The Technology Health and Cognition Lab is a collaborative research team led by Professors Karla Murdock, a clinical psychologist, and Wythe Whiting, a cognitive psychologist. Lab members include W&L undergraduate students who are Cognitive and Behavioral Science (CBSC) and/or Neuroscience majors with a wide range of disciplinary and pre-professional interests.

Our lab investigates how aspects and patterns of cellphone use are associated with indicators of mental health and cognitive performance. We are currently focusing on two programs of research. The Technology and Health program explores how the timing, frequency, and communication features of cellphone use relate to adolescents’ and emerging adults’ psychological well-being and sleep quality. This program utilizes behavioral (e.g., sleep self-monitoring), psychophysiological (e.g., actigraphy), and survey methods. The Cognition in Context program of research utilizes experimental designs to investigate effects of cellphone-related auditory stimuli on cognitive performance. These experiments examine cognitive and physiological phenomena (e.g., response time; attentional capture; EEG; skin conductance).