Applied Visual Attention Laboratory

People


Trafton Drew, principal investigator portrait

Trafton Drew
Principal Investigator
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I am an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Utah and the director of the Applied Visual Attention lab. Previously I was an NIH-sponsored post-doctoral researcher at Harvard Medical School in Jeremy Wolfe's Visual Attention Lab. In my research, I study the role that attention plays in a diverse array of paradigms using a variety of neuroscience and psychophysical methods. Some current active lines of research include:

  1. Newly funded research through NCI examining the emergence of expertise in breast pathology.
  2. Using electroencephalograph (EEG) and the contralateral control method to study the neural underpinnings of paying attention to multiple object/locations.
  3. Examining the costs of interruption in radiology.
  4. Using advanced eye-tracking methodology to understand how search is accomplished in volumetric space.
  5. Using eye-tracking and psychophysical techniques to compare how search through visual space compares to search through memory space.
  6. Studying the role of expertise in inattentional blindness

My graduate work with Edward Vogel focused on fundamental questions about the neural underpinnings of memory and attention. This work is still ongoing and we are now working using EEG to understand the time-course of information transfer from one region of the brain to another. My post-doctoral work has led to some exciting new translational research that applies what we know about attention to diagnostic radiology. The ultimate goal is to decrease the error rate in diagnostic radiology.

Graduate Students

David Alonso, graduate student portrait

David Alonso

Research & Technical Assistants

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Anna Carissa Delos Reyes

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Ellie Cannon

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Emly Knighton

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Dylan Hutchinson

Lab Manager

Collaborators

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Jeremy Wolfe

Harvard Medical School
Website

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Melissa Vo

Goethe Universitat-Frankfurt
Website

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Murray Reicher

Merge Healthcare
Website

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Edward Vogel

University of Chicago
Website

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Todd Horowitz

National Cancer Institute
Website

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Roy Luria

Tel Aviv University
Website

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Matt Cain

Harvard Medical School
Website

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Jeanine Steffanucci

University of Utah
Website

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Doug Jones

University of Utah
Website

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Dustin Stokes

University of Utah
Website

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Mark McEntee

The University of Sydney
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Booth Aldred

University of Utah Medical School
Website

Alumni

Kate MacNamee - Alumni image

Kate MacNamee

Richard Lee - Alumni image

Richard Lee

Ellie McMullen - Alumni image

Ellie McMullen

Holly Cordner - Alumni image

Holly Cordner

Julia Darling - Alumni image

Julia Darling

Patrick Stewart, research technical assistant portrait

Patrick Stewart

Isabel Reback, research technical assistant portrait

Isabel Reback

Joe Thomas, research technical assistant portrait

Joe Thomas

Grace Nicora, Alumni portrait

Grace Nicora

Lauren Williams, alumni portrait

Lauren Williams

Chris Jones, research technical assistant portrait

Chris Jones

Sarah Warcup, research technical assistant portrait

Sarah Warcup

James Guthrie, research technical assistant portrait

James Guthrie

Aydin Tasevac, research technical assistant portrait

Aydin Tasevac

Summer Vasquez, research technical assistant portrait

Summer Vasquez

Steffi Falls, research technical assistant portrait

Steffi Falla