Wilma Koutstaal is Professor of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, where she was McKnight Presidential Fellow from 2007-2009. Her recent book, The Agile Mind, integrates the environmental, brain, and behavioral contributors to mental agility and innovative thinking, and was recognized with the 2012 William James Book Award from the American Psychological Association. She has co-authored, with Jonathan Binks, Innovating Minds: Rethinking Creativity to Inspire Change (Oxford University Press, published in October 2015). In February 2015, she was inducted as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for her work on memory, cognition, and creativity. She received her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Harvard University, where she also completed a minor in Philosophy, and where she undertook her postdoctoral training. She has taught in Canada, England, and the United States.
Thinking and thinking-and-memory are at the core of Wilma Koutstaal’s experimental research and teaching in psychology and cognitive neuroscience. She is eager to cross-connect and expand our categories for how we construe, represent, and act in our worlds in flexibly and creatively adaptive ways. Her work on higher-level cognition underscores the importance of how and when we move between both varying levels of detail and varying degrees of cognitive control in our “idea landscapes.” Resolutely refusing to isolate mind and brain from the body and environment in which they are embedded, she has developed an integrative conceptual framework that recognizes the dynamic interplay of cognition with emotion, action, and perception.
Drawing upon diverse and convergent methodologies and patient populations, Wilma Koutstaal’s research has focused on the behavioral effects and the neural substrates of categorical or “gist-like” versus more specific mental representations — across the lifespan. Her work also emphasizes the critical importance of environmental cues in enabling us to aptly access and use what we know, and in promoting mental agility. Her research and collaborative projects derive inspiration and conceptual richness from aesthetics, computer science, the visual arts, ethics, and design.
CV — July 2017
Wilma Koutstaal, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
University of Minnesota
S247 Elliott Hall
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612-626-1966
612-626-2079 (fax)
E-mail (kouts003@umn.edu)
EDUCATION
Ph.D. Dissertation “Beyond Content: The Fate––or Function––of Contextual Information in Directed Forgetting.” Dissertation Committee: Daniel L. Schacter (advisor); Nancy Kanwisher; Steven M. Kosslyn; Michelle Leichtman; Richard J. McNally
Harvard University, A.M., Psychology, minor in Philosophy, 1993
Wilfrid Laurier University, B.A. (summa cum laude), Psychology, minor in Philosophy, 1985
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
Professor, Department of Psychology
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA, 2015-
Associate Faculty, College of Design
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA, 2015-
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA, 2007–2015
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA, 2004–2007
Visiting Scientist, Department of Psychology
University of Reading, Reading, UK, 2004–2009
Lecturer (in USA, “Assistant Professor”), Department of Psychology
University of Reading, Reading, UK, 2000–2004
Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Department of Psychology
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA, 1996–2000
Teaching Fellow in Psychology, Department of Psychology
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA, 1991–1993
Academic Tutor in Psychology, Department of Psychology
University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1985–1989
PRIMARY FIELD
Cognitive Psychology/Cognitive Neuroscience: Thinking; Memory; Mental Agility
AWARDS AND HONORS
Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, AAAS (2014)
William James Book Award for The Agile Mind, American Psychological Association (2012)
McKnight Presidential Fellow, University of Minnesota (2007—2009)
PUBLICATIONS
Thimmesch-Gill, Z., Harder, K. A., & Koutstaal, W. (2017). Perceiving emotions in robot body language: Acute stress heightens sensitivity to negativity while attenuating sensitivity to arousal. Computers in Human Behavior, 76, 59–67.
Twedell, E. L., Koutstaal, W., & Jiang, Y. V. (2016/in press). Aging affects the balance between goal-guided and habitual spatial attention. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review.
Jiang, Y. V., Koutstaal, W., & Twedell, E. L. (2016). Habitual attention in older and young adults. Psychology and Aging, 31, 970–980.
Aizpurua, A. & Koutstaal, W. (2015). Fluid intelligence. In S. K. Whitbourne (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Adulthood and Aging. Wiley-Blackwell.
Koutstaal, W., & Binks, J. T. (2015). Innovating Minds: Rethinking Creativity to Inspire Change. New York: Oxford University Press.
Aizpurua, A., & Koutstaal, W. (2015). A matter of focus: Detailed memory in the intentional autobiographical recall of older and younger adults. Consciousness and Cognition, 33, 145-155.
