Will Whitham, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

A Conversation with Will

Tell me more about yourself

Will Whitham, Ph.D., is a cognitive and comparative psychologist who is interested in studying what is special about human psychology. How is a human mind different from that of animals? What is similar or different across species? Why do the more unique aspects of human cognition, like language, emerge seemingly from nowhere in young humans?

Will uses computerized games to study these questions and more, especially about human and animal learning, memory, attention, and decision-making. He was awarded his Ph.D. after working with preschool children and monkeys at Georgia State University’s Language Research Center, then completed postdocs with Texas A&M University – College Station and UT MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research studying chimpanzees, monkeys, peacocks, and local Texas birds. Will is a native Texan and loves going out with his wife to our zoos, state parks, beaches, and anywhere else with interesting critters.

Educational Background

• Ph.D., Psychology, Georgia State University, 2020
• MA, Psychology, Georgia State University, 2017
• BA, Psychology, University of Alabama, 2014