Benjamin van Buren

Curriculum Vitae

August 2024

Contact Information

Department of Psychology Email: vanbur[email protected]

The New School Web: https://nssrperception.com/

80 Fifth Avenue, 7

Floor

New York, NY, 10011

Academic Appointments

2019 - present Assistant Professor

The New School, New York, NY

2018 - 2019 Post-doctoral Research Fellow

KU Leuven, Belgium (Sponsor: Johan Wagemans)

Education

2018 Yale University Ph.D. in Psychology (Advisor: Brian Scholl)

2017 Yale University M.S. in Psychology

2012 U Penn B.A. in Cognitive Science and Philosophy

Selected Awards and Honors

2019 Postdoctoral Travel Fellowship, Academische Stichting Leuven

2018 Finalist, Best Illusion of the Year Contest

2017 Frederick Hilles Fellowship, Yale University

2014 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

Publications

van Buren, B., and Scholl, B. J. (in press). The ‘Blindfold Test’: Helping to decide

whether an effect reflects visual processing or higher-level judgment. Attention,

Perception & Psychophysics.

Nguyen, H. B., and van Buren, B. (2024). Rotating objects cue spatial attention via

the perception of frictive surface contact. Cognition, 242, 105655.

Nguyen, H. B., and van Buren, B. (2023). May the Force be against you: Better

visual sensitivity to speed changes opposite gravity. Journal of Experimental

Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 49, 1016-1030.

Colombatto, C., van Buren, B., and Scholl, B. J. (2021). Hidden intentions: Visual

awareness prioritizes perceived attention even without eyes or faces. Cognition,

217, 1-7.

Ritchie, J. B, and van Buren, B. (2020). When scenes look like materials: The

reversible figure-ground motif in the paintings of René Magritte. Art & Perception,

8, 1-12.

Colombatto, C., van Buren, B., and Scholl, B. J. (2020). Gazing without eyes: A

‘stare in the crowd’ effect induced by simple geometric shapes. Perception, 49,

782-792.

Colombatto, C., van Buren, B., and Scholl, B. J. (2019). Intentionally distracting:

Working memory is disrupted by the perception of other agents attending to you —

even without eye-gaze cues. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 26, 951-957.

van Buren, B., and Scholl, B. J. (2018). Visual illusions as a tool for dissociating

seeing from thinking. Perception, 47, 999-1001.

van Buren, B., Gao, T., and Scholl, B. J. (2017). What are the underlying units of

perceived animacy?: Chasing detection is intrinsically object-based. Psychonomic

Bulletin & Review, 24, 1604-1610.

van Buren, B., and Scholl, B. J. (2017). Minds in motion in memory: Enhanced

spatial memory driven by the perceived animacy of simple shapes. Cognition, 163,

87-92.

van Buren, B., Uddenberg, S., and Scholl, B. J. (2016). The automaticity of

perceiving animacy: Goal-directed motion in simple shapes influences visuomotor

behavior even when task-irrelevant. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 23, 797-802.

van Buren, B., Bromberger, B., Potts, D., Miller, B., and Chatterjee, A. (2013).

Changes in the painting styles of two artists with Alzheimer’s disease. Psychology

of Aesthetics, Creativity & the Arts, 7, 89-94.

Articles Under Review

Dunin, D., Ongchoco, J. D. K., and van Buren, B. (under review). Perceived age is

distorted in visual memory: A phenomenon of “forward” and “backward” aging for faces.

Nguyen, H. B., Matelsky, L., Macklin, C., and van Buren, B. (under review). The face of

mischief: A facial expression signaling play aggression.

Ning, J. V., & van Buren, B. (under review). Thinking outside the box in the study of

visual preferences: External elements determine aesthetic judgments for a dot within a

square frame.

van Buren, B., and Scholl, B. J. (under review). Who’s chasing whom?: Changing

background motion reverses impressions of chasing in perceived animacy.

