Research in the VAMP lab encompasses many different aspects of human cognition, with a particular focus on visual attention, human memory, human perception, goal-directed behavior, and the interactions between these cognitive systems. The lab employs a variety of different paradigms (ranging from basic paradigms such as attentional cuing and visual search to more complex real-world paradigms) and equipment (including an Eyelink 1000 eyetracker, an Eyelink 2 eyetracker, two portable eyetracking units, and touch screens) in investigating issues related to cognition. Our equipment/facilities can be viewed from the facilities link above. Below are a number of projects that are either ongoing, in the planning stages, or recently completed in the lab.

Vision/Eye movement studies

•  An examination of the influence of task instruction and task-switching on scanpaths and inhibition of return (in collaboration with UNL graduate student Mark Mills, University of Iowa Professor Andrew Hollingworth, Utrecht University graduate student Edwin Daijmer and Utrecht University Professor Stefan Van der Stigchel)

•  An examination of saccade curvature and oculomotor capture in relation to overlearned and trained spatial symbols (in collaboration with UNL graduate student Mark Mills and Utrecht University Professor Stefan Van der Stigchel)

•  An examination of the influence of political temperament on cognitive processing (e.g. gaze preference, emotion detection, sensitivity to threat; attentional gaze and SNARC effects, visual search: in collaboration with UNL graduate student Mark Mills and UNL Professors of Political Science John Hibbing and Kevin Smith)

•  An examination of the relation between eye movements and the misinformation effect in eyewitness memory (in collaboration with Illinois graduate student Kristin Divis, UNL graduate student John Kiat, UNL Professor Lesa Hoffman, and UNL Professor Bob Belli)

•  An examination of eye movements and the cross race effect (in collaboration with UNL graduate students Gerald McDonnell and Cindy Laub and UNL Professor Brian Bornstein)

•  An examination of eye movements and memory for targets at different ages (in collaboration with UNL graduate student Chris Kimbrough and UNL Professor Brian Bornstein)

•  An examination of cognitive processing and eye movement as it relates to social processing and memory (in collaboration with UNL graduate student Emily Johnson and UNL Professor Jeff Stevens)


•  An examination of cognitive processing and eye movement in obese and nicotine addicted populations (in collaboration with UNL graduate student Silvina Salvi and UNL Professor Dennis McChargue)

•  An examination of the relation between gaze behavior and stress (in collaboration with UNL graduate student Suzi Singh and UNL Professor Debra Hope)

•  An examination of visual behavior and sensitivity to threat in victimized populations (in collaboration with UNL graduate students Kate Walsh and Renu Thomas and UNL Professor David DiLillo)

•  An examination of eye movements as they relate to subtle prejudice (in collaboration with UNL graduate student Jordan Grubaugh and UNL Professor Sarah Gervais)

•  An examination of eye movements, objectification, and alcohol administration (in collaboration with UNL graduate students Gwenith Nuss, Michelle Haikalis, and Abby Niemer, and UNL Professors Sarah Gervais and David DiLillo)

•  An examination of eye movements to understand how questionnaire design affects the survey response process?
(in collaboration with UNL Professors Jolene Smyth and Kristen Olson)

•  An examination of statistical learning during gaze contingent visual search (in collaboration with graduate students Mark Mills, Gerald McDonnell, and Leslie McCuller)

•  An examination of video game training on outgroup bias (in collaboration with graduate student Leslie McCuller and UCARE student Laura Klein)

•  An examination of joint search behavior (in collaboration with graduate students Mark Mills and Gerald McDonnell)

•  An examination of attention and eye movement preferences relating to natural vs. urban environments (in collaboration with UNL Professors Jeff Stevens and Anne Schutte, and graduate student Emily Johnson)

•  An examination of attention and eye movement preferences related to safety in a variety of domains (in collaboration with UNL Professors Behzad Esmaeli, Can Vuran, et al.)

•  An examination of attention and gaze location relating to emotion perception and ambiguity (in collaboration with UNL Professor Maital Neta, graduate student Monica Rosen, and research assistant Tien Tong)

•  An examination of how individuals classify the eye movements of others (in collaboration with graduate students Mark Mills, Gerald McDonnell, Monica Rosen, and lab manager Brett Bahle)

•  An examination of cognitive control (antisaccade) and how it is moderated by neurotransmitter genes, political temperament, and impulsivity (in collaboration with UNL Professor Scott Stoltenberg)

•  An examination of cognitive control (antisaccade) and how it is moderated by aggression (in collaboration with UCARE student Sarah Burghaus)

•  An examination of attentional allocation, attentional preference, and emotion processing on outgroup bias (in collaboration with UCARE student Tyler Person)

Attention studies

•  Various examinations of the influence task irrelevant but overlearned stimuli on attention (collaborators on various projects include graduate students Mark Mills, Gerald McDonnell, and Monica Rosen, Utrecht University Professor Stefan Van der Stigchel and University of British Columbia Professor Alan Kingstone)

•  Various examinations of the influence of individual differences on cognitive performance (collaborators on various projects include University of Toronto Professor Tim Welsh, University of Aberdeen Professor Amelia Hunt, University of Utrecht University Professor Stefan Van der Stigchel and University of British Columbia Professor Alan Kingstone), UNL Professors of Political Science John Hibbing and Kevin Smith)

•  An examination of factors influencing the attentional SNARC effect (collaborators on various projects include Utrecht University Professor Stefan Van der Stigchel and University of British Columbia Professor Alan Kingstone)

•  An examination of the influence of multiple cues on target detection and inhibition of return (in collaboration with UCLA Professor Alan Castel and University of Toronto Professor Jay Pratt)

•  An examination of cognitive training and interactions between the attentional, motor, and oculomotor systems (in collaboration with Queen's University Professor Daryl Wilson and Utrecht University Professor Stefan Van der Stigchel)

•  An examination of the influence of attentional control on memory control (in collaboration with graduate student Gerald McDonnell and University of British Columbia Professor Alan Kingstone)

Memory studies

•  An examination of interactions between working memory, attention, endogenous cues, and cue-target compatibility (in collaboration with graduate student Gerald McDonnell)

•  An examination of inhibition based models of memory error (one study investigating directed forgetting, one study investigating retrieval-induced forgetting; collaborators include UCLA Professor Alan Castel)

•  An examination of the influence motor behavior on visuospatial memory (in collaboration with former undergraduate student Sarah Shumborski)

•  An examination of the link between eye movements and memory for foveated objects

•  An examination of the influence of behavioral cues on memory and metacognition (in collaboration with thesis student Noah Weiss, UCLA Professor Alan Castel, and University of British Columbia Professor Alan Kingstone)

Perception studies

•  An examination of various manipulations on motion-based illusions (collaborators include University of Victoria Professor Mike Masson and University of British Columbia Professor Jim Enns)

•  An examination of factors influencing the Ternus illusion (in collaboration with UNL graduate student Mark Mills).

Other ventures

Mike Dodd is core faculty in the Center for Brain, Behavior, and Biology which, in collaboration with the Athletics Performance Laboratory examines factors relating to concussion and traumatic brain injury

Mike Dodd is a member of the SB2 initiative (Systems Biology of Social Behavior)at UNL, an interdisciplinary research group consisting of Professors of Psychology, Political Science, Biological Sciences, Sociology, Economics,and Special Education and Communication Disorders

Mike Dodd is a member of the SAVI initiative (Substance Abuse and Violence Initiative)