Farley Norman

Farley Norman is a professor of psychological sciences at Western Kentucky University. He is a co-director of the Gustav Fechner Perception Laboratory at Western Kentucky University,[1] along with his wife, Hideko Norman.

J. Farley Norman
Born
James Farley Norman

(1961-07-19)July 19, 1961
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Texas at Austin
Vanderbilt University
Spouse(s)Hideko F. Norman
Scientific career
FieldsPsychophysics
Perception
Experimental psychology
ThesisThe perception of curved surfaces defined by optical motion
InfluencesGustav Theodor Fechner, Joseph S. Lappin, James T. Todd, Myron L. Braunstein, Suzanne P. McKee, G. John Andersen, Astrid M. L. Kappers, & Jan Koenderink
Websitehttp://people.wku.edu/farley.norman/

Education

Norman spent a majority of his undergraduate years studying engineering and mathematics, but ultimately earned his B.A. in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin (1983). He then completed his Master's (1989) and Ph.D. (1990) in experimental psychology from Vanderbilt University under the mentorship of Joseph Lappin. He later became a post-doctoral fellow at Brandeis University and The Ohio State University, where he was further trained as a research scientist by James T. Todd.

Academic career

Norman began his professional academic career in 1996 at Western Kentucky University as a professor of psychology. He has taught a variety of courses, reflecting his interests in sensory and perceptual systems, psychopharmacology, history of psychology, and psychology and science fiction.

In addition to his role as professor, researcher, mentor, and advisor, Norman has served as the consulting editor of the journal Perception & Psychophysics.

Research

Norman's research has encompassed a variety of topics in human perception, particularly the perception of distance, spatial relationships (e.g., exocentric and egocentric distances), motion, and the 3-dimensional shape of environmental objects. His laboratory studies both the visual and haptic perception of 3-D object shape, combining computer programming and psychophysical methodologies to investigate how human observers perceive 3-D shape.

One of the hallmark features of Norman's research has been his exploration of the visual and haptic perception of ecologically valid objects (i.e., those that occur naturally in the real world).[2][3] In particular, he has used a variety of stimuli recreated from bell peppers (Capsicum annum) in the form of plastic casts as well as laser-scanned, 3-D computer models available for 3-D printing.[4]

His research has also explored the effects of aging upon 3-D perception, with often encouraging results. Many of Norman's studies has demonstrated that older adults are able to effectively perceive many aspects of 3-D object shape well into their 70s and 80s (e.g.,[5][6][7][8][9]).

Norman has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals, as well as four book chapters (including chapters in Fechner's Legacy in Psychology[10] and Neural Networks for Vision and Image Processing[11]).

Accomplishments

In 2005, Norman was awarded fellowship in the Association for Psychological Science (APS).[12] He was one of the first to be admitted to this association when it first began in 1988, and is one of the founding members. In addition, he is a past member of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Perception, Action & Cognition Grant Review Panel.

Norman has been recognized for his research and teaching many times throughout his tenure at Western Kentucky University. Among these accolades are a University Award for Faculty Excellence in Research/Creativity (2000), College Award for Faculty Excellence in Research/Creativity (College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, 2006; 2010), and College Award for Faculty Excellence in Teaching (College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, 2008).[13] Norman has been noted for his excellence in mentoring student research, having more than 170 student co-authorships on his published research articles.[1] He has also mentored two recipients of the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. In 2018, one of his students, Lauren Pedersen was named as the only Goldwater Scholar in the state of Kentucky, and only of only 211 nationwide.[14] In 2019, his student Sydney Wheeler was also recognized.[15]

In 2011, he was named a University Distinguished Professor, the highest honor for Western Kentucky University faculty.[16]

References
  1. "J. Farley Norman - Vision and Haptics Lab | Western Kentucky University". www.wku.edu. Retrieved 2018-04-05.
  2. Norman, J. F., Norman, H. F., Clayton, A. M., Lianekhammy, J., & Zielke, G. (2004). The visual and haptic perception of natural object shape. Perception & Psychophysics, 66(2), 342–351. http://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194883
  3. Norman, J. F., Phillips, F., Holmin, J. S., Norman, H. F., Beers, A., Boswell, A. M., et al. (2012). Solid shape discrimination from vision and haptics: natural objects (Capsicum annuum) and Gibson’s “feelies.” Experimental Brain Research, 222(3), 321–332. http://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-012-3220-7
  4. "Bell Peppers". Flip Phillips. 2016-09-27. Retrieved 2018-04-12.
  5. Norman, J. F., Adkins, O. C., Dowell, C. J., Shain, L. M., Hoyng, S. C., & Kinnard, J. D. (2017). The visual perception of distance ratios outdoors. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 79, 1195-1203. doi: 10.3758/s13414-017-1294-9.
  6. Norman, J. F., Adkins, O. C., Norman, H. F., Cox, A. G., & Rogers, C. E. (2015). Aging and the visual perception of exocentric distance. Vision Research, 109, 52-58. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2015.02.007.
  7. Norman, J. F., Cheeseman, J. R., Adkins, O. C., Cox, A. G., Rogers, C. E., Dowell, C. J., Baxter, M. W., Norman, H. F., & Reyes, C. M. (2015). Aging and solid shape recognition: Vision and haptics. Vision Research, 115, 113-118. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2015.09.001.
  8. Norman, J. F., Adkins, O. C., Pedersen, L. E., Reyes, C. M., Wullf, R. A., & Tungate, A. (2015). The visual perception of exocentric distance in outdoor settings. Vision Research, 117, 100-104. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2015.10.003.
  9. Norman, J. F., Kappers, A. M. L., Cheeseman, J. R., Ronning, C., Thomason, K. E., Baxter, M. W., Calloway, A. B., & Lamirande, D. N. (2013). Aging and curvature discrimination from static and dynamic touch. PLoS one, 8, e68577. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0068577
  10. Solomon, Joshua A. (2011). Fechner's Legacy in Psychology: 150 Years of Elementary Psychophysics. Brill Academic Pub. ISBN 978-9004192201.
  11. Carpenter, G. A. & Grossberg, S. (1992). Neural Networks for Vision and Image Processing. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
  12. "Association for Psychological Science: APS Fellows". www.psychologicalscience.org. Retrieved 2018-04-05.
  13. "President's Convocation - August 24, 2012 | Western Kentucky University". www.wku.edu. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  14. "WKU student selected as 2018 Goldwater Scholar". Media Relations. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  15. "2019 Goldwater Scholars by Institution State | Barry Goldwater". goldwater.scholarsapply.org. Retrieved 2019-04-26.
  16. "Psychology faculty member Norman adds Distinguished Professor to honors". WKU News Blog. 2011-08-17. Retrieved 2018-04-07.
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