James Kole

James Kole is a Professor in the School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC), within the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences. He joined UNC in 2013 after post-doctoral research at the University of Denver and University of Colorado, Boulder, focusing on marital communication and skill acquisition. His research examines memory mechanisms, skill transfer, educational technologies, and astronaut training efficacy under zero-gravity conditions (funded by NASA).

He teaches core psychology courses including Psychological Statistics, Research Methods, and Cognition. Key research areas include:

• Skill acquisition and transfer in educational contexts
• Cognitive mechanisms underlying stereotype formation
• Evaluating educational technologies' psychological principles
• Astronaut training retention during space missions

His 28+ publications span training optimization, memory load effects, and space cognition. Recent work explores second-language learning difficulty's impact on retention and astronaut-candidate performance comparisons.
Dr. Kole collaborates with NASA and institutions like the University of Colorado. He advises the undergraduate honor society Psi Chi and serves on UNC's Curriculum Committee. His work bridges basic cognitive science with practical educational and space-exploration applications.