Robert Kuzendorf

Robert Kunzendorf, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus

College
College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Department
Psychology

Expertise

Cognitive psychology, statistics, psychology of consciousness, abnormal psychology

Research Interests

Visual imagination, psychology of consciousness, and existential psychology.

Since retiring in 2014, Professor Emeritus Kunzendorf has published his sixth book—"On the evolution of conscious sensation, conscious imagination, and consciousness of self"; he has become incoming editor of the APA journal Psychology of Consciousness; and he has been writing [songs that are informed by his past research on symbolic images and existential issues] (https://songs-by-bo-k.com).

Education

  • Other, (1994), Cambridge Hospital - Cambridge, MA
  • Other: Clinical Assessment, (1993), Boston University Psychology Department - Boston, MA
  • Other: Advanced Psychopathology, (1992), Boston University Psychology Department - Boston, MA
  • Ph D: Cognitive Psychology, (1979), University of Virginia - Charlottesville, VA
  • BA: Psychology, (1973), Yale University - New Haven, CT

Biosketch

Robert Kunzendorf, Ph.D. has published 6 books and over 100 articles. He has co-edited the journal "Imagination, Cognition, and Personality", and is incoming editor of the APA journal "Psychology of Consciousness".

Selected Awards and Honors

  • Who's Who Among America's Teachers (six-time honoree), Teaching
  • Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare
  • Who's Who in Science and Engineering

