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Wake Forest University

WFU Psychology

 
   

Jim Schirillo

 

[schirija@wfu.edu]
Associate Professor of Psychology
(336) 758-4233

 

Click Here for a List of Publications including PDF's


For more information on courses taught, visit these sites:

Physiological Psychology PSY320: psych.wfu.edu/psy320schirillo
Perception PSY329: psych.wfu.edu/psy329schirillo
Psychological Utopias FYS100: psych.wfu.edu/fys100schirillo
Introductory Psychology PSY151: psych.wfu.edu/psy151schirillo

Education

B.A. Franklin & Marshall College, 1979
Ph.D., Experimental Psychology, Northeastern University, 1990

Major Area:  

Perceptual Neuroscience

Research interests:

I work in four research areas that examine how humans perceive the external world.

The perception of color and illumination: I use specialized computers to generate colored perceptual illusions of either 2- or 3-dimensional scenes to determine how illumination affects the colors we see.

Heckman, G.M., Muday, J.A., & Schirillo, J.A. (2005). Chromatic shadow-compatibility and cone-excitation ratios. The Journal of the Optical Society of America: A, 22, 401-415. [PDF]
Perkins, K.R., & Schirillo, J.A. (2003). Three-dimensional spatial grouping affects estimates of the illuminant. The Journal of the Optical Society of America: A, 20, 2246-2253. [PDF]

Multi-sensory integration: I study how humans combine sights and sounds into a single, unified experience. This is exemplified by the way a ventriloquist can trick us into perceiving that their voice is coming from the location of a dummy's mouth. I also do some related work with Dr. Barry Stein at Bowman Gray’s Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy. His work involves parallel animal and neurophysiological studies involving the superior colliculus.

Mayes, A., & Schirillo, J. (2005). Lights can reverse illusory directional hearing. Neuroscience Letters, 384(3), 336-338.[PDF]
Wallace, M.T., Roberson, G.E., Hairston, W.B., Stein, B.E., Vaughan, J.W., & Schirillo, J.A. (2004). Unifying multisensory signals across time and space. Experimental Brain Research, 158(2), 252-258. [PDF]

Gestalt grouping principles: I study the Gestalt grouping principles, such as how the proximity and similarity of colored dots interact depending on their spatial arrangement. I do this work in collaboration with the Dr. Michael Kubovy from the Psychology Department at the University of Virginia.

Melfi, T. & Schirillo, J. (2000). T-junctions in inhomogeneous surrounds. Vision Research, 40, 3735-3741. [PDF]

Aesthetic Preferences: My interest in aesthetics follows from my work in perception. I use an eye-tracker to determine how the hemispheric laterality of the human brain influences judgments of the emotional content of portraits painted by Rembrandt. I also study the works of the abstract artist Mondrian.

Schirillo, J., & Fox, M. (2006). Rembrandt’s portraits: Approach or avoid? Leonardo, 39(3), 253-256. [PDF]
Schirillo, J. (2000). Hemispheric asymmetries and gender influence Rembrandt’s portrait orientations. Neuropsychologia, 38, 1593-1606. [PDF]

Scholarly Interests:

Psychophysics
Color Perception
Gestalt Psychology
Multisensory Integration
fMRI

Representative Publications:

Perkins, K.R. & Schirillo, J.A. (2003). Three-Dimensional Spatial Grouping Affects Estimates of the Illuminant. The Journal of the Optical Society of America: A, 20, 2246-2253. [PDF]
Schirillo, J. & Shevell, S. (2000). Role of Perceptual Organization in Chromatic Induction. The Journal of the Optical Society of America : A, 17, 244-254. [PDF]
Schirillo, J. (2000). Hemispheric Asymmetries and Gender Influence Rembrandt’s Portrait Orientations. Neuropsychologia, 38, 1593-1606 [PDF]
Melfi, T. & Schirillo, J. (2000). T-Junctions in Inhomogeneous Surrounds. Vision Research, 40, 3735-3741. [PDF]
Hairston, W.D., Vaughan, J.W., Wallace, M.T., Stein, B.E., Norris, J.L. & Schirillo, J.A. (2003). Visual Localization Ability Influences Cross-Modal Bias. The Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 15 (1), 20-29. [PDF]

Courses taught: 

Perception
Physiological Psychology
History and Systems of Psychology
Seminars in Attachment Theory and Psychological Utopias
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