Psychology

The Attention, Memory, and Aging Lab is interested in understanding individual and age differences in attention and memory. Understanding of these processes allows for the identification of effective learning strategies that can promote long-term retention of information for students and older adults. We appreciate your participation in these research endeavors. Our research investigates the memory and attention control processes involved in the planning and coordination of future actions (i.e., prospective memory), encoding and retrieval of information in long-term memory (i.e., episodic memory), and monitoring and regulation of one’s own cognition (i.e., metamemory). Within each of these domains, central questions concern individual differences and age-related changes in these processes.

Learn more: https://amalab.uta.edu/

• Investigating the Brain-Heart Connection in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

• Circuit-Level Mechanisms in Epilepsy: Functional and Effective Connectivity of the Thalamus-Basal Ganglia–Cortical Network

• Spatiotemporal Profiles of Emotion Conflict Processing in Adolescents with Epilepsy

• Emotion Processing in Adolescents with Epilepsy using Multimodal Neuroimaging

Learn more: https://www.uta.edu/academics/faculty/profile?user=crystal.cooper#About%20Me

• My research has focused on identifying key physiological and psychosocial constructs and risk factors for behavior change, physical and mental health, and academic outcomes in diverse populations, such as people with chronic health conditions, trauma survivors, students, and underrepresented groups. We conduct both laboratory-based studies and longitudinal field research using both quantitative and qualitative designs.

• Mental and physical health effects of coping with chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, and other metabolic conditions

• Determinants of long-term stress responding following traumatic and/or chronic stressor events

• Health effects of long-term stress

• Stress resilience

• Social influences on stress and health

• Chronic pain

• Psychoneuroimmunology

• Exercise psychology

• Occupational health psychology

• Advanced models for longitudinal data analysis

• Learning analytics

• Data science

Learn more: https://www.uta.edu/academics/faculty/profile?user=crystal.cooper#About%20Me

• The Cognitive and Functional Wellness Lab (Tracy L. Greer, Ph.D., MSCS, Director) aims to assess cognitive influences on health, with an emphasis on achieving patient-desired functional and psychosocial wellness. We examine the bidirectional relationship between depression and other chronic health conditions, and shared contributors (e.g., inflammation) and consequences (e.g., cognitive worsening and reduced quality of life). Primary research activities focus on depressive disorders, substance use disorders, and pain. We also examine the efficacy of targeted treatments, such as exercise and mindfulness, in individuals with depression and other chronic health conditions.

Learn more: https://funcowlab.uta.edu/

• Social Psychology

• Intergroup relations (prejudice & prejudice reduction)

• Group processes

• Collaborative creativity

• Meta-Analysis

Learn more: https://www.uta.edu/academics/faculty/profile?user=kenworthy#About%20Me

• Cognitive psychology

• Neural modeling

• Psychology of decision making

• Motivation and behavior

• Collaborative Research: Mathematical and Neuroscience Foundations for Deep Reinforcement Learning in Dynamic and Adversarial Environments

Learn more: https://www.uta.edu/academics/faculty/profile?user=levine

• The central objective of our research program is to understand how the brain responds to changes in sensory input. The goal of our research program is to advance our understanding of how the auditory cortex responds to hearing loss and to the initiation of hearing with cochlear prosthetics. We use a synergistic combination of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), psychophysical techniques, electrophysiological recording and connectional anatomy. We examine auditory, visual, and tactile function in auditory and visual cortex.

• The lab also studies sensory and cognitive factors related to hearing. The cognitive aspects of hearing, such as attention and memory, become crucial when listening in noisy environments. This is especially true for older individuals or those with hearing impairment. Therefore another focus of the lab is to study the neural mechanisms associated with attention and working memory. The goal of this research is to dissociate sensory and cognitive aspects of impaired hearing and provide clinicians with improved tools and strategies for rehabilitation.

Learn more: https://cerebralsystems.ca/

• The Employee Assessment, Selection, and Training (EAST) Lab primarily focuses on conducting research related to the development, use, and validity of assessments (e.g., situational judgment tests [SJTs], video-based interviews, performance-based team tasks) for use in personnel selection and training contexts.

