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Dr. Seth Chin-Parker
Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2004
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Dr. Chin-Parker began teaching at Denison in the fall of 2004. He teaches Introduction to Psychology, Research Methods, Cognitive Psychology, Research in Cognitive Psychology, and a seminar titled “Creativity and Cognition”. When he is not in the classroom (or his lab), Dr. Chin-Parker enjoys spending time with his family, running on the trails of the Denison Biological Reserve, and attempting to play the guitar.
Visit Dr. Chin-Parker's "PSYCH STUFF" page...
Research
My research program focuses on the interplay between conceptual knowledge and experience: Conceptual knowledge plays a critical role in shaping the interactions we have with the world, and it is correspondingly shaped by those interactions. Reflecting this interplay, I have adopted two perspectives that frame my research:
- Access to relevant conceptual knowledge can change the processing associated with a given behavior, and so cognitive functions (e.g. category learning and explanation) that tap into conceptual knowledge should be studied in situations where relevant knowledge is available.
- The acquisition of conceptual knowledge, or category learning, should be studied in context. People learn about categories of items as they complete other tasks – the processing associated with these tasks, as well as the goals of the individual, affect what is learned about the categories to which the items belong.
By taking this stance, I am able to examine several important issues that have been overlooked by much of the research in the area. Because there is a tendency in experimental work to isolate cognitive functioning in order to get a “cleaner” view of the processes involved, we sometimes inadvertently change the nature of the processing by removing it from the context in which it typically occurs. This is especially a concern when studying cognitive processes that link up with conceptual knowledge.
Ultimately, my research interests stem from a desire to better appreciate what it means to “understand”. I consider our behaviors, especially cognitive processes, to be largely dedicated to meaning making – seen in the constant questions of a three year old and extending to the way that we reflect on our world and ourselves through art, literature, science. I have selected to study the cognitive processes and structures that underlie the acquisition and use of conceptual knowledge because they are so intimately tied to how we make sense of the world.
Student Research Collaborations
Avraham Baranes, Summer 2010, Anderson Summer Research Assistantship
Title: Working memory and decision making: A look at the somatic marker hypothesis
Amy Milewski, Summer 2010, Denison University Research Funded Assistantship
Title: The effects of use-relevant information and diagnosticity on conceptual organization
Elizabeth Cummings, Summer 2008, Anderson Summer Research Assistantship
Title: Coherence effects in naturally occurring knowledge
Julie Tucker, Summer 2008, Anderson Summer Research Assistantship
Title: Coherence in real world categories in natural groups
Jessie Birdwhistell, Summer 2007 and Spring 2008, Anderson Summer Research Assistantship
Title: Beyond the solution: Learning about categories during problem solving
Amber Hill, Summer 2006, Hughes Summer Research Assistantship
Title: The interaction of knowledge and learning with cross-classified items
Robert Horn, Summer 2006, Denison University Research Funded Assistantship
Title: Constraints on explanations: Empirically testing philosophical theories of explanation
Catherine Mehta, Summer 2006, Anderson Summer Research Assistantship
Title: Structural alignment across category learning paradigms
Olivia Hernandez, Summer 2005, Hughes Summer Research Assistantship
Title: A process model of explanation-based learning
Murray Matens, Summer 2005, Anderson Summer Research Assistantship
Title: A comparative study of category learning through classification and explanation
Selected Publications
Chin-Parker, S., & Bradner, A. (2010). Background shifts affect explanatory style: How a pragmatic theory of explanation accounts for background effects in the generation of explanations. Cognitive Processing, 11, 227-249.
Chin-Parker, S. (2010). (Category) Learning by Doing: How Goal Directed Tasks Constrain Conceptual Acquisition. In S. Ohlsson & R. Catrambone (Eds.), Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Patalano, A. L., Chin-Parker, S., & Ross, B. H. (2006). The importance of being coherent: The role of category coherence in reasoning about cross-classified entities. Journal of Memory and Language, 54, 407-424.
Chin-Parker, S., Hernandez, O., & Matens, M. (2006). Explanation in Category Learning. In R. Sun & N. Miyake (Eds.), Proceedings of the 28th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Ross, B. H., Chin-Parker, S., & Diaz, M. (2005). Beyond classification learning: A broader view of category learning and category use. In W. Ahn, R. L. Goldstone, B. C. Love, A. B. Markman, & P. Wolff (Eds.), Categorization inside and outside the lab: Festschrift in honor of Douglas L. Medin. Washington, DC: APA.
Erickson, J., Chin-Parker, S., & Ross, B. H. (2005). Inference and classification learning of abstract coherent categories. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 31, 86-99.
Chin-Parker, S., & Ross, B. H. (2004). Diagnosticity and prototypicality in category learning: A comparison of inference learning and classification learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 30, 216-226.
Chin-Parker, S., & Ross, B. H. (2002). The effect of category learning on sensitivity to within-category correlations. Memory & Cognition, 30, 353-362.
Anderson, A. L., Ross, B. H., & Chin-Parker, S. (2002). A further investigation of category learning by inference. Memory & Cognition, 30, 119-128.
Selected Presentations
Chin-Parker, S. (July 2011). What Varying the Category Structure and Learning Task Reveal About Inference Learning. Poster presented at the 33rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Boston, MA.
Chin-Parker, S. (August 2010). (Category) Learning by Doing: How Goal Directed Tasks Constrain Conceptual Acquisition. Poster presented at the 32nd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Portland, OR.
Chin-Parker, S. (May 2010). Use-Relevant Features Constrain Category Learning. Paper presented at the 80th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Chin-Parker, S. & Bradner, A. (September 2009). A Philosopher and a Psychologist Walk Into a Lab…: An Interdisciplinary Study of Explanation. Talk presented to the Denison Scientific Association. Granville, OH.
Birdwhistell, J. & Chin-Parker, S. (November 2008). Beyond the Solution: Problem Solving as Category Learning. Poster presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomics Society. Chicago, IL.
Chin-Parker, S. & Bradner, A. (August 2008). The Pragmatics of Explanation. Paper presented at the 30th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Washington, D.C.
Bradner, A. & Chin-Parker, S. (July 2008). An Empirical Constraint on the Pragmatic Theory of Explanation. Poster presented at the 34th Annual Meeting of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Philadelphia, PA.
Chin-Parker, S., Hernandez, O., & Matens, M. (November 2006). Explanation as Category Learning. Poster presented at the 47th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomics Society. Houston, TX.
Chin-Parker, S., Hernandez, O., & Matens, M. (August 2006). Explanation in Category Learning. Poster presented at the 28th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
Chin-Parker, S. (October 2005). An Explanation (and Exploration) of Category Learning. Denison University Department of Psychology Colloquium. Granville, OH.
Chin-Parker, S., & Ross, B. H. (May 2005). Category Learning (Not) Made Simple: The Effect of Learning Two Category Sets on Classification Performance. Paper presented at the 77th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Effland, K. J., Lancaster, K., Polovick, M. A., Welker, K. G., & Chin-Parker, S. (May 2005). The Effect of Abstract Knowledge on a Category Construction Task. Paper presented at the 77th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.