Research Interests: Dr. Couperus's research interests surround the development and neurological substrates of attention, memory, and learning. Currently her research is focused on understanding the complex interaction between the development of selective attention and implicit learning in children, and the neurological changes across development that affect this interaction. Her work uses behavioral as well as electrophysiological methodologies, specifically event related potentials (ERPs). In addition she works with undergraduate students on projects examining topics as varied as cross-modal memory, autism, and decision making. Information on studies with children: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab of Learning Attention Brain and Behavior (DCN LABB) Information on studies using ERPs: ERP Lab
Background: Dr. Couperus received her B.A. from Wesleyan University (CT) in psychology and music in 1996, M.A. from Claremont Graduate University in Applied Developmental Psychology in 1999, and PhD. from the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota in Child Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience in 2004. She currently teaches in the Culture Brain and Development Program at Hampshire College. Curriculum Vitae
Recent Publications: Couperus, J.W. (2009). Implicit learning modulates selective attention at sensory levels of perceptual processing. Attention,Perception, and Psychophysics, 71(2), 342-351. doi:10.3758/APP.71.2.342 Karatekin, C., Couperus, J.W., Marcus, D.J., & White, T.J. (2008). Effects of delay and retrieval mode on memory-guided saccades in 10-year-olds and adults. In N. B. Johansen (Ed.), New Research on Short-Term Memory. Happauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers. Karatekin, C., Marcus, D., & Couperus, J.,W. (2007). Regulation of Cognitive Resources During Sustained Attention and Working Memory in 10-year-olds and Adults. Psychophysiology, 44(1), 128-144. Couperus, J.W. & C.A. Nelson (2006) Early Brain Development and Plasticity. In K. McCartney and D. Phillips, The Blackwell Handbook of Early Childhood Development. Couperus, J.W. (under review). Selection and Filtering in Visual Search: Differential Effects in 10-Year-Old Children and Adults Benau, E.M., Morris, J., Couperus, J.W. (under review). Semantic processing in 10 year olds and adults: Incongruity and the N400.
SRCD POSTER 2009: Couperus, J.W., Girard, C. (April 2009) Modulation of Early Visual Processing by Selective Attention in Adolescents: An ERP Study. Poster session presented at the 2009 Biennial Meeting of the Socieity for Research in Child Development, Denver, CO. Poster
CNS POSTERS 2008: Benau, E., Ratzan, E., Frady, T.D., Couperus, J.W. (April 2008) Reading, the Brain, and Reading the Brain: Does Working Memory Affect N400 Amplitude? Poster session presented at the 15th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, CA. Poster Couperus, J.W. (April 2008) Modulation of P1 as a Function of Visual Selective Attention in Adults and Children Poster session presented at the 15th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, CA. Poster Isserman, N.J., Gordon-McKeon, S., Frady, T.D., Couperus, J.W. (April 2008) Economics, Emotion, and Electropencephalagraphy: ERP Correlates of Decision-Making in the U.ltimatum Game Poster session presented at the 15th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, CA. Poster