People

Dr Kevin Dent

Lecturer
Department of Psychology
Dr Kevin Dent
  • Email

  • Telephone

    +44 (0) 1206 873785

  • Location

    3.703, Colchester Campus

Profile

Biography

Following an undergraduate degree in psychology at the University of Sheffield (1995-98), Dr Kevin Dent completed his PhD on visuo-spatial short-term memory at the University of Lancaster. He then worked as research fellow at the University of Birmingham (2003-11) before joining our Department as a lecturer in 2011.

Research and professional activities

Research interests

Visual cognition

Open to supervise

Understanding basic mechanisms of visuo-spatial attention

Open to supervise

Visuo-spatial short-term memory

Open to supervise

The effects of experience on object and word processing

Open to supervise

Teaching and supervision

Current teaching responsibilities

  • Cognitive Psychology and Economics (EC956)

  • Memory Attention and Language (PS415)

  • Cognitive Psychology (PS425)

  • Critical Literature Review (PS925)

  • Advanced Cognitive Psychology (PS952)

Previous supervision

Agnese Venskus
Agnese Venskus
Thesis title: The Association Between Temporal Sensitivity, Sense of Agency, and Occipital Peak Alpha Frequency.
Degree subject: Psychology
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 28/1/2022
Astrid Priscilla Martinez Cedillo
Astrid Priscilla Martinez Cedillo
Thesis title: The Effects of Cognitive Load, Social Objects, Non-Social Objects and Adhd-Like Traits on Visual Attention
Degree subject: Psychology
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 4/11/2021
Varinia Heidel
Varinia Heidel
Thesis title: Holistic Processing of Verbal and Non-Verbal Information in Single Integrated Visual Objects
Degree subject: Psychology
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 29/5/2018
Cathleen Cortis Mack
Cathleen Cortis Mack
Thesis title: Comparing the Immediate Free Recall of Verbal and Visuo-Spatial Stimuli: List Length, Capacity and Output Order Effects in Single- and Dual-Modality Tasks
Degree subject: Psychology
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 18/11/2015

Publications

Publications (1)

Martinez-Cedillo, AP., Dent, K. and Foulsham, T., (2022). Social prioritisation in scene viewing is not automatic: Evidence from the effects of a spatial memory load

Journal articles (32)

Dent, K., (2023). On the role of top-down and bottom-up guidance in conjunction search: Singleton interference revisited.. Attention, Perception and Psychophysics. 85 (6), 1784-1810

Martinez Cedillo, A., Dent, K. and Foulsham, T., (2023). Social prioritisation in scene viewing and the effects of a spatial memory load. Attention, Perception and Psychophysics

Dent, K., (2022). On the relationship between cognitive load and the efficiency of distractor rejection in visual search: The case of motion-form conjunctions. Visual Cognition. 30 (3), 174-194

Martinez-Cedillo, AP., Dent, K. and Foulsham, T., (2022). Do cognitive load and ADHD traits affect the tendency to prioritise social information in scenes?. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 75 (10), 1904-1918

Dent, K. and Cole, G., (2019). Gatecrashing the Visual Cocktail Party: How Visual and Semantic Similarity Modulate the Own Name Benefit in the Attentional Blink. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 72 (5), 1102-1111

Cortis Mack, C., Dent, K. and Ward, G., (2018). Near-Independent Capacities and Highly Constrained Output Orders in the Simultaneous Free Recall of Auditory-Verbal and Visuo-Spatial Stimuli. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. 44 (1), 107-134

Dent, K., (2018). Priming of Pop-out does not provide reliable measures of target activation and distractor inhibition in selective attention: Evidence from a large-scale online study. Vision Research. 149, 124-130

Cortis, C., Dent, K., Kennett, S. and Ward, G., (2015). First things first: Similar list length and output order effects for verbal and nonverbal stimuli.. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. 41 (4), 1179-1214

Roberts, KL., Allen, HA., Dent, K. and Humphreys, GW., (2015). Visual search in depth: The neural correlates of segmenting a display into relevant and irrelevant three-dimensional regions. NeuroImage. 122, 298-305

Dent, K., (2014). Explaining efficient search for conjunctions of motion and form: Evidence from negative color effects. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics. 76 (4), 931-944

Dent, K., Humphreys, GW., He, X. and Braithwaite, JJ., (2014). Surface-based constraints on target selection and distractor rejection: Evidence from preview search. Vision Research. 97, 89-99