Selected Publications

  • Kunzendorf, R.G. (UMass Lowell) (2017). On the evolution of conscious sensation, conscious imagination, and consciousness of self [book] (pp. 128). Routledge
  • Kunzendorf, R.G. (UMass Lowell) (2015). Existential authenticity: exploratory factor analyses. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 35 413-425.
  • Kunzendorf, K.G. (UMass Lowell) (2015). Psychological subscales of liberalism and conservatism, as related to political party, race, education, religion, geographic region, and gender. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 35 84-103.
  • Kunzendorf, R.G. (UMass Lowell) (2015). The core metaphysical foundations of Chrdistian conservatism and areligious liberalism vs. the reversible moral perspectives of areligious conservatism and Christian liberalism. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 35 292-305.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Ejaife, L., Petrychova, K. (2014). Differing psychological definitions of liberalism and conservatism: Their statistical association with personality and racism. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 34 117-131.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Savage, R., Doherty, K., Smith, C., Powell, R., Belliveau, D., Erickson, G. (2014). Dream Depictions of the 'Unperceivable' Object of Emotional Loss. International Journal of Dream Research, 7 148-152.
  • Kunzendorf, R.G. (UMass Lowell) (2014). Forced-choice false recognition controlling for response bias correlates with dissociative amnesia controlling for imagery, but not with image vividness controlling for dissociation. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 34 218-229.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Dwyer, N., Foran, M., Pagan, A., Giuseppe, A., Milligan, B. (2014). Heterarchical Versus Hierarchical Modes of Imageless Thinking. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 33 405-422.
  • Kunzendorf, R.G. (UMass Lowell) (2014). Individual differences in deductive logic, abductive logic, and cognitive styles. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 34 360-377.
  • Kunzendorf, R. (2014). Phenomenal Yellow from Rotated Red and Green: Retinal Qualia Versus Emergent Cortical Qualia. Psychology of Consciousness, 1 320-328.
  • Salzman, J.P., Kunzendorf, R., Saunders, E., Hulihan, D. (2014). The Primary Attachment Style Questionnaire: A Brief Measure for Assessing Six Primary Attachment Styles Before and After Age Twelve. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 33(1-2) 113 - 149.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Veatch, J.W. (2013). Envisioning the Dream through Art and Science [book]. Baywood Publishing
  • Kunzendorf, R., Barrett, D., McNamara, P. (2012). Depictions of Dreams. Encyclopedia of Sleep and Dreams. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishers,, 1 195-199.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Garvin, N. (2012). Differentiating Falsely Recognized Faces from Incompletely Remembered Faces. Psychological reports, 110(3).
  • Kunzendorf, R., Lyman, S.S., Sousa, B., Hilly, E. (2012). Imageless Spatial and Temporal Rules can be Tested and Refined by Constructing Vivid Visual and Auditory Images. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 32((2)) 115-150.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Barrett, D., McNamara, P. (2012). Self-consciousness and Dreaming.Encyclopedia of Sleep and Dreams. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishers, 2 574-575.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Flynn, H., Shedlack, J., Georges, M., Deno, S., Rosa, N., Burns, J. (2010). Depression, unlike Normal Sadness, is Associated with a 'Flatter' Self-perception and a 'Flatter' Phenomenal World. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 30((4)) 447-461.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Sheikh, A.A., Weiner, I.B., Craighead, W.E. (2010). Mental Imagery. Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology, 4th Ed. New York, NY: Wiley,, 3 983-985.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Turgiss, J., Benson, J., Ostler, C., Walsh, E., Sawyer, R., Deschenes, D. (2010). Multiple Styles of Self-control Predict College Students' Alcohol Consumption. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 30((2)) 185-199.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Barrett, D. (2010). The Hypnotic Deactivation of Self-conscious Source Monitoring. Hyponosis and Hypnotherapy (1: pp. 1-14).
  • Kunzendorf, R. (2009). Binocular Perception of an Abstract Multicolored Display through One Red-filtered Eye and One Green-filtered Eye. Perceptual and motor skills, 109(3) 707-717.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Connors, J., Arrecis, C., Farrington, J., Carter, S. (2008). Do Psychologically Autonomous Individuals Behave as if They have Free Will? Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 28((3)) 269-281.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Buker, F. (2008). Should Visual Images be Defined as Depictive Neural Patterns, or as Conscious Sensations Constructed from 'imageless' Visual Thoughts? Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 28((1)) 5-35.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Sheikh, A.A., Sheikh, K.S. (2007). Confronting Death Through Mental and Artistic Imagery. Healing with Death Imagery (pp. 47-65).
  • Kunzendorf, R., Buker, F. (2007). Does Existential Meaning Require Hope, or is Interest Enough? Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 27 233-243.
  • Kunzendorf, R. (2007). Is Binocular Fusion of "Cortical Yellow" An Illusion, Contingent upon Abstraction of Coherent Sensory Information from the Two Eyes? Perceptual and motor skills, 104(1) 298-306.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Barrett, D., McNamara, P. (2007). Symbolic Images in Dreams and Daydreams. The New Science of Dreaming (3: pp. 155-170).
  • Kunzendorf, R., Watson, G., Monroe, L., Tassone, S., Papoutsakis, E., McArdle, E., Gauthier, A. (2007). The Archaic Belief in Dream Visitations as it Relates to 'Seeing Ghosts','Meeting the Lord' as well as 'Encountering Extraterrestrials'. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 27 71-85.
