Bryan R. Burnham, PhD
The University of Scranton
(current as of 20 August 2009)
UNIVERSITY ADDRESS
Department of Psychology
The University of Scranton
800 Linden Street
Scranton, PA 18510
(570)941-6687
EDUCATION
May 2007 Ph.D. Cognitive Psychology
University at Albany, State University of New York
Dissertation: “Reduced working memory capacity leads to attentional capture by an irrelevant color singleton during inefficient visual search”
Committee: James H. Neely (Advisor), W. Trammell Neill, Frank R. Vellutino
December M.A. Cognitive Psychology
2004 University at Albany, State University of New York
Thesis: “A capture of visual-spatial attention by a static color/shape discontinuity”
Advisor: James H. Neely, PhD
May 2002 B.A. Psychology
Utica College of Syracuse University
ACADEMIC POSITIONS
2007-Present Assistant Professor, University of Scranton
2006-2007 Lecturer, University at Albany, State University of New York
2005-2006 Research Assistant, University at Albany, for Dr. W. Trammell Neill
2002-2005 Research Assistant, University at Albany, for Dr. James H. Neely
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Psychonomic Society Associate
American Psychological Association Member
Association for Psychological Science Member
Object Perception, Attention & Memory Group Affiliate
Vision Sciences Society Affiliate
Eastern Psychological Society Member
HONORS
2007 University Distinguished Dissertation Award
University at Albany, State University of New York
2002 Outstanding Senior in Psychology
Utica College of Syracuse University
GRANTS
Fall 2007 Faculty Internal Research Grant, The University of Scranton, $1,370.00
Fall 2007 Initial Startup Grant, The University of Scranton, $5,000.00
CONFREENCE PRESENTATIONS
Burnham, B. R., Suda, M. T., Harris, A. M., & Delliturri, A. (2009, November). Working memory and contingent involuntary orienting. Poster presented at
the 50th annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Boston.
Licata, M. L, Gilpin, S., Johnson, K. A. Baakman, J. A., Cannon, J.T., & Burnham, B.R (2009, October). 2d:4d finger and width:height face ratios:
Relationships with political orientation, signal detection, and perseverative responding. Poster presented at the 39th annual meeting of the Society for
Neuroscience, Chicago.
Mertens, J. Pittaluga, G. Portelli, M., & Burnham, B. R. (2009, April). Executive control and attentional capture. Poster presented at the 24th annual
University of Scranton Psychology Conference, Scranton, PA.
Domingo, M., Saporito, M., Bianco, N. E., & Burnham, B. R., (2009, April). Visual Field Asymmetry in Processing Irrelevant Singletons is Found During
Feature Search, not Singleton Search. Poster presented at the 24th annual University of Scranton Psychology Conference, Scranton, PA.
Burnham, B. R. (2008, November). Attentional shifts toward relevant and irrelevant singletons have a common time-course. Poster presented at the
49th annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Chicago.
Burnham, B. R., Pittagula, G., Mertens, J., & Greiner, L. (2008, November). Perceptual load and working memory load on attentional capture. Poster
presented at the 16th annual meeting of the Object, Perception, Attention and Memory group, Chicago.
Guenther, R., Piatek, E., Burnham, B. R., & Cannon, J.T. (2008, November). Staying the course: Connections between political attitudes, habitual responding,
and 2D:4D finger ratio. Poster presented at the 38th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Washington, DC.
Neill, W. T., Burnham, B. R., O’Connor, P. A., Li, Y. (2008, May). Effects of object structure on object-based attention. Poster presented at the 8th
annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, Naples, FL.
Burnham, B. R. (2008, March). An irrelevant color singleton captures attention under high- vs. low-working memory load. Poster presented at the 79th
annual meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Boston.
Burnham, B. R., & Neely, J. H. (2006, November) Involuntary capture of visual-spatial attention occurs for intersections, both real and “imagined”. Paper
presented at the 47th annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Houston.
Burnham, B. R., & Neill, W. T. (2006, November). Exploring the boundaries of the different object benefit. Poster presented at the 14th annual meeting of
the Object, Perception, Attention and Memory group, Houston.
Burnham, B. R., Neely, J. H., Walker, P. B., & Neill, W. T. (2005, November). Interference from irrelevant color-singletons during serial search depends on
attention being spatially diffuse. Paper presented at the 13th annual meeting of the Object, Perception, Attention and Memory group, Toronto, ON,
Canada.
Neely, J. H., & Burnham, B. R. (2004, November). A non-contingent, automatic capture of spatial attention by a static discontinuity. Paper presented at the
45th annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Minneapolis.
Burnham, B. R., & Neely, J. H. (2004, May). Does repetition priming affect temporal-order judgments via response bias or facilitated processing? Poster
presented at the 16th annual conference of the American Psychological Society, Chicago.
Burnham, B. R. (2002, April). The Effect of a Speaker’s Emotion on Word List Recall. Paper presented at the annual Utica College Undergraduate
Research Conference, Utica, NY.
PUBLICATIONS (published or in press)
Burnham, B. R., Neely, J. H., Naginsky, Y., & Thomas, M. (2009).Stimulus-driven attentional capture by a static discontinuity between perpetual
groups.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance.
Burnham, B. R., & Neely, J. H. (2008) Erratum to: Involuntary capture of visual-spatial attention occurs for intersections, both real and
“imagined”.Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 16, 430.
