Chad Schrock

Chad Schrock is a Professor of Psychology in the Division of Behavioral Sciences at Maryville College, where he has been a faculty member since 2002. His research focuses on cognitive psychology, particularly working memory, attention, and psycholinguistics. He conducts experimental studies using eye movements and pupil diameter as indicators of attention control.

• B.A., Mississippi State University
• Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz (2001)

Research Interests: Dr. Schrock's work centers on the role of working memory capacity (WMC) in everyday cognitive processes. He investigates how WMC affects language comprehension and production, attention regulation, auditory and visual perception, and even pain experience. He is particularly interested in how individuals differ in attention control, including those with ADHD. His second major research theme explores how people understand and produce language in natural conversation, where messages must be generated quickly and adapted to social context for appropriateness.

Dr. Schrock has previously conducted research at Georgia Tech’s Attention and Memory Lab and continues to involve undergraduate students in empirical research at Maryville College. He uses psychophysiological measures like eye tracking and pupillometry to study controlled attention. His work builds on foundational findings linking WMC to language comprehension, reasoning, and learning.

Scientific Awards: No specific awards are listed in the provided text.

Advising and Grants: Dr. Schrock actively mentors students in research projects related to working memory and language. While specific grant funding is not mentioned, his sustained research program indicates active scholarly engagement. Students in his lab have explored diverse topics such as the impact of WMC on secondary tasks, attentional differences in clinical populations, and perception under cognitive load.

Labs and Teams: He leads a research lab at Maryville College focused on working memory and attention. His prior affiliation was with the Attention and Memory Lab at Georgia Tech. His current team includes undergraduate researchers engaged in experimental studies using behavioral and psychophysiological methods.