Welcome to the
Spatial Cognition Laboratory
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Welcome to the Spatial Cognition Laboratory |
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Holly received her Bachelor's
degree in mathematics from Dartmouth College in 1987, her Ph.D. from Stanford
University in 1992, and has been a faculty member at Tufts since 1994.
In addition to her work, she enjoys running road races, hiking, and spending
time with her family.
Tad Brunye received his Ph.D. in experimental cognition from Tufts University in May, 2007. He presently is a senior cognitive scientist for the U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM) in Natick, MA, and an Instructor and Visiting Scholar here in the department of psychology. He studies spatial memory, attention, working memory, spatial language and discourse comprehension, multimedia learning, educational system design, and spatial visualizations, with a particular focus on embodied cognition and mental simulation. Methods employed in his investigations include eye tracking, electromyography, functional near-infrared spectroscopy, electroencephalography, and traditional behavioral measures. In 2011, Dr. Brunye was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government upon scientists and engineers in the early stages of their career; just as importantly, he got to meet the president!
Aaron graduated from Tufts University in 2009 with a bachelor's in psychology, completing an honor's thesis in Professor Bharucha's laboratory, examining the effects of several music characteristics on induced affective states. Here in our lab, Aaron is investigating the effects of shifting perspectives in spatial visualizations and high arousal states on navigation through virtual environments. He is also co-managing the daily activities of the laboratory along with Grace Giles.
Steph Gagnon graduated from Dartmouth College in 2010 with a bachelor's in cognitive science and environmental studies, having worked with Professor Richard Granger in the Brain Engineering Laboratory. Steph is the recipient of the SMART Scholarship for Service, a highly competitive annual award given to the most promising young scientists in the nation. At Tufts, Steph has several projects investigating spatial memory and decision making. Some examples include investigations into the neural and affective correlates of associative processing, behavioral and physiological indices of decision uncertainty, implicit and explicit strategies used in spatial decision making, and the form and function of spatial memories acquired from varied formats and perspectives.
Grace recently graduated from Middlebury College with a bachelor's in neuroscience, working in Professor Collaer's laboratory, examining stress-induced impairments in hippocampal-dependent cognitive tasks. Here in our lab, Grace is investigating the acute effects of caffeine and taurine on a range of cognitive processes such as perception, working memory, complex decision making, and navigation. She is also co-managing the daily activities of the laboratory along with Aaron Gardony.
Caroline received her Ph.D. in experimental cognition from Tufts University. She presently is a cognitive psychologist for the U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM) in Natick, MA, and a Visiting Scholar here in our lab. Caroline studies dietary effects on cognitive and physical performance, and spatial memory.
Sarah received her Bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of New Hampshire in 2011, where she worked on studies examining mind wandering, attention capture and visual priming. She also worked as a research fellow at MIT, where she worked on research using eye tracking and fMRI. Here in the lab, she is working on projects examining the embodied basis of spatial cognition, using technologies such as hand movement and eye tracking.
Qi received her
Bachelor’s degree in psychology from Zhejiang University in 2005 and a
Master's degree in cognitive psychology from Southwest University,
China, in 2008. Here in Tufts, she studies spatial cognition, social
influence on spatial memory, mental simulations in spatial
understanding, and the integration of spatial and
non-spatial information. Qi enjoys movies, various kinds of music,
readings, spending time with family and friends besides her work. Recent Graduates A. Reyyan
Bilge, Ph.D. (2009) Undergraduate Research Assistants:
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Professor
Holly A. Taylor, Ph.D.
Tad Brunye,
Ph.D.
Aaron
Gardony
Stephanie
Gagnon
Grace
Giles
Caroline
R. Mahoney,
Ph.D.
Sarah
Tower-Richardi
Qi Wang, M.S.