Dr. L. Mark Carrier

Dr. L. Mark Carrier earned his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of California, San Diego and is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills where he has been since 1998.  In addition to teaching and research, Dr. Carrier was Chairperson of the Psychology Department, served as Co-Team Leader of the American Psychological Association/National Institute of General Medical Sciences training program for underrepresented students, participated as a member of the university's first strategic planning committee, served as the  Director of Assessment and has been the Coordinator of the Social and Behavioral Sciences program. He was awarded the Outstanding Professor Award at CSUDH and was a Top 10 Finalist for the National Society of Collegiate Scholars' Inspire Integrity Awards in 2011.  From 2012-2014, he was the Coordinator for CSUDH's Student Research Day.

With a background in cognitive psychology, with specific training and/or expertise in human multitasking, he does research into the Psychology of Media and Technology and publishes work in scientific journals related to psychological studies. The digital revolution in everyday life has led to frequent use of personal technology. This technology provides software and applications that allow multitasking. Multitasking is further encouraged by high interest levels in media content and frequent interruptions from alerts and notifications from devices. Several questions arise from high levels of this "media multitasking." Does media multitasking affect our cognitive processes? Does media multitasking make us better multitaskers? How does media multitasking affect other ongoing tasks? Several of his recent publications have been aimed at providing data that relate to these questions. He's also studied differences in offline and online behavior, how thinking and technology interact, social media, and culture and technology.

The research laboratories—the George Marsh Applied Cognition (GMAC) Laboratory and the CSUDH Brain Imaging Laboratory—are made up of several doctoral-level researchers, Masters students, undergraduate students, and other volunteers. The research techniques and tools that are used include laboratory-based psychology experiments, online anonymous questionnaires, and brain imaging. The GMAC Laboratory provides training in biomedical and psychophysiological research, and was founded by Dr. Carrier and colleagues Dr. Nancy A. Cheever and Dr. Larry D. Rosen with goals of enhancing research experiences and preparing students for graduate school. Under the leadership of Drs. Carrier, Cheever and Rosen, all undergraduate, graduate and faculty participants in the lab are true colleagues and collaborators. Students are required to participate in Student Research Day, matched to a mentor, and encouraged to participate in other scholarly projects. Students, frequently, are co-authors on journal articles. In addition to being trained as researchers, in preparation for an advanced degree program, students are taught how to present their research to the media.

Dr. Carrier co-authored a book about educating youth titled, "Rewired: Understanding the iGeneration and the Way They Learn" and he co-authored "iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession with Technology and Overcoming Its Hold on Us." In "iDisorder," Dr. Carrier and his colleagues described different ways in which the overuse and abuse of personal technology can affect how people think, feel, and behave. He co-edited "The Wiley Handbook of Psychology, Technology, and Society" with his research colleagues in the Communications Department and Psychology Department. His book, "From Smartphones to Social Media: How Technology Affects our Brains and Behavior"—a reference book about the psychology and neuroscience of technology for young adults—is scheduled to be published October, 2018. Students from the George Marsh Lab were involved in researching, preparing and—in some cases--co-authoring these texts.