McMenamin, B. W., Deason, R. G., Steele, V. R., Koutstaal, W., & Marsolek, C. J. (2015). Separability of abstract-category and specific-exemplar visual object subsystems: Evidence from fMRI pattern analysis. Brain and Cognition, 93, 54-63.
Denkinger, B., & Koutstaal, W. (2014). A set of 265 pictures standardized for studies of the cognitive processing of temporal and causal order information. Behavior Research Methods, 46, 229-239.
Qin, X. A., Koutstaal, W., & Engel, S. A. (2014). The hard-won benefits of familiarity in visual search: Naturally familiar brand logos are found faster. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 76, 914-930.
Qin, X. A., Bochsler, T. M., Aizpurua, A., Cheong, A. M. Y., Koutstaal, W., & Legge, G. E. (2014). Incidental memory of younger and older adults for objects encountered in a real world context. PLoS ONE, 9, e99051, 1-13.
Wen, M.C., Butler, L. T., & Koutstaal, W. (2013). Improving insight and noninsight problem solving with brief interventions. British Journal of Psychology, 104, 97-118.
Koutstaal, W. (2012). The Agile Mind. New York: Oxford University Press. [Also published in paperback October, 2013. Recipient of the 2012 William James Book award from the American Psychological Association.]
Fu, T., Koutstaal, W., Poon, L., & Cleare, A. J. (2012). Confidence judgment in depression and dysphoria: The depressive realism vs. negativity hypotheses. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 43, 699-704.
Wetzel, B., Anderson, K., Gini, M., & Koutstaal, W. (2012). If not now, where? Time and space equivalency in strategy games. In AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment (AIIDE), 81-86.
Aizpurua, A., & Koutstaal, W. (2010). Aging and flexible remembering: Contributions of conceptual span, fluid intelligence, and frontal functioning. Psychology and Aging, 25, 193-207.
Makovski, T., Watson, L. M., Koutstaal, W., & Jiang, Y. V. (2010). Method matters: Systematic effects of testing procedure on visual working memory sensitivity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 36, 1466-1479.
Southwell, B. G., Gilkerson, N. D., Depue, J. B., Shelton, A. K., Friedenberg, L. M., & Koutstaal, W. (2010). Aging and the questionable validity of recognition-based exposure measurement. Communication Research, 37, 603-619. [National Communication Association, Communication and Aging Division, Top Three Paper Award]
Denkinger, B., & Koutstaal, W. (2009). Perceive-decide-act, perceive-decide-act: How abstract is repetition-related decision learning? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35, 742-756.
Tranter, L. J. & Koutstaal, W. (2008). Age and flexible thinking: An experimental demonstration of the beneficial effects of increased cognitively stimulating activity on fluid intelligence in healthy older adults. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 15, 184-207.
Kvidera, S., & Koutstaal, W. (2008). Confidence and decision-type under matched stimulus conditions: Overconfidence in perceptual but not conceptual decisions. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 21, 253-281.
Gold, C. A., Marchant, N. L., Koutstaal, W., Schacter, D. L., & Budson, A. E. (2007). Conceptual fluency at test shifts recognition response bias in Alzheimer’s Disease: Implications for increased false recognition. Neuropsychologia, 45, 2791-2801.
Koutstaal, W., & Cavendish, M. (2006). Using what we know: Consequences of intentionally retrieving gist versus item-specific information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 32, 778-791.
Koutstaal, W. (2006). Flexible remembering. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 13, 84-91.
Fu, T., Koutstaal, W., Fu, C. H. Y., Poon, L. & Cleare, A. J. (2005). Depression, confidence, and decision: Evidence against depressive realism. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 27, 243–252.
Simons, J. S., Lee, A. C. H., Graham, K. S., Verfaellie, M., Koutstaal, W., Hodges, J. R., Schacter, D. L., & Budson, A. E. (2005). Failing to get the gist: Reduced false recognition of semantic associates in semantic dementia. Neuropsychology, 19, 353–361.
Koutstaal, W. (2003). Older adults encode––but do not always use––perceptual details: Intentional versus unintentional effects of detail on memory judgments. Psychological Science, 14,189–193.
Simons, J. S., Koutstaal, W., Prince, S., Wagner, A. D., & Schacter, D. L. (2003). Neural mechanisms of visual object priming: Evidence for perceptual and semantic distinctions in fusiform cortex. NeuroImage, 19, 613–626.
