The study of human cognition and perception involves investigating the mental processes that allow one to successfully interact with the world, and includes the study of the basic input systems that receive information, the motor systems that afford interaction with the world, the internal representation systems that enable learning, memory, and belief systems, and the control systems that regulate how these processes interact with each other. Our research strengths include visual perception, sensory-motor integration, language processing, and metaphor comprehension, memory, conscious and unconscious processing, music cognition, the way people think, reason, and solve problems, general intelligence, and individual differences in problem solving abilities. Research in our department also involves study of the manner in which any of these sub-areas develops throughout childhood, and degrades with normal aging or neural damage. We use a variety of approaches to study these issues, including behavioral studies, EEG, fMRI, fNIRS, eye tracking, and connectionist modeling. Finally, the cognition and perception area contributes to the undergraduate program in Cognitive Science, which emphasizes the strong working relationships among researchers in psychology, neuroscience, computer science, linguistics, and philosophy, in the common pursuit of understanding the mind.
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