Presentations

Ning, J. V., & van Buren, B. (2024). Forging a head: How external visual elements influence the

perception of a shape’s facing direction. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Cognitive

Sciences Society, 7/26/24, Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Nguyen, H. B., & van Buren, B. (2024). ‘Attentional transplants’ cause recipients to like images

similarly to donors: Evidence for inter-observer commonalities in how attention drives

preferences. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, 5/21/24, St.

Pete Beach, FL.

Choudhury, S., Nguyen, H. B., & van Buren, B. (2024). The sound of shininess: Crossmodal

influence of pitch on the perception of gloss. Talk given at the annual meeting of the Vision

Sciences Society, 5/20/24, St. Pete Beach, FL.

Dunin, D., Ongchoco, J. D. K, & van Buren, B. (2024). Perceived age is distorted in visual

memory: A phenomenon of “forward” and “backward” aging for faces. Talk given at the annual

meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, 5/18/24, St. Pete Beach, FL.

Ning, J. N., & van Buren, B. (2024). Forging a head: How internal axes and external visual

elements determine a shape’s perceived facing direction. Talk given at the annual meeting of the

Vision Sciences Society, 5/18/24, St. Pete Beach, FL.

Nguyen, H. B., & van Buren, B. (2024). Look where you’re going!: Elongated shapes are

preferred when they update their orientation to remain aligned with their heading. Poster

presented at the annual meeting of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics, 5/9/24,

Palma, Spain.

Nguyen, H. B., & van Buren, B. (2023). Attentional transplants cause recipients to like images

similarly to donors. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Object Perception and Memory

Conference, 11/16/23, San Francisco, CA.

Ning, J. V., & van Buren, B. (2023). Forging a head: How external visual elements influence the

perception of a shape’s facing direction. Talk given at the annual meeting of the Object

Perception and Memory Conference, 11/16/23, San Francisco, CA.

Macklin, C., & van Buren, B. (2023). What games teach us about the appreciation of visual

artworks. Talk given at the annual meeting of the Visual Science of Art Conference, 8/26/23,

Cyprus, Greece.

Matelsky, L., Nguyen, H. B., Macklin, C., & van Buren, B. (2023). The face of mischief: A

facial expression signaling play aggression. Talk given at the annual meeting of the Visual

Science of Art Conference, 8/26/23, Cyprus, Greece.

Zhang, K., Huang, J., & van Buren, B. (2023). The automaticity of seeing in: Pictorial depth cues

influence judgments of surrounding spatial relationships even when task-irrelevant. Poster

presented at the annual meeting of the Visual Science of Art Conference, 8/26/23, Cyprus,

Greece.

Nguyen, H. B., & van Buren, B. (2023). Attentional transplants cause recipients to like images

similarly to donors. Talk given at the annual meeting of the Visual Science of Art Conference,

8/25/23, Cyprus, Greece.

Nguyen, H. B., & van Buren, B. (2023). That’s just how I roll!: Predicting and remembering

objects’ locations via the perception of frictive surface contact. Talk given at the annual meeting

of the Vision Sciences Society, 5/20/23, St. Pete Beach, FL. [Abstract published in Journal of

Vision, 23(9), 4716, https://jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2791781.]

Matelsky, L., Nguyen, H. B., Macklin, C., & van Buren, B. (2023). The face of mischief: A

stereotyped signal of norm violation within a Magic Circle. Talk given at the annual meeting of

the Vision Sciences Society, 5/20/23, St. Pete Beach, FL. [Abstract published in Journal of

Vision, 23(9), 5968, https://jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2792329.]

Zhang, K., Huang, J., & van Buren, B. (2023). The automaticity of seeing in: Pictorial depth cues

influence judgments of surrounding spatial relationships even when task-irrelevant. Poster

presented at the annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, 5/20/23, St. Pete Beach, FL.

van Buren, B. (2023). Design for attention. Invited talk given at the Usability and Innovation

workshop at IUAV University of Venice, 4/18/23, Venice, Italy.

