2012 - Present
Visual Cognition Laboratory, Northwestern University
Graduate Student Researcher, Advisor: Steven Franconeri, Ph.D.
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Designed, programmed, implemented, and analyzed data from laboratory experiments to investigate how to improve data visualizations.
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Used psychophysical methods and eye-tracking to test >300 experimental participants.
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Developed and implemented research protocols in collaboration with computer scientists at UW Madison (4 years) and Tableau (2 years).
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Supervised 6 research assistants with testing participants, experiment programming, data analysis, and publication writing.
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Novel findings: 1) Attention to a collection of objects is more efficient when those objects differ from other (irrelevant) objects within multiple feature dimensions, such as color and shape, than when they differ by only one feature, such as only color or shape; 2) Perception of relationships between data points in common graph formats is strikingly inefficient, but improves significantly when the those data relationships are directly represented (e.g., a single bar representing the difference between data value pairs, rather than a bar for each data point). 3) People can accurately perceive up to 4 high-frequency peaks in a line chart.
2010 - 2012
Cognitive Neuropsychology Laboratory, UC Berkeley
Post Bachelor Study / Lab Manager, Advisor: Lynn C. Robertson, Ph.D.
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Managed large electroencephalography (EEG) study by coordinating testing with international collaborators, testing participants, and analyzing data.
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Collaborated on study of large group of post-stroke patients, tested patients in hospital setting, prepared data for analysis, and maintained database.
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Trained 6 research assistants to run EEG recording sessions.
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Supported principal investigator and lab members with daily administrative and technical assistance across two lab sites.
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Novel findings: People who demonstrate a relatively early N170 ERP component in response to viewing a face tend to recognize faces better.
2008 - 2009
UC Berkeley
Honors Research, Advisor: Stephen E. Palmer, Ph.D.
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Investigated the relationship between perceived color weight and spatial composition through ‘goodness of fit’ ratings
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Designed and programmed 3 experiments, analyzed all data in Excel and SPSS, and prepared 25-pg research paper
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Novel findings: Perceived color weight does not impact spatial composition, both through ‘goodness of fit’ and preference ratings
2008
Leadership Alliance Summer Research Early
Identification Program, Cornell University
Research Assistant, Advisor: James E. Cutting, Ph.D.
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Selected as one of 9 undergraduate students from the U.S.
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Researched how the lengths of sequential shots in Hollywood films form patterns
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Designed experiment, troubleshot cut-detection Matlab algorithm, collected data and wrote 18-pg research paper
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Presented findings at undergraduate conference and later published research paper
2007 - 2009
Palmer Visual Perception Laboratory, UC Berkeley
Research Assistant, Advisor: Stephen E. Palmer, Ph.D.
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Studied perceptual organization in vision and aesthetic preferences for color & spatial arrangement
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Assisted with experimental design, programming experiments in Presentation, stimuli creation in Photoshop, running participants in computer-based experiments, and data analysis in SPSS and Excel
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Presented findings in weekly lab meetings and integrated feedback
Curriculum Vitae
Education
2018 (expected)
Northwestern University
Ph.D. Student in Psychology; Brain, Behavior, Cognition
Dissertation: Visual selection in data visualizations
Advisor: Steven Franconeri, Ph.D.
2014
Northwestern University
M.S., Psychology; Brain, Behavior, Cognition
Thesis: Rapid feature-selection benefits from feature redundancy
Advisor: Steven Franconeri, Ph.D.
2009
University of California, Berkeley
B.A., Psychology (Honors); Minor in Anthropology
Advisor: Stephen Palmer, Ph.D.
2014 - 2017
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
2013
NIMH fellow, University of California, Davis ERP Bootcamp
2013
NIH fellow, University of Michigan Summer fMRI Training Course
2013
NSF AGEP Conference Travel Award, NU
2012 - 2013
Cognitive Science Fellowship, NU
2009
Honors Thesis in Psychology: “The relationship between color weight and spatial composition through ‘goodness of fit’”, UCB
2009
Associated Students of the UC, Academic Opportunity Fund Award, UCB
2007 - Present
Psi Chi, National Honors Society in Psychology
Research
Experience
Academic
Honors and
Awards
Reasearch
Interests
Visual Attention & Perception
Information Visualization
Perceptual Organization
Publications
Nothelfer, C., Gleicher, M., Franconeri, S. L. (in press). Redundant encoding strengthens segmentation and grouping in visual displays of data. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. [PDF]
Gleicher, M., Correll, M., Nothelfer, C., & Franconeri, S. L. (2013). Perception of Average Value in Multiclass Scatterplots. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 19(12), 2316-2325. [PDF]
Cutting, J. E., DeLong, J. E. & Nothelfer, C. E. (2010) Attention and the evolution of Hollywood Film. Psychological Science, 21(3), 432-439. [PDF]
Nothelfer, C., DeLong, J. E. & Cutting, J. E. (2009) Shot structure in Hollywood film. Indiana Undergraduate Journal of Cognitive Science, 4, 103-113. [PDF]
Nothelfer, C. & Franconeri, S. L. (in preparation) Directly Encoding Relations Improves Data Pair Relation Perception.
