Cognitive Program Description

I.  Nature of the Program

Ph.D. students in Cognitive Psychology become scientists and university teachers by working with faculty members who have varied research interests. Current research emphases in the program include memory, attention, judgment and decision making. Emphasis is placed on both empirical research and on theorizing, the latter often in the form of mathematical or computer-driven models.

Students may work with faculty from other areas in the Department, such as Developmental Psychology or Sensory, Neural, and Perceptual Processes, or from other departments, such as Computer Science, Linguistics, and Philosophy to investigate cognitive issues researched in those domains.

Research laboratories in the program include:

The Laboratory for Automation Psychology and Decision Processes, which is affiliated with the Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL) [http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/] in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS), and investigates models of cognitive processing at the human/computer interface [http://lap.umd.edu];

The Cognition and Memory Laboratory, which investigates the effects of attention and environmental constraints on memory;

The Judgment and Decision Processes Laboratory, which studies judgment and choice processes, as well as factors affecting the measurement and representation of uncertain opinions and preferences [http://www.bsos.umd.edu/psyc/Wallsten/JDPLab];

The Memory and Decision Processes Laboratory, which investigates the close interplay of memory and other cognitive processes and their effect on choice, judgment, and diagnostic hypothesis generation [http://www.bsos.umd.edu/psyc/Dougherty].

Working with faculty and postdoctoral fellows in these well-equipped computer-based laboratories, students participate in all phases of research from design through publication. They are encouraged to develop their own independent research programs.

The Cognitive Program is affiliated with the Neural and Cognitive Sciences Program (NACS).NACS is a multi-department, multi-college collaboration that offers courses, sponsors a major seminar series, and fosters interactions among scientists working in many areas of the neural and cognitive sciences across the campus. Participating departments include Psychology, Biology, Linguistics, Computer Science, and Philosophy.

The Cognitive Program also draws upon and contributes to the resources of the Center for Advanced Study of Language (CASL), a University-Affiliated Research Center that conducts research on many aspects of learning foreign languages, thinking in foreign languages, and working across languages.

Course work in the program provides a broad background in many areas of cognitive psychology, including (in alphabetical order) artificial intelligence, attention, cognitive development, decision theory, human-computer interaction, learning, memory, mathematical models, and problem solving. Particular areas of current research and teaching emphasis are:

1. Memory.  This area focuses on human memory processes. Empirical research is designed to develop, extend, and test theories of memory.

2. Judgment and Decision Making.  This area focuses on the cognitive processes of judgment and choice with an emphasis on mathematical modeling of both prescriptive and descriptive theories. Research concerns both basic and applied issues. 

3. Human/Computer Interaction.  This area focuses on the cognitive processes involved in human/computer interaction, human factors engineering, and models of user behavior.

4. Mathematical Modeling.  This area focuses on issues involved in representing, testing, and developing cognitive theories within the framework of mathematical or computational models.

II. Coursework

All cognitive students, faculty, and fellows participate in a program-wide weekly research seminar. Otherwise, the coursework of each student is individualized according to his or her needs and interests, subject to taking three core courses in psychology and to obtaining a solid background in statistics and methodology, Students are encouraged to take courses in other programs in addition to those in the Cognitive Program.