Koutstaal, W., Reddy, C., Jackson, E. M., Prince, S., Cendan, D. L., & Schacter, D. L. (2003). False recognition of abstract versus common objects in older and younger adults: Testing the semantic categorization account. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 29, 499–510. (Note: This work was also featured in the APA Monitor, August, 2003.)
Wagner, A. D., & Koutstaal, W. (2002). Priming. In V. S. Ramachandran (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the Human Brain (Vol. 4, pp. 27–46). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Schacter, D. L., Verfaellie, M., & Koutstaal, W. (2002). Memory illusions in amnesic patients: Findings and implications. In L. R. Squire and D. L. Schacter (Eds.), Neuropsychology of Memory (3rd edition, pp. 114–129). New York: Guilford Press.
Koutstaal, W. (2001). The edges of words. Semiotica, 137, 57-97.
Koutstaal, W., & Schacter, D. L. (2001). Memory distortion and aging. In M. Naveh-Benjamin, M. Moscovitch, and H. L. Roediger, III (Eds.), Perspectives on Human Memory and Cognitive Aging: Essays in Honour of Fergus Craik (pp. 362-383). Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.
Koutstaal, W., Verfaellie, M., & Schacter, D. L. (2001). Recognizing identical versus similar categorically related common objects: Further evidence for degraded gist-representations in amnesia. Neuropsychology, 15, 268–289.
Koutstaal, W., Schacter, D. L., & Brenner, C. (2001). Dual task demands and gist-based false recognition of pictures in younger and older adults. Journal of Memory and Language, 44, 399–426.
Koutstaal, W., Wagner, A. D., Rotte, M., Maril, A., Buckner, R. L., & Schacter, D. L. (2001). Perceptual specificity in visual object priming: Functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence for a laterality difference in fusiform cortex. Neuropsychologia, 39, 184–199.
Wagner, A. D., Koutstaal, W., Maril, A., Schacter, D. L., & Buckner, R. L. (2000). Task-specific repetition priming in left inferior prefrontal cortex. Cerebral Cortex, 10, 1176–1184.
Dodson, C. S., Koutstaal, W., & Schacter, D. L. (2000). Escape from illusion: Reducing false memories. Trends in Cognitive Science, 4, 391–397.
Buckner, R. L., Koutstaal, W., Schacter, D. L., & Rosen, B. R. (2000). Functional MRI evidence for a role of frontal and inferior temporal cortex in amodal components of priming. Brain, 123, 620–640.
Wagner, A. D., Koutstaal, W., & Schacter, D. L. (1999). When encoding yields remembering: Insights from event-related neuroimaging. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, B, 354, 1307–1324.
Koutstaal, W., Schacter, D. L., Galluccio, L., & Stofer, K. A. (1999). Reducing gist-based false recognition in older adults: Encoding and retrieval manipulations. Psychology and Aging, 14, 220–237.
Koutstaal, W., Schacter, D. L., Verfaellie, M., Brenner, C., & Jackson, E. M. (1999). Perceptually based false recognition of novel objects in amnesia: Effects of category size and similarity to category prototypes. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 16, 317–341.
Koutstaal, W., Schacter, D. L., Johnson, M. K., & Galluccio, L. (1999). Facilitation and impairment of event memory produced by photograph review. Memory & Cognition, 27, 478–493.
Wagner, A. D., Schacter, D. L., Rotte, M., Koutstaal, W., Maril, A., Dale, A. M., Rosen, B. R., & Buckner, R. L. (1998). Building memories: Remembering and forgetting of verbal experiences as predicted by brain activity. Science, 281, 1188–1191.
Schacter, D. L., Buckner, R. L., & Koutstaal, W. (1998). Memory, consciousness and neuroimaging. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, B, 353, 1861–1878.
Buckner, R. L., Goodman, J., Burock, M., Rotte, M., Koutstaal, W., Schacter, D. L., Rosen, B., & Dale, A. M. (1998). Functional-anatomic correlates of object priming in humans revealed by rapid presentation event-related fMRI. Neuron, 20, 285–296.
Buckner, R. L., Koutstaal, W., Schacter, D. L., Wagner, A. D., & Rosen, B. R. (1998). Functional-anatomic study of episodic retrieval using fMRI: I. Retrieval effort versus retrieval success.NeuroImage, 7, 151–162.