Nothelfer, C., Lam, H. & Franconeri, S. L. (in preparation) Peaks can be subitized in line charts.
Nothelfer, C. Gleicher, M., Franconeri, S. L. Redundant Encoding Speeds Up Segmentation in visual displays of data.
Nothelfer, C., Sharon, O., Bentin, S. & Robertson, L. C. (in preparation) Basic-level categorization and recognition of unfamiliar faces: N170 and d’ correlation-oriented analysis.
Publications in Preparation
Presentations
& Posters
Nothelfer, C. & Franconeri S. L. Ranking encodings for efficient perceptual processing of data relations. Poster presentation at the Vision Science at InfoVis meet-up at IEEE VIS, Phoenix, Arizona (October, 2017).
Nothelfer, C. How do humans read line charts? Talk at the Vision Science at InfoVis meet-up at IEEE VIS, Phoenix, Arizona (October, 2017).
Nothelfer, C., Gleicher, M. & Franconeri S. L. Rapid Feature-Selection Benefits from Feature Redundancy. Talk at the Information Visualization Research Meet and Greet satellite event at the Vision Sciences Society Annual Meeting, St. Pete Beach, Florida (May, 2017).
Nothelfer, C. & Franconeri S. L. Visual Search Through Displays of Data. Poster presentation at the Vision Science Society Annual Meeting, St. Pete Beach, Florida (May, 2017).
Nothelfer, C., Gleicher, M. & Franconeri S. L. Redundant Coding Can Speed Up Segmentation in Multiclass Displays. Poster presentation at the IEEE VIS, Baltimore, Maryland (October, 2016). [Poster, Abstract, Video]
Nothelfer, C. & Franconeri S. L. Feature Redundancy Benefits in Different Attentional Modes. Poster presentation at the Vision Science Society Annual Meeting, St. Pete Beach, Florida (May, 2016). [PDF]
Nothelfer, C., Gleicher, M. & Franconeri S. L. Redundant Coding Can Improve Segmentation in Multiclass Displays. Poster presentation at the IEEE VIS, Chicago, Illinois (October, 2015). [Poster, Abstract, Handout, Video]
Nothelfer, C., Suzuki, S. & Franconeri S. L. Hemifield-specific resources for controlling apparent motion. Poster presentation at the Vision Science Society Annual Meeting, St. Pete Beach, Florida (May, 2015).
Nothelfer, C., Gleicher, M. & Franconeri S. L. Rapid feature-selection benefits from feature redundancy. Poster presentation at the Vision Science Society Annual Meeting, St. Pete Beach, Florida (May, 2014). [PDF]
Nothelfer, C., Gleicher, M. & Franconeri S. L. Rapid feature-selection benefits from feature redundancy. Talk given at the Cognitive Neuroscience and Cognitive Brain Mapping Group Data Blitz, Chicago, Illinois (May, 2014).
Cutting, J., Delong, J. and Nothelfer, C. The Evolution of Shot Structure in Hollywood Film. Talk given at Psychonomic Society Annual Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts (November, 2009).
Nothelfer, C., Schloss, K. B. & Palmer, S. E. The role of spatial composition in preference for color pairs. Poster presentation at the Vision Science Society Annual Meeting, Naples, Florida (May, 2009). [PDF]
Nothelfer, C., DeLong, J. E. & Cutting, J. E. Shot structure in Hollywood film. Talk given at the Leadership Alliance National Symposium Annual Meeting, Hartford, Connecticut (July, 2008).
Gardner, J. S., Fowlkes, C., Nothelfer, C. & Palmer, S. E. Exploring aesthetic principles in spatial composition through stock photography. Poster presentation at the Vision Sciences Society Annual Meeting, Naples, Florida (May, 2008). [PDF]
Skills
Programming
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Matlab & Psychophysics Toolbox, Experiment Builder, R (basic knowledge); HTML
Data Collection
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SPSS, MS Office (Excel, Word, Powerpoint), BioSemi recording software, Brain Vision Analyzer (EEG/ERP); EyeLink eyetracker, Data Viewer (Eyetracking)
Graphics
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Fireworks, Illustrator, Photoshop
2017
Chicago Public Schools
Invited lecturer; taught best practices for data visualization to a data scientist team at CPS.
