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kirkpatrick_kimberly

Kimberly Kirkpatrick, P.h.D

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.

I am currently conducting research along two main lines. The main line of research in my laboratory is the role of timing processes in determining choice in temporal discounting tasks 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 planning to conduct some investigations of strain-related differences in discounting paradigms to determine the source of differences in levels of impulsivity among different strains of rats.

Through my pigeon visual cognition laboratory, myself and my students have been conducting research on basic aspects of visual perception in the pigeon including the role of Gestalt processes in the perception of static images and motion perception. We have also recently been conducting some comparative research by examining visual perception in pigeons and humans using virtually identical tasks

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 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 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 Graduate Students

I am not currently supervising any graduate students, but I am interested in taking on both graduate and undergraduate students in my laboratory. During my time at the University of York, I supervised 2 post-doctoral fellows, 3 graduate students, and more than 50 undergraduate students, so I am an experienced supervisor.

Grant Funding (last 3 years)

  • 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
  • The Royal Society, Conference Grant to attend The 13th International Conference on Comparative Cognition, £800, 2006
  • 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)

  • Jennings, D., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2006). Interval duration effects on blocking in appetitive conditioning. Behavioural Processes, 71, 318-329.
  • Peissig, J. J., Kirkpatrick, K., Young, M. E., Wasserman, E. A., & Biederman, I. (2006). Effects of varying stimulus size on object recognition in pigeons. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 32, 419-430.
  • *Russell, R., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2007). The role of temporal generalization in a temporal discrimination task. Behavioural Processes, 74, 115-125.
  • Kirkpatrick, K., *Wilkinson, A., & *Johnston, S. (2007). Pigeons discriminate continuous vs. discontinuous line segments. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 33, 273-286.
  • Jennings, D. J., Bonardi, C., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2007). Overshadowing and stimulus duration. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 33, 464-475.
  • *Galtress, T. & Kirkpatrick, K. (in press). Reward value effects on timing in the peak procedure. Learning and Motivation.
  • *Wilkinson, A., & Kirkpatrick, K. (in press). Visually-guided capture of a moving stimulus by the pigeon (Columba livia). Animal Cognition.