Anthony Richardson

Anthony Richardson is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Saint Michael’s College, specializing in spatial cognition and human navigation. He holds a B.A. from the University of California, San Diego, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His work leverages immersive virtual reality (VR) technology to study navigation and spatial memory, with a focus on stress effects and individual differences. He co-authored a 2022 study on stress-induced HPA activation in virtual environments, funded by NASA.

Dr. Richardson teaches courses in Cognitive Psychology, Perception, and Spatial Perception and Cognition. His research emphasizes collaborative student projects, such as a NASA-funded investigation into testosterone’s role in navigation. He directs a state-of-the-art VR lab enabling 3D environmental simulations with head and body tracking, typically found only in large research institutions.

His research explores how humans learn and remember spatial environments, with applications in understanding navigation challenges and cognitive adaptations. Recent work examines stress’s impact on spatial attention and virtual navigation performance. He collaborates with colleagues like Melissa VanderKaay Tomasulo, bridging psychology and neuroscience disciplines.