Dr. Robert Carlson

Assistant Professor
Psychology Department
171 Science Center
PO Box 5825
Potsdam, NY 13699-5825

Phone: 315-268-7023
Fax: 315-268-7118
E-mail: rcarlson@clarkson.edu

Education
Ph.D. University of California, Irvine 1998

Courses Taught
Introduction to Psychology, Perception, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience

Research Interests
Investigations of Attentional Influences of Perception
My research focuses on the variety of ways attention can influence our perceptions. Attention is a ubiquitous concept that has been used in describing a variety of phenomena, from concepts such as distractibility, attentiveness, attentional disorders, memory problems, as well as being necessary to facilitate perception. Recent research I have been involved with, including research conducted with a number of undergraduate students at Clarkson University, has demonstrated that there are different types of attention and many ways attention can affect how we process information about our environment. So the primary goal of research in my laboratory is to more clearly define the different types of attention and the different ways attention (in its various forms) affects cognitive processing.

One ongoing research problem that we address has to do with a particular form of voluntary attention called preparatory attention. We are investigating the conditions under which expectations about an upcoming event become beneficial in processing that event. Imagine going to a busy airport and trying to find someone. Would it help to know: What they look like? What they are wearing? Where you are likely to find them? When their flight will arrive? Would it make a difference if there were other people around who matched some of the description? We attempt to ask these and similar types of questions in a controlled laboratory environment to assess the value of particular types of information in preparatory attention.

Additionally, we have begun an approach that we hope will lead to effective diagnostic tools for attentional disorders. Currently, diagnosis of disorders such as Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) rely on a great deal of subjectivity on the part of parents, teachers, and mental health professionals. Many researchers and clinicians believe that there are likely distinct disorders which are currently diagnosed under the broad label ADHD. Developing a more effective and hopefully objective diagnostic tool would facilitate providing more accurate diagnoses and help in distinguishing between disorders which may appear superficially similar but have different underlying etiologies. In developing this line of research, we have made a conscious attempt to apply basic research paradigms which have been studied for decades using non-clinical participant populations to studying the psychopathology of attention deficits. Our first attempt has shown promising success in identifying a deficient cognitive process related to the preparation of a response. Refining this paradigm, and applying other paradigms to the study of attention deficits, is a major focus of my lab.

Recent Articles
Yantis, S., Schwarzbach, J., Serences, J., Carlson, R.L., Steinmetz, M., Pekar, J.J. & Courtney, S. (2002). Transient neural activity in human parietal cortex during spatial attention shifts. Nature Neuroscience, 5, 995-1002.

Presentations (Last 5 years)
Yantis, S., Serences, J., Schwarzbach, J., Courtney, S., Carlson, R.L., & Steinmetz, M. (2001, November). Neural basis of space-based and object-based attentional control. Paper to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Orlando, FL.

Carlson, R.L., and Shomstein, S. (2001, May). Disambiguating strategic effects in visual search. Poster presented at the inaugural meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, Sarasota, FL.

Yantis, S., Schwarzbach, J., Carlson, R.L., Pekar, J.J., Steinmetz, M.A., and Courtney, S. (2000, November). Control of spatial attention shifts between RSVP streams revealed by rapid event-related fMRI. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, New Orleans, LA.

Schwarzbach, J., Yantis, S., Carlson, R.L., Steinmetz, M., and Courtney, S. (2000, August). Shifts of spatial attention: fMRI evidence. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Conference on Visual Perception, Gronigen, The Netherlands.

Yantis, S., Schwarzbach, J., Carlson, R.L., Steinmetz, M.A., and Courtney, S. (2000, June). Shifts of spatial attention between continuous RSVP streams using event-related fMRI. Poster presented at the 6th Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping, San Antonio, TX.

Yantis, S., Carlson, R.L., Schwarzbach, J., Steinmetz, M., and Courtney, S. (2000, April). Shifts of spatial attention between continuous RSVP streams using event-related fMRI. Poster presented at the 4th Annual Vision Research Conference, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Carlson, R.L. (2000, March). Contrasting preparatory attention and frequency. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Baltimore, MD.

Student Presentations (Last 5 years)
LaShomb, A. ('05) & Carlson, R. Influence of distractors on response time. 5th Annual Symposium of Undergraduate Research Experiences, Clarkson University, April 2004.

Caswell, H. ('05) & Carlson, R. Interaction of cognitive and spatial maps on action responses. 4th Annual Symposium of Undergraduate Research Experiences, Clarkson University, April 2003.

Funding:
Co-PI with Dr. C. Robinson (Electrical and Computer Engineering). Phase-locked postural perturbations Psychological Models, National Institutes of Health $312,112.