Biography
I am a researcher interested in contributing to basic knowledge in psychological science. This includes research that I hope will one day prove useful for improving the lives of individuals at risk for attentional and social deficits. I received my PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from Rice University (Houston, Texas) in 2013. I joined the faculty at Brigham Young University as an Assistant Professor of Psychology in 2013 and established the Development of Visual Cognition Lab. Research in my lab focuses on understanding genetic and environmental influences on the development of visual attention in infants, children, adolescents, and young adults.
Research Interests
As a developmentalist in the Psychology Department and an affiliate of the Neuroscience Center, I conduct studies with infants, children, and adults. I have interest in typically developing and atypical populations, such as those with an attentional or cognitive deficits (including those with autism, traumatic brain injury, or attention deficit disorder). The goal of my research is to clarify influences on cognitive development from infancy to adulthood.
To reach my goals, I use psychometric, genetic, self-report, and interview methodology. For example, my psychometric approaches use reaction time and accuracy to visually presented stimuli such as geometric shapes. I collect saliva samples to examine individual differences in neurotransmitter production. I gather information from participants on their nutrition, academic functioning, peer-relationships, and socio-economic experiences to look for associations with brain-related outcomes. Some of my studies involve collecting longitudinal information to answer particularly intriguing questions about the trajectories of development that cannot be satisfactorily answered in other ways.
The depth of my commitment to attain my research goals is illustrated by the variety of skills I have been developing in computer programming, protocol development, advanced statistical analyses, and neuroimaging.
See professor Rebecca Lundwall's website here.
Professor Rebecca Lundwall's research site can be found here.