Research Overview

Two features can characterize our research and programs:

1. A productive relationship between basic and applied research. For example:
   
   • The Center for Applied Cognitive Research on Aging is one of six national Edward R. Roybal Centers for Research on Applied Gerontology. The Roybal Centers were established in 1993 by the National Institute on Aging to help keep older people active, independent, and productive. A consortium of Georgia Tech (Dan Fisk and Wendy Rogers) and the University of Michigan (Denise Park and Norbert Schwartz), the theme of the center's research is aging and medical information processing with a focus on how age-related differences in cognitive function may affect medical decisions, use of medical devices and telemedicine, and the ability to comprehend and comply with physician and product instructions.
   • Several faculty members focus on the measurement of individual differences in knowledge and disposition; fundamental mechanisms of judgment and their implications for decision-making, motivation, and adaptation to change; and social and cognitive factors that promote accuracy in personnel decisions.
   • The recently retired director of Zoo Atlanta Terry L. Maple, is a professor in the School of Psychology. He is a world expert on the design of zoological parks that promote preservation of endangered species. Several of our undergraduate classes include labs taught at the Zoo.
2. Collaborative interactions in Psychology, within the College of Science, and other disciplines on campus, such as:
   
   • The GVU Center involves 70 faculty and more than 160 graduate students from 11 affiliated departments including psychology, collaborating on research projects in animation, virtual reality, design, usability, multimedia, digital culture, internet tools, education, and future computing environments.
   • The Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Program is a multidisciplinary program involving the College of Computing, the School of Psychology, the School of Literature, Communication, and Culture, and other departments. Students doing research in the HCI area receive their degrees in their "home" departments (e.g., computer science, psychology) while actively working with various faculty and labs involved in the program.
   • The Emory Medical School-Georgia Tech Biomedical Engineering Program was established for joint training and research and is particularly relevant to the emerging focus in cognitive neuroscience.
   • The Cognitive Science Program is a multidisciplinary group of faculty, research scientists, and students with several points of interdisciplinary connection in research and in teaching. A distinctive, unifying focus of the Program is the study of cognition in the context of real-world problems.