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Nurit Gronau, Associate Professor

Prof. Nurit Gronau
Contact Info

The Open University of Israel Psychology Department One University Road, P.O.B. 808 Ra’anana 4353701, Israel
Office:972-9-778-1468 Fax:972-9-778-0632 Email:nuritgro@openu.ac.il

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1998 – 2004
Ph.D., Cognitive Psychology, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem
1995 – 1997
M.A. (magna cum laude), Neuropsychology, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem
1992 – 1994
B.A. (magna cum laude), Psychology & Musicology, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem
2017-present
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology and Education, The Open University of Israel.
2010-2016
Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology and Education, The Open University of Israel.
2008-2009
Visiting faculty member lecturer, Department of Psychology and Education, The Open University of Israel.
2004-2007
Post-doctoral fellow, Harvard Medical School and Martinos Center for Neuroimaging at Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA

2015 – 2020

Vision at a glance: the role of perceptual, conceptual, and task-relevant factors in stimulus Competition.
The Israel Science Foundation (ISF).

2011 – 2015

Effects of attention and visual context on perception and memory of real-world Objects.
The Israel Science Foundation (ISF).

2009 – 2011

The role of global contextual factors in visual object perception.
Young Investigator Research Grant, The National Institute for Psychobiology in Israel.

2009 – 2010

Contextual and functional associations reduce competition between unattended objects.
The Open University Research Fund.

2004 – 2005
Fulbright Grant for Post-Doctoral studies
2004 – 2005
Hebrew University Fellowship for Post-Doctoral studies
2000 – 2003
Rector Excellency Fellowship for PhD
1996
Rector Prize for M.A.
1995 – 1996
Psychology Department Excellency Scholarship for M.A.
1992 – 1994
Dean's list

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Shoval, R., Gronau, N., & Makovski, T. (2022). Massive Visual Long-Term Memory is Largely Dependent on Meaning.‏ 
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review (early online publication)https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-022-02193-y

Gronau, N. (2021). To Grasp the World at a Glance: The Role of Attention in Visual and Semantic Associative Processing. Journal of Imaging, 7, 191. https://doi.org/10.3390/jimaging7090191

Avital-Cohen, R. & Gronau, N. (2021). The asymmetric mixed-category advantage in visual working memory: An attentional, not perceptual (face-specific) account. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 47(6), 852-868. https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000921  

Gronau, N., (2020). Vision at a glance: the role of attention in processing object-to-object categorical relations. Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, 82, 671-688. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-019-01940-z

Nussinson, R., Elias, Y., Mentser, S., Bar-Anan, Y., & Gronau, N. (2019). Bi-directional effects of stimulus verticality and its construal level. Social Psychology, 50, 162-173. doi: https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000371

Gronau, N (2017). The evolvement of discrete representations from continuous stimulus properties: a possible overarching principle of cognition. Commentary on “From ‘sense of number’ to ‘sense of magnitude’ – The role of continuous magnitudes in numerical cognition”, Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 40. doi:10.1017/S0140525X16002314.​

Delhaye, E., Tibon, R., Gronau, N., Levy, D., & Bastin, C. (2017). Misrecollection prevents older adults from benefitting from semantic relatedness of the memoranda in associative memory. Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition. DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2017.1358351 

Gronau, N., and Izoutcheev, A. (2017).  The necessity of visual attention to scene categorization: dissociating ‘task-relevant’ and ‘task-irrelevant’ scene distractors. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000365

Gronau, N., Izoutcheev, A., Nave, T., & Henik, A. (2017). Counting distance: effects of egocentric distance on numerical perception. Plos ONE, 12(4): e0174772. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0174772.

Bridger, E.K., Kursawe, A., Bader, R., Tibon, R., Gronau, N., Levy, D.L, & Mecklinger, A. (2017). Age effects on associative memory for novel picture pairings. Brain Research, 1664,102 115, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2017.03.031

Gabay, S., Kalanthroff, E., Henik, A., & Gronau, N. (2016). Conceptual size representation in ventral visual cortex. Neuropsychologia, 81, 198–206 . http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.12.029

Gronau, N., & Shachar, M. (2015). Contextual Consistency Facilitates Long-Term Memory of Perceptual Detail in Barely Seen Images. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 41(4), 1095–1111. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000071

Gronau, N., Elber, L., Satran, S., Breska, A., & Ben-Shakhar, G. (2015). Retroactive memory interference: A potential countermeasure technique against  psychophysiological knowledge detection methods. Biological Psychology, 106, 68-78.doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2015.02.002.

Tibon, R., Gronau, N., Scheuplein, AL., Mecklinger, A., & Levy, D (2014). Associative recognition processes are modulated by the semantic unitizability of memoranda. Brain and Cognition, 92, 19–31.

Gronau, N. & Shachar, M. Contextual Integration of Visual Objects Necessitates Attention (2014). Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, 76(3), 695-714, DOI: 10.3758/s13414-013-0617-8.