Buckner, R. L., Koutstaal, W., Schacter, D. L., Dale, A. M., Rotte, M., & Rosen, B. R. (1998). Functional-anatomic study of episodic retrieval: II. Selective averaging of event-related fMRI trials to test the retrieval success hypothesis. NeuroImage, 7, 163–175.
Koutstaal, W., Schacter, D. L., Johnson, M. K., Angell, K. E., & Gross, M. S. (1998). Post-event review in older and younger adults: Improving memory accessibility of complex everyday events. Psychology and Aging, 13, 277–296.
Schacter, D. L., Norman, K. A., & Koutstaal, W. (1998). The cognitive neuroscience of constructive memory. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, 289–318. Extended version reprinted in D. F. Bjorklund (Ed.), False-memory creation in children and adults: Theory, research, and implications (2000, pp. 129–168). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Buckner, R. L., & Koutstaal, W. (1998). Functional neuroimaging studies of encoding, priming, and explicit memory retrieval. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, USA, 95, 891–898.
Koutstaal, W. (1998). Memory for picture frames. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 16, 47–57.
Schacter, D. L., Buckner, R. L., Koutstaal, W., Dale, A. M., & Rosen, B. R. (1997). Late onset of anterior prefrontal activity during true and false recognition: An event-related fMRI study. NeuroImage, 6, 259–269.
Koutstaal, W., & Schacter, D. L. (1997). Gist-based false recognition of pictures in older and younger adults. Journal of Memory and Language, 37, 555–583.
Schacter, D. L., Koutstaal, W., & Norman, D. A. (1997). False memories and aging. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 1, 229–236.
Schacter, D. L., Koutstaal, W., Johnson, M. K., Gross, M. S., & Angell, K. E. (1997). False recollection induced by photographs: A comparison of older and younger adults. Psychology and Aging, 12, 203–215.
Koutstaal, W., & Schacter, D. L. (1997). Intentional forgetting and voluntary thought suppression: Two potential methods for coping with childhood trauma. In L. J. Dickstein, M. B. Riba, & J. M. Oldham (Eds.), Review of Psychiatry: Vol. 16 (pp. II-79–II-121). Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Press.
Koutstaal, W., & Schacter, D. L. (1997). Inaccuracy and inaccessibility in memory retrieval: Contributions from cognitive psychology and neuropsychology. In P. S. Appelbaum, L. A. Uyehara, & M. R. Elin (Eds.), Trauma and Memory: Clinical and Legal Controversies (pp. 93–137). New York: Oxford University Press.
Schacter, D. L., Norman, K. A., & Koutstaal, W. (1997). The recovered memory debate: A cognitive neuroscience perspective. In M. A. Conway (Ed.), Recovered Memories and False Memories: Debates in Psychology (pp. 63– 99). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Schacter, D. L., Koutstaal, W., & Norman, K. A. (1996). Can cognitive neuroscience illuminate the nature of traumatic childhood memories? Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 6, 207–214. Reprinted in L. M. Williams & V. L. Banyard (Eds.), Trauma and Memory (1998, pp. 257–271). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Koutstaal, W. (1995). Review of David C. Rubin, Memory in Oral Traditions: The Cognitive Psychology of Epic, Ballads, and Counting-Out Rhymes. Harvard Graduate School Alumni Association Newsletter, Fall, 11–12.
Koutstaal, W. (1995). Situating ethics and memory. American Philosophical Quarterly, 32, 253–262.
Koutstaal, W., & Rosenthal, R. (1994). Contrast analysis in behavioral research. In J. Brzezinski (Ed.), Poznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities: Vol. 39. Probability in Theory-Building: Experimental and Non-Experimental Models of Scientific Research in Behavioral Sciences (pp. 135–173). Amsterdam: Rodopi.
Koutstaal, W. (1993). Lowly notions: Forgetting in William James’s moral universe. Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society: A Quarterly Journal in American Philosophy, 29, 609–635.
Koutstaal, W. (1992). Skirting the abyss: A history of experimental explorations of automatic writing in psychology. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 28, 5–27.
PUBLISHED ABSTRACTS AND PRESENTATIONS
Quillien, J-B., & Koutstaal, W. (2016, July). Scientific reasoning: An interplay of mental exploration and exploitation. Fourth Annual Midwest Meeting on Mathematical Thinking (M3T), Madison, WI.
