Melissa J. Allman
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Assistant Professor DOB: 24th January 1979
206 Giltner Hall, 293 Farm Lane
Department of Psychology, and Neuroscience program
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI, MI 48824
UK citizen, US permanent resident
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B.Sc. (Hons.) Psychology (2:1), University of Nottingham, UK (1997-2001)
Ph.D. Psychology (Behavioral Neuroscience), School of Psychology, Cardiff University, UK (2001-2005).
Title: Analysis of the nature of the representations that mediate acquired equivalence and distinctiveness. Supervisor: Professor R. C. Honey.
Research Associate, Psychology (Behavioral Neuroscience), Cardiff University (2005).
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Pediatrics, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD (2005-2010), USA.
At: The Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI), Department of Behavioral Psychology & Neurobehavioral Research Unit (NBRU), Baltimore, MD.
Research Scientist, KKI, Department of Behavioral Psychology & Neurobehavioral Research Unit (2010-2012)
Visiting Scholar (Cognitive & Neural Timing Systems Laboratory - Dr. Warren H. Meck), Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC (March 2010 & April 2011).
TEACHING (Department of Psychology, Michigan State University)
Undergraduate:
Introduction to Psychology (Honors Class) – PSY 101-005H (Fall 2012)
– PSY 101-004H (Spring 2013)
– PSY 101-004H (Spring 2014)
– PSY 101-003H (Spring 2015)
– PSY 101-004H (Spring 2016)
This course provides a basic but comprehensive introduction to the main branches of psychology for honors students. Uniquely, it is taught in a modular topic format (addiction; do animals think like us?; how other people influence us; and consciousness and mental illness).
Neuroscience of Child Development – PSY 493 (Spring 2013)
This advanced writing course examines how the brain and mind develop in the womb and during the first five years of life.
PUBLICATIONS in chronological order
Empirical papers
1) Allman, M. J., Ward-Robinson, J. & Honey, R. C. (2004). Associative change in the representations acquired during conditional discriminations: Further analysis of the nature of conditional learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 30, 118-128.
2) Allman, M. J. & Honey, R. C. (2005). Associative change in connectionist networks: An addendum. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 31, 363-367.
3) Allman, M. J. & Honey, R. C. (2006). The effects of simultaneous compound exposure on configural learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 32, 307-313.
4) DeLeon, I. G., Frank, M. A., Gregory, M. K. & Allman, M. J. (2009). On the correspondence between preference assessment outcomes and progressive-ratio schedule assessments of stimulus value. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 42, 729-733.
5) Edgin, J.O., Mason, G., Allman, M. J., Capone, G., DeLeon, I., Maslen, C., Reeves, R.H., Sherman, S., and & Nadel L. (2010). Development and validation of the Arizona Cognitive test battery for Down Syndrome. Journal of Neurodevelopmental disorders, 2, 149-164.
6) Allman, M. J., DeLeon, I. G., Cataldo, M. F., Holland, P. C., & Johnson, A. W. (2010). Learning processes affecting human decision-making: An assessment of reinforcer-selective Pavlovian-to-Instrumental transfer following reinforcer devaluation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 36, 402-408.
7) DeLeon, I. G., Gregory, M. K., Frank-Crawford, M. A., Allman, M. J., Wilke, A. E., Carreau-Webster, A. B., & Triggs, M. M. (2011). Examination of the influence of contingency on changes in reinforcer value. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44, 543-558.
8) Allman, M. J., DeLeon, I. G., & Wearden, J. H. (2011). Psychophysical assessment of timing in individuals with autism. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 116, 165-178.
In preparation/under review
Allman, M. J., Goldberg, M. C., Hagopian, L., Triggs, M. A., Frank-Crawford, M. A., Mostofsky, S. H., Denckla, M. B., & DeLeon, I. G. (2016) Boys with high-functioning autism ‘value’ the opportunity to engage in activities with their mothers as much as solitary activities. Autism: International Journal of Research and Practice, accepted pending minor revision.
Miller, J.R., DeLeon, I.G., Toole, L.M., Lieving, G.A., & Allman, M. J. (2016). Contingency enhances sensitivity to loss in a gambling task with diminishing returns. The Psychological Record, under review.
Allman, M. J., Joel, S. E., Huck, J. T., Loomis, F. P., Meck W.H., & Denckla, M. B. Neuroimaging time estimation in children with and without autism, in prep.
Pathak, A., Huck, J. T., Loomis, F. P. & Allman, M. J. Individual differences in the performance of children with and without autism during a time perception task, in prep.
Review articles
11) Allman, M. J. (2011). Deficits in temporal processing associated with autistic disorder. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 5:2.
12) Allman, M. J., & Meck, W. H. (2012). Pathophysiological distortions in time perception and timed performance. Brain, 135, 656-677.