Catling, J., South, F. and Dent, K., (2013). The Effect of Age of Acquisition on Older Individuals with and without Cognitive Impairments. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 66 (10), 1963-1973

Catling, J., Dent, K., Preece, E. and Johnston, R., (2013). Age-of-Acquisition Effects in Novel Picture Naming: A Laboratory Analogue. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 66 (9), 1756-1763

Dent, K., Allen, HA., Braithwaite, JJ. and Humphreys, GW., (2012). Parallel Distractor Rejection as a Binding Mechanism in Search. Frontiers in Psychology. 3 (AUG), 278-

Dent, K., Allen, HA., Braithwaite, JJ. and Humphreys, GW., (2012). Inhibitory guidance in visual search: The case of movement–form conjunctions. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics. 74 (2), 269-284

Dent, K., Braithwaite, JJ., He, X. and Humphreys, GW., (2012). Integrating space and time in visual search: How the preview benefit is modulated by stereoscopic depth. Vision Research. 65, 45-61

Braithwaite, JJ. and Dent, K., (2011). New perspectives on perspective-taking mechanisms and the out-of-body experience. Cortex. 47 (5), 628-632

Dent, K., Humphreys, GW. and Braithwaite, JJ., (2011). Spreading suppression and the guidance of search by movement: Evidence from negative color carry-over effects. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. 18 (4), 690-696

Dent, K. and Humphreys, GW., (2011). Neuropsychological evidence for a competitive bias against contracting stimuli. Neurocase. 17 (2), 112-121

Dent, K., Allen, H. and Humphreys, GW., (2011). Comparing Segmentation by Time and by Motion in Visual Search: An fMRI Investigation. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 23 (7), 1710-1722

Johnston, RA., Dent, K., Humphreys, GW. and Barry, C., (2010). British-English norms and naming times for a set of 539 pictures: The role of age of acquisition. Behavior Research Methods. 42 (2), 461-469

Dent, K., Lestou, V. and Humphreys, GW., (2010). Deficits in visual search for conjunctions of motion and form after parietal damage but with spared hMT+/V5. Cognitive Neuropsychology. 27 (1), 72-99

Dent, K., (2010). Dynamic Visual Noise Affects Visual Short-Term Memory for Surface Color, but not Spatial Location. Experimental Psychology. 57 (1), 17-26

Catling, JC., Dent, K., Johnston, RA. and Balding, R., (2010). Age of Acquisition, Word Frequency, and Picture–Word Interference. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 63 (7), 1304-1317

Dent, K., (2009). Coding categorical and coordinate spatial relations in visual–spatial short-term memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 62 (12), 2372-2387

Chen, B., Dent, K., You, W. and Wu, G., (2009). Age of acquisition affects early orthographic processing during Chinese character recognition. Acta Psychologica. 130 (3), 196-203

Dent, K., Johnston, RA. and Humphreys, GW., (2008). Age of acquisition and word frequency effects in picture naming: A dual-task investigation.. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. 34 (2), 282-301

Catling, JC., Dent, K. and Williamson, S., (2008). Age of acquisition, not word frequency affects object recognition: Evidence from the effects of visual degradation. Acta Psychologica. 129 (1), 130-137

DELVENNE, J-F. and DENT, K., (2008). Distinctive shapes benefit short-term memory for color associations, but not for color. Perception & Psychophysics. 70 (6), 1024-1031

Dent, K., Catling, JC. and Johnston, RA., (2007). Age of acquisition affects object recognition: Evidence from visual duration thresholds. Acta Psychologica. 125 (3), 301-318

Dent, K. and Smyth, MM., (2006). Capacity limitations and representational shifts in spatial short-term memory. Visual Cognition. 13 (5), 529-572

Dent, K. and Smyth, MM., (2005). Verbal coding and the storage of form-position associations in visual–spatial short-term memory. Acta Psychologica. 120 (2), 113-140

Conferences (1)

Dent, K. and Ziemele, A., (2015). The distribution of visual marking in 3-D space: Evidence for a depth sensitive mechanism

Reports and Papers (1)

Martinez Cedillo, AP., Dent, K. and Foulsham, T., (2021). Do cognitive load and ADHD traits affect the tendency to prioritise social information in scenes?

Contact

kdent@essex.ac.uk
+44 (0) 1206 873785

Location:

3.703, Colchester Campus

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