Nguyen, H. B., & van Buren, B. (2022). Rotating objects cue spatial attention via the perception

of frictive surface contact. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Object Perception and

Memory Conference, 11/17/22, Boston, MA.

van Buren, B. (2022). Perceptual leverage points for design. Invited talk given at the Gestalt

Approach for Design Research workshop at IUAV University of Venice, 10/10/22, Venice, Italy.

van Buren, B, & Macklin, C. (2022). Knowledge structures our perception of virtual worlds.

Joint talk given at workshop on Perception in Games and Virtual Worlds, 9/2/22, Athens,

Greece.

Ning, J. V., & van Buren, B. (2022). Thinking outside the box in the study of visual preferences:

External elements determine ‘goodness’ judgments for a dot within a square frame. Poster

presented at the annual meeting of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics,

8/31/22, Philadelphia, PA.

Nguyen, H. B., & van Buren, B. (2022). Rotating objects cue spatial attention via the perception

of frictive surface contact. Talk given at the annual meeting of the European Conference on

Visual Perception, 8/31/22, virtual, Nijmegen, NL. [Abstract published in Perception, 51(IS), 1-

207, https://docta.ucm.es/rest/api/core/bitstreams/e03dad59-5826-47f9-98b0-

6b6ead785f94/content.]

Nguyen, H. B., & van Buren, B. (2022). May the Force be against you: Better sensitivity to

speed changes that appear self-propelled. Talk given at the annual meeting of the Cognitive

Sciences Society, 7/30/22, virtual, Toronto, CA.

Ning, J. V., & van Buren, B. (2022). Thinking outside the box in the study of visual preferences:

External elements determine ‘goodness’ judgments for a dot within a square frame. Talk given at

the annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, 5/17/22, St. Pete Beach, FL. [Abstract

published in Journal of Vision, 22(14), 4233,

https://jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2784816.]

Nguyen, H. B., & van Buren, B. (2022). Objects that look heavier look larger. Talk given at the

annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, 5/14/22, St. Pete Beach, FL. [Abstract published

in Journal of Vision, 22(14), 4394, https://jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2785138.]

van Buren, B. (2022). Perceiving minds in motion. Invited talk given at Hunter College, 3/18/22,

New York.

van Buren, B., Ritchie, J. B., Lefèvre, P., & Wagemans, J. (2021). What do visual narratives

teach us about psychological event representations? Talk given at the annual meeting of the

Psychonomic Society, 11/5/21, Virtual. Co-organizer of overall symposium, ‘Beyond the Button

Press: Studying the Mind through Drawings’.

Nguyen, H. B., & van Buren, B. (2021). May the Force be against you: Better sensitivity to

speed changes that appear self-propelled. Talk given at the annual meeting of the Object

Perception and Memory Conference, 11/4/21, Virtual. **Winner of Best Talk Award.**

van Buren, B., Ongchoco, J. K., & Scholl, B. J. (2021). Sensation and imagery combine to create

hybrid object representations. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the European

Conference for Visual Perception, 8/24/21, Virtual.

Colombatto, C., Chen, Y-C, van Buren, B., & Scholl, B. J. (2021). From eyes to minds:

Perceiving perception, and attending to attention? Talk given at the annual meeting of the Society

for Philosophy and Psychology, 6/30/21, Virtual.

van Buren, B., Ritchie, J. B., Lefèvre, P., & Wagemans, J. (2020). Event representations omit

stretches of time. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, 6/19/20,

Virtual. [Abstract published in Journal of Vision, 20(11), 1536,

https://jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2771257.]

van Buren, B. (2019). Experimental methods for distinguishing seeing from thinking. Invited talk

given at University of Pennsylvania, 10/23/19, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

van Buren, B. (2019). Perceiving minds in motion: The nature of perceived animacy. Invited talk

given at University of Pennsylvania, 10/22/19, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Ritchie, J. B., & van Buren, B. (2019). When scenes look like materials: The reversible figure-

ground motif in the paintings of René Magritte. Talk given at the annual meeting of the Visual