2017
Evaluating Evidence
Invited lecturer; led a workshop on cleaning and analyzing data in Excel PivotTables for Psychology undergraduate students
2017
Designing Product Interactions
Invited as a guest lecturer for an engineering graduate seminar of 20 students to teach how visual perception and attention influence product interaction design.
Spring 2017
Visual Communication for Persuasion (Kellogg School of Management)
Graduate Teaching Assistant
2017
Advancement of Research Expertise Series
Invited lecturer; led a workshop on Excel PivotTables for Psychology graduate students
Spring 2016
Visual Communication for Persuasion (Kellogg School of Management)
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Winter 2016
Presenting Data & Ideas
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Spring 2015
Visual Communication for Persuasion (Kellogg School of Management)
Graduate Teaching Assistant; led workshop on Excel Pivot Tables
2015
Advancement of Research Expertise Series
Invited lecturer; led a workshop on Excel PivotTables for Psychology graduate students
Winter 2015
The Psychology of Visual Communication
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Fall 2013
Perception
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Spring 2013
Statistical Methods in Psychology
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Teaching
Experience
Undergrad
Research
Assistants
Supervised
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Shane McQuerter, Psychology, UCB, Fall 2010
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Miren Edelstein, Psychology, UCB, Spring 2011
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Sally Bae, Psychology, UCB, Spring - Fall 2011
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Zoe Listernick, Mathematics, NU, Summer 2013 - Spring 2014
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Raymond Dai, Biological Sciences, NU, Summer 2014 - Winter 2015
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Kayla Mines, Science in Education and Social Policy, NU, Summer 2014 - Winter 2015
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Juju Miao, Economics, NU, Summer 2014 - Winter 2016
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Adina Cianciotto, Cognitive Science, NU, Summer 2016 - present
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Matt Hong, Computer Science, NU post-bac, Fall 2017 - Present
Professional
Activities
2017
Vision Science Meets Vis panel
Organizer
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Organized a panel which featured 4 vision science experts at IEEE VIS.
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This purpose of this panel was to survey the modern vision science landscape in order to foster new opportunities for collaboration between visualization researchers and vision scientists.
2017
Vision Science at InfoVis meetup
Organizer
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Organized a meetup which featured 9 vision science and visualization presenters at IEEE VIS.
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The purpose of this meetup was to promote interdisciplinary vision science and visualization research, discuss future collaboration between the two fields, and provide a space for networking.
2016 - 2018
Niles West Mentoring Program
Mentor
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Mentored two Niles West High School students in completing a science fair study and presentation
2014
“Your Brain” Talk Series
Organizer
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Organized three free, public talks about the brain in collaboration with the Illinois Science Council
2013 - Present
Illinois Science Council
Volunteer
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Helped organize & participated in annual fundraiser (3 total); explained how the human visual system works to adult attendees through science demos
2013, 2016
Brain Awareness Day
Volunteer
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Participated in event that engaged K-8 students with interactive activities demonstrating how the brain works.
2011
Honors Thesis Seminar
Panelist
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Spoke to the UCB Honors Thesis Seminar about my experience doing the Senior Honors Thesis
2011
Psychology Research Workshop
Panelist
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Spoke to the undergraduates about my undergraduate and professional research experience in a workshop hosted by the UCB Psychology Student Services Office
2009
Association of Psychology Undergraduates Mentoring Program
Mentor
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Guided a psychology-intended undergraduate through the Psychology department and obtaining research experience
2008 - 2009
Association of Psychology Undergraduates
President
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Facilitated the execution of academic, professional, community service & social activities, and coordinated events with various clubs & organization representatives
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Tripled club funds and number of club events held
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Founded the APU Mentoring Program, which matches Psychology-intended students with undergraduate Psychology students
2008 - 2009
Psychology Student Services
Peer Advisor
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Mentored undergraduate students in finding research and choosing classes
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Led a workshop on obtaining an undergraduate summer research internship and a workshop on the Senior Honors Thesis
Prior Work
Experience
2009-2010
ISL Consulting (now ClearMetrics), San Francisco
Associate Web Producer
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Managed development of websites by working closely with cross-functional team to ensure completion of milestones, creating Drupal and HTML content, and testing all projects’ functionality.
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Supported clients (including Chevron and Questcor Pharmaceuticals) by maintaining websites, and determining and implementing interface changes to increase facilitate easier navigation.