Jiang, J. V., Koutstaal, W., & Twedell, E. (2016, May). Habitual attention in normal aging. Vision Sciences Society, St. Pete Beach, FL.
Quillien, J-B., Anderson, E., & Koutstaal W. (2015, May). Divergent vs. convergent figural thinking and CogFLEX (a new measure of cognitive flexibility). Association for Psychological Science, New York, NY.
Wetzel, B., Anderson, K, Gini, M., & Koutstaal, W. (2012). If not now, where? Time and space equivalency in strategy games. Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment (AIIDE-12), Stanford, CA.
Qin, X. (A.), & Koutstaal, W. (2012, May). The effects of nature versus urban interventions on mood and long-term memory after a sustained directed attention task. Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL.
Qin, X. (A.), Koutstaal, W., & Engel, S. (2012, May). The hard won benefits of brand logo familiarity on visual search: Familiarity training has little effect on search times. Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL.
Sun, L., DeYoung, C. G., & Koutstaal, W. (2010, May). Individual difference predictors of novel, “online” problem solving. Association for Psychological Science, Boston, MA.
Qin, X. (A.), Koutstaal, W., Ahluwalia, R., & Engel, S. (2010, May). Familiar brand logos show an advantage in crowding and visual search. Association for Psychological Science, Boston, MA.
McMenamin, B. W., Deason, R. G., Steele, V. R., Koutstaal, W., & Marsolek, C. J. (2009, Oct.). Different neural coding for dissociable abstract-category and specific-exemplar object priming evidenced by fMRI pattern analysis. Society for Neuroscience, Chicago, IL.
Deason, R. G., Steele, V. R., Marsolek, C. J., & Koutstaal, W. (2008, May). FMRI repetition-related increases in parietal regions: Item-specific and semantic category effects. Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL.
Denkinger, B., & Koutstaal, W. (2008, May). Perceive-decide-act, perceive-decide-act: The benefits and costs of previous decisions on object priming. Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL.
Fu, T., Koutstaal, W., Poon, L., & Cleare, A. J. (2007, January). Depression, dysphoria and decision-making: Evidence against depressive realism. Experimental Psychology Society, London, UK.
Fu, T., Koutstaal, W., Poon, L., & Cleare, A. J. (2006, January). Neuropsychology of major depression: Affective states and cognitive/thought distortions. Experimental Psychology Society, London, UK.
Tranter, L. J., & Koutstaal, W. (2003, May and July). Use it or lose it? An experimental test of the effects of increased cognitively stimulating activity on cognitive test performance in healthy older adults. Neuropsychology of Ageing Conference, Cropthorne, Pershore, UK; Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, Aberdeen, UK; Experimental Psychology Society, Reading, UK.
Koutstaal, W. (2002, November). Meaning now, specifics later? Does prior focus on abstract information impede access to additional types of information needed for problem solving? Society for Judgment and Decision Making, Kansas City, MO.
Matthews, S. C., & Koutstaal, W. (2002, September). Realism of confidence judgements across age and task domain. British Psychological Society Cognitive Psychology Section, XIX Annual Conference, Canterbury, UK, p. 49.
Simons, J., Koutstaal, W., Prince, S., Wagner, A. D., & Schacter, D. L. (2001). Object priming in the fusiform cortex: An event-related fMRI study. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 27, p. 193.
Koutstaal, W., Verfaellie, M., & Schacter, D. L. (2000, April). Recognizing identical vs. similar categorically related objects: Further evidence for degraded gist-representations in amnesia. Abstracts of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, CA, pp. 138–139.
Koutstaal, W., Wagner, A. D., Rotte, M., Maril, A., Buckner, R. L., Rosen, B. R., Dale, A. M., & Schacter, D. L. (1999, April). An event-related fMRI study of perceptual specificity effects in visual object priming. Abstracts of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Washington, D.C., p. 38.
Wiseman, A. L., Wagner, A. D., Koutstaal, W., Maril, A., Simons, D. S., Dale, A. M., Rosen, B. R., & Schacter, D. L. (1999, April). The subjective perception of novelty: An event-related fMRI study. Abstracts of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Washington, D.C., p. 62.
Koutstaal, W., Schacter, D. L., & Galluccio, L. (1998, April). Reducing gist-based false recognition in older adults: Encoding and retrieval manipulations. Cognitive Aging Conference, Atlanta, GA.
