The Memory and Attention Laboratory at the University of South Dakota is part of the Human Factors & Applied Cognition program in the Department of Psychology. We study memory, attention, and multitasking in humans using behavioral experiments, eye tracking, pupillometry, and computational modeling. Our work informs current theories of how working memories are formed, the causes of forgetting, and the relationship between working memory and higher-order cognitive behavior.
We are looking to recruit a new graduate student to the lab to start in either Fall 2027 or Fall 2028. If you are interested explore the lab website and get in touch if our work sounds like something you'd like to be involved in.
We are looking to recruit a new graduate student to the lab to start in either Fall 2027 or Fall 2028. If you are interested explore the lab website and get in touch if our work sounds like something you'd like to be involved in.
Current Research in the Lab
The Role of Free Time in Memory Creation
Our initial sensory representations are fleeting and forgotten in a matter of seconds, at most. Our work has demonstrated that even the memories we intend to maintain are lost in a similar fashion unless some time is given for attention to dwell on the internal sensory representation. Our present work explores how free time is used to create working memories, tests contrasting theories of working memory encoding or consolidation, and determines how the processes differ from memory maintenance activity.
Visual Masking in Working Memory
When we see two images in quick succession our visual system integrates them into a single percept. Perceptual masking is a related concept where a target image is unavailable to conscious perception not because it is below the threshold for visual detection, but because a second visual image interferes with its perceptual representation through integration or interruption. Our lab studies similar masking effects in visual working memory with an eye for differentiating perceptual and memory processing and determining the role of integration versus interruption in post-perceptual masking.
Feedback Effects on Working Memory Performance
Our working memory is typically occupied by goal-relevant thoughts when we are doing cognitive work. At least that is the ideal situation. Feedback may provide goal-relevant information that helps people form strategies and maintain task focus. Feedback may also be distracting, increasing cognitive workload and occupying working memory capacity. We are investigating various styles and schedules of feedback to determine the most effective ways of optimizing working memory performance.
Exploring Everyday Memory & Cognition
Recent work in our lab suggests that many of the assumptions made about how memory works in laboratory studies may not apply to everyday life activities. To address this we are exploring tasks at the intersection of typical laboratory task and daily living tasks. While most researchers use an ideal observer model of understanding cognitive processing, we think that individuals are rarely ideal in their cognitive functions during activities of daily living. This has motivated a new focus on "bad" participants and performance. We seek to better understand the typical failures in cognitive function as a way to better understand how we can improve cognitive performance in daily life without asking individuals to just "get good".