PAC Lab :: Vanderbilt



Laura E. Thomas Postdoctoral Fellow laura.e.thomas(@)vanderbilt.edu Curriculum Vitae [ download: PDF, 86kb ] Research Interests My research investigates the ways in which actions influence thoughts. We are constantly at motion in our daily lives, driving from home to work, pacing our offices as we mull over an idea, and fidgeting in our chairs while answering emails. Even when we sit still to read, our eyes remain in near constant motion. The myriad actions we perform shape our thought processes, hindering cognitive performance in some cases and aiding it in others. Using a combination of behavioral techniques, eyetracking, and virtual reality, I study the ways in which physical actions — from tiny movements of the eyes to shifts of the entire body — affect cognition. By examining when and why thoughts and actions interact, my goal is to uncover clues about the underlying mechanisms that tie cognition and action together. __________________________________ Education University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology, 2008 University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, M.A. in Experimental Psychology, 2004 Washington University, St. Louis, B.A. in Psychology (summa cum laude), Minor in Biology, 2002 Publications Thomas, L. & Seiffert, A. E. (2010). Self-motion impairs multiple object tracking. Cognition. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2010.07.002. Irwin, D. E., & Thomas, L. E. (2010). Eyeblinks and cognition. In Coltheart, V. (Ed.), Tutorials in Visual Cognition, New York: Psychology Press. Higgins, J. S., Irwin, D. E., Wang, R. F., & Thomas, L. E. (2009). Visual direction constancy across eye blinks. Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, 71, 1607 - 1617, doi: 10.3758/APP.71.7.1607. Thomas, L. E., & Lleras, A. (2009a). Swinging into thought: Directed movement guides insight in problem solving. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 16, 719 - 723, doi:10.3758/PBR.16.4.719 Thomas, L. E., & Lleras, A. (2009b). Covert shifts of attention function as an implicit aid to insight. Cognition, 111(2), 168 - 174, doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2009.01.005 Thomas, L. E., & Lleras, A. (2009c). Inhibitory tagging in an interrupted visual search. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 71, 1241 - 1250, doi: 10.3758/APP.71.6.1241 Irwin, D. E., & Thomas, L. E. (2008). Visual sensory memory. In Luck, S. J., & Hollingworth, A. (Eds), Visual memory. (pp. 9-42). Oxford University Press. Thomas, L. E., & Lleras, A. (2007). Moving eyes and moving thought: On the spatial compatibility between eye movements and cognition. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14, 663-668, Online Irwin, D. E., & Thomas, L. E. (2007). The effect of saccades on number comparison. Perception & Psychophysics, 69, 450-458, Online Thomas, L. E., Ambinder, M. S., Hsieh, B., Levinthal, B., Crowell, J. A., Irwin, D. E., Kramer, A. F., Lleras, A., Simons, D. J., & Wang, R. F. (2006). Fruitful visual search: Inhibition of return in a virtual foraging task. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 13, 891-895, Online Thomas, L. E., & Irwin, D. E. (2006). Voluntary eyeblinks disrupt iconic memory. Perception & Psychophysics, 68, 475-488, doi:10.1167/4.8.401 Wang, R. F., Crowell, J. A., Simons, D. J., Irwin, D. E., Kramer, A. F., Ambinder, M. S., Thomas, L. E., Gosney, J. L., Levinthal, B. R., & Hsieh, B. B. (2006). Spatial updating relies on an egocentric representation of space: Effects of the number of objects. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 13, 281-286, Online Invited Talks and Colloquia See CV. Abstracts, Posters, and Presentations See CV. Service Ad Hoc Reviews: Cognition Perception & Psychophysics Visual Cognition Psychonomic Bulletin & Review Neuropsychology Honors and Awards 2008 - Lyle H. Lanier Travel Award, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 2007/8 - Dissertation Completion Fellowship, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 2004 - 2007 - National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship 2002 - John A. Stern Unergraduate Research Award, Washington University, St. Louis [ top ] [ People ]