Nelson Cowan, Dept. of Psychological Sciences, Univ. of Missouri-Columbia

Former Doctoral Students and Their Current Positions

J. Scott Saults, Ph.D., 1992
Research Associate, University of Missouri

Timothy A. Keller, Ph.D., 1994
Senior Research Associate, Carnegie Mellon University

Linda S. Day, Ph.D., 1995
Assistant Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Missouri

Noelle Wood, Ph.D., 1996
Project Manager, Rhode Island Department of Mental Health

Emily M. Elliott, Ph.D., 2001
Assistant Professor, Psychology, Louisiana State University

Anna Hismjatullina, Ph.D., 2006

Applied Behavior Consultant

Behavior Analysts, Inc., Walnut Creek, CA.

Candice C. Morey, Ph.D., 2007
Postdoctoral Fellow, Washington University, St. Louis

Former Postdoctoral Fellows and Their Current Positions

Emily M. Elliott (2001-2002)

Assistant Professor, Psychology, Louisiana State University

Michael Bunting (2003-2005)
Research Scientist at the Center for the Advanced Study of Language,

University of Maryland, College Park, MD.

Note: Mike is the winner of APA’s 2006 Young Investigator Award for the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition

Opportunities for Graduate Study

The Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri is an excellent, research-oriented, very productive department. The department is quite active in both Cognition and Neuroscience, as well as in Cognitive and Social Development. The city of Columbia is consistently rated as one of the best places in the country to live.

With several assistants, I conduct research on working memory and selective attention in children and adults, with special emphasis on short-term memory for spoken words and other sounds. For example, right now we are conducting research with children and adults on the ability to recall spoken words that were ignored at the time that they were presented. My research is federally funded by an NICHD grant that includes money to hire graduate research assistants and to pay their tuition costs.

If you are interested in applying for graduate work with this project, please contact me at or return to my Home Page and contact me in some other manner. There is also a Graduate Admissions brochure available from the department.

If you are interested in applying in experimental psychology with some related specialization, you can visit the Cognition and Neuroscience Program or the Developmental Psychology Program to examine other faculty interests and facilities. Potential graduate students with an interest in cognitive neuroscience are encouraged to apply either through the Department of Psychological Sciences or the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Ph.D. Program.

MU and the College of Arts and Science offer programs that involve students in research:

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revised: summer 2007

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