Professor Philip Smith

B.A. (Hons), (Adel.) Ph.D. (Adel.)

Professor of Quantitative and Mathematical Psychology

Head of School

Contact details:

My main area of research is mathematical models of visual information processing. The aim of this research is to understand the cognitive mechanisms involved in translating perception into action. My theoretical and experimental work investigates perceptual encoding mechanisms, selective attention, decision mechanisms and the relationships among them. It is also concerned to understand how these mechanisms are implemented neurally. I also do research on communication processes in negotiation. This research aims to identify the features of the communication between negotiating parties that promote or impede the attainment of high-quality outcomes. I joined the Psychology Department at the University of Melbourne in 1993. Before then I lectured at the University of Otago in New Zealand, and was a National Research Fellow at the University of Adelaide. I have held visiting appointments at Northwestern University, Purdue University and The University of California, Irvine, in the United States.

Research Interests:

• Quantitative Psychology
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Social & Organisational Psychology
• Negotiation Laboratory
• Vision and Attention Laboratory

Professional Associations, Memberships & Awards:

Memberships

• The Psychonomic Society
• The Society for Mathematical Psychology
• Editorial Board, Journal of Mathematical Psychology

Awards

• Winner of the Society for Mathematical Psychology's Outstanding Paper Award (1999-2001).

Recent Funded Research:

Selected Publications:

Refereed Journal Articles:

Gould , I.C. , Wolfgang , B. J. , & Smith, P.L. (2007). Spatial uncertainty explains endogenous and exogenous cuing effects in visual signal detection. Journal of Vision, 7, 13(4), 1-17.

Smith, P.L. , & Wolfgang , B. J. (2007). Attentional mechanisms in visual signal detection: Effects of simultaneous and delayed noise and pattern masks. Perception & Psychophysics, 69, 1093-1104.

Weingart, L. R., Brett, J. M., Olekalns, M. (2007). Conflicting social motives in negotiation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93 , 944-1010.

Ratcliff, R., Hasegawa, Y., Hasegawa, R., Smith, P. L. , Segraves, M., (2007). A Dual Diffusion Model for Single Cell Recording Data from the Superior Colliculus in Brightness Discrimination Task. Journal of Neurophysiology, 97, 1756-1797.

Brown, S., D., Ratcliff, R., & Smith, P. L. (2006). Evaluating methods for approximating stochastic differential equations. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 50, 390-401.

Olekalns, M., Roberts , C., Probst, T., Smith, P. L. , & Carnevale, P. (2005). The Impact of Message Frame on Negotiators' Social Judgments, Moods and Behavior. International Journal of Conflict Management, 1 6, 379-402.

Olekalns, M., & Smith, P. L. (2005). Moments in Time: Metacognition, Trust and Outcomes in Negotiation. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin , 31 , 1696 – 1707.

Olekalns, M., & Smith, P (2005). Cognitive representations of negotiation. Australian Journal of Management, 30 , 57-76.

Smith, P.L. , Olekalns, M., & Weingart, L. (2005). Markov chain analyses of communication processes in negotiation, International Negotiation , 10 , 97-113.

Weingart, L., Olekalns, M., & Smith, P.L. (2005). Quantitative coding of negotiation processes, International Negotiation, 9 , 441-456.

Smith, P.L., Wolfgang, B.J., & Sinclair, A.B. (2004). "Mask-dependent cuing effects in visual signal detection: The psychometric function for contrast", Perception & Psychophysics, 66, 1056-1075.

Smith, P. L., Ratcliff, R., & Wolfgang, B.J. (2004). "Attention orienting and the time course of perceptual decisions: response time distributions with masked and unmasked displays". Vision Research, 44, 1297-1320.

Smith, P.L., & Ratcliff, R. (2004). "Psychology and Neurobiology of Simple Ddecisions", Trends in Neurosciences, 27, 161-168.

Smith, P.L. & Wolfgang B.J. (2004), "The Attentional Dynamics of Masked Detection", Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 30, 119-136.

Ratcliff, R., & Smith, P. L. (2004). A Comparison of Sequential-Sampling Models for Two Choice Reaction Time. Psychological Review, 111, 333-367.

Smith, P. L. (2000). "Attention and Luminance Detection: Effects of Cues, Masks, and Pedestals", Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 26, 1401-1420

Smith, P. L. (2000). "Stochastic, Dynamic Models of Response Times and Accuracy: A Foundational Primer",Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 44, 408-463.

Smith, P. L, & Van Zandt, T. (2000). "Time-Dependent Poisson Counter Models of Response Latency in Simple Judgment", British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 53, 293-315.

Olekalns, M., & Smith, P. L. (2000). "Negotiating Optimal Outcomes: The Role of Strategic Sequences in Competitive Negotiations", Human Communication Research, 24, 528-556.

Smith, P. L. (1998). "Attention and Luminance Detection: A Quantitative Analysis" in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 24, 105-133.

Recently Completed PhD Students:

Thesis: Attentional Mechanisms in Simple Visual Detection

Thesis: Cognitive Complexity and the Dynamics of Temporal Pattern Production

Thesis: Are Attentional Effects in the Attentional Blink and Spatial Cuing Paradigms Mediated by Common Mechanisms?