Dr Kait Clark
Research Associate
- clarkk3@cardiff.ac.uk
- Tower Building, 70 Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3AT
Research summary
Broadly, my research explores variations in human visual perception in terms of individual differences and the impacts of external manipulations. A current focus is motion perception and the relationship between self-movement and visual perception. When we are moving, how do our brains determine whether what we see is changing because of our own movement or because of movement within the environment? Does self-movement make perception more difficult, or might it be helpful?
Another line of work is concerned with visual search abilities and performance. Visual search is a ubiquitous process – humans search their environments on a daily basis, and careers such as radiology and airport security require critical attention to search accuracy and efficiency. Despite the frequent use and importance of visual search, however, humans are often inaccurate, inefficient, or both. Like many cognitive processes, search abilities are malleable, and my research has examined how and why cognitive processes underlying visual search can change.
Undergraduate education
BS, Psychology (2008) – Saint Joseph’s University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US)
Postgraduate education
PhD, Psychology & Neuroscience (2014) – Duke University (Durham, North Carolina, US)
Employment
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Cardiff University (2014–)
Postgraduate Research Associate and Teaching Assistant, Duke University (2008–2014)
Honours and awards
Awards/external committees
James B. Duke Fellowship (2008–2014)
Vision Sciences Society Travel Award (2012)
Object Attention, Perception, and Memory Travel Award (2011)
Summer Institute in Cognitive Neuroscience Fellowship (2009)
Professional memberships
Memberships
Vision Sciences Society, Member (2007–)
Phi Beta Kappa, Saint Joseph’s University Chapter, Member (2008–)
Psi Chi, Saint Joseph’s University Chapter, Vice President (2007–2008)
2019
- de la Malla, C.et al. 2019. The predictability of a target’s motion influences gaze, head and hand movements when trying to intercept it. Journal of Neurophysiology 121(6), pp. 2416-2427. (10.1152/jn.00917.2017)
2017
- Biggs, A. T., Clark, K. and Mitroff, S. R. 2017. Who should be searching? differences in personality can affect visual search accuracy. Personality and Individual Differences 116, pp. 353-358. (10.1016/j.paid.2017.04.045)
2016
- van den Berg, B.et al. 2016. Visual search performance is predicted by both prestimulus and poststimulus electrical brain activity. Scientific Reports 6(1), article number: 37718. (10.1038/srep37718)
2015
- Clark, K.et al. 2015. Improvement in visual search with practice: mapping learning-related changes in neurocognitive stages of processing. Journal of Neuroscience 35(13), pp. 5351-5359. (10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1152-14.2015)
2014
- Clark, K.et al. 2014. Context matters: The structure of task goals affects accuracy in multiple-target visual search. Applied Ergonomics 45(3), pp. 528-533. (10.1016/j.apergo.2013.07.008)
2013
- Jackson, T. H.et al. 2013. Face symmetry assessment abilities: Clinical implications for diagnosing asymmetry. American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics 144(5), pp. 663-671. (10.1016/j.ajodo.2013.06.020)
- Jackson, T. H., Clark, K. and Mitroff, S. R. 2013. Enhanced facial symmetry assessment in orthodontists. Visual Cognition 21(7), pp. 838-852. (10.1080/13506285.2013.832450)
- Biggs, A. T.et al. 2013. Assessing visual search performance differences between Transportation Security Administration Officers and nonprofessional visual searchers. Visual Cognition 21(3), pp. 330-352. (10.1080/13506285.2013.790329)
2012
- Cain, M. S.et al. 2012. A Bayesian optimal foraging model of human visual search. Psychological Science 23(9), pp. 1047-1054. (10.1177/0956797612440460)
- Clark, K.et al. 2012. Overcoming hurdles in translating visual search research between the lab and the field. The Influence of Attention, Learning, and Motivation on Visual Search 59, pp. 147-181. (10.1007/978-1-4614-4794-8_7)
2011
- Clark, K., Fleck, M. S. and Mitroff, S. R. 2011. Enhanced change detection performance reveals improved strategy use in avid action video game players. Acta Psychologica 136(1), pp. 67-72. (10.1016/j.actpsy.2010.10.003)
2010
- Jordan, K. E., Clark, K. and Mitroff, S. R. 2010. See an object, hear an object file: Object correspondence transcends sensory modality. Visual Cognition 18(4), pp. 492-503. (10.1080/13506280903338911)
Funding
ESRC, Moving to see: The benefits of self-motion for visual perception (2014-2017), £400k (FEC), awarded to Simon Rushton, part of international ORA+ grant with Eli Brenner (Amsterdam, NWO) and Michele Rucci (Boston University, NSF)
Research group
Cognitive Science (Perception & Action)
Research collaborators
Simon Rushton (Cardiff University, School of Psychology)
Steve Mitroff (Duke University, Department of Psychology & Neuroscience)
Marty Woldroff (Duke University, Department of Psychiatry)
Alison Adcock (Duke University, Department of Psychiatry)
Adam Biggs (Duke University, Department of Psychology & Neuroscience)
Greg Appelbaum (Duke University, Department of Psychiatry)
Tate Jackson (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Dentistry)
Ehsan Samei (Duke University Medical Center, Department of Radiology)
Jay Baker (Duke University Medical Center, Department of Radiology)