Curriculum Vitae

 

Alan W. Kersten

 

Department of Psychology

Florida Atlantic University

Boca Raton, FL 33431-0991

phone (561) 297-0017

fax (561) 297-2160

akersten@fau.edu

http://www.psy.fau.edu/akersten

 

Professional Experience

 

December, 1989 - Received Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin

 

March, 1993 - Received M.S. degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology

 

July, 1995 - Attended summer school on cognitive modeling in ACT-R at Carnegie Mellon University

 

September, 1995 - Received Ph.D. degree with minor in Linguistics from the Georgia Institute of Technology

 

September 1995 to June 1998 - Postdoctoral research associate at Indiana University as part of a developmental training grant

 

September 1997 to December 1997 - Adjunct professor at Indiana University

 

August 1998 to May 2004 - Assistant professor at Florida Atlantic University

 

May 2004 to Present – Associate professor at Florida Atlantic University

 

Awards

 

1999 APA Division of Experimental Psychology New Investigator Award in Experimental Psychology: General

 

Refereed Articles, Book Chapters, and Conference Proceedings

 

     Earles, J.L., Kersten, A.W., Más, B.B., & Miccio, D.M. (in press). Influences of activity difficulty and time pressure on age differences in activity recall. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences.

 

     Kersten, A.W., & Earles, J.L. (2004). Semantic context influences memory for verbs more than memory for nouns. Memory & Cognition, 32, 198-211.

 

     Kersten, A.W. (2003). Verbs and nouns convey different types of motion in event descriptions. Linguistics, 41, 917-945.

 

     Goldstone, R.L., & Kersten, A.W. (2003). Concepts and categorization. In A. F. Healy & R. W. Proctor (Eds.), Experimental Psychology (pp. 599-621). Volume 4 in I. B. Weiner (Editor-in-Chief) Handbook of psychology.  Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

 

     Earles, J.L., & Kersten, A.W. (2002). Directed forgetting of actions by younger and older adults. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 9, 383-388.

 

     Kersten, A.W., & Smith, L.B. (2002). Attention to novel objects during verb learning. Child Development, 73, 93-109.

 

     Kersten, A.W., & Earles, J.L. (2001). Less really is more for adults learning a miniature artificial language. Journal of Memory and Language, 44, 250-273

 

     Earles, J.L., & Kersten, A.W. (2000). Adult age differences in memory for verbs and nouns. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 7, 130-139.

 

     Goldstone, R. L., Steyvers, M., Spencer-Smith, J., & Kersten, A. (2000). Interactions between perceptual and conceptual learning. In E. Diettrich & A.B. Markman (Eds.), Cognitive dynamics: Conceptual and representational change in humans and machines. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

 

     Earles, J.L., & Kersten, A.W. (1999). Processing speed and adult age differences in activity memory. Experimental Aging Research, 25, 243-253.

 

     Earles, J.L., Kersten, A.W., Turner, J.M., & McMullen, J. (1999). Influences of age, performance, and context on verbatim and gist recall of verb-noun pairs. Journal of General Psychology, 126, 97-110.

 

     Kersten, A.W., Goldstone, R.L., & Schaffert, A. (1998). Two competing attentional mechanisms in category learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 24, 1437-1458.

 

     Kersten, A.W. (1998). An examination of the distinction between nouns and verbs: Associations with two different kinds of motion. Memory & Cognition, 26, 1214-1232.

 

     Earles, J.L., & Kersten, A.W. (1998). Influences of age and perceived activity difficulty on activity recall. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 53B, P324-P328.

 

     Kersten, A.W. (1998). A division of labor between nouns and verbs in the representation of motion. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 127, 34-54.

 

     Kersten, A.W., & Billman, D.O. (1997). Event category learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 23,.638-658.

 

     Kersten, A.W., & Billman, D.O. (1995). The roles of motion and moving parts in noun and verb meanings. Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Hillsdale: Erlbaum.

 

     Salthouse, T.A., & Kersten, A.W. (1993). Decomposing adult age differences in symbol arithmetic. Memory and Cognition, 21, 699-710.

 

     Kersten, A.W., & Billman, D.O. (1992). The role of correlational structure in learning event categories. Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Hillsdale: Erlbaum.

 

Non-refereed Publications

 

     Kersten, A.W. (2000). A division of labor between nouns and verbs in the representation of motion. Experimental Psychology Bulletin, 4, 4-5.