Rotte, M., Koutstaal, W., Buckner, R. L., Wagner, A. D., Dale, A. M., Rosen, B. R., Tibbs, K., & Schacter, D. L. (1998). Prefrontal activation during encoding correlates with level of processing using event-related fMRI. Abstracts of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, CA, p. 52.
Buckner, R. L., Koutstaal, W., Dale, A. M., Schacter, D. L., Wagner, A. D., & Rosen, B. R. (1997). Anterior prefrontal contributions to episodic memory explored with fMRI and analysis of averaged single-trials. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 23.
Wagner, A. D., Buckner, R. L., Koutstaal, W., Schacter, D. L., Gabrieli, D. E., & Rosen, B. R. (1997, March). An fMRI study of within- and across-task item repetition during semantic classification. Abstracts of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Boston, MA, p. 68.
Schacter, D. L., Buckner, R. L., Koutstaal, W., Dale, A. M., & Rosen, B. R. (1997, March). Brain regions associated with true and false recognition: A single-trial fMRI study. Abstracts of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Boston, MA, p. 68.
Buckner, R. L., Koutstaal, W., Schacter, D. L., Petersen, S. E., Raichle, M. E., & Rosen, B. R. (1997, March). fMRI studies of item repetition during word generation. Abstracts of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Boston, MA, p. 67.
Koutstaal, W., Buckner, R. L., Schacter, D. L., & Rosen, B. R. (1997, March). An fMRI study of item repetition during an auditorily cued word generation task. Abstracts of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Boston, MA, p. 68.
MAGAZINE AND BLOG ARTICLES
Koutstaal, W. (2015—present). “Our Innovating Minds: The Many Origins of Creative Thought and Action,” Psychology Today blog — http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/our-innovating-minds
Koutstaal, W. (November 2015) — Seven ways to start and keep your writing going. OUPblog.
Koutstaal, W. (February 2016) — Contributor to “Think Back.” The Writer, vol. 129, p. 7.
PAPERS PRESENTED
Creative interplay: Using “detail stepping” to boost our mental nimbleness (2016, August). Invited talk to the Science Museum of Minnesota. St. Paul, MN.
Innovating minds: Making and finding in our idea landscapes (2015, May). Invited talk to the Minnesota Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Minneapolis, MN.
Enhancing mental agility in individuals and groups (2014, October). Distinguished Scholar Lecture, Minnesota Psychological Association. St. Paul, MN.
Innovating minds (2013, August). Invited address to the American Psychological Association for the William James Book Award for The Agile Mind. Honolulu, HI.
Thinking memory: Reflections three (2012, Nov.). Paper presented at the Weisman Art Museum, WAM Chatter, “Is memory true?,” Minneapolis, MN.
Flexible thinking and relational binding across the life-span (2012, June). Symposium discussant, International Conference on Infant Studies, Minneapolis, MN.
Towards an agile mind (2010, May). Paper presented at the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL [invited speaker].
Flexible remembering and flexible thinking in older and younger adults (2009, May). Paper presented at the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA [invited speaker; Alaitz Aizpurua, co-author].
What’s to be learned? Abstraction, specificity and flexibility in priming (2007, Sept.). Paper presented to the Memory Disorders Research Society. Symposium co-convened with Rik Henson and David Schnyer, What the heck is priming? University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Sticky gist and flexible remembering: Abstraction and specificity in memory and thinking (2007, May). Paper presented at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, MN.
Flexible remembering: New bridges from aging and memory to thinking (2006, May). Invited Symposium, Association for Psychological Science, New York, NY.
Neuropsychology of memory (2003, July). Symposium, co-convened with Jamie Ward, Experimental Psychology Society meeting, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
Meaning now, specifics later? The effects of retrieval set on memory accuracy and confidence (2002, Dec.). Paper presented at the Medical Research Council, Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK.
Age, retrieval intention, and memory for detail: Dissociable effects of aging on false recognition, repetition priming, and meaning-based recognition (2002, July). Paper presented at the Experimental Psychology Society, Cambridge, UK.
Older and wiser? Age and the realism of confidence judgements across task domains (2002, May). Paper presented at the University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
Confidence in judgement: Effects of ageing and task domain (2002, March). Paper presented at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, UK.
Older and wiser? Age and realism of confidence judgements (2002, March). Paper presented at the British Psychological Society, Blackpool, UK.
Increased vulnerability to false positive memory errors in older adults: Notable exceptions and the conceptual detraction account (2001, July). Paper presented at the Experimental Psychology Society, Manchester, UK.