13) Allman, M. J., Pelphrey, K. A., & Meck, W. H. (2012). Developmental neuroscience of time and number: Implications for autism and other neurodevelopmental disabilities. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 6:7
14) Allman, M. J., Teki, S., Griffiths, T. D. & Meck, W. H. (2014). “Properties of the internal clock”: Cortico-striatal and cortico-cerebellar contributions to first- and second-order principles of subjective time. Annual Review of Psychology, 65: 743-771.
15) Allman, M. J. & Mareschal D. (2016). Possible evolutionary and developmental mechanisms of mental time travel (and implications for autism). Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, in press.
Book chapters
16) Allman, M. J., & DeLeon, I. G. (2009). No time like the present: Time perception in autism. In A.C. Giordano & V. A. Lombardi (Eds.), Causes and risks for Autism, pp. 65-76. New York: Nova Science Publishers.
17) DeLeon, I. G., Allman, M. J., Richman, D., Triggs, M., Frank, M., Carreau, A., & Vartoomian, S. (2011). Behavioral disturbance related to autistic symptomology. In J. Mulick & E. Mayville (Eds.), Behavioral foundations of effective autism treatment. Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY: Sloan Publishing.
18) Allman, M. J., Yin, B. & Meck, W. H. (2014). Time in the psychopathological mind. In D. Lloyd & V. Arstila (Eds.), Subjective Time: An anthology of the philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience of temporality, pp. 637-54, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
19) Allman, M. J., & Falter, C. M. (2015). Abnormal timing and time perception in autism spectrum disorder? A review of the evidence. In, A.Vatakis & M. J. Allman (Eds.). Time Distortions in Mind – Temporal Processing in Clinical Populations, pp. 37-56. Brill: Leiden, The Netherlands.
In preparation/under review
*Allman, M. J. (2016). Clinical aspects of Mental Time Travel. In, F. Grouzet (Ed.). Oxford Handbook of Psychology of Time Travel and Temporality, in preparation
books
A.Vatakis & M. J. Allman, Eds. (2015). Time Distortions in Mind – Temporal Processing in Clinical Populations. Brill: Leiden, The Netherlands. ISBN-13: 9789004230644
rESEARCH SUPPORT
Title: Time Perception and Timed Performance in Autism (Direct costs $497,074)
Sponsor: NIH/NICHD
ID#: R00 HD058698
Role and Effort: Principal Investigator
Dates: September 2103-August 2016
Title: Time Perception and Timed Performance in Autism (Direct costs $179,717)
Sponsor: NIH/NICHD
ID#: K99 HD058698
Role and Effort: Principal Investigator
Dates: September 2009 – February 2013.
Title: Functional Neuroimaging of Time Perception in Children with and without Autism ($7,086).
Sponsor: NIH-NCRR/Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (Hopkins/NBRU)
ID#: UL1 RR 025005
Role: Co-Investigator (could not be named PI as non-Hopkins faculty)
Dates: April 2011 – April 2012.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
· Grant Reviewer, Israel Science Foundation, 2009.
· Review Editor, Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 2011-Present.
· Ad-hoc Reviewer:
American Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Autism: International Journal of Research and Practice
Cognitive Neuropsychology
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Journal of Neuroscience
Neurospsychologia
Psychiatry Research
Public Library of Science - PLoS ONE
Timing and Time Perception
Visual Cognition
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
Association for Behavior Analysis International (2005-2011)
Maryland Association for Behavior Analysis (2005-2011)
Eastern Psychological Association (2005-2011)
Society for Neuroscience (2006-Present; not continuous)
International Society of Autism Research (2009-Present)
Cognitive Development Society (2011- Present; not continuous)
HONORS AND AWARDS
· Grindley Grant (Travel Assistance) - £400 (2003)
· NIH Young Investigator – K99 (2009)
· Winner, Presidential Essay Prize, Association for Behavioral Analysis International (ABAI) — Publication credit:
Allman, M. J. (2009). The human response to climate change and the role of behavior analysis. Inside Behavior Analysis, 1 (1), 10-11.
MEDIA INTEREST Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI)—‘Children with autism get lost in time, imaging study says’. Highlighted research findings presented at the annual meeting for the Society for Neuroscience, 2012.
INVITED TALKS
1) Panel discussant: How to develop an interdisciplinary program of research.
Interdisciplinary Training Conference on Developmental Disabilities, National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Annapolis, MD (March 2010).
2) Sense of time in individuals with autism: A new perspective on this developmental
disorder. Systems and Integrative Neuroscience Brown Bag Lecture Series,
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, NC (April 2010).
3) How time is represented in the brain: Implications for autism and psychiatry.
Translational Research Series, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center, PA (June 2011).
4) What individuals with autism reveal about their experience and sensitivity to time.
COST-Action TIMELY Satellite Meeting, European Brain and Behavior Society,
Seville, Spain (September 2011).
5) The development of timing and time perception during infancy and childhood, and its
potential correspondence to autism spectrum disorder. Laboratory for Child
Development, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins
University. (February 2012).
6)”Tick-tock goes the clock”: Timing and time perception in autism spectrum disorder.
Department Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL. (CME
credit) (March, 2012).
