Cognitive Psychology

About the program

The Cognitive Psychology program at Iowa State University trains graduate students to understand and improve how people learn, remember, think, and make decisions. Students work closely with faculty from day one, developing the skills to design experiments, analyze data, and publish high-impact research.

Our program emphasizes the study of basic cognitive processes in naturalistic settings including education, criminal justice, virtual environments, and other real-world contexts.

New graduate students are admitted into a faculty mentor’s lab and become involved in that faculty member’s research program. Our graduates are competitive for careers in academia, industry, and government. We encourage prospective students to peruse faculty profiles to assess alignment of interests.

Prospective students

We welcome applicants who are passionate about research in Cognitive Psychology. The ideal applicant has research experience and has completed coursework in research methods, statistics, and cognitive psychology.

Most admitted students receive funding (tuition + stipend) for five years. Matriculation takes place annually during the Fall semester. The application deadline is December 1. Applications are typically reviewed through February and March. Notifications regarding admission decisions are sent by mid-April. For full details on eligibility, materials, and FAQs, please visit the Graduate Admissions page.

Names of recruiting faculty members will be listed here on or around September 1.

If you have questions about the Cognitive Psychology program or admissions, please contact the Cognitive Area Director, Dr. Andrew Smith.

Interdisciplinary opportunities:

There are numerous opportunities for our students to complement their training in Cognitive Psychology through involvement in concentrations, certificates, and interdisciplinary programs.

Within the Psychology Department, many students choose to enhance their training by completing the requirements for the Quantitative Psychology Certificate or through participation in the Psychology-Law Concentration.

Some students pursue formal minors or dual-degree opportunities with other programs on campus, including but not limited to:

• Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
• Neuroscience
• Statistics
• Gerontology

Faculty

Affiliated and Emeritus faculty:

• Stephen B. Gilbert (Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering)
• Ann L. Smiley-Oyen (Department of Kinesiology)

• Eric Cooper (Emeritus)
• Veronica Dark (Emeritus)
• William S. Robinson (Emeritus)

Recent alumni:

• Kyle St. Hilaire (2022, Ph.D.) – Learning Scientist, Chegg
• Alexander Toftness (2022, Ph.D.) – Assistant Professor, Coe College, Author of Incredible Consequences of Brain Injury: The Ways Your Brain Can Break 
• Lucia Cherep (2021, Ph.D.) – Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Arizona
• Alex Lim (2020, Ph.D.) – Human Factors Engineer, Apple
• Rachel Dianiska (2020, Ph.D.) – Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California Irvine
• Krista Manley (2019, Ph.D.) – User Experience Researcher, Procore
• Dominick Atkinson (2019, Ph.D.) – Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Idaho
• Sara Davis (2018, Ph.D.) – Assistant Professor, University of North Florida
• Larissa Arnold (2018, Ph.D.) – Assistant Professor, Clark University
• Jason Geller (2017, Ph.D.) – to Lecturer, Princeton University
• Zachary Siegel (2017, Ph.D.) – Clinical Scientist, Abbott
• Lori Sjolund (2016, Ph.D.) – Human Factors and Usability Engineer, 3M
• Miko Wilford (2015, Ph.D.) – Associate Professor, Iowa State University
• Jessica LaPaglia (2014, Ph.D.) – Associate Professor, Morningside College
• Matthew Erdman (2014, Ph.D.) – Analytics IT Manager, Trane Technologies