Department of Psychology hosts Brummer Colloquium

The Dr. and Mrs. Gary Brummer Colloquium Series in Psychology presents “Control & Creativity: How Attention Relates to Complex Problem Solving” with Dr. Patrick Cushen

 

MURRAY, Ky. – The Department of Psychology at Murray State University is pleased to host its first event of the academic year in the Dr. and Mrs. Gary Brummer Colloquium Series on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 5:30 p.m. in the Freed-Curd Auditorium on Murray State’s campus. Dr. Patrick Cushen, associate professor of psychology at Murray State University, will speak on “Control & Creativity: How Attention Relates to Complex Problem Solving.” The event is free and open to the public.

One of the most interesting characteristics of human thinking is the ability to generate original ideas or to tackle tasks in innovative ways. Research on contributing factors to an individual's creativity aims to demystify this extraordinary ability. Cushen's research investigates the role attention may play in creative thinking. In this talk,  Cushen will elaborate on how research on creative problem solving can be conducted and what that research has uncovered regarding the underlying factors that may enable creative thinking.

Cushen received his PhD in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research interests are in understanding the relationships between individual differences, such as in attention, memory, thinking styles and executive control, and complex cognitive processes such as problem solving, reasoning and decision making.

The Dr. and Mrs. Gary Brummer Colloquium Series in Psychology is made possible by a generous gift from Dr. Gary Brummer and his wife, Sharon. The series hosts speakers from a wide range of research areas in psychology. All presentations are free and open to the public.

To learn more about the series or the Department of Psychology at Murray State University please visit murraystate.edu/psychology.