As a first-generation college student, I set out to become a math teacher – and that’s exactly what I became. There’s nothing better than helping our psychology students get better at statistical reasoning and realize their potential as researchers.
Thomas Faulkenberry Associate Professor
- Alum
A Conversation with Thomas Faulkenberry
What is your current employment/career?
“I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Tarleton State University.”
What do you enjoy most about being an associate professor?
“Such academic jobs come with three primary responsibilities: teaching, research, and service. I enjoy all three! As a first-generation college student, I set out to become a math teacher – and that's exactly what I became, albeit in the psychological sciences. There's nothing better than helping our psychology students get better at statistical reasoning and realize their potential as researchers. Also, I get to do research, and I do lots of it, often with my students. Research has given me the opportunity to travel the world and share new knowledge with new friends from many different countries. Finally, I perform lots of service, from chairing committees on campus to serving as an officer in professional organizations like the Mathematical Association of America and the Southwestern Psychological Association.”
How did your time at East Texas A&M prepare you to be an associate professor?
“The cognition course taught by Dr. Shulan Lu became foundational to my career as a cognitive scientist. In this course, we read a paper about a (then) new technique called “computer mouse tracking” where the basic idea was that one could record the cursor positions of a computer mouse on the screen in real time, and this “track” could then used to measure how cognitive representations changed during decision-making. As part of the course (which was in the summer of 2006), I proposed a study using mouse tracking to capture what happens when people think about numbers. The work from this assignment stayed in the back of my mind for years – eight years later, in 2014, I published one of the first papers in the field of numerical cognition to use mouse tracking as a technique. Since then, I've published many studies using this technique, and even edited a special issue of the Journal of Numerical Cognition devoted to its use. It is one of the things I'm best known for as a scientist, and it all came from reading a single paper in that course!.”
What advice do you have for students?
“Like many schools in the East Texas A&M System (my own included!), East Texas A&M University provides students with an excellent opportunity for personal growth. The psychology faculty includes some world-class researchers and many excellent teachers. Get to know them outside of class – it is through these serendipitous moments that new ideas happen, and seemingly unrelated conversations can generate opportunities for collaboration on new projects.”
Educational Background
- Ph.D., Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University-Commerce(now East Texas A&M University), 2010
- MS, Mathematics, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, 2002
- BS, Mathematics, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, 2000