Associate Professor

Office: Room 358A, Life Science Building
Phone: (502) 852-3956
Fax: (502) 852-8904
Email: jrpani@louisville.edu

Lab location: 358A-E Life Sciences Building
Lab phone: 852-4639
Lab website: Visual Cognition Laboratory

Education

• BA: University of California, Berkeley
• PhD: University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Postdoctoral Fellowship: Harvard University

Research Interests

My research interests center on human cognition as it relates to the use of visual information, learning, and the development of expertise in advanced disciplines.  Current work focuses on the development of systems for computer-based learning and the characterization of high-level visual skills.  We are engaged in research and development of 3D computer graphics in learning neuroanatomy, and we are characterizing visual skill in the practice of microscopy in histology (the microanatomy of biological tissues).

Over recent years, the methods that we have used to explore cognition range from naturalistic studies of experienced practitioners (e.g., of microscopy) through tightly controlled experiments to the development of new computer graphical models and computer-based learning technologies.

My work is interdisciplinary, and I pleased to have as collaborators Dr. Ronald Fell in the Department of Biology and Dr. Dar-Jen Chang in the Department of Computer Engineering and Computer Science.

The major source of funding for my work has been the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health. I am proud to be associated with this organization.  I am also grateful for funding from the National Science Foundation / Defense Intelligence Agency and the Office of the Vice President for Research at the University of Louisville.

Recent Professional Service

Biomedical Library Informatics Review Panel -- Review panel for extramural funding, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health -- 2006 - 2010

Computer & Information Science & Engineering, review panel for extramural funding, National Science Foundation -- 2009

Program Committee, Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 2010

Director, Concentration in Cognitive and Developmental Sciences, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences

Selected Publications

Chariker, J. H., Naaz, F., & Pani, J. R. (in press). Computer-based learning of neuroanatomy: A longitudinal study of learning, transfer, and retention. Journal of Educational Psychology.

Pani, J. R. , Chariker, J. H., Claudio, N. M., & Fell, R. D. (2006). Visual search in microscopy implies high level cognition. In R. Sun, & Miyake (Eds.), Proceedings of the 28th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 1920-1925). Vancouver, B. C. Canada: Cognitive Science Society.

Pani, J. R., Chariker, J. H., Dawson, T. E., & Johnson, N. (2005). Acquiring new spatial intuitions: Learning to reason about rotations. Cognitive Psychology, 51, 285-333.

Pani, J. R. , Chariker, J. H., & Fell, R. D. (2005). Visual cognition in microscopy. In B. G. Bara, L. Barsalou, & M. Bucciarelli (Eds.), Proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 1702-1707). Stresa, Italy: Cognitive Science Society.

Pani, J. R., & Chariker, J. H. (2004). The psychology of error in relation to medical practice. Journal of Surgical Oncology, 88, 130-142.

Courses Often Taught

• Cognitive Psychology (graduate and undergraduate levels)
• History and Systems of Psychology (graduate level)
• Assorted Seminars (Computer-Based Learning, Cognitive Representation, Analogy and Metaphor)