• Faculty

  • Ben van Buren

    Assistant Professor of Psychology (CSD)

    Email
    vanburenb@newschool.edu

    Office Location
    G - 80 Fifth Avenue

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    Ben van Buren

    Profile

    Ben studies the perception of higher-level visual properties.  What causes visual forms and events look more or less alive, emotionally expressive, or aesthetically pleasing?  His research connects these features of visual experience with mental processes which are better understood by psychologists, such as attention, memory, and perceptual organization.  Ben's recent projects have focused on how dynamic visual cues drive the perception of animacy, intentionality, and physical forces, and on the role of visual attention in aesthetic judgments preferences.  Ben has also written about what visual illusions tell us about our mental architecture, and about meta-psychological questions, such as how to best study perceptual states.

    Ben directs the NSSR Perception Laboratory.  For the latest lab news and projects, please visit: http://www.nssrperception.com/

           


    Degrees Held

    Ph.D., Cognitive Psychology (Yale University)

    B.A., Cognitive Science, Philosophy (University of Pennsylvania)


    Professional Affiliation

    Vision Sciences Society

    Cognitive Sciences Society

    Psychonomics Society

    Human Factors & Ergonomics Society


    Recent Publications

    For a complete list of publications, please visit: https://www.nssrperception.com/publications.html

    Nguyen, H. B., and van Buren, B. (2024). Rotating objects cue spatial attention via the perception of frictive surface contact. Cognition, 242, 1-9. PDF

    Nguyen, H. B., and van Buren, B. (2023). May the Force be against you: Better visual sensitivity to speed changes opposite to gravity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 49, 1016-1030. PDF

    Ritchie, J. B., and van Buren, B. (2020). When scenes look like Materials: The reversable figure-ground motif in the paintings of René Magritte. Art and Perception, 8, 1-12. PDF

    van Buren, B., and Scholl, B. J. (2018). Visual illusions as a tool for dissociating seeing from thinking. Perception, 47, 999-1001. PDF

    van Buren, B., and Scholl, B. J. (2017). Minds in motion in memory: Enhanced spatial memory driven by the perceived animacy of simple shapes. Cognition, 163, 87-92. PDF

    van Buren, B., Bromberger, B., Potts, D., and Chatterjee, A. (2013). Changes in painting styles of two artists with Alzheimer's disease. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 7, 89-94. PDF

     


    Research Interests

    Perception, Cognition, Event Perception, Perceptual Organization, Aesthetics, Visual Science of Art


    Current Courses

    Collab
    PSAM 5550, Fall 2024

    Independent Study
    LPSY 3950, Fall 2024

    Independent Study
    GPSY 6990, Fall 2024

    Perc/VirtWorl:Exper/DesigPsy
    GPSY 6456, Fall 2024

    Psych of Aesthetics & Design
    LPSY 3516, Fall 2024

    Senior Work Project
    LPSY 4001, Fall 2024

    Future Courses

    Independent Study
    LPSY 3950, Spring 2025

    Independent Study
    GPSY 6990, Spring 2025

    Senior Work Project
    LPSY 4001, Spring 2025

    Past Courses

    Independent Study
    GPSY 6990, Spring 2024

    Independent Study
    LPSY 3950, Spring 2024

    Psych of Aesthetics & Design
    LPSY 3516, Spring 2024

    Senior Work Project
    LPSY 4001, Spring 2024

    Social Perception
    GPSY 6458, Spring 2024

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