Tom named Centennial Chair
Tom has been named Centennial Chair. For faculty, named chairs are the highest forms of regard within the University.
Congratulations Dr. Jason Chow
Congratulations to Jason on successfully defending his PhD for a thesis titled “Modeling Individual Differences in High-level Visual Cognition Using DNNs“. His PhD committee was me, Isabel Gauthier, Sean Polyn, and Maithilee Kunda. Jason is now on to an industry position with Meta in Seattle as a Research Engineer. His starting project will be working on developing open-source software tools for adaptive psychophysical experimentation in real and virtual environments. Congrats Jason!
Yinuo Peng joins the CatLab
Yinuo Peng joins the CatLab and the Psychological Sciences PhD program as a graduate student this fall. Welcome Yinuo!
Yinuo received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Master’s degree in Psychological Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where, under the supervision of Dr. Frances Wang and Dr. Simona Buetti, she studied time and space perception, visual search, and object learning in humans and deep neural networks. As a graduate student at Vanderbilt, Yinuo is interested in exploring the mechanisms of object perception, recognition, and representation using computational and deep learning techniques.
New Papers
Mack, M.L., & Palmeri, T.J. (2024). Discrimination, recognition, and classification. In M.J. Kahana & A. Wagner (Eds.), Handbook on Human Memory, Oxford University Press.
Chow, J.K., Palmeri, T.J., & Gauthier, I. (2024). Distinct but related abilities for visual and haptic object recognition. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review.
Chow, J.K., & Palmeri, T.J. (in press). Manipulating and measuring variation in Deep Neural Network (DNN) representations of objects. Cognition.
Jin wins Harold Stirling Vanderbilt Fellowship
Congratulations to Jin Jeong on winning a Harold Stirling Vanderbilt Fellowship to supplement his support in years four and five as a graduate student the Psychological Sciences PhD program. Jin previously was awarded a University Graduate Fellowship to supplement his support in his first three years. Congratulations Jin!
Tom Elected Fellow of the Society of Experimental Psychologists (SEP)
Tom has been elected as a Fellow of the the Society of Experimental Psychologists (SEP). SEP is the oldest scientific society in the field, started by Titchener over a century ago, and election is a signal honor. Other departmental faculty who are Fellows of SEP are Randolph Blake, Isabel Gauthier, Gordon Logan, and Jon Kaas.
The first meeting of the Society of Experimental Psychologists … was held at Cornell University in 1904. The meetings then, and for many years thereafter, were presided over by Edward Bradford Titchener. Researchers from universities including Cornell, Yale, Clark, Michigan, and Princeton attended these early meetings, with Chicago and Iowa soon joining. Research papers were read and discussed by established researchers and tyros alike. As the number of practicing experimental psychologists grew nationally, along grew discussions concerning the limits that should be placed on membership in the group: Should it be kept small to ensure a manageable series of conferences; or should it be open to all interested, practicing experimental psychologists? The decision was made to keep it small-to follow the so-called Academy model-and eventually Fellows of the society were instrumental in the founding of an alternative organization, called The Psychonomic Society, to serve the needs of broader representation and communication.
The meetings were kept small and brief, just one and half days of sessions, and continued their emphases on communication of ongoing research and the open exchange of ideas among active researchers. In the original bylaws of 1929, the purpose of the Society was stated simply as follows: “To advance Psychology by arranging informal conferences on experimental methodology.” Methodology had been an important focus of the Experimentalists, where visits to laboratories and the demonstration of equipment during meetings were actively encouraged. As the Society’s evolved interest in methodology waned, it was replaced by interest in theory and data.
Jenn Richler wins Distinguished Alumnus Award
Congratulations to Jenn Richler on winning the Psychological Sciences at Vanderbilt Distinguished Alumnus Award! Jenn received her PhD working with Tom Palmeri and Isabel Gauthier where her research focused on face and object perception and recognition, learning, attention, and memory. After a postdoctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt where she also worked as an Associate Editor for Journal of Experimental: Psychology: General and a writer for the American Psychological Association, Jenn chose to move into a scientific publishing career. Jenn joined Nature Climate Change and Nature Energy in 2016 as a Senior Editor handling manuscripts that spanned the behavioral and social sciences. Jenn returned to her psychology roots as the launch Chief Editor of Nature Reviews Psychology in 2021.
To recognize and honor the distinguished alumni of Psychological Sciences at Vanderbilt, we have established the Distinguished Alumnus Lecture. The recipient is a former undergraduate, graduate student, or postdoctoral fellow from the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Science or the Department of Psychology and Human Development in Peabody College at Vanderbilt who has made major contributions to the psychological sciences. The recipient will receive a $500 honorarium and will be invited to give the Distinguish Alumnus Lecture.
Greg Cox wins William K. Estes Early Career Award
Former postdoctoral fellow Greg Cox wins the William K. Estes Early Career Award from the Society for Mathematical Psychology. Greg is now an Assistant Professor at the University at Albany. Congratulations Greg!
The Society for Mathematical Psychology presents an annual award for exceptional published research in the field of mathematical psychology by an early career investigator. Previously known as the “New Investigator Award,” it was renamed after William K. Estes in 2009, recognizing his contributions to our Society and the field of mathematical psychology generally.
Tom to become Department Chair
In August 2022, Tom stepped up to become Director of Graduate Studies for the third time for what was supposed to be a three-year term. With Tim McNamara moving from department chair to interim dean of the College of Arts and Science, Tom was asked to step into the role of Chair of the Department of Psychology for a three-year term beginning in July 2023.
Jason Chow wins 2023 Pat Burns Memorial Graduate Student Research Award
Congratulations to Jason for winning the 2023 Pat Burns Memorial Graduate Student Research Award.
Pat Burns touched generations of doctoral students during her nearly four decades of service to Vanderbilt University. In memory of her tireless efforts to help guide our students through all phases of their graduate education, the Department of Psychology establishes a Graduate Student Research Award to recognize outstanding achievement in research by our most outstanding graduate students. The recipient receives a plaque and a $500 award.
Jason was recognized for his outstanding research. His nomination noted that “Jason is exceptionally creative and talented”. “He has breadth and depth, a great collaborator, writer and teacher, and a very productive graduate student”. “He will certainly make this program proud for years and years to come.”
Congratulations Jason!