Item-specific vs. gist-based memory in cognitive aging: Accuracy and accessibility (2000, June). Paper presented at the National Science Foundation Summer Research Series in Psychology, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY.
Intentional forgetting and voluntary thought suppression: Two potential methods for coping with childhood trauma (1997, May). Paper presented at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA.
Aging and memory illusions (1997, April). Paper presented at the Eastern Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.
Suspicions of normality: Leon Solomons and Gertrude Stein on automatic writing (1990, November). Paper presented at the University of New Hampshire History and Theory of Psychology Colloquium, Durham, NH.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
American Association for the Advancement of Science (Inducted as Fellow, 2014)
Association for Psychological Science
Center for Cognitive Sciences
Experimental Psychology Society
Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education
Memory Disorders Research Society (Elected 2007)
Society for Neuroscience
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Grant reviewer for: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (UK); Economic and Social Research Council (UK); Israel Science Foundation (Israel); Leverhulme Trust (UK); National Institutes of Health (USA); National Science Foundation (USA); Social Science Research Council — Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (Netherlands).
Ad hoc referee for: Acta Psychologica; Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition; Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics; Brain Research; British Journal of Psychology; Cerebral Cortex; Cognition and Emotion; Cognitive Neuropsychology; Cognitive Neuroscience; Cortex; Developmental Review; Emotion; Empirical Studies of the Arts; European Journal of Cognitive Psychology; Experimental Aging Research; Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience; Health Communication; Hippocampus; Journal of Abnormal Psychology; Journal of Applied Gerontology; Journal of Behavioral Decision Making; Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism; Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience; Journal of Experimental Psychology: General; Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance; Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition; Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences; Journal of Memory and Language; Journal of Neuroscience; Learning & Memory; Memory; Memory & Cognition; Nature Neuroscience; Nature Reviews Neuroscience; Neurobiology of Aging; NeuroImage; Neuropsychologia; Neuropsychological Rehabilitation; Perspectives on Psychological Science; Philosophical Psychology; PloS ONE; Progress in Neurobiology; Psychological Medicine; Psychological Research; Psychological Science; Psychology and Aging; Psychonomic Bulletin & Review; Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology; Visual Cognition.
Book reviewer: Oxford University Press.
Reviewer: American Psychological Association – George A. Miller Award.
UNIVERSITY AND DEPARTMENTAL SERVICE
TEACHING
Courses
Professor, Department of Psychology
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Creativity Sciences: Minds, Brains, and Innovation, Spring 2013, 2015, 2017
Proseminar in Cognition, Brain, and Behavior
-Co-taught with Prof. Yuhong Jiang, Fall 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016
The Agile Mind: Cognitive and Brain Bases, Spring 2011 – 2013; 2015
Flexible Thinking: Cognitive Neuroscience Views, Spring 2007, Spring 2009 – 2010
Memory, Belief, and Judgment, Fall 2004 – 2006
Introduction to Psychology (3 lectures), Fall 2004, Spring 2005
Research Lab in Memory, Thinking, and Judgment,
Fall 2004, Spring and Fall 2005-2016
Flexible Thinking: Psychological Perspectives, Spring 2008
Psychology of Human Learning and Memory, Spring, 2006 – 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016
Lecturer, Department of Psychology
University of Reading, Reading, UK
Cognitive Neuroscience, Spring 2001–2003
Memory, Belief, and Judgement, Spring 2002–2004
Experimental Design and Statistics, Fall 2001–2003
Theoretical Issues for Psychologists (MSc. Course), Fall 2002–2003
Also: Academic tutorials, Micro-project supervision, Final year project supervision
Teaching Fellow in Psychology, Department of Psychology
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Intermediate Quantitative Methods, 1991–1993
Abnormal Psychology, 1992
Methods of Social Research, 1990–1991
Academic Tutor in Psychology, Department of Psychology
University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Introductory Psychology, 1985–1989
Student Advising and Mentoring