Breska, A., Zaidenberg, D., Gronau, N., & Ben-Shakhar, G. (2014). Psychophysiological detection of concealed information shared by groups: An empirical study of the searching CIT. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 20(2), 136–146. DOI: 10.1037/xap0000015.

Gabay, S., Leibovich, T., Henik, A., & Gronau, N. (2013). Size before Numbers: Conceptual Size Primes Numerical Value. Cognition, 129 (1), 18-23.

Breska, A., Ben-Shakhar, G., & Gronau, N. (2012). Searching for unknown concealed information: Algorithms for the detection of concealed knowledge among groups when the critical information is not available. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 18(3), 292-300.

Gronau, N., Cohen, A., & Ben-Shakhar, G. (2009). Distractor interference in focused attention tasks is not mediated by attention capture. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 62(9), 1685-1695.

Meijer, E.H., Verschuere, B., Vrij, A., Merckelbach, H., Smulders, F., Leal, S., Ben-Shakhar, G., Granhag, P.A., Gamer, M., Gronau, N., Vossel, G., Crombez, G., & Spence, S. (2009). A call for evidence-based security tools. Open Access Journal of Forensic Psychology, 1, 1-4.

Gronau, N., Neta, M., & Bar, M. (2008). Integrated contextual representation for objects’ identities and their locations. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20(3), 371–388.

Aminoff, E., Gronau, N., & Bar, M. (2007).  The parahippocampal cortex mediates spatial and non-spatial associations. Cerebral Cortex, 27, 1493-1503.

Gronau, N., Sequerra, E., Cohen, A., & Ben-Shakhar, G. (2006). The effect of novel distractors on focused-attention tasks: A cognitive-psychophysiological approach. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 13(4), 570-575.

Fenske, M.J., Aminoff, E., Gronau, N., & Bar, M. (2006). Top-down facilitation of visual object recognition: Object-based and context-based contributions.  Progress in Brain Research, 155, 3-21.

Gronau, N., Ben-Shakhar, G., & Cohen, A. (2005). Behavioral and physiological measures in the detection of concealed information. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(1), 147-158.

Gronau, N., Cohen, A., & Ben-Shakhar, G. (2003). Dissociations of personally-significant and task-relevant distractors inside and outside the focus of attention: A combined behavioral and psychophysiological study. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 132(4), 512–529.

Ben-Shakhar, G., Gronau, N., & Elaad, E. (1999). Leakage of relevant information to innocent examinees in the GKT: an attempt to reduce false-positive outcomes by introducing target stimuli. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(5), 651-660. 

Gronau, N. & Frost, R. (1997). Prelexical phonologic computation in deep orthography: Evidence from backward masking in Hebrew. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 4(1), 107.

Gronau N. (2015). Brain and Cognition, a Student's Guide (2nd Edition). The Open University of Israel, Raanana (in Hebrew).

Zakai, D. & Gronau, N. (2010). Cognitive Psychology (Part II): Perception and Cognitive Neuropsychology, The Open University of Israel, Raanana (in Hebrew).

Gronau, N., Hariston, I., Lavie, R., & Raanan, Z. (1998). Foundations of Behavioral Neuroscience. Text for CD-ROM directed by U. Hasson & Y. Shavit, The Open University of Israel, Tel-Aviv.

Izoutcheev, A., Yovel, G., & Gronau, N. The role of task relevance and of attentional control settings in processing multiple stimuli simultaneously. The Psychonomic Society Annual meeting, Boston, November, 2016.

Goldberg, R., Tzelgov, J. & Gronau, N. The body as a reference point in counting. The Psychonomic Society Annual meeting, Boston, November, 2016.

Gronau, N., Izoutcheev, A., Ravreby, I., & Barkai.E. Vision at a Glance:  Schematic Knowledge Enhances Memory for Both ‘Gist’ and Visual Detail Information Following a Brief Glimpse. The Psychonomic Society International meeting, Granada, Spain., May, 2016.

Gronau, N., Izoutcheev, A., Ravreby, I., & Barkai.E. When you know it was there - you remember how it looked: effects of semantic context on memory for 'gist' and for visual details.  The 16th Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, St. Pete, Florida, May 2016. Journal of Vision. 2016; 16(12):367-367. doi: 10.1167/16.12.367.

Ben-Shakhar, G. Gronau, N., Elber, L., Satran, S., & Breska, A. Retroactive memory interference: A potential countermeasure technique against psychophysiological knowledge detection methods. The 27th Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, NY, May, 2015.

Gronau, N., Amar, R., Izoutcheev, A., Nave, T., & Ravravi, I. The necessity of attention to scene ‘gist’ perception: the role of local-global factors and of task relevance. The 15th Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, St. Pete, Florida, May 2015.