Science of Art Conference, 8/23/19, Leuven, Belgium.

van Buren, B. (2019). Perceived intentionality as a Gestalt phenomenon: Grouping and global

motion processing determine whether we see ‘chasing’ in simple shapes. Talk given at the

annual meeting of the Belgian Association for Psychological Science, 5/14/19, Liège, Belgium.

van Buren, B., Ritchie, J. B., Lefèvre, P., & Wagemans, J. (2019). Drawing attention: Analysis

of comics reveals capacity limits on event representations. Poster presented at the annual meeting

of the Concepts, Actions, and Objects workshop, 5/4/19, Rovereto, Italy.

van Buren, B. (2019). Perceiving minds in motion: The nature of perceived animacy. Invited talk

given at Université Catholique de Louvain, 2/28/19, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.

van Buren, B., & Scholl, B. J. (2018). Who’s chasing whom?: Changing background motion

reverses impressions of chasing in perceived animacy. Talk given at the annual meeting of

the European Conference for Visual Perception, 8/29/18, Trieste, Italy.

van Buren, B. (2018). Ownership of expressive properties. Talk given at the annual meeting of

the Visual Science of Art Conference, 8/24/18, Trieste, Italy.

van Buren, B., & Scholl, B. J. (2018). The ‘Blindfold Test’ for deciding whether an effect

reflects visual processing or higher-level judgment. Poster presented at the annual meeting of

the Vision Sciences Society, 5/20/18, St. Pete Beach, FL. [Abstract published in Journal of

Vision, 18(10), 56, http://jov.arvojournals.org/18/10/56/ .]

van Buren, B. (2018). Empirical methods for studying aesthetic experience. Talk given at

Albertus Magnus College, 3/19/18, New Haven, CT.

van Buren, B., & Scholl, B. J. (2017). The ‘Blindfold Test’ for deciding whether an effect

reflects visual processing or higher-level judgment. Talk given at the annual meeting of

the Society for Philosophy and Psychology, 6/30/17, Baltimore, MD.

Colombatto, C., van Buren, B., & Scholl, B. J. (2017). ‘Mind Contact’: Might eye-gaze effects

really reflect more general phenomena of perceived attention and intention? Poster presented at

the annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, 5/20/17, St. Pete Beach, FL. [Abstract

published in Journal of Vision, 17(10), 60, http://jov.arvojournals.org/17/10/60/ .]

van Buren, B., & Scholl, B. J. (2017). Who’s chasing whom?: Changing background motion

reverses impressions of chasing in perceived animacy. Talk given at the annual meeting of the

Vision Sciences Society, 5/20/17, St. Pete Beach, FL. [Abstract published in Journal of Vision,

17(10), 214, http://jov.arvojournals.org/17/10/214/ .]

van Buren, B., & Scholl, B. J. (2016). Minds in motion in memory: Enhanced spatial memory

driven by the perceived animacy of simple shapes. Poster presented at the annual meeting of

the Association for Psychological Science, 5/27/16, Chicago, IL.

van Buren, B., Gao, T., & Scholl, B. J. (2016). What are the underlying units of perceived

animacy?: Chasing detection is intrinsically object-based. Talk given at the annual meeting of the

Vision Sciences Society, 5/15/16, St. Pete Beach, FL. [Abstract published in Journal of Vision,

16(12), 394, http://jov.arvojournals.org/16/12/394/ .]

van Buren, B., Uddenberg, S., & Scholl, B. J. (2015). The automaticity of perceiving animacy:

Goal-directed motion in simple shapes influences visuomotor behavior even when task-

irrelevant. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, 5/19/15, St.

