Robert F.
Simons
Professional Affiliations
Professor 
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, 1980
rsimons@udel.edu
Office: Room 215 Wolf Hall
Phone: (302) 831-2389: Office (302) 831-1041: Lab (302) 831-3645: Fax
Research Interests
Psychophysiological approaches to human emotion and cognition. Current studies
involve the impact of specific media properties such as
motion, color and sound on the emotion dimensions of valence and arousal.
In addition to our long-standing interest in emotion-processing deficits such as
anhedonia and arousal, our most recent studies use brain-potential (ERP)
and reflex (startle) measures to explore executive function in subjects with
anxiety disorders.
Representive Publications
- Fiorito, E.R. & Simons, R.F. (1994)
Emotional Imagery and Physical Anhedonia. Psychophysiology, 31,
513-521.
- Simons, R.F. & Perlstein, W.P. (1997).
A Tale of Two Reflexes: An ERP Analysis of Prepulse Inhibition and
Orienting. In P.J. Lang, R.F. Simons & M.T. Balaban (Eds.). Attention
and Orienting: Sensory and Motivational Processes. Erlbaum: Hillsdale,
NJ.
- Roedema, T.M. & Simons, R.F. (1999).
Emotion Processing Deficit in Alexithymia. Psychophysiology, 36, 379-387.
- Simons, R.F., Detenber, B.H., Roedema, T.M. & Reiss,
J.E. (1999). Emotion-Processing in
Three Systems: The Medium and the Message. Psychophysiology, 36,
619-627.
- Detenber,
B.H., Simons, R.F., Roedema, T.M., & Reiss, J.E. (2000).
The effects of color in film clips on emotional responses.
Media Psychology, 2, 331-355.
- Perlstein,
W.P., Simons, R.F. & Graham,
F.K.
(2001).
Prepulse effects as a function of cortical projection system.
Biological Psychology, 56, 83-111.
- Simons,
R.F., Graham, F.K., Miles, M.A. & Chen, X. (2001). On
the Relationship of P3a and the Novelty-P3. Biological
Psychology, 56, 207-218.
- Hajcak,
G. & Simons, R.F. (2002). Error-Related Brain Activity
in Obsessive-Compulsive Undergraduates. Psychiatry Research, 110,
63-72.
- Simons,
R.F., Detenber, B.H., Cuthbert, B.N., Schwartz, D.D. & Reiss, J.E.
(2003). Attention to Television: Alpha Power and its Relationship to Image
Motion and Emotional Content. Media Psychology, 5, 283-312.
- Hajcak,
G., McDonald, N. & Simons, R.F. (2003).
Anxiety and error-related brain activity. Biological
Psychology, 64, 77-90.
Graduate Student Interests and Activities
- Greg Hajcak (B.S. University of Pittsburgh) -- Cognitive and
psychophysiological correlates of psychopathology; the relationship between
Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) and Anxiety Disorders. Current
research evaluates executive function in subjects with obsessive-compulsive
tendencies (Hajcak & Simons, 2001) and other
anxieties (Hajcak, McDonald & Simons, 2002) using an event-related brain potential known as Error-Related
Negativity.
- Jason Moser (B.A. Penn State University) -- Psychophysiological
correlates of emotion and cognition. Specific interest in the relationship
between psychophysiological measures (ERPs, heart rate, skin conductance)
and anxiety disorders and its predictive value in treatment outcome.
Current research examines an ERP known as the Error-Related Negativity in
normal individuals, specific phobics, and individuals with high negative
affect.
Undergraduate Student Research
Recent Honors Theses (Good luck -- We miss you
already)
- Emily Bukay
- Erin Foley
- Katie Robb
- Maura Rupp
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