Professor recognized for 'unusual achievements'

IU professor of cognitive psychology John Kruschke wants to pick students' brains. Or as he refers to it -- their computer programs. \n"There is a working human mind and I'm trying to reverse engineer it," Kruschke said with a grin. "I want to find out what goes on in the 'software.'"\nKruschke is recognized as one of the best mind decoders around. He has recently been named one of two recipients of the Leonard T. Troland Award by the National Academy of Sciences. The $50,000 award recognizes unusual achievement in research that furthers discovery in the field. Kruschke was chosen for his "deep insights concerning concept formation and attention in learning and rigorous formalization of the underlying psychological principles in connectionist frameworks," according to the Academy.\nWhile his research may sound threatening, Kruschke has no problem simplifying the description. "Cognitive science treats the mind as a very complicated computer program," Kruschke said. "It's our job to figure out the program." \nIn order to figure out the "program," Kruschke creates models that mathematically express psychological ideas. Recently, Kruschke has researched the operations behind how and why people pay attention to certain details, but block out others.\n"The notion of attention is a psychological idea, and I try to express that mathematically," Kruschke explained. "To enhance attention means increasing a certain number, a number that expresses attention. You can put that into a mathematical framework and simulate it on a computer, and it mimics people really well. You think, 'ah ha!' The psychological ideas are on target -- people really are doing this with attention because the mathematical model mimics what people do really nicely."\nKruschke, originally from Northern California, realized his interest for cognitive psychology while studying physics and math as an undergraduate at University of California at Berkeley.\n"As I started learning about theories in physics dealing with how the stuff out there works, I realized, 'these aren't theories about how the stuff out there works, these are theories about how our perceptions of the stuff works.' That led very naturally from physics to applying the same scientific approach to theories about the mind," Kruschke said.\nRichard Shiffrin, director of the Cognitive Science program at IU, has been especially pleased with Kruschke's research focused on attention.\n"His research has helped us understand the role of attention in learning," Shiffrin said. "Although this is not a new idea, his work on the topic is far better in detail, and provides far better empirical support, than earlier claims concerning this concept. The neural net models he uses to establish his claims establish the standards in the field for modeling construction and testing."\nKruschke's father, a retired award-winning political science professor at California State, played a large role in encouraging Kruschke's academic pursuits. \n"As early as I can remember, my father always emphasized the value of thinking clearly, thinking hard," Kruschke said. He proudly points to a picture of his father hanging on his wall. \n"He taught me that if you have access to a good education and benefit from it, it's your obligation to return a contribution. It's my obligation to give something back."\nKruschke is giving back through his research, and said he feels educators "also pay back through teaching -- in the formal classroom setting and with research students, one on one. We are passing on the whole attitude of what it is to inquire after facts and generate interesting ideas."\nAs a tenured professor and now a recipient of a national science award, Kruschke's influence has not gone unnoticed. Joseph Steinmetz, chairman of the psychology department, is especially pleased with Kruschke's recent work.\n"I have been most impressed with the depth of Dr. Kruschke's work," Steinmetz said. "He combines empirical data collection with formal mathematical modeling efforts and does both with outstanding skill." \nSteinmetz won the Troland award in 1996, and Robert Nosofsky, also an IU psychology professor, won it in 1995. \n"Given the high quality of research done by Kruschke and Nosofsky, I am pleased to have my research considered as in the same 'league' as these two," Steinmetz said.\nKruschke feels the fact that three IU professors have all been awarded the Troland award adds to IU's reputation as one of the top psychology departments in the country.\n"We are simply one of the best departments around," Kruschke admits. "Particularly for mathematical modeling. We, without a doubt, have the highest concentration of mathematical modelers of any department on the planet."\nCognitive science at IU is a specialized program on the Bloomington campus, spanning several different departments. \n"Cognitive science is not a department itself," Kruschke said. "It's an umbrella program over several departments. Faculty members have their affiliation in particular departments, and I'm in psychology. The cognitive science program opens up channels of communication between departments, so when opportunities for collaboration and interdisciplinary work arise, people in different departments can see and pursue them."\nHosting collaborators at IU is one of Kruschke's goals in utilizing his $50,000 award money. \n"It's a research award, so the money goes to anything related to my research," Kruschke said. "I'm hoping to get some collaborators to come visit here, or maybe I can go visit some collaborators and take my research in directions that were more difficult when I didn't have this money."\nOne direction Kruschke plans to explore includes applications for his research. \n"I've been studying these very generic effects of learning and attention, purposely excluding a lot of real-world influences to try and isolate the effects themselves," Kruschke said. "But once you've got a good handle on the standard science, you can start bringing in the more complicated real-world applications to see if the effects still work the same way."\nFor the time being, Kruschke remains humbled by receiving the Troland award. \n"I just want to express how grateful I am to have support of colleagues," he said. "There are a lot of deserving people out there, so it's a real privilege to be one of the two of many that could have gotten this award."\nWhen asked what inspires him, Kruschke pauses for a moment. \n"Knowing that a better theory is just around the corner," he said. "I know it's there. I can feel it. I've just got to fish"