 

Manuscripts Submitted for Publication or in Revision

 

     Kersten, A.W., Smith, L.B., & Yoshida, H. Attention to novel objects during verb learning in Japanese and English-speaking children.

 

     Kersten, A.W., Smith, L.B., & Yoshida, H. Influences of object knowledge on the acquisition of verbs in Japanese and English-speaking children.

 

     Earles, J.L., Kersten, A.W., Stadtlander, L.M., & Welsh, D. The contribution of haptic cues to memory for actions.

 

     Kersten, A.W. Differential hemispheric asymmetry in the perception of intrinsic and extrinsic motion.

 

     Kersten, A.W., Earles, J.L., Curtayne, E.S., & Lane, J.C. Adult age differences in binding actors and actions in eyewitness memory.

 

     Kersten, A.W., Meissner, C.A., Schwartz, B.L., & Iglesias, A. Effects of native language and linguistic context on the conceptualization of motion events in English and Spanish speakers.

 

Grants

 

Project Title: Adult Age Differences in Binding Actors and Actions

Submission Date: 5/2003

Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health

Principal Investigator: Alan Kersten

Award Amount: $206,700

 

Project Title: Adult Age Differences in Event Memory

Submission Date: 4/2003

Funding Agency: Florida Atlantic University Division of Research

Principal Investigator: Alan Kersten

Award Amount: $14,900

 

Project Title: Verb Learning in English and Spanish Speakers

Submission Date: 3/2000

Funding Agency: Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

Principal Investigator: Alan Kersten

Award Amount: $5000

Selected Conference Presentations

 

     Kersten, A.W., & Earles, J.L. (2004, November). Effects of semantic context on memory for nouns and verbs. Paper to be presented at the Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Minneapolis, MN.

 

     Kersten, A.W., Earles, J.L., Curtayne, E.S., & Pacific, J.B. (2004, April). Effects of familiarity and recollection on the binding of actors and actions in eyewitness memory. Paper presented at the Meeting of the Cognitive Aging Conference, Atlanta, GA.

 

     Curtayne, E.S., Kersten, A.W., Earles, J.L., & Murphy, S. (2004, March). Effects of actor similarity on unconscious transference. Poster presented at the Meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association, Atlanta, GA.

 

     Pacific, J.B., Kersten, A.W., & Earles, J.L. (2004, March). Effects of distraction on correctly binding actors with performed actions. Poster presented at the Meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association, Atlanta, GA.

 

     Kersten, A.W., Earles, J.L., Curtayne, E.S., & Lane, J.C. (2003, November). Adult age differences in binding actors and actions in eyewitness memory. Poster presented at the Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Vancouver, BC.

 

     Earles, J.L., Kersten, A.W., Klein, E., & Phelan, A. (2003, November) Event memory in and out of context. Poster presented at the Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Vancouver, BC.

 

     Kersten, A.W., Meissner, C.A., Schwartz, B.L., & Rivera, M.L. (2003, April). Differential sensitivity to manner of motion in adult English and Spanish speakers. Paper presented at the Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Tampa, FL.

 

Kersten, A.W., Earles, J.L., & Curtayne, E. (2002, November). Binding actors and actions in eyewitness memory. Paper presented at the Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Kansas City, MO.

 

      Earles, J.L., Kersten, A.W., & Curtayne, E. (2002, November). Effects of distraction on unconscious transference in eyewitness memory. Poster presented at the Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Kansas City, MO.

 

      Earles, J.L., Kersten, A.W., Berlin Más, B., & Miccio, D. (2002, April). Age differences in the effects of task-induced anxiety on task recall. Poster presented at the Cognitive Aging Conference, Atlanta, GA.

 

    Curtayne, E., Kersten, A., & Earles, J. (2002, March). Binding actors and their actions: Implications for eyewitness testimony. Poster presented at the Meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association, Kissimmee, FL.

 

     Kersten, A.W., & Rivera, M.L. (2001, November). English and Spanish speakers attend differently to attributes of novel events. Paper presented at the Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Orlando, FL.

 

     Earles, J.L., & Kersten, A.W. (2001, November). Older adults have difficulty remembering difficult activities. Poster presented at the Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Orlando, FL.

 

     Kersten, A.W. (2001, April). Attention to novel objects during verb learning in different languages. Poster presented at the Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN.

 

     Kersten, A.W., & Earles, J.L. (2000). A role for the motions of whole objects in object representations. Paper presented at the Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, New Orleans, LA.

 

     Earles, J.L., & Kersten, A.W. (2000). Effects of semantic context on memory for nouns and verbs. Poster presented at the Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, New Orleans, LA.

