Erik M. Altmann
March, 2008
Department of
Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824
http://www.msu.edu/~ema, ema@msu.edu, 517-353-4406 (voice), 517-353-1652
(fax)
Employment and education
Associate
Professor, Michigan State University, 2006 to present
Assistant Professor, Michigan State University, 2000 to 2006
Postdoctoral fellow, George Mason University, 1996 to 2000
Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University, 1996
Supervisors: Bonnie E. John,
Allen Newell
Dissertation: Episodic
memory for external information
B.Sc., University of Alberta, 1987
Research interests
Memory,
attention, and executive function
Task switching and task interruption
Cognitive simulation
Grants
Altmann, E. M. Managing the disruptiveness of interruptions. Office of Naval Research, 10/1/02 to 9/30/05, $311,583; renewed 10/1/05 to 9/30/08, $280,122.
Journal articles
Altmann, E. M. & Gray, W. D. (in press). An integrated model of cognitive control in task switching. Psychological Review. PDF
Altmann, E. M. & Trafton, J. G. (2007). Timecourse of recovery from task interruption: Data and a model. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14, 1079-1084. PDF
Altmann, E. M. (2007). Cue-independent task-specific representations in task switching: Evidence from backward inhibition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 33, 892-899. PDF
Altmann, E. M. (2007). Comparing switch costs: Alternating runs and explicit cuing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 33, 475-483. PDF
Altmann, E. M. (2006). Task switching is not cue switching. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 13, 1016-1022. PDF
Altmann, E. M. (2005). Repetition priming in task switching: Do the benefits dissipate? Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 12, 535-540. PDF
Altmann, E. M. & Burns, B. D. (2005). Streak biases in decision making: Data and a memory model. Cognitive Systems Research, 6, 5-16. PDF
Altmann, E. M. (2004). Advance preparation in task switching: What work is being done? Psychological Science, 15, 616-622. PDF
Altmann, E. M. (2004). The preparation effect in task switching: Carryover of SOA. Memory & Cognition, 32, 153-163. PDF
Altmann, E. M. (2003). Reconstructing the serial order of events: A case study of September 11, 2001. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 17, 1067-1080. PDF
Arrington, C. M., Altmann, E. M., & Carr T. H. (2003). Tasks of a feather flock together: Similarity effects in task switching. Memory & Cognition, 31. 781-789. PDF
Trafton, J. G., Altmann, E. M., Brock, D. P., & Mintz, F. E. (2003). Preparing to resume an interrupted task: Effects of prospective goal encoding and retrospective rehearsal. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 58, 583-603. PDF
Altmann, E. M. (2002). Functional decay of memory for tasks. Psychological Research, 66, 287-297. PDF
Altmann, E. M. & Trafton, J. G. (2002). Memory for goals: An activation-based model. Cognitive Science, 26, 39-83. PDF and model
Altmann, E. M. & Gray, W. D. (2002). Forgetting to remember: The functional relationship of decay and interference. Psychological Science, 13, 27-33. PDF
Altmann, E. M. (2001). Near-term memory in programming: A simulation-based analysis. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 54, 189-210. PDF
Altmann, E. M. & John, B.E. (1999). Episodic indexing: A model of memory for attention events. Cognitive Science, 23, 117-156. PDF
Other publications
Altmann, E. M. & Trafton, J. G. (August, 2004). Task interruption: Resumption lag and the role of cues. Proceedings of the 26th annual conference of the Cognitive Science Society. PDF
Altmann, E. M. (2003). Think globally, ask functionally. Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 26, 602-603. (Commentary.) PDF of target article.
Altmann, E. M. (2003). Task switching and the pied homunculus: Where are we being led? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7, 340-341. (Commentary.) PDF
Altmann, E. M. & Schunn, C. D. (August, 2002). Integrating decay and interference: A new look at an old interaction. Proceedings of the 24th annual conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 65-70). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. PDF and model
Altmann, E. M. & Davidson, D. J. (August, 2001). An integrative approach to Stroop: Combining a language model and a unified cognitive theory. Proceedings of the 23rd annual conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 21-26). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. PDF and model
Altmann, E. M., Cleeremans, A, Schunn, C. D., & Gray, W. D. (Eds.) (2001). Proceedings of the 2001 fourth international conference on cognitive modeling. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Altmann, E. M. (August, 2000). Memory in chains: Modeling primacy and recency effects in memory for order. Proceedings of the 22nd annual conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 31-36). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. PDF
Peterson, M. J. & Altmann, E. M. (August, 2000). Effects of presentation format on memory for order. Proceedings of the 22nd annual conference of the Cognitive Science Society (poster pp. 847-852). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Altmann, E. M. & Gray, W. D. (August, 2000). Managing attention by preparing to forget. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 44th annual meeting.
