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Indiana University Bloomington
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Peter M. Todd

Director Cognitive Science Program
Professor Cognitive Science
Professor Informatics and Computing
Provost Professor Psychological and Brain Sciences
Phone: (812) 855-3914


Education

  • Ph.D., Psychology, Stanford University, 1992
  • MA, Psychology, UC San Diego, 1987
  • MPhil, Computer Speech and Language Processing, Cambridge University, 1986
  • BA, Mathematics, Oberlin College, 1985

Research Interests


  • Simple heuristics for decision making, and how they capitalize on the structure of information in environments
  • Evolution of behavior (experimental approaches to evolutionary psychology and computer simulations of simple organisms adapting to different environmental structures, both physical and social)
  • Emergence of environment structure through interactions of populations of agents following simple behavioral rules
  • How people and other animals search for resources in time and space, from sequential search for mates or jobs to foraging for prey or parking spaces
  • Artificial life approaches to music
  • Making decisions about food and eating, and cognition of consumption

Dissertation Committee Service

Bold student names indicate a cognitive science standalone student.

Author Dissertation Title Committee
Johns, BrendanLanguage in Memory: Modeling the Influence of Linguistic Structure on Processing (August 2012)Jones, M. (Chair), Todd, P., Shiffrin, R., Yu, C.
Recchia, GabrielInvestigating the Semantics of Abstract Concepts: Evidence From a Property Generation Game (December 2012)Jones, M. (Chair), Goldstone, R., Kubler, S., Todd, P.
Hullinger, RichardAn Evolutionary Analysis of Selective Attention (August 2011)Kruschke, J. (Co-Chair), Sporns, O., Todd, P. (Co-Chair), Yaeger, L.
Place, SkylerNon-Independent Mate Choice in Humans: Deciphering And Utilizing Information in a Social Environment (July 2010) Todd, P. (Co-Chair), Goldstone, R. (Co-Chair), Smith, E., Wasserman, S., West, M.
Chadderdon III, George LA Neurocomputational Model of the Functional Role of Dopamine in Stimulus Response Task Learning And Performance (March 2009) Sporns, O. (Chair), Brown, J., Townsend, J., Todd, P.
Denton, StephenExploring Active Learning in a Bayesian Framework (September 2009)Kruschke, J. (Co-Chair), Busemeyer, J. (Co-Chair), Jones, M., Todd, P.
Bergert, Franklin BryanUsing Response Time to Distinguish Between Lexicographic and Linear Models of Decision Making (January 2008) Nosofsky, R. (Chair), Kruschke, J., Todd, P., Townsend, J.
Jessup, Ryan Neural Correlates of the Behavioral Differences Between Descriptive and Experiential Choice: An Examination Combining Computational Modeling with FMRI (September 2008)Busemeyer, J. (Chair), Brown, J., Sporns, O., Todd, P.
Roberts, MichaelHuman Collective Behavior: Complex systems properties of self-organizations, coordination, and emergent. (July 2008) Goldstone, R. (Co-Chair), Ostrom, E. (Co-Chair), Smith, E., Todd, P.
Weidemann, ChristopheIdentifying brief stimuli: Perceptual, preferential, and decisional aspects (August 2006)Shiffrin, R. (Chair), Gold, J., Goldstone, R., Todd, P.
Hotaling, JaredDecision field theory-planning: A cognitive model of planning and dynamic (November 2013)Busemeyer, J. (Chair), Shiffrin, R., Todd, P., Nosofsky, R.
Frey, SethComplex Collective Dynamics in Human Higher-Level Reasoning. A Study Over Multiple Methods (August 2013)Goldstone, R. (Chair), Todd, P., Beer, R., Busemeyer, J.
Tamara, CarolinaRoute Learning And Its Interaction With Visual Landmarks (May 2013)Timberlake, W. (chair), Crystal, J., Goldstone, R., Todd, P.