Announcement:

• 11/11/07: This webpage is passing into obsolescence. See my new page at www.psych.uiuc.edu/~dlandy/

  Introduction

  Welcome! I am a sixth-year Ph.D. candidate at Indiana University, working on a dual degree in computer science and cognitive science.

  My Research

  My degree will be in computer science and cognitive science, but my work ranges over experimental psychology and philosophy, as well (some might say that my work wanders willy-nilly around psychology and philosophy, or that I don't have a field at all, but they're polite enough to say it behind my back). My principle research interest is in compositional or relational structures: in particular, I build computational accounts of structured reasoning in people, in which the primary guiding inspiration comes from (a) behavioral research, and (b) Clark's law: We make the world smart, so that we can be stupid in it. My main methodology is to look at the role of the visual system in guiding and supporting structured thought through images, and through image-like properties of notational systems like algebra and logic.

  I am also developing an educational tool based on the ideas involved in my research: an alpha download version will be available here soon.

  What Matters

  If you'd like to, see some pictures of my daughter.

  Hobbies

  My academic interests include the history of science, literature (mainly modern British and American, but I delve into slavic and YA, and have a soft spot for absurdist and even avant garde theater), computation theory, education and learning, and physics. My non-academic interests are principally music snobbery, horror movies (and horror movie snobbery), and, recently, hair styling.