In the Attention and Performance Lab, we study how we selectively acquire information from the visual field, how the information we pay attention to affects action and memory, how attention influences emotional processing, and what processing limitations govern multitasking. The approaches we used include behavioral measures (response time and accuracy) and electrophysiological measures (EEG brain activity) and, notably, using both in combination to provide converging operations. The lab has three individual testing rooms, one EEG room, and one common area. Our lab is mainly run by undergraduate and graduate students mentored by Dr. Lien. They have given numerous conference presentations and published numerous journal articles (for more information, visit the publication website).

Lab Director

Dr. Mei-Ching Lien is a professor of Psychology at Oregon State University. She is a Cognitive Psychologist specializing in Human Factors/Engineering Psychology. She has published over 76 journal articles and was awarded the Young Investigator Award in Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance from the American Psychological Association in 2004. Her scholar activity has also been acknowledged by the College of Liberal Arts with two awards: Bill Wilkens Faculty Development Award in 2008 and Robert J. Frank Research, Scholarship and Creativity Award in 2010. Her dedication to undergraduate education and research was honored by the college with the Thomas R. Meehan Excellence in Teaching Award in 2012 and by the university with the Breaking Barriers in Education Award in 2019. She has served as an associate editor for Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, Journal of Cognitive Psychology, Journal of Cognition, and currently serve as an associate editor for Experimental Aging Research, and Frontier in Cognition - Section Attention. She is also a member of the editorial board for American Journal of Psychology.