Since Fall 2006 I have been an assistant professor in the Psychology Department at California State University, Fullerton. My research interests are directed toward learning how organisms perceive and interpret the world. I have had the unique opportunity to study visual recognition using a variety of techniques. In one area of research, I have explored the role of surface properties in object recognition. People find it more difficult to recognize faces shown in reverse contrast (e.g., a photo negative) than when shown with normal contrast. My colleagues and I have found that surface pigmentation is a significant contributing factor in the contrast reversal effect, and that this effect is found for categories of objects other than faces (Vuong, Peissig, Harrison, & Tarr, 2005; pdf). This research suggests that surface characteristics are an integral part of the object representation. In another line of research, I am studying issues related to visual expertise, object familiarity, and categorization in both a human and animal model. Finally, Michal Tarr and I are using our own database of faces to test how disguises affect recognition (Peissig, Cheng, & Tarr, in preparation).