Donald Blough
Professor Emeritus of Psychology:
Psychology
Phone: +1 401 863 2965
Phone 2: +1 401 863 2727
Donald_Blough@Brown.EDU
Research in my laboratory focuses on visual discrimination and information processing in pigeons. We are interested in such things as expectation and attention, stimulus features and dimensions, and the effects of context and memory load on recognition after short delays.
Interests
Research in my laboratory focuses on visual discrimination and information processing in pigeons. We are interested in such things as expectation and attention, stimulus features and dimensions, and the effects of context and memory load on recognition after short delays. In a typical experiment the pigeon searches for a stimulus target displayed on a computer monitor, and its pecks are detected by a touch-screen. The speed with which the bird finds the target under various stimulus and reward conditions can be used to clarify the underlying discriminative processes. Such use of reaction-times is relatively rare in animal cognition research. Coupled with threshold and visual search tasks, the reaction-time measure yields quantitative functions detailed enough to test models that can be mathematically expressed and permit computer simulation. These methods also allow our results to make contact with a large amount of cognition research with humans.
Awards
Sigma Xi, Phi Beta Kappa, election in 1951
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, election in 1962
Society of Experimental Psychologists, election in 1968
Comparative Cognition Society Research Award, 2004
Fellow, American Psychological Assn., Divs. 3 & 25
Fellow, American Assn. for the Advancement of Science
Edgar J. Marston Chair, Brown University 1980 -
Chair, Board of Governors, Psychonomic Society, 1987
Affiliations
Research review panels:
1963-67 Psychobiology Review Panel, National Science Foundation (NSF)
1968-72 Small Grants Review Committee, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
1975-79 Experimental Psychology Research Review Committee, then Basic Behavioral Sciences
Review Committee, NIMH (Chair, 1977-79)
1987 Special review panel, Basic Behavioral Sciences Committee, NIMH
Editorial service:
1958-70 Editorial Board, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
1971-73 Associate Editor, Animal Learning and Behavior
1976-81 Board of Editors, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes
1981-1985 Editor, Journal of Experimental Psychology, Animal Behavior Processes
1997 - - Consulting Editor, Animal Learning and Behavior
Frequent ad-hoc reviewer for various journals
Service in professional organizations:
Board of Directors, Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1957-1970
Board of Directors, Eastern Psychological Association, 1977-81 and 1982-85
Board of Governors, Psychonomic Society, 1981-87;
Chair, 1987
Publications Committee, Psychonomic Society, 1986-90
Chair, 1989-90
Professional affiliations:
American Academy of Arts & Sciences
American Association for the Advancement of Science (Fellow)
American Psychological Association (Fellow)
American Psychological Society
Comparative Cognition Society
Eastern Psychological Association
Psychonomic Society
Funded Research
Grant support:
Continuous grant support for research from 1958 to 2009 through the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Science Foundation.
Special-purpose grants: NIMH - Evaluation of the LINC Computer 1964-65; NIMH - Scientific Evaluation and Planning 1977-79; American Psychological Association - Operation of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes 1981-85
Current grant support:
Agency: National Institute of Mental Health
Title: Processes of Attention and Search.
Total amount: $ 193,750 (per year: $ 38,750)
Initiated: July 1, 2004 Ending: June 30, 2009
Curriculum Vitae
