Rajal Cohen
Curriculum Vitae

429 Moore Building
University Park, PA 16803
rajal@psu.edu


  • College: Liberal Arts
  • Department: Psychology
  • Major Area: Cognitive Psychology
  • Major Adviser: David Rosenbaum
  • Minor Area: Kinesiology
  • Minor Adviser: Dagmar Sternad
  • Field: Human Motor Control

    Education

  • The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA ..... Ph.D. expected May 2008
  • The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA ..... M.S. awarded May 2005
  • Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT ........................... B.A. awarded May 2002

    Academic Honors

  • 2007 .............. RGSO Travel Award to European Workshop on Movement Science
  • 2006 .............. Young Scientist Travel Award to Carnegie Symposium on Cognition
  • 2004 .............. Psychology Departmental Travel Award to Psychonomics
  • 2002-2005 .... Penn State University Graduate Fellowship
  • 1989-1990 .... Wesleyan University A.L. Brown Scholarship
  • 1987-1990 .... Wesleyan University Johnston Trust Scholarship
  • 1987-1988 .... National Elks Foundation Scholarship
  • 1987-1988 .... National Merit Scholarship

    Research Papers - published

  • Cohen, R.G., & Rosenbaum, D.A. (2007). Directional bias of limb tremor prior to voluntary movement. Psychological Science, 18, 8-12.
  • Weigelt, M., Cohen, R., Rosenbaum, D.A. (2007). Returning home: location memory versus posture memory in object manipulation. Experimental Brain Research, 179, 191-198.
  • Rosenbaum, D.A., Halloran, E.S, & Cohen, R.G. (2006). Precision requirements affect grasp choices. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 13, 918-922.
  • Cohen, R.G & Rosenbaum, D.A. (2004). Where objects are grasped reveals how grasps are planned: Generation and recall of grasps. Experimental Brain Research, 157, 486-495.

    Research Papers - in preparation

  • Cohen, R.G. & Sternad, D. Reducing motor noise is the least important factor in improving throwing skill.
  • Cohen, R.G. & Sternad, D. The equifinal trajectory as an alternative to precise control of timing.
  • Cohen, R.G. & Rosenbaum, D.A. Planning grasps for rotation and translation: A role for mental imagery in motor planning?
  • Cohen, R.G., Biddle, J., & Rosenbaum, D.A. Obstacle avoidance: how close can I cut that corner?

    Chapters & Reviews

  • Rosenbaum, D.A., Vaughan, J., Meulenbroek, R.G.J., Jax, S. & Cohen, R.G. (in press). Smart moves: the psychology of everyday perceptual-motor acts. In P. M. Gollwitzer, J. A. Bargh, & E. Morsella (Eds.), The Psychology Of Action. Oxford University Press.
  • Rosenbaum, D.A., Cohen, R.ajal G., Dawson, A.manda M., Jax, S. A., Meulenbroek, R.G., van der Wel, R., & Vaughan, J. (in press). The posture-based motion planning framework: new findings related to object manipulation, moving around obstacles, moving in three spatial dimensions, and haptic tracking. In D. Sternad (Ed.), Progress in Motor Control - A Multidisciplinary Perspective. Springer.
  • Rosenbaum, D.A., Cohen, R.G., Jax, S., Weiss, D. & van der Wel, R.G.J. (2007). The problem of serial order in behavior: Lashley’s Legacy. Human Movement Science, 26, 525-554.
  • Rosenbaum, D. A., Cohen, R. G., Meulenbroek, R. G. J., & Vaughan, J. (2006). Plans for grasping objects. In M.L. Latash & F. Lestienne (Eds.), Progress in Motor Control (pp 9-25). Springer-Verlag.
  • Rosenbaum, D., Augustyn, J., Cohen, R., & Jax, S. (2006). Perceptual-motor expertise. In K.A. Ericsson, N. Charness, P.J. Feltovich, R.R. Hoffman (Eds.), Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance (pp. 505-520). Cambridge University Press.