Dissertation / Graduate Student Committees (apart from primary advisor):
Tiana Bochsler (Ph.D., 2013, University of Minnesota)
Rebecca Deason (Ph.D., 2008, University of Minnesota)
Robert Edge (in progress, University of Minnesota)
Vina Goghari (Ph.D., 2009, University of Minnesota)
Elizabeth Jensen (in progress, University of Minnesota)
Alvina Kittur (Ph.D., 2011, University of Minnesota)
Antonia Krueger (M.A., 2011, University of Minnesota)
Amy K. Landers (Ph.D., 2010, University of Minnesota)
Julia Manor (Ph.D., 2009, University of Minnesota)
Jean-Baptiste Quillien (in progress, University of Minnesota)
Katrina Schleisman (Ph.D, 2014, University of Minnesota)
Vaughn Steele (Ph.D., 2011, University of Minnesota)
Kristin Sullwold (Ph.D., 2010, University of Minnesota)
Matthew Tofield (Ph.D., 2002, University of Reading – Internal examiner)
Zachary Varberg (in progress, University of Minnesota)
Tyler Yost (Ph.D., 2016, University of Minnesota)
Graduate Student Advisor/Co-advisor, Degrees Completed, Chronologically:
Tiffany Fu (MSc., University of Reading, 2003)
Lesley Tranter (Ph.D., University of Reading, 2005)
Lee Woon Mok (Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 2006; APA Dissertation Research Award)
Tiffany Fu (Ph.D., University of Reading, 2008)
Ming-Ching Wen (Ph.D., University of Reading, 2011, co-supervised with Dr. Laurie Butler)
Ben Denkinger (Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 2011)
Sara Klaphake (formerly Kvidera) (Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 2011)
Baylor Wetzel (Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Computer Science, co-supervised with Dr. Maria Gini, 2014)
Graduate Student Advisor, Degrees in Progress:
Undergraduate Student Mentoring (selected – multiple students, multiple years):
Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)
Freshman Research Scholars Awards Program
RESEARCH GRANTS
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC, UK): Using what we know: Effects of retrieval set on memory accuracy and confidence, 2001–2002
Research Endowment Trust Fund (RETF, UK): Memory and judgement in Parkinson’s disease and normal cognitive ageing – PhD Studentship, Sian C. Matthews, 2001–2004
Research Endowment Trust Fund (RETF, UK): Enhancing cognitive performance in normal cognitive ageing: Novelty, play and plasticity – PhD Studentship, Lesley Tranter, 2001–2004
Nuffield Undergraduate Research Bursary (Nuffield Foundation, UK): Recalling meaning, recalling specifics: Effects of retrieval set on access to non-episodically related information – Summer Research Studentship, Nicola Perkins, 2003
Research Endowment Trust Fund (RETF, UK): Changing focus: Behavioural and brain correlates of item-specific versus abstract-category context setting on object processing and judgement, 2003
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC, UK): What’s in the details? Effects of retrieval orientation on accessing knowledge, 2003–2004
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC, UK): Understanding the neural bases of repetition priming and mere exposure (with Laurie Butler, co-investigator), 2005–2006
Nuffield Undergraduate Research Bursary (Nuffield Foundation, UK): The role of self-affirmation and goal derived categorization training tasks on problem solving in young and older adults – Summer Research Studentship, Ahmed Dahir Mohamed (with Laurie Butler, co-investigator), 2007
University Studentship (UK): Cognitive biases and decision-making in depression and chronic fatigue syndrome, PhD Studentship, Tiffany Fu, supervised in collaboration with Dr. Anthony Cleare, Institute of Psychiatry, University College, London, 2004–2007
Center for the Study of Political Psychology, Seed Grant (US): Lifespan dynamics and media effects: Are public policy media campaign effects a function of age-related memory changes? (with Brian Southwell, co-investigator), 2008–2009
Institute for Advanced Studies (US): Thinking Portraits – Mind, Body, Language (with Jan Estep and Sheng He, co-investigators), 2008–2012
McKnight Presidential Fellow (US); University of Minnesota, 2007–2009
FAESS Capacity Building Grant (Australia): Heat stress and neurocognition (with Leh Woon Mok and others, co-investigators, James Cook University), 2012–2013
College of Liberal Arts, Brain Imaging Infrastructure grant (US): When perceiving and remembering collide (with Stephen Engel and Angela Qin), 2013-2014
Engdahl Family Research Fund in Psychology (US): Attention and working memory training in normal aging: Role of implicit learning (with Yuhong Jiang, co-investigator), 2015-2016
Engdahl Family Research Fund in Psychology (US): Attention training in Parkinson’s Disease (with Yuhong Jiang, co-investigator), 2016–2017
Wilma Koutstaal: Minds-Brains-Environments 