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Postdoc Description
Post-Doctoral Training Opportunity in the study of Problem-Solving at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA with particular emphasis on group problem-solving behavior, under the mentorship of Professor Kenneth Kotovsky, Department of Psychology, http://www.psy.cmu.edu/people/kotovsky.html in collaboration with Professor Jonathan Cagan of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, http://www.cmu.edu/me/people/jonathan-cagan.html.

The Post-Doctoral Fellowship is supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) and involves working on a project researching how small groups solve complex problems. We are particularly interested in research questions such as how to track group members’ evolving conceptions of the problem, how group members interact and influence each other as the group searches a complex and often evolving problem space, how group members develop and change their representation as they proceed, how the group responds to external stimuli including dynamic changes in the problem conditions and how these behaviors can be modeled. There will be two broad methodological approaches employed, one involving designing and carrying out empirical study of group problem solving and the other involving computational modeling of the interactive group search process. The psychology position will primarily be focused on the empirical studies with the modeling being conducted by a graduate student in mechanical engineering, but the two kinds of activities are part of a single project and people will be free and encouraged to participate in both as their interests dictate.

The research environment in Psychology at Carnegie Mellon is an intellectually rich and diverse one with numerous faculty involved in the study of cognition.

Carnegie Mellon has a particularly diverse and interdisciplinary faculty, with many focusing on experimentation with and modeling of higher level cognition. There are many resources within the department for human experimentation including human experimental settings, powerful computer resources, neural imaging, MEG, EEG and other research modalities. There is also an active interdisciplinary effort with engineering design where we have performed a variety of cognitive studies of design problem solving.



Candidates must have a strong background in research and a completed Ph.D.

Basic training in psychological mechanism and theory is very desirable as is some programming skill.

Applicants for the post-doctoral position will be considered on a rolling basis.

Members of underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply.

Carnegie Mellon is located in Pittsburgh, PA in the cultural area of the city and borders both quiet residential neighborhoods and a beautiful park with running trails, biking opportunities and other activities as well. . If you have never been to Pittsburgh, you will be very pleasantly surprised by the outstanding living environment!

Nestled among hills and rivers, Pittsburgh is a geographically attractive city with a low population density. As a result, the cost of living in Pittsburgh is low and

the standard of living is high. Most university students and staff live

close enough to campus to walk or bike to work. Pittsburgh has its own ballet, opera, symphony, performing artists, lecture series, theater companies, public television station, art museums, etc. For sports fans and enthusiasts there are the Pirates, the Steelers, and the Penguins as well as jogging on forest trails in nearby parks (one just outside your Psychology-department office), kayaking on one of our in-town rivers or biking on a nearby web of trails that run along old rail beds from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C. About 45 miles outside Pittsburgh there are terrific ski areas, sailing opportunities and serious white water rafting/canoeing opportunities. Reflecting the excellent quality of life, Pittsburgh was ranked as the most livable city in America by Forbes magazine in 2010 and 2011.

Please send a statement describing your research interests, vita with

research experience, and names of three references to Professor Kenneth Kotovsky, kotovsky@cmu.edu.