Office Location: | |
Office Phone: | (919) 681-0660 |
Email Address: | |
Web Page: | http://mitrofflab.weebly.com/ |
Typical Courses Taught:
Ph.D. | Harvard University | 2002 |
M.A. | Harvard University | 2000 |
B.A. | University of California at Berkeley | 1998 |
My lab has an active interest in visual search—how we find targets amongst distractors. With a dual goal of informing both academic theory and applied "real-world" performance, we explore various influences on search. We work with a variety of expert groups to understand the effects of experience and expertise, and to reveal individual differences in performance. For example, we work with radiologists, orthodontists, and airport X-ray operators. With support from the TSA, we have a lab at Raleigh-Durham airport and are testing all of the TSA Officers there. As well, we explore aspects of the search process itself (e.g., how often targets occur and whether one or more targets can occur in the same search array). The lab is currently examining many aspects of "multiple-target visual search"—where more than one possible target can be present in the same search. Multiple-target searches are common in real-world settings (baggage screening, radiology) and they are especially error prone; we are examining what factors affect accuracy to both further cognitive theories and to improve searchers' performance. Another thread of my research program is focused on the effects of prior experiences and individual differences on the malleability of visual cognition. We explore how certain activities, traits, personalities, and predilections affect visual and attentional abilities. We work with a variety of groups to examine how different individual differences relate to visual and cognitive performance. Related to the above research lines, I also work with Nike to examine visual training from a sports perspective. I am an advisor to Nike's SPARQ Sensory Performance group and have multiple projects focused on the effects of stroboscopic vision on visual and attentional abilities. We work with a large variety of study participants, including elite athletes (Duke Basketball; Carolina Hurricanes), to understand the malleability of performance.