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Ken Sobel

Ken Sobel

Professor of Psychology

ksobel@uca.edu

MAS 260

(501) 450-5440

Getting to Know Dr. Sobel:

Introduction:

I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA, but never liked cold weather so I headed south to get my Ph.D. in Nashville, and to Arkansas where I can ride my bicycle to work wearing shorts all year long. I got my Ph.D. in cognitive science from Vanderbilt, and did a postdoc researching visual ambiguity at Vanderbilt and another postdoc researching working memory at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. Because I didn’t study psychology as an undergraduate student, I’m pretty sure I got into Vandy’s Ph.D. program because of a masters degree in philosophy from the University of Wyoming and a masters degree in information science from the University of Pittsburgh. My advisor at Vandy picked me to work with him because he wanted someone who could help him with his computer model of visual attention, and he fancied himself a philosopher, so there you go.
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What year did you start working in the department?

2005.

What classes do you regularly teach?

Sensation and Perception, Cognitive Psychology, Physiological Psychology, and Apprenticeship.

Do you have any hobbies, interests, or unique facts you would like to share?

I dig biking and swimming and reading books about neuroscience and math and physics and language. I love to visit Italy, and hope to go there at least once each year until I die.

What are your scholarly and/or applied interests?

For the last ten years or so I’ve been looking at how vision and cognition interact, like how a number that is numerically large (like a 9 rather than a 2) and physically large (i.e., a large font size) is easier to find from among other numbers than when the target’s numerical and physical size are incongruent (e.g., a 2 written in a large font or 9 in small font).
听Important Links:
Publications

  • Lee, K. R., Dague, T. D., Sobel, K. V.,听Paternoster, N. J.,听& Puri, A. M. (2021). Set size and ensemble perception of numerical value.听Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics.
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听Papers published with students in the undergraduate听Journal of Psychological Inquiry.听

  • Dague, T. D.,听& Sobel, K. V. (2019). Using visual search to investigate whether cognition directly affects perception.听Journal of Psychological Inquiry, 23听(2), 15-20.
  • Hahn, E.,听& Sobel, K. V. (2019). Children鈥檚 false memories in visual context.听Journal of Psychological Inquiry, 23听(1), 25-29.
  • Francis, T. N., Nolan, S. S., Schichtl, K. B.,听& Sobel, K. V. (2018). Do people remember the judgments they make?听Journal of Psychological Inquiry, 22听(1), 36-41.
  • Downs, H. B., Hale, J., & Sobel, K. V. (2016).听Why do people justify choices they had not actually made?听Journal of Psychological Inquiry,听21听(1), 20-24.
  • Halligan, J.,听& Sobel, K. V. (2016). Automaticity of numerical processing.听Journal of Psychological Inquiry,听21听(2), 44-50.
  • Hufstedler, A.,听&听Sobel, K. V. (2016). Does the mere expectation of a cell phone call occupy working memory?听Journal of Psychological Inquiry,听21听(2), 6-14.
  • 听Ilic, I.,听& Sobel, K. V. (2016). Why does visually ambiguous motion reverse?听Journal of Psychological Inquiry,听21听(1), 40-48.
  • Phillips, N. S.,听& Sobel, K. V. (2016). A memento to remember you by.听Journal of Psychological Inquiry,听21听(2), 64-70.
  • Downs, H. B.,听& Sobel, K. V. (2015). A new explanation of choice blindness in terms of visual short-term memory.听Journal of Psychological Inquiry, 20听(1), 6-10.
  • Hoffman, H., Ozanich, C., & Sobel, K. V. (2014). Psychopathy, cognitive dissonance, and altruism as portrayed in the television show听Dexter. Journal of Psychological Inquiry,听19听(2), 31-37.
  • 听Hogan, J., & Sobel, K. V. (2014). Conceptual and perceptual features in guided visual search.听Journal of Psychological Inquiry, 19听(1), 5-11.

Other Publications:

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