It is expected that the Master of Arts (MA) thesis will be completed within the first two years in the program. The Master's degree will normally be required before studies for the doctorate are begun.
The main component of the doctoral program is the dissertation. Students are usually assigned to a specific research supervisor when they are admitted to the program based on interests and background. Any of the core or cross-appointed faculty listed on the faculty page can serve as supervisors for the doctoral program. In addition, the adjunct appointees to the department are also occasionally willing to supervise our doctoral students. Completion of the Doctoral dissertation typically requires another three years after completing the MA.
Examples of dissertation research topics in Cognitive Neuroscience
- The benefits and boundary conditions of drawing on episodic memory. Melissa Meade, 2019.
- The desire to act: Exploring situational, dispositional and genetic correlates of a fundamental motivational state. Andriy Struk, 2019.
- The Perceptual Mechanisms of Probability Effects. Syaheed Jabar, 2018.
- Emotions and the Environment: The Variable Effect of Environmental Complexity on Pleasure and Interest. Vedran Dzebic, 2017.
- Adapting to Change: The Role of Priors, Surprise and Brain Damage on Mental Model Updating. Alex Filipowicz, 2017.
- The Interdependence of Attention, Memory, and Performance Based Reward. Christie Haskell, 2016.
- Neural processing of fearful and happy facial expressions: effects of fixation to facial features and task demands. Karly Neath, 2015.
- The effects of eye gaze and head orientation on covert attention capture. Adam Palanica, 2014.
- Modulation of gaze-oriented attention with facial expressions: ERP correlates and influence of autistic traits. Amandine Lassalle, 2013.
- Remembering Faces in Different Places: The Influence of Context in Face Memory. Shahnaz Koji, 2013
- The science of wayfinding: An analysis of navigational differences between good and poor wayfinders. Punya Singh, 2013
- The Investigation of Long-Term Cognitive Changes After Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Using Novel and Sensitive Measures. Lana Ozen, 2012
- Perceptuomotor Incoordination During Manually-Assisted Search. Grayden Solman, 2012
- Mechanisms of the Aging-Related Positivity Effect in Memory and Attention. Jennifer Tomaszczyk, 2012
- The Consequences of Everyday Inattention. Jonathan Carriere, 2011
- “Oops! I can’t believe I did that!!” Inducing Errors in a Routine Action Sequence. Amanda Clark, 2011
- June Must Be Right and 9 is on Top: An Investigation of Time-Space and Number-Form Synaesthesia. Michelle Jarick, 2011
- Studying Journal Articles Under Time Pressure. Lisa Meschino, 2011
- Towards a Theory of Visual Concealment. Kelly Malcolmson, 2010
- The influence of study context on recollection: Cognitive, neural, and age-related processes. Erin Skinner, 2009