Professor & Department Chair

Department of Psychology

110 Parker Hall

Phone: 718-390-3311

Email: mwagner@wagner.edu

Education

1982 Ph.D. Dartmouth College (Psychology)

1978 B.A. South Dakota State University, Summa Cum Laude (Psychology/Mathematics)

Courses Taught

• Experimental Psychology: Sensation and Perception
• Experimental Psychology: Environment
• History of Psychology
• Psychological Testing
• Introduction to Psychology
• Philosophy of Psychology
• Artificial Intelligence/ Computer Applications in Psychology

My Favorite Publications

Wagner, M. (2012). Sensory and cognitive explanations for a century of size constancy research.  In G. Hatfield & S. Allred (Eds.), Visual experience: Sensation, cognition, and constancy  (Chap. 3, pp. 63-86).  Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Wagner, M. (2008). Comparing the psychophysical and geometric characteristics of spatial perception and cognitive maps. Cognitive Studies, 15, 6-21.

Wagner, M. (2007). Cognition and visuospatial thinking. American Journal of Psychology, 120, 497-503.

Wagner, M. (2006). The geometries of visual space. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.

Owens, D. A., & Wagner, M. (1995). Not all psychology is Functional psychology. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 31, 228-235.

Owens, D. A., & Wagner, M. (1992). Progress in modern psychology: The legacy of American Functionalism. New York: Praeger Press.

Wagner, M., & Owens, D. A. (1992). Modern psychology and early Functionalism. In D. A. Owens & M. Wagner (Eds.), Progress in modern psychology: The legacy of American Functionalism. (Chapter 1, pp. 2-16). New York: Praeger Press.

Baird, J. C., & Wagner, M. (1991). Transformation theory of size judgment. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 17, 852-864.

Baird, J. C., Wagner, M., & Fuld, K. (1990). A simple but powerful theory of the moon illusion. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 16, 675-678.

Wagner M. (1985). The metric of visual space. Perception & Psychophysics, 38, 483-495.

Baird, J. C., & Wagner, M. (1982). The moon illusion: I. How high is the sky? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 111, 296-303.

Baird, J. C., Wagner, M., & Noma, E. (1982). Impossible cognitive spaces. Geographical Analysis, 14, 204-216.

Wagner, M., Baird, J. C., & Barbaresi, W. (1981). The locus of environmental attention. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 1, 195-206.

My Favorite Presentations

Affects of weather on classroom attentiveness, mood, and disruptive behavior. Paper presented at the meetings of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL, May 25, 2012 (with Julia Dweck).

Jaundiced perception: The affects of yellow letters on acuity and size perception. Paper presented at the meetings of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC, May 29th, 2011 (with Carina Giles, Eva Boccio, Britany Previti, Marina Metry, Michael Fina, Liana Gonzalez, and Sheryl McGrath).

Is the sensory vs. cognitive distinction meaningful for size-constancy judgments? Invited symposium address presented at the meetings of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Atlanta, GA, April 17th, 2010.

The affects of weather and listening preferences on road rage. Paper presented at the meetings of the Association for Psychological Science, Boston, MA, May 29th, 2010 (with Jacob Miner, Anna Lysenko, Jessica Dalessio, and Ayn Pivonka).

Sensory and cognitive explanations for a century of size constancy research. Invited address to the University of Pennsylvania Cognitive and Developmental Factors in Perceptual Constancy Workshop, Philadelphia, PA, February 22nd, 2009.

Space, geometry, and visual perception. Invited colloquium presented at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, February 15th, 2008.

Undergraduates’ ability to estimate the fat content of foods. Paper presented at the meetings of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL, May 2008 (with Joanna Ferreri and Kim Costa).

Effects of yoga on anxiety, anger, and depression. Paper presented at the meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC, May 2007 (with Kat Pungdumri).

Affects of weather on anger and anxiety. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Society, Los Angeles, CA, May 2005 (with Steven Lyman, Ali Akhund, Christine McGrath, & Nichole M. Davis).

A meta-analysis of the effects of context on judgements of size and distance.  Paper presented at the meeting of the International Society for Psychophysics, Traverse City, MI, October, 2005.

Inattentional blindness to non-focal details increases with eccentricity and varies by gender. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Society, Chicago, IL, May, 2004 (with Lisa Ginetto, Lindsay Halperin & Melissa Mason).

Affects of family conflict on self-concept and attitudes toward romantic relationships. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Society, Atlanta, GA, May, 2003 (with Gina Ferreri).

Cloudy weather increases anxiety and road rage.. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Society, New Orleans, LA, June 2002 (with Rena Primiano, Jennifer Genovese, Angela Zicherman, Jeanine Giavanonne & Daniel Schwartz).

Effects of family structure and social support on fear of failure, Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Society, Washington, DC, 1998 (with Carolyn Oglio).

From spatial perception to cognitive maps: Memory, psychophysics and Weber’s law. Paper presented at the International Society for Psychophysics, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, 1998.

The influence of personality on advertisement preferences. Paper presented at the meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Washington, DC, April 1997 (with Frances-Ann Sciotto).

Personality factors as determinants of religious beliefs. Paper presented at the meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Boston, MA, April 1995 (with Francine Spinowitz).

A psychophysical analysis of the development of cognitive maps. Paper presented at the meeting of the International Society for Psychophysics, Wurzburg, Germany, August 1990 (with Evan Feldman)

Reinterpreting the size-distance invariance hypothesis. Invited symposium address presented at the meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Philadelphia, PA, April 1989.

The measurable properties of three-dimensional visual space. Paper presented at the meeting of the International Society for Psychophysics, Cassis, France, October 1989 (with Evan Feldman).

The perception of length for objects oriented in-depth as a function of distance, judgment method, and instructions. Paper presented at the meeting of the International Society for Psychophysics, Stirling, Scotland, July 1988 (with Heather Kartzinel).

Writing tutorial software for psychology education. Invited symposium address presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Atlanta, GA, August 1988.

The moon illusion: New perspectives on an old problem. Invited address presented at the meeting of the Western Psychological Association, Seattle, WA, May 1986.

Dark vergence and size perception. Paper presented at the meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Sarasota, FL, May 1986 (with Rick Tyrrell and Fred Owens).

Modeling the creation of cognitive maps. Invited address: Conference on Spatial Orientation, University of Minnesota, July 1980 (with John C. Baird).

Instructional Software

Wagner, M., Ono, H., & Ono, K. (1995). The classic psychophysical methods (2nd edition). New York: Oxford University Press.

Ono, H., Wagner, M., & Ono, K. (1995). Accuracy and precision (2nd edition). New York: Oxford University Press.

Fellowships, Seminars, and Grants

Phi Kappa Phi National Fellowship, l978-l979

Dartmouth Fellowship, l979-l982

Post-doctoral Fellowship (NSERCT Grant), l982-l984

NSF Grant No. CSI-8750413 ($33,398) 1987-1989

Princeton Academy of Consciousness, 1994

Reviewer for Areas of Specialization

Behavioral and Brain Sciences Environmental Psychology

Perception and Psychophysics History of Psychology

Acta Psychologica Mathematical Psychology

Psychological Research Perception

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Philosophical Psychology

Human Perception and Performance Psychophysics

New Ideas in Psychology

National Science Foundation

Czech Science Foundation

Israel Science Foundation

Last Update, 2013