Learn more: https://eastlab.uta.edu/

• SBP: CAREER: Organizational diversity management through supportive, skills-focused allyship training

• Evaluation of the Oregon overtime pay legislation (HB-4002) among Latinx agricultural workers and their families

• Development of video-based situational judgment tests for training ethical reasoning strategies

• Becoming and acting as an ally against weight-based discrimination

• A new way to manage sexual harassment at work: A trauma-informed approach

• Allyship for LGBTQ individuals in work contexts

Learn more: https://www.uta.edu/academics/faculty/profile?user=larry.martinez

• Dr. Miller is broadly interested in why individuals differ in memory and attention abilities, as well as the factors that shape performance within individuals over time. Specifically, her work integrates behavioral and physiological approaches to identify the mechanisms that govern (i) the ability to sustain and regulate attentional effort within and across tasks and (ii) other types of attention control processes (e.g., goal maintenance and conflict resolution; restraint vs constraint; updating, inhibition, and switching). Ongoing projects examine how motivational factors (e.g., self-efficacy, goals, curiosity) and affective factors (e.g., acute and chronic stress) influence these specific components of attention and how they interact to ultimately support or constrain successful learning and real-world performance. An additional line of work considers whether these effects vary across the lifespan, including how older adults may compensate for declines in controlled processing.

Learn more: https://www.uta.edu/academics/faculty/profile?user=ashley.miller4

• My lab is interested in studying the neurophysiological mechanisms of nociception by means of electrophysiological techniques in both peripheral and central nervous system. We have been studying in these areas: (1) Dorsal root reflexes in peripheral inflammation; (2) Cortical modulation of spinal dorsal horn neuronal activity; (3) Pain mechanisms of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis; (4) Detection of neuronal activities by optic spectroscopy; (5) Development and application of telemetry system for recording and stimulating in the nervous system.

Learn more: https://www.uta.edu/academics/faculty/profile?user=ypeng

• My primary research interests are focused on the neural mechanisms underlying sex differences in the behavioral and molecular responses to psychostimulant and opioid drugs. The overall goal of my work is to clarify interactions among the neuroendocrine system and dopamine reward system using rodent models of addictive behaviors.

Learn more: https://www.uta.edu/academics/faculty/profile?user=perrotti#About%20Me

• In Dr. Smith's research, he engages with the individuals who are part of the at-risk and/or vulnerable workforce to better understand their experiences and to support positive change efforts, with a focus on workplace domains. In particular, Dr. Smith draws on a systems approach to investigate the interplay between such individuals and their environments with a focus on how to design positive workplaces and communities that support health and wellbeing.

• Dr. Smith also engages in participatory and community-engaged applied research, with the goal of extending current theory to emphasize hands-on and practical ways to enhance wellbeing. To do so, Dr. Smith draws on a variety of qualitative and quantitative techniques with the goal of driving positive change. Further, Dr. Smith conducts research on research methodology, longitudinal modeling, measurement, and research design.

Learn more: https://www.uta.edu/academics/faculty/profile?user=nicholas.smith#About%20Me

• Leaders have important impacts on employee well-being and organizational performance. The PELICAN Lab, directed by Dr. Watts, explores how leaders solve complex problems related to employee ethics and creativity. His ethics research shines a light on professional issues in I-O psychology and best practices in professional ethics training programs. His creativity research uncovers cognitive processes and individual differences that facilitate creative thinking, with a special interest in understanding how workers identify and refine creative ideas. Finally, Dr. Watts studies how leader attributes and behaviors influence workplace ethics and innovation.

Learn more: https://pelicanlab.org/

• The Spatial Cognition And Navigational Neuroscience (SCANN) Lab examines ️human wayfinding🧭🗺

• spatial navigation behavior – why some people are better navigators than others, how we might improve spatial behavior, and why navigation declines in aging and Alzheimer’s disease.

• Our main projects all focus around spatial navigation, but this is a wide net. We are conducting behavioral and fMRI experiments, using virtual reality and desktop tasks. We have projects related to individual differences, navigation training, and aging/Alzheimer’s disease.

• If you’re an undergraduate at the University of Texas at Arlington who majors in Psychology, Computer Science, Biomedical Engineering, or other related fields, you can submit an application here.  

Learn more: https://www.scannlab.org/research.html