Cognition, Neuroscience, and Social Psychology

Training in Cognition is based on faculty-student mentoring. It focuses on both Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience. Students develop individual programs of research and scholarship while working closely with one or more faculty members. The primary aim of the concentration is to train students who will excel in research careers in academic or applied settings. Coursework emphasizes experimental methodology, and students gain a great deal of experience designing and conducting research. Areas of strength include Memory, Visual Cognition, Learning in Education, Judgment and Decision-Making, Language Development, and Executive Processes. Labs are available for cognitive modeling, psychophysics, the recording of dense-array human EEG and event-related potentials, neuroanatomical and neurochemical work, transcript and interaction analysis, image processing, and video taping. Research participants are often drawn from our large pool of undergraduate psychology students as well as from one of the university’s child care centers and elementary schools.

During the first year, students take general Cognitive, Social, and/or Physiological Psychology survey courses and a sequence of courses in statistics and methodology. There are also a variety of advanced courses and seminars offered each semester for more specialized training. A unique aspect of our training program is the opportunity to learn about the interplay of cognition, neuroscience, and social psychology through coursework, research collaboration, and weekly research presentations.

Please browse the websites of the individual faculty members below to learn about their varied interests and approaches. When you find someone whose interests you share most, you may contact him or her directly.

Core Cognition faculty

• Paul Atchley - cognitive factors related to attention and driving
• Judith Becker Bryant - language development, language socialization
• Chad Dubé - memory, perception, computational modeling, decision making
• Ken Malmberg - human memory, mathematical and computational modeling, aging and memory
• Jay Michaels - Psychology or religion; social and cognitive influences on religion and their connection to health and well-being; social networks
• Mark Pezzo - judgment biases, medical decision making, judgments of offense
• Geoffrey Potts - executive systems and their involvement in personality and mental illness; event-related potentials
• Doug Rohrer - learning and memory
• Christine Ruva - psychology and law; memory, social perception, implicit bias, and group processes in jury decision-making
• Thomas Sanocki - vision and cognition, attention, cognitive engineering, reading
• Sandra Schneider - judgment and decision making, framing
• Elizabeth Schotter - eye movements & cognition; Language processing; visual processing; reading

Researchers in the fields of Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience are studying the complex relationship between the brain and behavior. The primary aim of the Neuroscience concentration at USF is to develop independent, creative neuroscientists who will pursue their research and teaching interests in academic and applied settings. This is accomplished through: 1) closely mentored, rigorous research training in labs; 2) a flexible curriculum to accommodate diverse interests; and 3) teaching experience.

Our neuroscience faculty have diverse research programs studying brain functioning in animals and humans. Some of our faculty conduct behavioral, neuroanatomical, and pharmacological research in the areas of comparative vision and cognition, the neurobiology of drug addiction, and brain mechanisms involved in stress and memory in animals. Other faculty conduct research investigating how the human brain processes information by using dense-array EEG measurement with recordings of event-related potentials. Students can complement their training with coursework and research in the Departments of Chemistry and Biology at USF, and the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology at USF’s College of Medicine, as well as gain research experience at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, Byrd Alzheimer’s Center and Research Institute, and Center for Aging and Brain Repair, which are all located near the Psychology building.

During the first year, students have the opportunity to begin their research program and complete foundation courses in Cognitive, Physiological, and/or Social Psychology, as well as to take courses in statistics and methodology. In subsequent years, students select more specialized content and methodology courses and seminars related to their areas of research specialization. A unique aspect of our training program is the opportunity students have to learn about the interplay of cognition, neuroscience, and social psychology through coursework, research collaboration, and weekly research presentations.

Please browse the websites of the individual faculty members below to learn about their varied interests and approaches. When you find someone whose interests you share most, you may contact him or her directly.

Core Neuroscience faculty include:

• Ruthann Atchley - Neuro influences in language processing and depression
• David Diamond - physiology of behavior, psychology of learning, neurobiology of memory, disturbance of brain and behavior by stress
• Cheryl Kirstein - neuroscience, development of addiction, drugs of abuse, psychopharmacology
• Jennifer O'Brien - human visual attention and perception; cognitive declines in older adults
• Max Owens - brain functioning and mood disorders, cognitive control, emotion regulation, working memory
• Geoffrey Potts - executive systems and their involvement in personality and mental illness; Event-related potentials
• Toru Shimizu - visual information processing, animal cognition, comparative neuroscience, and evolution of brain and cognition

Overview

The Social Psychology specialization at the University of South Florida is a research-based training program leading to the Ph.D. degree. We are part of a larger experimental psychology area, CNS (Cognition, Neuroscience, and Social). The primary aim of the specialization is to train social psychologists who will excel in research careers in academic or other settings. Our faculty has expertise in a variety of experimental and correlational methodologies which provides opportunities for building strong theoretical and methodological foundations in social psychology and related fields (including health and developmental psychology).

The social being is a product of cultural and developmental forces, and the social context has a profound impact on health and well-being. Our goal is to expose graduate students to all of these perspectives, as reflected in the diverse research interests of our faculty.

A unique aspect of our training program is the opportunity students have to learn about the interplay of cognition, neuroscience, and social and developmental psychology through coursework and weekly research presentations. All students must complete a minimum number of graduate courses selected from a flexible curriculum. However, the bulk of a student's education comes from hands-on experience in designing and conducting research.

The program emphasizes close student-faculty interactions. Individualized programs of study, coordinated jointly between the student and members of his or her graduate committee, permit flexibility in constructing a graduate experience that fits the student's goals and interests. During the first year, students complete foundation courses in Social as well as Cognitive and/or Physiological, and courses in statistics and methodology. In subsequent years, students select more specialized content and methodology courses and seminars related to their areas of research specialization.

Core Social Psychology Faculty

• Jennifer Bosson - gender beliefs, masculinity, stereotypes and prejudice, discrimination, culture
• Anthony Coy - dyadic processes in romantic relationships; environmental psychology
• Juliana French - romantic relationship formation and satisfaction; Factors that alter mechanisms underlying relationship maintenance (e.g., hormonal contraceptives)
• Jamie Goldenberg (Area Director) - terror management theory, the body and sex, objectification of women, health applications
• Jay Michaels - Psychology or religion; social and cognitive influences on religion and their connection to health and well-being; social networks
• Tiina Ojanen - social cognitive and affective processes involved in the development of aggression, social withdrawn behaviors, and social adjustment among peers; social goals and motivation
• Mark Pezzo - judgment biases, medical decision making, judgments of offense
• Wendy Rote - adolescent development; Parent-adolescent relationships
• Christine Ruva - psychology and law; memory, social perception, implicit bias, and group processes in jury decision-making
• Kristen Salomon - social/health psychology, cardiovascular psychophysiology, ethnic discrimination and cardiovascular disease
• Joe Vandello - cultural psychology, conflict and violence, race, manhood, social perceptions of disadvantaged groups