Pete Beach, FL. [Abstract published in Journal of Vision, 15(12), 1187,

http://jov.arvojournals.org/content/15/12/1187/]

van Buren, B., & Scholl, B. J. (2014). Perceived animacy influences other forms of visual

processing. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, 5/20/14, St.

Pete Beach, FL. [Abstract published in Journal of Vision, 14(10), 1023,

http://jov.arvojournals.org/content/14/10/1023]

van Buren, B. (2011). Modeling the functional development of human visual motion area MT+.

Paper given at the annual meeting of the International Conference on Natural Computation,

7/26/11, Shanghai, China.

van Buren, B., Bromberger, B., Potts, D., Miller, B., & Chatterjee, A. (2010). Patterns of change

in the painting styles of artists with Alzheimer’s disease. Talk given at the biannual meeting of

the International Association for Empirical Aesthetics, 8/28/10, Dresden, Germany. **Winner of

Robert Frances Award for Most Outstanding Student Research Contribution.**

Professional Activities

Selected Ad Hoc Reviewing

Art & Perception Philosophical Psychology

Cognition Psychological Research

Emotion Psych of Aesthetics, Creativity, & the Arts

Frontiers in Psychology Review of Philosophy and Psychology

i-Perception Royal Society Open Science

JEP: General Scientific Reports

Memory & Cognition Vision

Perception Visual Cognition

Miscellaneous

- Organizing Committee, Visual Science of Art Conference (2024)

- Chair of Organizing Committee, Visual Science of Art Conference (2023)

- Thesis Examiner, University of Pennsylvania Visual Studies Program (2023)

- Organizing Committee, European Conference on Visual Perception (2019)

- Symposium Organizer (with J. Brendan Ritchie), ‘Beyond the button press:

Studying the mind through drawings’, Psychonomics Society Meeting (2021)

Doctoral Student Advising

Deidre Dunin (current)

Research : Face perception; Perception of age

Zsuzsanna Lakatos (current)

Research : Interaction design

Loren Matelsky (current)

Research : Social perception

Honors : VSS Travel Award

Hong Nguyen (current)

Research : Intuitive physics; Event perception, Motion perception

Honors : OPAM Best Talk and Prof. Dev. Awards (2021); VSS Travel Award

(2022)

Jiangxue Ning (current)

Research : Perceptual organization; Visual preferences

Honors : OPAM Prof. Dev. Award (2023); VSS Travel Award (2022), NSSR

Student Travel Award (2021)

M.A. Student Advising

Silas Choudhury (current)

Research : Perception of materials; Consumer psychology

Marina Pace (current)

Research : Perception of causality; Perception of expression

Mariah Woodruff (M.A., 2021; now at IBM)

Research : Perception of shape; Interaction design

Undergraduate Student Advising

June Huang & Kexuan Zhang (current)

Research : Joint project studying the perception of pictorial depth in Renaissance

& traditional Chinese paintings

Courses Taught

Graduate

- Advanced Topics in Visual Cognition

- Perception in Virtual Worlds: Experiments in Design and Psychology (studio

course on game design and psychology research, with Prof. Colleen Macklin)

- Visual Perception & Cognition

Undergraduate

- Fundamentals of Visual Perception

- The Psychology of Aesthetics & Design

- Dean’s Honor Symposium (faculty mentor, Spring 2022)

University and Departmental Service

Speaking

Guest Lecturer, Fund. of Cognitive Neuroscience (2021-2023)

Guest Lecturer, Applied Psychology and Design (Fall, 2023)

Faculty Speaker, NSSR Orientation (Spring, 2022)

Committees

Applied Psychology and Human Centered Design MA Committee (2019-pres)

Faculty Search Committee, Psychology (Fall, 2022)

Academic Curriculum Committee (2022-2023)

Faculty Search Committee, Psychology (Fall, 2021)

Academic Excellence Committee (2020-2022)

Faculty Search Committee, Psychology (Fall, 2019)