Contact Information

• pfoo@unca.edu
• 251-6830
• 234 Delany Hall

Office Hours

• Tuesday 10:45 am - 11:45 am
• Thursday 10:45 am - 11:45 am
• Note: Other days/times by appointment

Dr. Patrick Foo is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina Asheville, and the Coordinator of the Neuroscience Minor.  Dr. Foo received his Ph.D. in Complex Systems and Brain Sciences from Florida Atlantic University, holds a M.S. in Kinesiology from the University of Colorado, and a B.A. in Physical Education from UC Berkeley. Dr. Foo’s primary research interests include investigating the links between perception and action in humans, how people control and plan their movements, and the role that nonlinear dynamics plays in Neuroscience. Though best known for a 2005 Journal of Experimental Psychology article on Cognitive Maps in Virtual Reality, he is also actively involved in the applied research of preventing falls in seniors, investigating the merits of cognitive brain training programs like Lumosity, contemplative neuroscience, and neuroscience pedagogy. He has won the UNCA Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award (2017), Award for Teaching Excellence in the Social Sciences (2014), and the Distinguished Teaching Award for Untenured Faculty (2006).

Courses

Introductory Psychology
Research Methods I & II
Fundamentals of Neuroscience
Cognitive/Neuro Psychology
Sensation & Perception
Art and Science of Meditation
Advanced Neuroscience
Cognitive Spatial Neuroscience
Senior Seminar in Psychology
Senior Seminar in Neuroscience

Selected Publications (UNCA student co-authors italicized):

Foo, P. & Ruiz, M. (2019). Inexpensive Endoscope Activities. Physics Education.54(5):055005 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6552/ab26f0.

Luca, S., Nauert E., Chichester, K., Buckner, J., Foo^, P., & Kaur, A. (2017). Working Memory and Cognitive Flexibility Training May Indicate Evidence of Training Effect but Do Not Show Transfer to General Fluid Intelligence in College Students. IMPULSE.

Wingert, J., Welder, C., & Foo, P. (2014). Age-related hip proprioception declines: the effects on postural sway and dynamic balance. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 9, 253-261.

Fink, P. W., Foo, P. S., & Warren, W. H. (2009). Catching fly balls in virtual reality: A critical test of the outfielder problem. Journal of Vision, 9(13):14, 1-8, http://journalofvision.org/9/13/14/, doi:10.1167/9.13.14.

Foo, P., Warren, W. H. Jr., & Tarr, M. (2005). Humans’ use of landmarks during navigation of novel shortcuts: Do humans integrate routes into a cognitive map? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 32(2), 195-215.

Foo, P., Kelso, J. A. S., & DeGuzman, G. C. (2000). Functional stabilization of unstable fixed points: human pole balancing using “time to balance” information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. 4, 1281-1297.