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🔍What We Study

The Attention and Working Memory Lab studies cognitive functioning from an individual differences perspective. This involves assessing individuals’ cognitive abilities on a wide range of constructs (working memory capacity, attention control, task switching, updating, general discrimination ability, prospective memory, speed-accuracy tendencies, and so on) to:

  • Gain theoretical understanding of the underlying mechanisms behind these constructs

  • Investigate the relationships among these abilities

  • Assess how these abilities predict performance on real world behavior and constructs, such as fluid intelligence, multitasking, language acquisition, and military performance

The primary focus of our lab's work is the nature and measurement of attention control. We conceptualize attention control as the ability to focus on task-relevant information and to resist distraction and interference. We view attention control as a central ability to most complex cognition, as it allows individuals to direct ongoing thought and behavior according to current goals. Those with better attention control are better at avoiding distraction and prioritizing relevant information. They are more likely to stay on task, remember important information, and avoid repeating mistakes.

Our lab’s work has been cited over 55,000 times on Google Scholar, making us the 10th most cited lab in all of Georgia Tech. The scope of our work is broad; we have conducted studies looking at genetic predictors of intelligence, using working memory capacity tasks to predict flight simulation errors among sleep-deprived Air Force pilots, using baseline pupil size to predict intelligence, assessing brain activity during complex tasks using electroencephalogram (EEG), and many others.

To learn more about the lab’s research, visit our Publications page or feel free to ask someone what they are working on!

Benefits of Working in Our Lab ✅

These benefits are dependent on you and your level of involvement.

  • Receive training in technical and ethical aspects of human subject research

  • Gain an understanding of how individual differences research is conducted

  • Gain an understanding of research methods, including specific techniques (e.g., eye-tracking, pupillometry, genetics, EEG)

  • Learn how to analyze and interpret behavioral and neuroimaging data

  • Receive acknowledgment in publications resulting from studies to which you contributed

  • Interact with graduate students and get advice pertaining to research, coursework, careers, and psychology as a whole

  • Gain valuable experience that will inform your immediate and long-term career goals

  • Be able to have graduate students and/or Dr. Engle write letters of recommendation or serve as references

  • Conduct your own research within the constraints of our lab's work and focus

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