Contact Information
jocelyn.l.sy [at] vanderbilt.edu
Research Interests
My primary research interest is centered on understanding the cognitive and neural mechanisms of selective attention. More specifically, my program of research has 2 main aims: 1) Determine the functional consequences and limitations selective attention; and 2) Determining mechanisms of selective attention. My empirical approach to address these aims combines the experimental rigor of cognitive psychology and multiple measures of brain function (functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG)) and computational analyses. Using these methods, my work converges on the notion that selective attention is a flexible information processing mechanism that adjusts dynamically based on our internal goals and our external world.
Representative Publications
Giesbrecht, B., Sy, J.L., Elliott, J. (2007). Electrophysiological evidence for both perceptual and post-perceptual selection during the attentional blink. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19(12), 2005-2018.
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Giesbrecht, B., Sy, J.L., Lewis, M. (2009). Personal names do not always survive the attentional blink: Behavioral evidence for a flexible locus of selection. Vision Research, 49(10), 1378-1388.
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Sy, J.L., & Giesbrecht, B. (2009). Task-relevance modulates the influence of target similarity on the attentional blink. Visual Cognition, 17(3), 307-317.
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Kyllingsbæk, S., Sy, J.L., & Giesbrecht, B. (2011). Understanding the allocation of attention when faced with varying perceptual load in partial report: A computational approach. Neuropsychologia, 46, 1487-1497.
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Sy, J.L., Elliot, J. C., & Giesbrecht, B. (2013). Post-perceptual processing during the attentional blink is modulated by inter-trial task expectancies. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 627.
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Giesbrecht, B., Sy, J.L., Bundesen C., Kyllinsbæk, S. (2014). A new perspective on the perceptual selectivity of attention under load. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 1316(2014), 71-86.
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Sy, J.L., Guerin, S.A., Stegman, A., & Giesbrecht, B. (2014). Accurate expectancies diminish perceptual distraction during visual search. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 627.
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