Psychology professor wins award

Professor Richard Shiffrin has been named the 2001 recipient of the David E. Rumelhart award, the equivalent of the Nobel prize for the field of psychology. He will be presented the award in recognition of his life-time accomplishments in the study of human memory.\nIn addition, he will receive $100,000 in prize money.\nShiffrin's research involves developing models of human memory that can be used to simulate and predict how memory functions. He is the director of the Cognitive Science department, the Luther Dana Waterman professor of Psychology and has worked at IU for more than 30 years. \n"It's very pleasing and a bit of an accident to be chosen from among so many scientists," Shiffrin said.\nDespite his modesty, he is far from unknown. Shiffrin's pursuit of working models of human memory have been accepted by researchers all over the world.\n While still in graduate school at Stanford, Shiffrin was establishing himself as one of the leading figures in cognition. He created a new model of short and long term memory called the "modal model" of memory. It received immediate acclaim and is still used today. \n He has also been a pioneer in the areas of skill development, memory association and memory recall. Most recently, he developed a model dubbed REM, for 'retrieving effectively from memory.'\n Professor James McClelland of Carnegie Mellon University, chair of the prize selection committee, said Shiffrin's work during the years in human memory "represents a progression similar to the best theories seen in any branch of science."\n IU has always been a breeding ground for psychological activity. In the 1880s, William Lowe Bryan founded what is now the oldest continuing psychology laboratory in the U.S.\n "This is one of the strongest programs that exists," Shiffrin said. "Good students and colleagues make it an excellent place to work."\n The University's enduring reputation in psychology is due, largely, to Shiffrin's research. \n "Dr. Shiffrin has been instrumental in the development of Indiana University's reputation as a leader in the areas of cognitive science and informatics," IU President Myles Brand said. \nShiffrin is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and received a Warren Medal from the Society of Experimental Psychologists and a MERIT from the National Institute of Mental Health. His finding have been published in more than 70 journals.\nThe second recipient of the David E. Rumelhart prize, Shiffrin will receive his award at the next conference of the Cognitive Science Society. It will be held at George Mason University in 2002.