Research Background and Interests

B. A., 1968, University of Redlands, Summa Cum Laude in Psychology
Ph.D., 1975, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dept. of Psychology
Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University School of Medicine (1984-85)
Lecturer to Professor, Dept. of Psychology, Columbia University (1974-present)
Director of Undergraduate Studies, Undergraduate Programs, and Laboratories, Dept. of Psychology, Columbia University, (1994-present)
Director of Graduate Student Teaching, Dept. of Psychology, Columbia University (2000-present)
Research interests:

Psychophysiological studies of attention and emotion and their development, focusing on interrelationships among CNS (brain event-related potentials, ANS (HR and SCR), and voluntary and involuntary behavioral responses (e.g., facial expression, startle blink). Attention and affect in teaching and learning.

Representative papers:

Putnam, L.E., Ross, L.E., & Graham, F.K. (1974). Cardiac orienting during "good" and "poor" differential eyelid conditioning. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 102, 563-573.

Graham, F.K., Putnam, L.E., & Leavitt, L.A. (1975). Lead stimulation effects on human cardiac orienting and blink reflexes. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 104, 161-169.

Winton, W.M., Putnam, L.E., & Krauss, R.M. (1984). Facial and autonomic manifestations of the dimensional structure of emotion. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 20, 195-216.

Anthony, B.J., & Putnam, L.E. (1985). Cardiac and blink reflex concomitants of attentional selectivity: A comparison of adults and young children. Psychophysiology, 22, 508-516.

Putnam, L. E. (1990). Great expectations: Anticipatory responses of the heart and brain. Chap. 8 in J. W. Rohrbaugh, R. Parasuraman, & R. Johnson, Jr. (Eds.), Event-related brain potentials: Basic issues and applications. New York: Oxford University Press.

Putnam, L. E., & Roth, W. T. (1990). Effects of stimulus repetition, duration, and rise time on startle blink and automatically elicited P300. Psychophysiology, 27, 275-297.

Putnam, L., & Krauss, R. (1991). Affective valence, arousal, and attention and their relationship to physiological response. Psychophysiology, 28, S45.

Friedman, D., Putnam, L., Ritter, W., Hamberger, M., & Berman, S. (1992). A developmental event-related potential study of picture matching in children, adolescents and young adults: A replication and extension. Psychophysiology, 29, 593-610.

Putnam, L. (Jan. 1994). Advances in the psychophysiology of attention and emotion. Invited master lecture, National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology, Tampa, Florida.

Putnam, L. & Vanman, E (1999). Long lead interval startle modification. In M.E. Dawson, A.M. Schell, & A.H. Boehmelt (Eds.), Startle modification: Implications for neuroscience, cognitive science, and clinical science. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 72-92.

Professional Societies:

Memberships include the Association for Psychological Science (APS), the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), and the Society for Psychophysiological Research (SPR).
Service in the Society for Psychophysiological Research (SPR):

Member, Board of Directors (1988-91, 1997-2000), Publications Board (1986-88), By-Laws (1978), Education and Training (1994-2003), Nominations (1978, 1982), and Program (1977) Committees, Ad Hoc Committee on the Enhancement of Women and Minorities (1993-4), Chair of SPR Ethical Principles Committee (2003 - present), Program Committee (1988), Ad Hoc Committee on the Prevention of Disease Transmission (1988-92), Ad Hoc Ethics Committee (1979-80), By-Laws Committee (1996-7).

Associate Editor, Psychophysiology, 1991 - 1994.

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