Conway, Andrew (Cognitive Psychology)

Department Head

Office: SH 220

Phone: (575)646-2502

Email: aconway@nmsu.edu

Personal webpage: https://caliberlab.wixsite.com/website

Area of Research:  Dr. Conway's research is aimed at understanding individual differences in cognitive abilities. People differ in their cognitive abilities and these differences matter in life, in terms of academic achievements, job performance, income, and health. Dr. Conway's research is concerned with how cognitive abilities are measured and what role they play in various real-world cognitive tasks such as learning new information, reading and listening comprehension, and decision making.

Education:

• B.S. in Computer Science & Psychology from Union College in (1991)
• M.A. in Experimental Psychology from University of South Carolina in (1993)
• Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology with a minor in Statistics from University of South Carolina in (1996)

Grabman, Jesse (Cognitive Psychology)

Dr. Grabman is recruiting graduate students for the 2025/2026 school year.

Assistant Professor

Office: SH 325 

Email: jgrabman@nmsu.edu

Personal webpage: https://grab-lab.com/

Area of research: I’m interested in understanding the mechanisms underlying metacognition (knowing what we know), and particularly how individuals may differ in this ability. This interest applies broadly, but some current focuses are: 1) the predictive value of eyewitness confidence in the criminal justice system, 2) mathematical models of the confidence generation process, and 3) changes in metacognitive processes as we age.

Education:

• B.A. Psychology, University of Virginia (2013)
• M.A. Psychology, University of Virginia (2019)
• Ph.D. Psychology (Cognitive & Quantitative), University of Virginia (2022)

Guynn, Melissa (Cognitive Psychology)

Associate Professor

Office: SH 323

Phone: (575) 646-1047

Email: mguynn@nmsu.edu

Area of Research: My primary research interests are in the area of human memory.  One line of work focuses on prospective memory, or memory to do things in the future in the absence of a direct prompt to remember.  My interests in this area include the generation-recognition model of recall, the distinction between organizational and distinctive effects on memory, and collaborative inhibition in memory.  More generally, I’m also interested in how the construct of a “retrieval mode” supports both prospective and retrospective memory.

Education:

• B.A. – Furman University, (1991)
• M.A. – Rice University, (1994)
• Ph.D. – University of New Mexico, (2001)

Hout, Michael (Cognitive Psychology)

Professor

Office: SH 343 (Office hours: Mon and Tue 10:00-11:00am by appointment in person or via zoom) 

Phone: (575) 646-1730

Email: mhout@nmsu.edu

Personal webpage: Michaelhout.com

Area of Research: Visual Cognition, visual attention, memory, eye-movements, and computational modeling.

Education:

• Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh
• Master’s of Arts in Psychology from Arizona State University
• PhD in Psychology from Arizona State University

Ketelaar, Timothy (Social Psychology)

Associate Professor

Office: SH 346 (Office hours: link to schedule an appointment)

Phone: (575) 646-1833

Email: ketelaar@nmsu.edu

Area of Research: Emotion, evolutionary psychology, and philosophy of science

Education:

• BS Psychology, (1986), University of Iowa
• MS Social-Personality Psychology, (1989), Purdue University
• PhD Personality Psychology, (1993), University of Michigan
• Postdoctoral Fellow, (1993-1996), NIMH Program in Emotion Research (Directors: Paul Ekman & Richard Davidson; Mentor: Gerald Clore)
• Postdoctoral Fellow, (1996-1997), Center for Adaptive Behavior & Cognition Max Planck Institute for Psychological Research (Director: Gerd Gigerenzer)

Kroger, Jim (Cognitive Psychology)

Associate Professor

Office: SH 326 (Office hours: Mon and Wed 12:00-1:00pm)

Phone: (575) 646-2243

Email: jkroger@nmsu.edu

Area of Research: Neural dynamics, control of attention, functional organization of the frontal cortex, neural processing of analogical and other forms of reasoning, controlling devices with thought.

Education:

• B.A. Psychology, B.A. Philosophy – University of Texas, Austin
• M.S., Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology – University of California, Los Angeles

MacDonald, Justin (Cognitive Psychology,Engineering Psychology)

Dr. MacDonald is recruiting graduate students for the 2025/2026 school year.

Graduate Program Director, Professor

Office: SH 347 (Office hours: Wed 10:00-11:00am and Thu 1:30-2:30pm via zoom)

Phone: (575) 646-6223

Email: jmacd@nmsu.edu

Personal webpage: Justin MacDonald

Area of Research: Inferential statistical procedures, auditory sensation and perception, decision-making under uncertainty, and the mathematical/computational modeling of phenomena in these areas.

Education:

• B.S., Psychology, University of Washington, (1996)
• M.S., Quantitative-Mathematical Psychology, Purdue University, (1999)
• Ph.D, Quantitative-Mathematical Psychology, Purdue University, (2003)

 Madson, Laura (Social Psychology)

Professor

Office: SH 342 (Office hours: Mon and Friday 10:30-11:30am)

Phone: (575) 646-6207

Email: lmadson@nmsu.edu

Personal webpage: https://lauramadson.com

Area of Research: Gender, sexuality, scholarship of teaching and learning

Education:

• B.A., Psychology and English – Luther College, (1991)
• M.S., Social Psychology – Iowa State University, (1993)
• Ph.D., Social Psychology – Iowa State University, (1996)

 Marks, Michael (Social Psychology)

Professor

Office: SH 330 (Office hours Tuesday 1:00-2:00pm or via zoom)

Phone: (575) 646-1980

Email: mjmarks@nmsu.edu

Area of Research: close relationships, attachment, and emotion

Education:

• B.A., Psychology (2001), University of CA, Davis
• M.S., Social Psychology (2004), University of IL, Chicago
• Ph.D., Social Psychology (2007), University of IL, Urbana-Champaign

 Simon, Dominic (Cognitive Psychology)

Associate Professor

Office: SH 331 (Office hours: Tue and Wed 9:00-10:00am)

Phone: (575) 646-3533

Email: domsimon@nmsu.edu

Area of Research: Human learning and memory, motor learning, skill acquisition

Education:

• BSc Kinesiology / Physics, St Mary’s College, (1990) Strawberry Hill, UK
• MA Psychology, University of California, (1994) at Los Angeles, USA
• PhD Psychology, University of California, (1997) at Los Angeles, USA
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Kinesiology, McMaster University,(1999-2002) Hamilton, ON, Canada

 Trafimow, David (Social Psychology)

Professor

Office: SH 337

Phone: (575) 646-4023

Email: dtrafimo@nmsu.edu

Area of Research: Social cognition, attributions and memory for events and persons, methodological, statistical, and philosophical issues pertaining to science.

Education:

• BA Psychology, University of Illinois (1984)
• MA Psychology, Indiana University (1988)
• PhD Psychlogy, University of Illinois at Champaign (1993)