Dr. Mel Rutherford, Ph.D. is
associate professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience
and Behaviour, and Canada Research Chair in Social Perception. Dr.
Rutherford graduated from Yale University and earned a Ph.D. in
Psychology with an emphasis in Human Development from the University
of California at Santa Barbara. A Fulbright Fellowship allowed
Dr. Rutherford to study and collaborate with well-known Simon Baron-Cohen
in Cambridge, England. Dr. Rutherford also worked with Bruce Pennington
and Sally Rogers at the University of Denver as a postdoctoral
fellow. Dr. Rutherford heads a dynamic research laboratory at McMaster
University, 2004 Research University of the Year. Dr. Rutherford
is well-known for research in the field of psychology and has been
interviewed and quoted in The Globe and Mail, The London Times,
The Chicago Times, CBC Radio, Quirks and Quarks, and The Discovery
Channel as well as many AP newspapers around the world. Dr. Rutherford
is a great teacher, scientist and mentor, and a really bad guitar
player.
Graduate Students
Jenna Cheal
Jenna is interested in the early development of facial expressions and eye gaze.
Marla Anderson
Marla is interested in how pregnancy affects social perceptions from an evolutionary standpoint.
Jennifer Walsh
Jennifer is interested in the early indicators of autism that are present in the first year of life. She is also interested in how these indicators of autism predict social cognitive skills at various stages of development.
Vivian Lee
Vivian studies the early perception of animate motion as a predictor of later developing social cognitive skills.
Undergraduate Students
Nick Hobson
Nick is interested in the study of sex-differences in social-cognition/perception ability, and his current research is looking to find a range of superior social-cognition skill sets in males.
Marco Dicroce
Marco is studying adolescent and adult personality development. Can height during adolescence predict future adult status?
Lavinia Oltean
Lavinia is interested in categorical perception of facial expressions in infants
Lab Manage
Brenda Lumsen Johanson
Brenda is the lab manager and volunteer coordinator for the lab. She recruits for the Infant Study Group and participates in the Early Autism Study.
1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8S 4K1
Phone: 905-525-9140, Ext. 26032, Fax: 905-529-6225