Research Interests

Dr. Cate does research on sensory and cognitive processes, and on the brain structures that support these functions. He focuses especially on visuospatial perception, shape and pattern perception, enumeration (including counting), the effects of brain damage on these functions, and on using publicly-available MRI data to understand brain function (neuroimaging meta-analysis).

What Dr. Cate is looking for in a Research Assistant

Above all, research assistants will want to make research studies happen! This means being reliable and conscientious, as well as curious and open to learning new skills.

One of the primary roles of research assistants is to serve as the experimenter in laboratory studies of perception and cognition. Unlike many psychology studies that can be run over the internet using survey software, Dr. Cate's studies usually require specialized hardware and software that can control images at the millisecond time scale. This requires that the studies be conducted in person, in the lab, by an alert human being! You can be that human being.

Above and beyond this fundamental role, anyone who has computer programming experience will be able to help create new studies in the lab. It is not expected that most research assistants will have any programming experience, however, nor will they need to develop any.

Research assistants with strong library/online research skills, or who would like to acquire them, will have the chance to conduct literature reviews on current topics in cognitive neuroscience.

All applications will be considered carefully, but here are a few additional preferred qualifications for the various types of research positions within the lab:

Work Study Research Assistants
 GPA: 2.0 or higher
 Class year: Any
 Classwork: No requirements

Research Experience Students
 GPA: 2.0 or higher
 Class year: Any
 Classwork: No requirements

Research Practicum Students
 GPA: 2.5 or higher
 Classification: Sophomore or higher
 Classwork: PSYC 202 or 204 required

Independent Study Students
 GPA: 3.0 or higher
 Classification: Junior or higher
 Classwork: PSYC 202 and 204 required

If you are interested in working with Dr. Cate, please get in touch via email (cate@roanoke.edu).

Current Research  

Reading Holes. This project uses 3D displays to investigate how the mind makes sense of letters that the visual system usually rejects as being real things: holes. After all, holes are just empty space! Preliminary studies showed that while they are difficult to read, letters made from holes stand out unusually well in our peripheral vision.

What is a cluster? When does a random clump of close together items take on the appearance of being a single "thing?" This inevitably happens with all kinds of visual patterns, from flocks of birds to grains of sand to letters on a page. Understanding when small, random units cease to be ignored by our visual system and become objects of our attention is a central problem of visual perception.

Dr. Cate's external website: www.wiki.anthonycate.org