Ruth S Day, Associate Professor

Research Summary:

Cognitive processes, especially memory and comprehension.  How they work in both controlled laboratory experiments and in everyday settings (e.g., medical cognition, courtroom cognition, perception and memory for human movement).

Cognitive Processes
A wide range of basic cognitive processes and their interconnections, especially perception, memory, comprehension, representation, language and problem solving. Special emphasis on: 1) alternative mental representations (e.g., text, lists, outlines, matrices, trees, diagrams) and their effects on cognition; 2) linguistic codability (the ease with which people can name things and the effects of naming on cognition and action); 3) perception and interpretation of human movement; 4) individual differences in cognition (the distinction between "language-based" and "language-optional" individuals); 5) knowledge structures (what they are, how to measure them, how they vary across content domains and expertise).

Everday Cognition

Cognitive processes in everyday life, examined both in the everyday world and laboratory settings. Major projects include:  1) Medical Cognition (how healthcare providers and patients find, understand, remember and use medical information);  2) Courtroom Cognition (how judges, jurors, lawyers, and laypersons  understand legal documents and decide court cases);  3) Memory for Movement (how dancers and athletes learn, remember, and perform movement sequences); 4) Responsive Virtual Human Technology (how humans interact with virtual humans to learn new skills); 5) Cognition and Teaching (cognitive processes of professors and students across academic domains and their implications for teaching/learning).

For additional information, see: http://www.duke.edu/~ruthday

Representative Publications:   (More Publications)

1. Day, R.S. (2006). Comprehension of prescription drug information: Overview of a research program. American Association for Artificial Intelligence. [org] [DrugCompreh] [abs]
2. Hubal, R.H. and Day, R.S. (2006). Informed consent procedures: An experimental test using a virtual character in a dialog systems training program.. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 39, 532-540. [yjbin]  [abs]

Typical Courses Taught::

• Psy 92, Cognitive psychology Synopsis

• Psy 238s, Everyday cognition Synopsis

• Psy 134, Psychology of language Synopsis

• psy 176s, Great ideas in psych Synopsis

  For junior & senior Psychology majors. Student evaluations: --Course = 4.9 --Instructor = 4.9 --Intellectual Stimulation = 4.8

• Psy 194, Research independent study Synopsis

• Psy 399, Special readings

• Psy 103, Practicum Synopsis