Kimberly Kirkpatrick
Contact Information
Office: BH 413
Phone: 532-0805
E-mail: kirkpatr@ksu.edu
Research Interests
I received my Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Iowa in 1995 under the supervision
of Professor Edward A. Wasserman. My dissertation examined the role of spatial and
feature-based information in pigeon visual perception. I then moved to Brown University
in 1996, where I worked as a Post-doctoral fellow with Professor Russell M. Church
examining the role of timing processes in classical conditioning paradigms. My research
was funded in part by an NRSA from the NIH during this time. After leaving Brown in
2000, I established the York Timing Laboratory at the University of York, UK, where
I spend 8 years as a faculty member. I moved from York to Kansas State in 2008.
The main line of research in my laboratory is the role of timing and reward processes
in determining impulsive and risky choice in rats. This research is progressing along
a number of different routes including examining interactions between timing and reward
processing, examining the effect of pharmacological interventions on timing and choice
behavior, and assessing the role of reward processing neural substrates such as the
nucleus accumbens core in timing and choice paradigms. We are also conducting some
investigations of strain-related differences in discounting paradigms to determine
the source of differences in levels of impulsivity among different strains of rats,
and looking at the effects of environmental enrichment on reward processing and decision
making. In 2009, I received an RO1 grant from the NIMH to investigate targeted therapeutic
interventions to treat impulsivity in our rat model. I am interested in developing
this line of research into a translational environment for application to humans.
We are also currently beginning work on a new neurocomputational model of timing,
reward processing and temporal discounting.
My secondary line or research stems from my PhD work on avian visual cognition. I
am currently collaborating with Dr. Les Loschky examining scene gist perception in
pigeons in comparable tasks to what his laboratory have employed with humans. Scene
gist is the context of a scene and this information is processed rapidly and automatically
in humans. Pigeons are also capable of rapid scene gist categorization and we are
currently investigating whether the mechanisms of scene gist in the pigeon are shared
with humans and are examining the relative contributions of evolutionary history vs.
experience on aspects of scene gist formation.
Student Involvement
Undergraduate and graduate students working in my laboratory are involved in all aspects of the research process. Depending upon the students’ interest, they can learn neurobiological techniques such as injections, histology, and stereotaxic surgery in addition to obtaining a strong grounding in behavioral analysis. Students will learn how to design projects, analyze data, write computer programs, and will be given the opportunity to contribute to the publication of the results and the writing of grants for funding of the research. Students are also encouraged to attend scientific meetings to present their research. I am open to supervising a multitude of possible projects that relate to the general areas described above and am also interested in developing new ideas based on the interests of potential students. In general, graduate students are funded on research assistantships with federal grants when money is available or through departmental graduate teaching assistantships. I can be contacted by e-mail (kirkpatr@ksu.edu) or telephone (785-532-0805) by students who are interested in conducting research in my laboratory.
Current Post-doctoral Fellows
Dr. Tiffany Galtress
Current Graduate Students
Andrew Marshall
Marina Vilardo
Current Undergraduate Students
Patricia Brady
Paul Brungardt
Jeffrey Hyder
Aaron Smith
Jon Smith
Grant Funding (last 5 years)
National Institutes of Mental Health, Timing, reward processing, and choice, $1.3M, 2010-2015
Kansas State University, University Research Small Grant, Differential rearing effects on novelty-seeking, impulsive action, and impulsive choice, $4000, 2010
National Science Foundation, ADVANCE Distinguished Lecture Series, $1200, 2009
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (UK), International Scientific Interchange Scheme, Neurobiology of timing and reward value, £3000, 2007
The Leverhulme Trust, Study Abroad Fellowship, The neurobiology of time perception, £11,000, 2007
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (UK), PI on Project Grant, Reward value effects on reward timing, £311,000, 2007-2009
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (UK), PI on Project Grant, The role of the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala in the acquisition of timing: neural and psychological processes, £186,000, 2005-2008
Recent Publications (*indicates student co-author)
*Wilkinson, A., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2009). Visually-guided capture of a moving stimulus by the pigeon (Columba livia). Animal Cognition, 12, 127-144.
*Galtress, T. & Kirkpatrick, K. (2009). Reward value effects on timing in the peak procedure. Learning and Motivation, 40, 109-131.
Pizzo, M. J., Kirkpatrick, K., & Blundell, P. J. (2009). The effect of changes in criterion value on differential reinforcement of low rate schedule performance. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 92, 181-198.
Galtress, T., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2010). The role of the nucleus accumbens core in impulsive choice, timing, and reward processing, Behavioral Neuroscience, 124, 26-43.
Galtress, T., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2010). Reward magnitude effects on temporal discrimination, Learning and Motivation, 41, 108-124.
