Professor, Psychological and Brain Sciences
Director of Graduate Studies
**Not accepting graduate students for Fall, 2025**
Dr. James' overall research questions center around the idea that learning about objects in the world is shaped and changed by the way humans interact with the world through their bodies. More specifically, self-generated actions create learning episodes that in turn shape cognition - what we do determines how we learn. She is investigating how action affects learning in many domains including: object recognition, language learning, reading, and mathematical understanding, using several behavioral methods for assessing learning outcomes and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging for investigating the brain mechanisms involved in different types of learning in both children and adults.
Dr. James' research program is devoted to studying the neural correlates of learning in humans. In general, how motor experience can influence visual recognition in both adults and children, and how the brain changes in response to specific experiences.
Plebanek, D. J., & James, K. H. (2021). The Effects of Frequency, Variability, and Co-occurrence on Category Formation in Neural Systems. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 1-16.
Plebanek, D. J., & James, K. H. (2021). Category structure guides the formation of neural representations. Experimental Brain Research, 239(5), 1667-1684.
Butler, A. J., James, T., Pavisian, B., & James, K. H. (2021). Neural differences in expert guitarists during over-learned non-standard visuomotor mapping of abstract versus concrete information. Neuroscience Letters, 750, 135624.
Vinci-Booher, S., James, T. W., & James, K. H. (2021). Visual-motor contingency during symbol production contributes to short-term changes in the functional connectivity during symbol perception and long-term gains in symbol recognition. NeuroImage, 227, 117554.
Vinci-Booher, S., & James, K. H. (2020a). Ecological validity of experimental set-up affects parietal involvement during letter production. Neuroscience letters, 731.
*Vinci-Booher, S., & James, K. H. (2020b). Visual experiences during letter production contribute to the development of the neural systems supporting letter perception. Developmental Science, 23(5), 1-17.
Vinci-Booher, S., Cheng, H., & James, K.H. (2019). An analysis of the brain systems involved with producing letters by hand. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 31(1), 138-154.
James, K., & Vinci-Booher, S. (2019). Visual experiences during letter production contribute to the development of the neural systems supporting letter perception. Journal of Vision, 19(10), 5-5.
Wakefield, E. M., Congdon, E. L., Novack, M. A., Goldin-Meadow, S., & James, K. H. (2019). Learning math by hand: The neural effects of gesture-based instruction in 8-year-old children. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 81(7), 2343-2353.
Munoz-Rubke, F., Olson, D., Will, R., & James, K. H. (2018). Functional Fixedness in Tool Use: Learning modality, limitations and individual differences. Acta Psychologia, 190, 11–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2018.06.006
Zemlock, D., Vinci-Booher, S., & James, K.H. (2018). Visual-motor Symbol Production Facilitates Letter Recognition in Young Children. Reading and Writing. 31, 1255-1271
Vinci-Booher, S., Sturgeon, J., James, T., & James, K.H. (2018). The MRItab: An MR-Compatible Touchscreen with Video-Display. Journal of Neuroscience: Methods, 306, 10-18.
Wakefield, E. M., Hall, C., James, K. H., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2018). Gesture for generalization: Gesture facilitates flexible learning of words for actions on objects. Developmental Science. doi: 10.1111/desc.1265 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/desc.12656
Munoz-Rubke, F., Kafadar, K., & James , K.H. (2018). A new statistical model for analyzing rating scale data pertaining to word meaning. Psychological Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-017-0864-8
in press - James, K.H., Wong, C-N, Jobard, G. The case for letter expertise. To appear in: Perceptual Expertise: Bridging Brain and Behavior, Gauthier, I, Bub, D. & Tarr, M.J. (Eds.) Oxford University Press.
2005 - James, T.W., Humphrey, G.K., James, K.H. & Goodale, M.A. (2005) Do visual and tactile object representations share the same neural substrate? M.A. Heller and S. Ballesteros (Eds.), Touch and blindness: psychology and neuroscience. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
The College of Arts