Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

My research will entail investigations into the basic perceptual and cognitive processes involved in object and shape perception, and the associated limitations that attention places on these processes. In the real world, observers often interact with a cluttered and noisy visual environment containing multiple objects. These visual objects also vary in complexity (i.e., features and shapes), and often require us to divide our attention between objects and tasks. Because real-world visual tasks often require observers to divide their attention between multiple objects and tasks, I will utilize behavioural tasks that mimic real-world tasks. For example, my work will involve the use of divided-attention paradigms in which two tasks are completed simultaneously (i.e., divided-attention paradigms). My research will also endeavour to uncover how observers utilize visual information with more naturalistic visual shapes such as faces. The results of this research will improve our understanding of the constraints on perceptual and cognitive representations, and the extent to which the visual and cognitive systems adapt to different real-world contexts. These research topics are important not only because humans frequently encounter challenging visual situations in the real world, but also because these investigations will provide important information about how humans organize and process shape information more generally. Ultimately, rehabilitative strategies can be developed to offset perceptual deficits in different clinical populations (e.g., individuals with autism and seniors).