*Wilkinson, A., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2011). Tracking and capture of constant and varying velocity stimuli: a cross-species comparison of pigeons and humans. Animal Cognition, 14, 59-71.
Galtress, T., *Marshall, A. T., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2012). Motivation and timing: Clues for modeling the reward system. Behavioural Processes, 90, 142-153.
Galtress, T., *Garcia, A., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2012). Individual differences in impulsive choice and timing in rats. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 98, 65-87.
Recent Conference Presentations (*indicates student co-author)
*Wilkinson, A., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2009). Tracking and capture of constant and sinusoidal velocities in pigeons and humans. International Conference on Comparative Cognition, Melbourne, FL.
Galtress, T., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2009). Reinforcer magnitude effects on temporal discrimination. International Conference on Comparative Cognition, Melbourne, FL.
Pizzo, M. J., Kirkpatrick, K., & Blundell, P. (2009). Changes in criterion value alter performance on DRL schedules. International Conference on Comparative Cognition, Melbourne, FL.
Kirkpatrick, K., & Galtress, T. (2009). The effect of changes in reward magnitude and delay on impulsive behaviour in the Nucleus Accumbens Core. Annual Meeting of the Psychobiology Section of the British Psychological Society, Windermere, UK.
Kirkpatrick, K., *Ghormley, D., *Guevara, M., *Garcia, A., *Sears, T., Hansen, B.C., & Loschky, L.C. (2010). Scene gist categorization in pigeons. Annual Meeting of the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior, San Antonio, TX.
*Garcia, A., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2010). Timing, reward processing and choice behavior in Wistar and Sprague-Dawley rats. Annual Meeting of the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior, San Antonio, TX.
*Garcia, A., *Vilardo, M., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2011). Factors influencing impulsive choice behavior in different strains of rats. International Conference on Comparative Cognition, Melbourne, FL.
*Marshall, A., *Clarke, J., *Crumer, A., Cain, M., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2011). Differential rearing environment effects on impulsive action and impulsive choice in rats. International Conference on Comparative Cognition, Melbourne, FL.
Galtress, T., *Crumer, A., *Garcia, A., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2011). Individual differences in impulsive choice behavior. International Conference on Comparative Cognition, Melbourne, FL.
Galtress, T., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2011). The effect of changes in motivational state on timing. Annual Meeting of the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior, Denver, CO.
Garcia, A., *Crumer, A., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2011). Individual differences in impulsive choice behavior in different strains of rats. Annual Meeting of the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior, Denver, CO.
*Marshall, A., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2011). Probabilistic choice in rats. International Conference on Comparative Cognition, Seattle, WA.
Galtress, T., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2011). Individual differences in delay discounting. International Conference on Comparative Cognition, Seattle, WA.
Kirpatrick, K., *Clarke, J., & Cain, M. E. (2011). Environmental enrichment effects on reward sensitivity. Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Seattle, WA.
*Marshall, A., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2012). Previous outcome effects on sequential probabilistic choice behavior. Oklahoma/Kansas Judgement and Decision Making Group Workshop, Manhattan, KS.
Galtress, T., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2012). A rat model of impulsive choice behavior: Reward-related correlates of performance. Oklahoma/Kansas Judgement and Decision Making Group Workshop, Manhattan, KS.
*Marshall, A., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2012). Modeling sequential choices in a risky choice task. Annual Meeting of the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior, Seattle, WA.
*Vildardo, M., *Katz, B., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2012). A rodent model for detection of oxygen based explosives and propellants. Annual Meeting of the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior, Seattle, WA.
*Smith, A., Galtress, T., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2012). Predictors of impulsive choice behavior. Annual Meeting of the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior, Seattle, WA.
Galtress, T., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2012). Timing, reward discrimination, and impulsive choice behavior. Annual Meeting of the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior, Seattle, WA.
Recent Invited Talks (*indicates student co-author)
Kirkpatrick, K. (2011). Individual differences in impulsivity. Invited address at the 25th Annual Meeting of the Texas Applied Behavior Analysis Association, Galveston, TX.
Kirkpatrick, K. (2011). Reward processing, timing, and impulsivity. Invited symposium contribution at the Annual Meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association, San Antonio, TX.
Kirkpatrick, K., & Galtress, T. (2011). Motivation and timing. Invited talk at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior, Denver, CO.
*Marshall, A., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2012). Analysis of interval timing in two discounting procedures. Invited symposium contribution at the 38th annual meeting of Association for Behavior Analysis International, Seattle, WA.
Kirkpatrick., K., *Sears, T., Hansen, B., & Loschky, L. (2012). Factors influencing scene gist categorization by pigeons. Invited symposium contribution at the 38th Annual Meeting of Association for Behavior Analysis International, Seattle, WA.