Burnham, B. R., & Neely, J. H. (2008). A static color discontinuity can capture spatial attention when the target is an abrupt-onset singleton. Journal of
Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 34, 831-841.
Burnham, B. R. (2007) Displaywide visual features associated with a search display’s appearance can mediate attentional capture. Psychonomic Bulletin &
Review, 14, 392-422.
Burnham, B. R., & Neely, J. H. (2007) Involuntary capture of visual-spatial attention occurs for intersections, both real and “imagined”. Psychonomic Bulletin
& Review, 14, 735-741.
Burnham, B. R., & Neely, J. H., & O’Connor, P. A. (2006). Priming effects on temporal order judgments about words: Perceived temporal priority or
response bias? Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 13, 429-433.
Burnham, B. R., Neely, J. H., Walker, P. B., & Neill, W. T. (2006). Interference from irrelevant color-singletons during serial search depends on attention
being spatially diffuse. Visual Cognition, 14, 75-78.
MANUSCRIPTS (AND PROJECTS submitted or in progress)
Burnham, B. R., & Harris, A. M. Executive control and attentional settings: Relationship between working memory capacity and attentional capture.
[Submitted for review to Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance]
Burnham, B. R. Cognitive load modulates attentional capture by color singletons during effortful visual search. [Revision returned to Acta Psychologica]
Burnham, B. R., Neely, J. H., O’Connor, P. A., & Sanders, G. Correcting a confound and misinterpretation in Burnham and Neely (2007): Lines do capture
attention but imaginary intersections may strengthen the effect.
Burnham, B. R., Walker, P. B., Neely, J. H., & Neill, W. T. Attentional capture by a color singleton during serial search depends on visual attention being
spatially diffuse. [Continuing data collection]
RESEARCH INTERESTS
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
2009- Faculty Senate, Senator, The University of Scranton
2008 Salary and Benefits Committee of Faculty Affairs Council, The University of Scranton
2008-2009 Psychology Club, Moderator, The University of Scranton
2008-Present Psychology Departmental Review Board, Chair, The University of Scranton
2007-Present Library Advisory Committee, Representative, The University of Scranton
2007-Present Psychology Departmental Review Board, Reviewer, The University of Scranton
2005-2007 Graduate Student Advisory Committee, University at Albany, State University of New York
2006 Department of Psychology Summer Research Pool, Coordinator, University at Albany, State University of New York
2004-2005 Department of Psychology Summer Research Pool, Coordinator, University at Albany, State University of New York
2001-2002 Utica College Psychological Society, Vice-President, Utica College Psychological Society
REVIEWING ACTIVITIES
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance Ad hoc Reviewer
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Ad hoc Reviewer
Attention, Perception & Psychophysics Ad hoc Reviewer
Experimental Psychology Ad hoc Reviewer
TEACHING EXPERIENCE AS INSTRUCTOR OF RECORD (by course number)
PSYC 110 (Fundamentals of Psychology)
An introduction to the scientific study of behavior through a survey of psychology’s principal methods, content areas and applications. Course requirements include participation in psychological research or preparation of a short article review. (University of Scranton)
PSYC 210 (Statistics in the Behavioral Sciences)
Basic statistics in the behavioral sciences, including organization and display of data; measures of central tendency; variability; correlation and regression; one- and two-sample t-tests; confidence intervals, one-way and two-way analysis of variance, chi-square; and consideration of effect size, power, and null hypothesis testing including types of errors. Introduction to the computerized statistical-analysis package SPSS-PC. (University of Scranton)
APSY 210 (Introduction to Statistics)
Methods of analyzing quantitative data in psychology and the behavioral sciences. The relation of each of the various methods to the design of experiments. For psychology majors completing their major requirements as outlined in this bulletin or subsequent editions. (University at Albany)
APSY 211 (Research Methods in Psychology)
Topics of psychological research, with emphasis on the manipulation and control of variables, reducing error variance, internal and external validity, the elimination of confounding factors, and social-psychological aspects of experiments. Discussion includes selected topics in the philosophy of science, logical inference, hypothesis testing, theory construction and ethics. For psychology majors completing their major requirements as outlined in this bulletin or subsequent editions. (University at Albany)
PSYC 230 (Sensation and Perception)
Introduction to the field of neuroscience, examining the cellular bases of behavior, effects of drugs and behavior. brain/body correlates of motivation and emotion, and neural changes accompanying pathology. (University of Scranton)
PSYC 234 (Cognitive Psychology)
Considers a number of approaches to the study of human cognitive processes with an emphasis on the information processing model. Topics include pattern recognition, attention, memory, imagery, concepts and categories, and problem solving. (University of Scranton)
PSYC 330
A survey of scientific method and research design in the behavioral sciences. Topics include single subject, survey, correlational and experimental research. Lecture and lab involve computerized data analyses. Lab also includes supervised research and scientific writing. Lecture, 3 credits; lab, 2 credits. Lab fee; lab offered only in spring. The laboratory is writing-intensive. (University of Scranton)
APSY 380 (Learning)
Analysis of basic problems in learning. Consideration of data resulting from human and animal experimentation. (University at Albany)
APSY 340 (The Psychology of Human Sexuality)
In-depth coverage of research and theory on: biological and social causes of sex differences in behavior, attraction and love, marriage and alternatives, sexual behavior, personality variables relating to sexual responsiveness, sexual dysfunction, sexual deviations, effects of erotica, and birth control. (University at Albany)