Dr. James Enns


Distinguished University Scholar, Professor

Psychology

Faculty of Arts

Research Themes:  The Communicating Mind and Body

Dr. Enns is a Distinguished University Scholar in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia. As Director of the UBC Vision Lab, a central theme of his research is the role of attention in human vision. This includes studies of how the visual world is represented inside and outside of focused attention, how attention changes the contents of consciousness, how perception changes with development, and how to design visual displays for optimal human performance. He currently serves as Editor for the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, and has served as Associate Editor for the journals Psychological Science, Consciousness and Cognition, and Visual Cognition. His research has been supported by grants from NSERC, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the Australian Research Council, BC Health & Nissan. He has authored textbooks on perception, edited two research volumes on the Development of Attention, and published numerous scientific articles on vision, attention and cognitive science. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2002), a recipient of the Robert Knox Master Teaching Award (2004) and the DO Hebb Distinguished Contribution Award (2013).

Research Interests

The role of attention in human vision.

First Nations land acknowledegement

We acknowledge that UBC’s campuses are situated within the traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh, and in the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples.


UBC Crest The official logo of the University of British Columbia. Urgent Message An exclamation mark in a speech bubble. Caret An arrowhead indicating direction. Arrow An arrow indicating direction. Arrow in Circle An arrow indicating direction. Arrow in Circle An arrow indicating direction. Chats Two speech clouds. Facebook The logo for the Facebook social media service. Information The letter 'i' in a circle. Instagram The logo for the Instagram social media service. External Link An arrow entering a square. Linkedin The logo for the LinkedIn social media service. Location Pin A map location pin. Mail An envelope. Menu Three horizontal lines indicating a menu. Minus A minus sign. Telephone An antique telephone. Plus A plus symbol indicating more or the ability to add. Search A magnifying glass. Twitter The logo for the Twitter social media service. Youtube The logo for the YouTube video sharing service.