FAQ for Potential Graduate Students

Are you currently accepting students?

I will most likely not be able to accept a grad student for Fall 2009.

What is expected of first-year students?

Courses: In the first year, graduate students sit in on a weekly seminar and take two semesters of statistics and graduate level cognitive psychology.  The first semester of the cognitive psychology course focuses on higher-level cognition (memory, concepts, language, judgment and decision-making, etc) and serves as an introduction to mathematical modeling. The second semester focuses on lower-level cognition (perception, attention, etc) with an emphasis on neuroscience.  

Research: I involve students in research right away.  Indeed, there is a (somewhat flexible) departmental expectation that students will complete a project by the end of the first year.  Unless the student has a strong idea for a project, I like to start the student on an on-going project or a project which I have designed (input is welcome, of course). See the research page for some representative research. Part of this first project will likely involve learning to program an experiment, procuring human subject approval, analyzing data (including computational modeling), and presenting the work in a departmental seminar.

What is expected after the first year?

Courses: Every semester after the first year (until the comprehensive exam is passed), students take a seminar taught by a cognitive faculty member and sit in on the weekly cognitive seminar. There is also a breadth requirement. You can find all of the departmental requirements here.

Research: After the first project gets rolling, I like to have students start formulating their own research ideas and projects. I still may ask students to help with research that I formulate, but the idea is to start along a path that leads to the master's project. All students must receive a masters.  The masters is typical finished in the 2nd or 3rd year.  After the masters, the next big hurtle is the comprehensive exam.  The exam is usually taken in the 3rd or 4th year.  It consists of 2-3 questions that are initiated by the student and tweaked by the committee. Usually the student spends a few months reading background material for the questions and is then given 1 week to write the answers.  The dissertation is the final step.  Most students finish in 5-7 years, with the average being about 6 years.  Along this path, research is key and I hope that my students will be involved in a number of research projects and come away with a number of publications. Although not required, I do encourage students to pick up some teaching experience.  I expect my students to attend weekly lab meetings. I also usually run a weekly or bi-weekly reading group covering current topics of interest. 

I expect students to be self-motivated, to be good independent learners, and to take charge of the direction of their education.   That said, I will help any way I can from programming help to talking about dissertation ideas.

What is mathematical modeling?

I rely heavily (but not exclusively) on mathematical modeling.  A mathematical model can be thought of as a psychological theory that has been described in mathematical terms. The qualitative and quantitative predictions of the model can then be tested empirically.  Please see some of my publications for specific examples. Students in my lab receive a lot of training and experience with mathematical modeling.

What kind of background and interests should I have?

Although I try to tailor my research to somewhat match those of my students, you should have more than a passing interest in issues relating to basic research in categorization and concepts, judgment and decision-making, or perception (especially as it connects to higher-level cognitive functions). You should also be unafraid of math and programming. The more background you have in these topics, the better.  You will, however, receive training in programming and can pick up the math over time. The specific content areas will also be learned.

Is there much collaboration within the department and across campus?

I encourage my students to collaborate with other psychology faculty members. Many of the cognitive faculty encourage their students to do the same. Most of the collaboration is within the cognitive area, but is possible between areas as well (social, developmental, clinical, neuroscience and behavior, etc). Although less common, it is also possible to collaborate with faculty from across campus. For my lab, computer science faculty would be the most relevant, although others have had successful collaborations with faculty from linguistics, kinesiology, and mechanical engineering, for example.

What is the program's focus and major direction?

The program is strong in higher-level cognition (memory, concepts, etc), language, attention, and computational modeling. 

Is there an opportunity to do imaging work?

The department has three ERP/EEG machines.  Although I have little experience with ERP, I have had students collaborate with ERP researchers. In cooperation with a local hospital, we also have access to an MR scanner.  I am new to fMRI, but I am learning slowly.  I am more than willing to use fMRI when appropriate (and funds allow), but it is not my main focus and will probably not be for some time. Advanced fMRI training would have to come through a collaboration with other faculty.

What kind of facilities does the department have?

My lab has a bank of computers for computational work and a number of rooms and computers for running behavioral experiments.  Most of my computers are Macs.  We have a Superlab license, but most experiments are programmed in the Psychophysics toolbox.  Most of the modeling is done in Matlab.  We have acess to a number of eye-trackers. The department also has access to a Visualeyez VZ4000 real-time motion capture system by PhoeniX Technologies to measure kinematic variables, i.e., motion.

How can I learn more about your research and what it's like to work in your lab?

Please feel free to contact me via email or phone (413-545-4714). You might also find it helpful to talk to current or former lab members.  Current research areas can be found here. Here are a list of my publications.

What is Amherst like?

The Amherst area is a great attraction for many students.  Amherst is a medium-sized New England town of about 30,000.  The area is a mix of residential areas, woods, and farmland.  We are 2 hours from Boston and 1 hour from the nearest airport (Hartford, CT).  The thriving town of Northampton is just across the river. The fall here is beautiful.  The winter is snowy.  There are 5 colleges nearby (Amherst, Hampshire, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, and UMass), so something is always going on.  Housing is addressed here.  To get a feel for what it is like to live here as a student, you should contact one of the lab members.

How would I be supported?

We are very careful to only admit students we feel that we can support. Although no department can guarantee funding, we have always been able to fund our students for 5 years.  Funding can take various forms. Many students are 20-hour teaching assistants. Many others serve as research assistants off grants.  Whether I can offer a TA or RA depends on my current grant situation. A few students are funded off university or national fellowships.  Some teach at UMass or other local colleges.  Most students end up with a mix of funding. This page summarizes TA and RA support.

How do I apply?

See this page to start the application process.