Associate Professor
Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Cognition and Behavior and Program Director, Cog
- PhD, University of Virginia, Cognitive Psychology (2016)
- MA, University of Virginia, Cognitive Psychology (2012)
- BA, Elizabethtown College, Psychology and Music (2009)
Dr. Laura Getz joined the faculty at the University of San Diego in Fall 2019 following a three-year postdoctoral fellowship at Villanova University. Dr. Getz teaches courses in cognitive psychology and runs the Language and Music Perception (LAMP) lab. As of Fall 2023, she is also the director of the interdisciplinary Cognitive Science minor: see https://www.sandiego.edu/cas/cognitive-science/ for more information.
Scholarly Work
Organizing complex perceptual input in real time is crucial for our ability to interact with the world around us, and information received in the auditory modality in particular is central to many fundamental aspects of human behavior (e.g., spoken language, music, sound localization). Dr. Getz’s research takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding auditory perception, with research encompassing speech, cross-modal, and music perception using a combination of behavioral, cognitive neuroscience, and computational modeling approaches. In her work, she seeks to determine to what extent cognitive processes are encapsulated from one another and how perception is influenced by individual and cross-cultural differences, previous knowledge, expertise, and task demands. You can read more about her research on the LAMP lab website: https://www.lamplab.org/.
Dr. Getz has published research articles in journals including Psychological Science, Cognition, Brain Sciences, Music Perception, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, and Acta Psychologica. She is an active member of the Psychonomics Society, Cognitive Science Society, Auditory Perception & Cognition Society, and SPARK Society, and she has presented her research at a number of regional, national, and international conferences along with undergraduate student co-authors.
Areas of Interest
Dr. Getz teaches courses on cognition broadly defined, including Cognitive Psychology, Advanced Research Methods in Cognitive Psychology, Introduction to Cognitive Science, and Music Cognition. Her teaching philosophy involves creating an inclusive classroom through a thoughtful, energetic, and student-centered approach.