Altmann, E. M. (March, 2000). Memory in chains: A dual-code associative model of positional uncertainty. In N. Taatgen & J. Aasman (eds.), Proceedings of the 3rd international conference on cognitive modeling (pp. 9-16). Veenendaal, The Netherlands: Universal Press.
Altmann, E. M. & Gray, W. D. (March, 2000). An integrated model of serial attention. In N. Taatgen & J. Aasman (eds.), Proceedings of the 3rd international conference on cognitive modeling (pp. 17-24). Veenendaal, The Netherlands: Universal Press. PDF
Gray, W. D. & Altmann, E.M (2000). Cognitive modeling in human-computer interaction. In W. Karwowski (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Ergonomics and Human Factors.
Altmann, E. M. (November, 2005). Switch cost confusion: Validity problems in task switching research. Paper, 46th annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Toronto, Canada.
Altmann, E. M. (March, 2005). Detecting goals in memory. Invited paper, Integrated Modeling of Cognitive Systems (AFOSR workshop), Saratoga Springs, NY.
Altmann, E. M. & Trafton, J. G. (May, 2004). Task interruption: The cues we use to recover. Hot topic paper, Annual APS Convention, Chicago, IL.
Altmann, E. M. (January, 2004). Beyond switch cost: Modeling memory processes in task switching. Psychology colloquium, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Altmann, E. M. (November, 2003). Switch cost: Much ado about (almost) nothing. Paper, 44th annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Vancouver, Canada.
Altmann, E. M. (August, 2003). Beyond switch cost as a measure of cognitive control: A plug for simulation. Publication-based paper, Twenty-fifth annual conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Boston, MA.
Altmann, E. M. (May, 2003). Switch cost: A failed measure of executive control. Invited paper, Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Altmann, E. M. & Trafton, J. G. (May, 2002). Cognitive consequences of interruption in dynamic environments. ONR Workshop on Attention, Perception and Data Visualization. Washington, DC.
Altmann, E. M. (September, 2001). Functional decay in working memory: Subtle effects of a pervasive process. Invited paper, Workshop on Computational Models of Memory, University of Amsterdam (EPOS), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Altmann, E. M. (July, 2001). The subatomic components of thought. Invited paper, ACT-R post-graduate summer school, Berkeley Springs, WV.
Altmann, E. M. (May, 2001). A signal detection model of executive control. Invited paper, Colloquium on Control of Cognitive Processes, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Altmann, E. M. (January, 2000). Functional decay: How forgetting sustains performance. Psychology colloquia, Georgia Institute of Technology (Jan. 10), The Pennsylvania State University (Jan. 14), George Mason University (Jan.17), and Michigan State University (Jan. 24).
Altmann, E. M. (September, 1999). Applied cognitive architectures. Army-Navy Applied Cognitive Architectures Workshop, Washington, DC.
Altmann, E. M. & Gray, W. D. (June, 1999). Managing attention by preparing to forget. Workshop on Critical Event Systems: Attention management, interruptions, and alerts. Office of Naval Research, Washington, DC.
Altmann, E.M. (April, 1998). Mechanisms and implications of pervasive episodic memory. Keynote paper, Second European conference on cognitive modeling. Nottingham, UK.
Teaching
Introduction to Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
Service
NSF grant review panelist, 2007, 2006
Consulting editor, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition; Journal of Experimental Psychology: General; and Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
Program committee member, 29th (2007, Nashville), 28th (2006, Vancouver), 27th (2005, Stresa, Italy), 26th (2004, Chicago), 25th (2003, Boston), and 24th (2002, Fairfax, VA) annual meetings of the Cognitive Science Society
Ad hoc reviewer for ACM
Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, Acta Psychologica, American Journal
of Psychology, Applied Cognitive Psychology, Cerebral Cortex, Cognitive
Science, Cognitive Psychology, Experimental Psychology, European Journal of
Cognitive Psychology, Information Systems Research, International Journal of
Human Computer Studies, Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, Journal of
Cognitive Neuroscience, Journal of Experimental Psychology: {Applied | Human
Perception and Performance}, Journal of the Learning Sciences, Human Factors,
Kognitionswissenschaft, Memory & Cognition, NeuroImage, Perception &
Psychophysics, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Psychological
Research, Psychological Review, Psychological Science, Psychology and Aging, Quarterly Journal of Experimental
Psychology, and Visual Cognition
Cognitive interest group chair, Department of Psychology, Michigan State University