Instructional Technology Research Lab  

The Instructional Technology Research Lab is an applied research lab, which is organized to serve the design and development needs of instructional technologists at WSU for the optimal use of technology in the classroom of today and the classroom of the future. Instructional technologists need empirically based research results to guide pedagogical decisions regarding recommendations for the delivery of education - especially web based distance education. Learners are becoming the focus of the new delivery of education and meeting the individual needs of each learner is the objective outcome. Projects include, but are not limited to: Outcome Evaluation, Web Page Evaluation, Technology Use Guidelines, Guidelines for Learning Sites for the Disabled, Web Course Evaluation, Compilation of Electronic Resources for Web Course Development, Education and Training for Professors, Pedagogy, Learning Styles, Model Sites, Optimal Utilization of Technology, How-To's for Designing a Good Course.

Learning and Memory Lab

Currently, the Learning and Memory Lab is focusing on age-related deficit, specifically whether these deficits can be, as least partially understood, by close examination of the components of working memory. The measures of memory and cognitive ability we now use have been both computer- administered and pencil and paper tests. Also, we are just beginning to use physiological measures. The long term research goal of the Laboratory is to define the role of working memory in higher level cognitive abilities, spatial and verbal abilities, such as comprehension of what we read and hear, solving problems, logical reasoning and making decisions, as well as making visual and spatial judgments.

Perception/Action Lab

In the Perception/Action Lab, we study the perceptual control of action. Most of the research focuses on the visual control of reaching, including studying the information used to guide the distance and direction of the reach, and to understand how a reach responds to moving targets. This research is also applicable to the visual control of locomotion. The lab is equipped with Virtual Reality equipment that allows us to control the visual information used to control reaches in the virtual environment. We are also able to explore applied issues related to training in virtual environments and telepresence.

Software Usability Research Lab

The Software Usability Research Laboratory (SURL) is a service division of the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory in the Department of Psychology. Under the direction of Dr. Barbara Chaparro, SURL provides usability services such as user interface design, usability testing, and human-computer interaction research to corporations world-wide. In addition to corporate contracts, SURL conducts research on web design, usability, and user interaction techniques. Highlights of this research are published in a quarterly newsletter entitled Usability News. The lab is staffed by WSU faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students in the human factors program.

Visual Psychophysics Lab

The Visual Psychophysics Lab recently has been studying how age related changes in motor control affect the use of input devices such as mice and trackballs. A number of research projects are on-going, including investigations of the effects of visual impairment on situational awareness in a driving task, the effects of text orientation on reading rate for text presented in the peripheral retina, and motor programming in persons with Parkinson's Disease.  Members of the lab are also participating in a collaborative research program with faculty from the departments of industrial engineering, exercise science and health professions to collect normative data on strength and range of motion of different limbs for persons over age 60. 

Associated Laboratories

National Institute For Aviation Research

The National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) is involved in many areas of aviation research and testing. Subjects include aerodynamics, computerized fluid dynamics (CFD), crashworthiness, airframe structures, composites, CAD/CAM and CATIA, human factors: perception/ performance and ergonomics, information systems, propulsion systems, airframe icing, avionics, and cryogenics/ superconductivity. Facilities in aerodynamics include four wind tunnels - one a 7’ X 10’ wind tunnel, and a water tunnel, while the crash lab has a crash sled built especially for research and aircraft seat certification testing, composites an experimental autoclave, filament winding and pultrusion machines, while the other labs housed in the 74,000 sq. ft. institute facility are well-equipped to serve industry, government and entrepreneurs with technology development and technology application.

Human Performance Laboratory

The Human Performance Laboratory is comprised of scientists work in health promotion, program development, colleges and universities, clinical rehabilitation, and sport and athletic programs. The objectives of the Lab includes: a comparison of Physiological Variables Between Competitive Cyclists Ages 20 to 80 Years; A Meta-Analysis of Overtraining; Muscle Performance During Repeated Cycle Sprints in Young vs. Aged Men and Women; Assessing Physical Ability of Older Adults, Ages 60 Years and Older; Comparison of Substrate Utilization and Caloric Expenditure with Varying Treadmill Speeds; Range of motion of the elderly to assist in accommodation; The effects of an exercise intervention program on lower body functional ability and chair rising performance in older adults.