Statement of Research Interests:

My research investigates cognitive aspects of behaviors that are of fundamental importance in the lives of many species, including humans. These include the ability to locate and remember important places, the ability to recognize and discriminate among objects, and the ability to detect and make decisions based upon the passage of time. I investigate processes underlying these abilities in pigeons and humans, and in other species through collaboration with researchers at other universities. Currently, my primary focus is on spatial cognition. I am investigating processes underlying pigeons' ability to locate hidden goals, using tasks conducted on the laboratory floor as well as tasks conducted on a color monitor equipped with a touch-sensitive frame. I am particularly interested in how pigeons use visual landmarks to remember and locate a goal. Other research currently conducted in collaboration with colleagues and students is directed at: 1) use of pictorial cues to extract 3-dimensional information from images of objects or scenes; 2) perception and retention of temporal information, 3) stimulus generalization in spatial and temporal domains, 4) and viewpoint dependency in object recognition.