In everyday experience, we effortlessly recognize faces, objects and scenes, yet the mechanisms underlying how we perceive the world remain elusive. Moreover, it is unclear how cognitive processes such as selective attention and memory interact with object recognition. The conference on Object Perception Attention and Memory (OPAM) is a one-day conference that showcases young investigators (i.e. undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral trainees) and their theoretical and empirical work on object processing in terms of attention, perception and memory. In addition, this conference highlights different methodological approaches to understand object processing including psychophysics, neuroimaging and neuropsychology. The goal of OPAM is three-fold: (1) to foster scientific research from junior investigators, (2) to facilitate interactions between junior and senior investigators, and (3) to provide a venue for a concentrated discussion on the role of attention and memory on object perception.
Research Statement This conference will enhance our understanding of how attention and memory intersect with object and scene perception through fresh perspectives from junior investigators. The knowledge gained from discussions of basic research give rise to the development of clinical tools -- new ways to measure or diagnose deficits in object and scene perception. It also provides insight into therapies that might ameliorate perceptual, attentional or memory deficits in special populations such as ADHD, autism, Williams Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome and dyslexia.