    Presentations & Posters

  • Cohen, R.G. & Sternad, D. (2007). Title: Shift, shuffle, and shrink: Three components of performance improvement in a throwing task. Talk presented at European Workshop on Movement Science, Amsterdam, Netherlands, May 31-June 2.
  • Cohen, R.G. & Rosenbaum, D.A. (2007). Directionally specific preparatory activity. Poster presented at European Workshop on Movement Science, Amsterdam, Netherlands, May 31-June 2.
  • Cohen, R.G. & Sternad, D. (2007). Skill learning and refinement in a redundant task: minimizing timing errors with an "equifinal trajectory." Talk presented at New England Sequencing and Timing, New Haven, CT, March 5.
  • Cohen, R.G. & Sternad, D. (2006). Skill learning and refinement: the role of timing, noise reduction, and equifinality in a throwing task. Poster presented at Neuroscience, Atlanta, GA, October 14-18.
  • Cohen, R.G. & Rosenbaum, D.A. (2005). Are movement and stillness essentially the same? Poster presented at Progress in Motor Control V, University Park, PA, August 17-20.
  • Cohen, R.G. (2005). Why should cognitive psychologists care about motor control? Invited talk presented to the Department of Psychology, Jagellonian University, Krakow, Poland, May 20.
  • Cohen, R.G., Ludwig, A., McCullough, J., New, A., Parkins, A., Rosenbaum, D.A. (2005). Does the end-state comfort effect hold when objects are rotated? Talk presented at the Second International Workshop on Posture-Based Motion Planning, University Park, PA, April 4-6.
  • Cohen, R.G. & Rosenbaum, D.A. (2005). Still moving. Talk presented at New England Sequencing and Timing, New Haven, CT, March 5.
  • Cohen, R.G. & Rosenbaum, D.A. (2004). Moving and holding still: Two control systems or one? Poster presented at Psychonomics, Minneapolis, MN, November 18.
  • Cohen, R. & Rosenbaum, D. (2003). The end-state comfort effect holds for continuous tasks. Talk presented at SCAPPS Conference, Hamilton, Ontario, October 16-18.
  • Cohen, R., Benjamin, S., Fleckenstein, R., Sopronyi, K., Halloran, E., & Rosenbaum, D. (2003). Where shall I grasp it? Evidence for the end-state comfort effect in object transport. Talk presented at The First International Workshop on Posture-Based Motion Planning, State College, Pennsylvania, March 19-21.
  • Cohen, R. & King, J. (2002). How does Ritalin affect the electrical activity of the brain? An EEG study of children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. Talk presented at Radford University Undergraduate/Graduate Research Forum, Radford, Virginia, April 25.

    Reviews (ad hoc)

  • Journal of Motor Behavior, March, 2007
  • Motor Control, October, 2005
  • Cognitive Brain Research, March 2005
  • Journal of Experimental Psychology - Human Perception & Performance, May 2004
  • Journal of Psychophysiology, December 2003

    Graduate Courses Completed in Psychology

  • Cognitive Proseminar
  • Statistics I
  • Statistics II
  • Cognitive Control of Action
  • Brain Development and Cognition
  • Big Issues and Little Data in Cognitive Psych
  • Vision and Beyond
  • Teaching Psychology
  • The Psychology of Intentions (audit)

    Graduate Courses Completed in Kinesiology

  • Biomechanics: Methods and Instrumentation
  • Neurophysiology of Movement
  • Multidisciplinary Approaches to Motor Control
  • Paradigms in Motor Control

    Positions held

  • Instructor (Fall 2006 - Spring 2007)
    ..... Psychology 256, Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
    ..... Psychology 221, Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
  • Teaching Assistant (Fall 2003 - Spring 2006)
    ..... Psychology 525 - MATLAB for Behavioral Scientists
    ..... Psychology 221 - Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
    ..... Psychology 213 - Child Development
    ..... Psychology 201 - Introduction to Research Methods
    ..... Psychology 203 - Biological Psychology
    ..... Psychology 443 - Emotions
  • Research Assistant (Spring & Summer 2006)
    ..... Supported by Dagmar Sternad, Kinesiology Department

    Research Interests

  • General
    ..... Motor control & learning, experimental psychology, cognitive neuroscience
  • Specific
    ..... The relation between posture and movement
    ..... Mathematical description of factors underlying performance change
    ..... Motor disorders & rehabilitation
    .......... Parkinson’s disease, focal dystonia, stroke, RSI, back pain
    ..... The role of psychological factors in motor control
    .......... Memory, imagery, attention, inhibition, body schema

    Last Modified: September 3, 2007