Tuesday, March 22, 2022
12:05pm-1:30pm
Attending and responding to features and objects
Prof. Jay Pratt, PhD, MSc, BA
Department of Psychology
University of Toronto
Date: Tuesday, March 22, 2022
Time: 12:05pm-1:30pm
Location: Zoom – meeting information provided after registration using the below link.
Abstract: For the last 40 years, the desktop computer, along with its conjoined monitor and keyboard, have become the ubiquitous tool for conducting experiments in cognitive psychology. While the computer keyboard is very good for collecting responses (fast, accurate, many key options), an over-reliance on any device can constrain the questions we ask and the answers we find. This talk will demonstrate some of the limitations and unexpected consequences of using keyboard responses, as well as showing some instances where other types of responses can provide insights into behaviour that are not possible with collecting data solely from pressing keys on a keyboard.
Biography: Professor Jay Pratt grew up in Edmonton, Alberta and has a Bachelor’s (Psychology) and Master’s (Physical Education) degrees from the University of Alberta. He received his PhD in Experimental Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis in 1996, and then joined the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto. The focus of his research is on understanding how humans selectively acquire information from the visual field and then use that information to guide shifts of attention, eye movements, and limb movements. With funding from NSERC and CIHR he has published over 250 articles and over 25 of his former trainees are currently professors or scientists at institutions across six countries. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Society of Experimental Psychologists. He has won the Psychonomic Society’s Mid-Career Award, an Ontario government Premier’s Research Excellence Award, the University of Toronto’s Faculty Award of Excellence, and the Psychology Graduate Student Associations “most valuable professor” award. Professor Pratt has held several administrative positions including Graduate Director in Psychology, Chair of Psychology, Acting Vice-Provost Faculty and Academic Life, Vice-Dean Research & Infrastructure, and Acting Vice-Dean Graduate Studies.