 

     Kersten, A.W., Earles, J.L., Dietrich, E., & Turner, S. (2000, April). The effects of age and encoding context on the recognition of nouns and verbs. Poster presented at the Cognitive Aging Conference, Atlanta, GA.

 

     Kersten, A.W. (2000, February). The different types of motion conveyed by verbs and nouns in event descriptions. Paper presented at the Workshop on Conceptualization, Heidelberg, Germany.

 

     Kersten, A.W., & Earles, J.L. (1999, November). Is less really more? Learning a miniature artificial language in adulthood. Paper presented at the Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Los Angeles, CA.

 

     Kersten, A.W. (1999, April). Children attend to objects as well as motions when learning verbs. Poster presented at the meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Albuquerque, NM.

 

     Kersten, A.W. (1998, November). Object-based and part-based attention during categorization of a complex object. Poster presented at the Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Dallas, TX.

 

     Earles, J.L., & Kersten, A.W. (1998, November). Influences of age and perceived activity difficulty on activity recall. Poster presented at the Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Dallas, TX.

 

     Earles, J.L., Kersten, A.W., Turner, J.M., & McMullen, J. (1998, April). Influences of age, performance, and context on verbatim and gist recall of verb-noun pairs. Poster presented at the Cognitive Aging Conference, Atlanta, GA.

 

     Kersten, A.W. (1997, November). The development of noun and verb learning biases. Poster presented at the Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Philadelphia, PA.

 

     Earles, J.L., Kersten, A.W., & Downie, N. (1997, November). Directed forgetting of performed actions. Poster presented at the Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Philadelphia, PA.

 

     Kersten, A.W., Fancher, C., Remec, N.M., & Schaefer, J.M. (1997, April). Evidence for different learning biases when children learn nouns and verbs. Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Washington, DC.

 

     Kersten, A.W., Goldstone, R.L., & Schaffert, A. (1996, November). The segmentation of events into features during category learning. Poster presented at the Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Chicago, IL.

 

     Earles, J.L., Kersten, A.W., Hadden, J., & Zola, R. (1996, November). Age differences in memory for nouns and verbs. Poster presented at the Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Chicago, IL.

 

     Kersten, A.W., & Billman, D.O. (1995, July). The roles of motion and moving parts in noun and verb meanings. Poster presented at the Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Pittsburgh, PA.

 

     Kersten, A.W., & Billman, D.O. (1994, November). Dynamic properties and frames of reference in object and event category learning. Paper presented at the Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, St. Louis, MO.

 

     Kersten, A.W., & Billman, D.O. (1992, August). The role of correlational structure in learning event categories. Paper presented at the Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Bloomington, IN.

 

     Billman, D.O., & Kersten, A.W. (1991, November). Learning event categories: Effects of correlational structure. Paper presented at the meeting of the Psychonomic Society, San Francisco, CA.

 

General Research Interests

 

Language Development

Categorization

Memory and Aging

Event Perception and Memory

Object Recognition

Biological Bases of Perception and Memory

 

Teaching Interests

 

Psychology of Human Development

Cognition

Language Acquisition

Human Learning and Memory

Research in Thinking and Language

 

Teaching Experience

 

May 2004 to Present – Associate Professor, Florida Atlantic University

 

August 1998 to May 2004 - Assistant Professor, Florida Atlantic University

 

September 1997 to December 1997 - Visiting Assistant Professor in Developmental Psychology at Indiana University

 

Spring 1995 - Instructor of Statistics lab at Georgia Tech

 

Summer 1994 - Lecturer in Introductory Psychology class at Georgia Tech

 

Winter 1992, 1993, and 1994 - Instructor of Cognition lab at Georgia Tech

 

Fall 1991 to Spring 1995 - Teaching assistant at Georgia Tech

 


Service

 

Journal reviews

 

     Ad-hoc reviewer for Child Development, Cognitive Science, Developmental Review, the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, the Journal of Memory and Language, Memory and Cognition, the Proceedings of the Cognitive Science Society, and the Conference of the Society for Research in Child Development.

 

References

 

David  Bjorklund

Department of Psychology

Florida Atlantic University

Boca Raton, FL 33431-0991

(561) 297-3367

dbjorklund@fau.edu

 

Robert Goldstone

Department of Psychology

Indiana University

Bloomington, IN 47405-1301

(812) 855-2012

rgoldsto@indiana.edu

 

Linda Smith

Department of Psychology

Indiana University

Bloomington, IN 47405-1301

(812) 855-2012

smith4@indiana.edu