Benoni, H., Yurowitz,R., Abogov, Y., Shalev-Mevorach, L., & Gronau, N. Stimuli-intensive environments may (contraintuitively) decrease distraction in ADHD. Israeli Society for Cognitive Psychology, Acco, Israel, February, 2015.

Gronau, N. & Shachar, M. Reduced competition among contextually associated objects enhances detail memory for briefly glimpsed images. The 14th Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, St. Pete, Florida, May 2014.

Gronau, N. Contextual associations facilitate long term memory for visual details of merely glimpsed scenes. The Psychonomic Society annual meeting, Toronto, Canada, November, 2013.

Gronau, N. The Necessity of Attention to Visual Categorization of Real World Objects. The Psychonomic Society annual meeting, Minneapolis, MS, November, 2012..

Gronau, N., Rosenberg, Y., Shachar, M. Visual object categorization: is it indeed an attention-free process? The 12th Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, Naples, Florida, May 2012. Journal of Vision, 13, 2012 12(9): 940; doi:10.1167/12.9.940.s

Gronau, N. The Necessity of Attention to Visual Categorization of Real World Objects. The Psychonomic Society annual meeting, Minneapolis, MS, November, 2012..

Rosenberg, Y., Shachar, M., Gronau, N. Visual object categorization: is it indeed an attention-free process? The 20th Annual Meeting of the Israel Society for Neuroscience, Eilat, December, 2011. Journal of Molecular Neuroscience, DOI 10.1007/s12031-011-9682-4.

Gronau, N. & Shachar, M. Rosenberg, Y. Contextual associations facilitate long-term memory of visual details in barely seen pictures. The 11th Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, Naples, Florida, May 2011. Journal of Vision,. 23, 2011 11(11): 1127.

Shachar, M., Rosenberg, Y., & Gronau, N. The role of contextual associations in the encoding of briefly glimpsed scenes: memory for the gist or for the details? The 19th Annual Meeting of the Israel Society for Neuroscience, Eilat, December, 2010. ​

Kron, A., Cohen, A., & Gronau, N. Differential effects of cognitive load on emotional experience and emotion recognition. Empathy: Developmental, Social and Biological Perspectives, An International Research Workshop, Jerusalem, May, 2010.

Gronau, N. & Shachar, M. Vision at a glance: the role of attention in contextual facilitation of visual object recognition. The 10th Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, Naples, Florida, may 2010, journal of vision, august 1, 2010 10(7): 1261.

Gronau, N. Visual recognition: perceiving the 'gist' or the details in multiple object displays? The Psychonomic Society annual meeting, Boston, MA, Novermber, 2009.

Gronau, N. Visual recognition is guided by expectations about object identity and location. ICNC international workshop on Dynamic Perception, Communication and Action, Jerusalem, June, 2008.

Gronau, N. & Bar, M. Integrated Contextual Representation for Objects’ Identities and their Locations. The Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, SD, CA, November, 2007.

Gronau, N., Neta, M., & Bar, M. Visual associative processing is mediated by unified representations for semantic and spatial knowledge. Tenth International Conference on Cognitive and Neural Systems, Boston, MA, May, 2006.

Gronau, N., Neta, M., & Bar, M. Visual Associative processing is mediated by representations that bind semantic and spatial information. Cognitive Neuroscience Society annual meeting, SF, CA, April, 2006.

Gronau, N., Neta, M., & Bar, M. The effect of spatial and semantic contextual information on visual object recognition. Cognitive Neuroscience Society annual meeting, NY, NY, April, 2005.

Ben-Shakhar, G., Gronau, N. & Cohen, A. Behavioral and physiological measures in the detection of guilty knowledge. The 43rd annual meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research, Chicago, Ill. October, 2003. Psychophysiology, 40, S10.

Gronau, N., Cohen, A., & Ben Shakhar, G. Significance and Task-relevance: implications for the spotlight of attention. The 13th conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCOP), Granada, September 2003.

Cohen, A., Gronau, N. & Ben Shakhar, G. The role of personal importance in attention capture:  A combined behavioral and psychophysiological study.  The 43nd Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Orlando, November, 2002.

Gronau, N., Cohen, A., & Ben Shakhar, G. Does personally significant information capture attention? On the dissociation between endogenous and exogenous factors of visual attention. The Israeli Psychological Association.  Jerusalem, July, 2002.

Ben-Shakhar, G., Gronau, N. & Elaad, E. Effects of exposure of relevant information to innocent subjects on the efficiency of the GKT: An attempt to reduce false-positive outcomes by introducing target stimuli. The 37th annual meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research, Cape Cod, Mass., October, 1997, Psychophysiology, 34, S20.

Fields of Research

(see more @ The Visual Cognition Lab: https://www.nuritgronau.ouproj.org.il/)

Visual attention

Visual object recognition, Visual context

Visual memory

Interactions between object and numeral perception

Knowledge detection of concealed information

 

Teaching Experience

 

Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience
Brain and Cognition
Advanced Research Methods in Psychology