I am a cognitive scientist and philosopher who works on learning. My research focuses especially on perception-based learning, as found in experts from wine tasters to radiologists to bird watchers. I am an Associate Professor of Social Sciences at Minerva University, a new university founded on the principles of the science of learning. Previously, I was also a Director at Minerva Project where I built new, future-proof universities around the world, most recently in Dubai and Mexico City. Prior to Minerva, I was an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia where I live. And before that, I earned my Ph.D. at the University of Toronto. You can hear more about some of my work on NPR/WHYY, or take a look at some of my publications. For fun, I fall off of Moonboards a lot with my 8-year-old.
Common questions about Kevin Connolly, his research on perceptual learning, and his book.
Kevin Connolly is a cognitive scientist and philosopher who studies learning. He is an Associate Professor of Social Sciences at Minerva University. He lives in Philadelphia.
Perceptual learning is long-term change in perception that results from practice or experience. A radiologist sees a tumor in a scan that a novice cannot see. A sommelier tastes distinctions in a wine that others miss. An experienced birder identifies a species from a glimpse. In each case the senses themselves have been trained.
Kevin Connolly researches perception-based learning and expertise. His work examines how training reshapes perception in experts such as wine tasters, radiologists, and bird watchers, and what that means for theories of perception and for the science of learning.
Kevin Connolly is the author of Perceptual Learning: The Flexibility of the Senses, published by Oxford University Press in 2019. The book examines how learning changes perception itself, drawing on cases of expert perceivers.
Kevin Connolly earned his PhD, Philosophy (Cognitive Science) at the University of Toronto. He was then an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania.
Email Kevin Connolly at kevinlconnolly(at)gmail(dot)com