judgments about the locations of objects on a computer screen and we will record their eye movements using an eye tracker. You’ll be involved in all stages of the research process, from developing the experiment, to collecting data from participants, analyzing and interpreting data, and presenting the results. For this project, you’ll have the opportunity to learn how to design and develop the experiment, collect the data, and analyze it using R or Matlab. This is a great project for students who are interested in individual differences and want to gain a deeper understanding of perceptual and cognitive psychology. No specific computer programming experience is required for this project, but good computer skills are a plus.
Mentorship Statement
Studying visual perception is an interdisciplinary endeavor, so one of the most exciting parts of mentorship is getting to work with students who have different backgrounds, interests, and skills. I find that it’s important to take an individualized approach, so that students get the research training that is appropriate to their experience. As a mentor, I try to understand each student’s goals through our individual meetings and work with them to help them develop the skills that they need to achieve them. Students working on this project will also have the opportunity to attend lab meetings to learn about ongoing projects in applied visual perception, and develop skills in programming and statistics. I always find it exciting to see students gain experience and confidence through the research process, and look forward to sharing my enthusiasm for vision research.