7) Differences in keeping time in autism spectrum disorder. Department of Psychology,
Michigan State University, MI (March, 2012).
8) Time and time perception in the context of psychiatry: Past, present and future.
Training school in Temporal processing in clinical populations, COST-Action
TIMELY, Thessaloniki, Greece (March 2012).
9) Time and autism spectrum disorder. Training school in Temporal processing in
clinical populations, COST-Action TIMELY, Thessaloniki, Greece (March 2012).
10) Developmental psychology of timing and time perception: Implications for
developmental disabilities. Cognitive Systems Research Institute, University of
Athens, Greece (April 2012).
11) Why the study of time appears relevant our understanding of autism. Child Study
Center, Yale University, CT (June 2012).
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS & PUBLISHED ABSTRACTS
1) Allman, M. J., Ward-Robinson, J., & Honey, R. C. (2003). Associative change in the representations acquired during conditional discriminations. Paper presented at the Associative Learning Symposium VII. Gregynog, Wales.
2) Allman, M. J., & Honey, R. C. (2004). Configural learning during stimulus preexposure. Paper presented at the Associative Learning Symposium VIII. Gregynog, Wales.
3) Allman, M. J., Ward-Robinson, J., & Honey, R. C. (January 2004). A connectionist analysis of configural learning. Poster presented at the Experimental Psychology Society conference, London.
4) Allman, M. J., & Honey, R. C. (2005). A shift from simple conjunctive to more synthetic representations with extended training. Poster presented at the Associative Learning Symposium IX. Gregynog, Wales.
5) DeLeon, I. G., Gregory, M. K., Lieving, G., Allman, M. J., Toole, L. M., & Richman, D. (August 2006). Applied explorations on the relation between effort and relative stimulus value. In W. W. Fisher (Chair), Applications of Choice Principles. Symposium presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, New Orleans, LA.
6) Allman, M. J., DeLeon, I. G., Gregory, M., & Frank, M. A. (2007). Examining shifts in demand curves as a function of intervening exposure to varying earning requirements. Paper presented at Association of Applied Behavior Analysis 33rd Convention, San Diego, CA.
7) Allman, M. J., Schlund, M. W., & Cataldo, M. F. (2007). Inference and derived relational behavior in the human precuneus. Poster presented at 37th annual meeting for the Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, CA.
8) Allman, M. J., Schlund, M. W., & Cataldo, M. F. (2007). Does history matter? Neuroimaging equivalence relations when base relations were reinforced or paired. Paper presented at Association of Applied Behavior Analysis 33rd Convention, San Diego, CA. Invited chair of paper session.
9) Allman, M. J., Schlund, M. W., & Cataldo, M. F. (2007). A role of the human precuneus in emergent learning. Poster presented at the 10th annual meeting of the Maryland Association of Applied Behavior Analysis, Baltimore, MD.
10) Edgin, J. O., Nadel. L., Allman, M. J., Capone, G., DeLeon, I., Maslen, C., Sherman, S., and Reeves, R.H. (2008). Preliminary results from the development and validation of a neuropsychological battery for genetic studies in Down Syndrome. Paper presented at the Centre for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona, Spain.
11) Allman, M. J., DeLeon, I. G., & Cataldo, M. F. (2009). The perception of time in Autism. Poster presented at the 12th Annual Maryland Association for Behavior Analysis Conference, Baltimore, MD.
12) Allman, M. J., DeLeon, I. G., & Cataldo, M. F. (2009). Temporal Bisection in Individuals with Autism. Poster presented at the Intellectual Developmental Disabilities Research Committee, Mid-Atlantic Consortium Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.
13) Allman, M. J., DeLeon, I. G., & Cataldo, M. F. (2009). Time Perception in Individuals with Autism. Poster presented at the Gatlinburg Conference on Research & Theory in Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities, New Orleans, LA.
14) Allman, M. J., Johnson, A. W., DeLeon, I. G., Holland, P. C., & Cataldo, M. F. (2009). Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT) in humans following reinforcer devaluation. Paper presented at the Association for Behavior Analysis 35th Convention, Phoenix, AZ.
15) Allman, M. J., Wearden, J. H., & DeLeon (2009). Do individuals with autism experience difficulties in perceiving the passage of time? Results from a temporal bisection procedure. Paper presented at the Association for Behavior Analysis 35th Convention, Phoenix, AZ.
16) Allman, M. J., Joel, S. E., Denckla, M B., Cataldo, M. F., & Meck, W. H. (2011). Neural differences revealed by fMRI during a temporal discrimination procedure in children with autism. Poster presented at the 43rd Meeting of the European Brain and Behavior Society, Seville, Spain.
17) Allman, M. J., Joel, S. E., Meck, W.H., Pekar, J. J., & Denckla, M. B. (Nov 2011). Activation of cerebellar and interval timing circuitry during timing short and long durations in children with autism. Poster presented at the workshop on ‘Methods for Studying Human Cerebellar Structure and Function’, at the 41st annual meeting for the Society for Neuroscience Satellite Symposium, Baltimore, MD.