Department of Psychology | The University of Utah

Sarah Creem-Regehr, Ph.D. Associate Professor - CNS Area Department of Psychology \| The University of Utah Curriculum Vita Visual Perception and Spatial Cognition Research

Contact Information

Sarah Creem-Regehr
Department of Psychology
University of Utah
380 South 1530 East, Room 502
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112 -0251

Webpage: www.psych.utah.edu/sarahcreem-regehr
Office: 1003 Social & Behavior Sciences Tower
Phone: (801) 581-5045
Email: sarah.creem@psych.utah.edu
Department Fax: (801) 581-5841

Research Interests

I study the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying space perception, spatial cognition, perception and action, and motor imagery.

My research program involves several focus areas in space and object perception that are tied together by a common perspective that studying action representations is essential for studying visual cognition. One line of research asks how to de\fine the modularity of the visual system with respect to functionally separate but interactive visual processing streams for perception and action. My second line of research examines the neural and cognitive mechanisms involved in spatial transformations of the self and of the external world. Most recently, I have been using virtual environments to examine perception, action, and spatial cognition, and at the same time asking fundamental questions about how virtual environments are perceived. This work involves an active interdisciplinary collaboration with faculty and students in computer science. My approach is to use both cognitive and functional neuroimaging methods to obtain converging evidence for the processes defining visual cognition.

Opportunities For Students

The Visual Perception and Spatial Cognition laboratory of Dr. Creem-Regehr is looking for a research assistant to start *this semester* to help in conducting perception experiments with human participants. We are especially looking for someone who has afternoons available Wednesdays, Thursdays, or Fridays. Our research is fun and interactive, involving tasks measuring distance and space perception in real and virtual environments. It is a great experience to add to graduate school applications as well! If interested, please email Dr. Creem-Regehr at sarah.creem@psych.utah.edu.

Education

Ph.D.	University of Virginia (Psychology, 2000)
M.A.	University of Virginia (Psychology, 1997)
B.A.	Colgate University (Psychology, 1994)

Selected Publications

Creem-Regehr, S. H. (in press). Body mapping and spatial representation. To appear in F. Dolins and R. Mitchell (Eds.) Spatial Cognition, Spatial Perception. Cambridge University Press.

Thompson, W. B., Dilda, V., & Creem-Regehr, S. H. (in press). Absolute distance perception to locations off the ground plane. Perception.

Creem-Regehr, S. H., Dilda, V., Vicchrilli, A., Federer, F., & Lee, J. N. (2007). The influence of complex action knowledge on representations of novel graspable objects: Evidence from fMRI. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 13, 1009-1020.

Creem-Regehr, S. H., Neil, J. A., & Yeh, H. J. (2007). Neural correlates of two imagined egocentric spatial transformations. Neuroimage, 35, 916-927.

Mohler, B. J., Thompson, W. B., Creem-Regehr, S. H., Pick, H. L., & Warren, W. H. (2007). Visual flow influences gait transition speed and preferred walking speed. Experimental Brain Research, 181, 221-228.

Mohler, B. J., Thompson, W. B., Creem-Regehr, S. H., Willemsen, P., Pick, Jr., H. L., & Rieser, J. J. (2007). Calibration of locomotion due to visual motion in a treadmill-based virtual environment. ACM Transactions on Applied Perception, 4(1).

Creem-Regehr, S. H., Willemsen, P., Gooch, A. A., & Thompson, W. B. (2005). The influence of restricted viewing conditions on egocentric distance perception: Implications for real and virtual environments. Perception, 34, 191–204.

Creem-Regehr, S. H. & Lee, J. N. (2005). Neural representations of graspable objects: Are tools special? Cognitive Brain Research, 22, 457–469.

Creem-Regehr, S. H., Gooch, A. A., Sahm, C. S., & Thompson, W. B. (2004). Perceiving virtual geographical slant: Action influences perception. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 30, 811–821.

Creem-Regehr, S. H. (2004). Remembering spatial locations: The role of physical movement in egocentric updating (pp. 163–189). In G. Allen (Ed.). Human Spatial Memory: Remembering Where. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Thompson, W. B., Willemsen, P., Gooch, A. A., Creem-Regehr, S. H., Loomis, J. M., & Beall, A. C. (2004). Does the quality of the computer graphics matter when judging distance in visually immersive environments? Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 13, 560–571.

Creem-Regehr, S. H. (2003). Updating space during imagined self- and object-translations. Memory & Cognition, 31, 941–952.

Creem, S. H., Downs, T. H., Wraga, M., Harrington, G., Proffitt, D. R., & Downs, J. H. (2001). An fMRI study of imagined self-rotation. Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience, 1, 239–249.

Creem, S. H., Wraga, M., & Proffitt, D. R. (2001). Imagining physically impossible transformations: Geometry is more important than gravity. Cognition, 81, 41–64.

Creem, S. H., & Proffitt, D. R. (2001). Defining the cortical visual systems: What, where, and how. Acta Psychologica, 107, 43–63.

Creem, S. H., & Proffitt, D. R. (2001). Grasping objects by their handles: A necessary interaction between cognition and action. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 1, 218–228.

Courses Taught

CNS Approaches to Research
Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive Neuropsychology
Sensation and Perception
Neuropsychology of Vision

About Me

I am happily married to John Regehr and have two sons, Jonas and Isaac Regehr (born December 17, 2004 and November 28, 2006).

CNS, Cognitive-Clinical Neuropsychology

My Graduate Students

Ben Kunz
Kristina Rand
Margaret Tarampi