Wythe Whiting

Whiting teaches courses in cognition, evolutionary psychology and attention. His lab has been researching how increasing neural noise affects declining cognition in older adults as well as how smart phones affect sleep/attention.

Wythe Whiting

Wythe Whiting

Professor of Cognitive and Behavioral Science

Education

  • Ph.D. Experimental Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • B.S. Psychology, Birmingham-Southern College

Research

I am a co-investigator with Dr. Karla Murdock in the Technology, Health, and Cognition Lab. Our lab explores the intersection of Technology (e.g., smartphone usage), Health (e.g., sleep, heart rate, etc.), and Cognition (e.g., attention and distractibility). Currently, we are investigating relationships between social media use and health outcomes. We maintain an active lab involving several students throughout the year, and also engage in campus outreach programs.

Teaching

  • Cognition (CBSC 112)
  • Evolutionary Psychology (CBSC 215)
  • Research Design and Analysis (CBSC 250)
  • Attention (CBSC 254)
  • Advanced Methods in Attention Research (CBSC 354)

Selected Publications

  • Whiting, W.L., & Murdock, K.K. (2021). Notification Alert! Effects of auditory text alerts on attention and heart rate variability across three developmental periods. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218211041851
  • Whiting, W.L., & Murdock, K.K. (2016). Emerging Adults’ Sleep Patterns and Attentional Capture: The Pivotal Role of Consistency. Cognitive Processing, 17, 155-62.

  • Whiting, W.L., Sample, C. & Hagan, S. (2014). Top-Down Processing Modulates Older Adults’ Susceptibility to Noise. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 21, 370-385.

  • Johnson, D.R., & Whiting, W.L. (2013). Detecting subtle expressions: Older adults demonstrate automatic and controlled positive response bias in emotional perception. Psychology and Aging, 28, 172-178.

  • Costello, M.C., Madden, D.J., Mitroff, S.R., & Whiting, W.L. (2010). Age-Related Decline of Visual Processing Components in Change Detection. Psychology and Aging, 25, 356-368.

  • Whiting, W.L., Madden, D.J., & Babcock, K. (2007). Overriding Age Differences in Attentional Capture with Top-down Processing. Psychology and Aging, 22, 223-232.