  • Hartmann, E., Kunzendorf, R. (2006). Boundaries and dreams. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 26((1&2)) 101-115.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Leszkiewicz, J., Hamill, K., McAleer, S., Geoffroy, S., Ciampaglia, A., Pereira, D., Brito, C. (2006). Dreaming and daydreaming about dreadful possibilities: Primal fears versus existential fears. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 26 249-257.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Treantafel, N., Taing, B., Flete, A., Savoie, S., Agersea, S., Williams, R. (2006). The sense of self in lucid dreams: 'Self as subject'€ vs. 'self as agent'€ vs. 'self as object'. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 26 303-324.
  • Kunzendorf, R. (2006). Universal repression from consciousness versus abnormal dissociation from self-consciousness. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 29(5) 523-524.
  • Hartmann, E., Kunzendorf, R. (2005). The central image (CI) in recent dreams, dreams that stand out, and earliest dreams: Relationship to boundaries. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 25 383-392.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Deignan, M., Galva, M., Latorre, K., Masotta, E. (2005). The psychological boundaries delineating truth and falsehood. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 25 283-297.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Reynolds, K. (2004). On the cognitive function of visual images and the development of individual differences. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 24 245-257.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Acevedo, J., Barrasso, D., Leger, S., Lima, D., Lynn, C., Williams, S. (2004). The fine line between fantasizing torture and countenancing Abu Ghraib. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 24 301-314.
  • Sheikh, A.A., Kunzendorf, R., Sheikh, K.S. (2003). Healing images: Historical perspective. Healing images: The role of imagination in health. Amityville, NY: Baywood,, 3-26.
  • Sheikh, A.A., Kunzendorf, R., Sheikh, K.S., Baer, S.M. (2003). Physiological consequences of imagery and related procedures. Healing images: The role of imagination in health (pp. 27-52).
  • Kunzendorf, R., McGlone, M., Hulihan, D., Boulia, K., Portuese, J., Dinsmore, T., Bramhall, E. (2003). Reframing cognitive therapy to integrate recent research on emotion, imagery, and self-talk. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 23 309-323.
  • Kunzendorf, R. (2003). Within-subject and between-subjects differences in the vividness of imaged memories, imaged thoughts, symbolic images, and hallucinated images. Journal of Mental Imagery, 27((3&4)) 188-192.
  • Hartmann, E., Kunzendorf, R., Baddour, A., Chapwick, M., Eddins, M., Krueger, C., Latraverse, T., Shannon, R. (2002). Emotion makes daydreams more dreamlike, more Symbolic. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 22 255-274.
  • Hartmann, E., Kunzendorf, R., Rosen, R., Grace, N.G. (2001). Contextualizing Images in Dreams and Daydreams. Dreaming, 11(2) 97-104.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Hall, S. (2001). Electroretinographic after-effects of visual imaging: Individual differences in imagery vividness and reality testing. Journal of Mental Imagery, 25((3&4)) 79-92.
  • Hartmann, E.L., Zborowki, M., Kunzendorf, R. (2001). Emotions pictured by the dream: an examination of emotions contextualized in dreams. Sleep, 24.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Sansom, R., Davis, A. (2001). Envisioning other minds: The artistic drawing and psychometric rating of images and percepts. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 21 33-46.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Paroskie, J. (2000). Emotionally directing visual sensations: II. Lowering the threshold for tinted percepts. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 20 179-187.
  • Kunzendorf, R. (2000). Individual differences in conscious experience [edited book] (pp. 411). John Benjamins
  • Kunzendorf, R.G. (UMass Lowell) (2000). Individual differences in self-conscious source monitoring (pp. 375-390). John Benjamins
  • Kunzendorf, R., Young, K., Beecy, T., Beals, K. (2000). Is visual thinking "imageless thought"? Perceptual and motor skills, 91(3) 981-982.
  • Kunzendorf, R., DeJesus, N., Chicos, N., Avalos, H. (2000). Resolving existential sentiments with music: Evidence for a 'mental chemistry' of emotions. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 20 59-69.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Hartmann, E., Thomas, L., Berensen, L. (1999). Emotionally,directing visual sensations: I. Generating images that contextualize emotion and become "symbolic". Imagination Cognition and Personality, 19 269-278.
  • Kunzendorf, R. (1999). Redefining associative memory, in order to account for the imaginative reconstruction of accurate memories. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 19 149-163.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Crosson, M., Zalaket, A., White, J., Enik, R. (1998). Normal dimensions of multiple personality without amnesia. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 18 205-221.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Hartmann, E., Cohen, R., Cutler, J. (1997). Bizarreness of the dreams and daydreams reported by individuals with thin and thick boundaries. Dreaming, 7(4) 265-270.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Justice, M., Capone, D. (1997). Conscious images as 'centrally excited sensations': a developmental study of imaginal influences on the ERG. J.of Mental Imagery, 21((1&2)) 155-166.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Hulihan, D., Simpson, W., Pritykina, N., Williams, K. (1997). Is absorption a diathesis for dissociation in sexually and physically abused patients? Imagination Cognition and Personality, 17 277-282.
  • Kunzendorf, R., McGlinchey-Berroth, R. (1997). The return of 'the subliminal'. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 17 31-43.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Francis, L., Ward, J., Cohen, R., Cutler, J., Walsh, J., Berenson, S. (1996). Effect of negative imaging on heart rate and blood pressure, as a function of image vividness and image 'realness'. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 16 139-159.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Spanos, N.P., Wallace, B. (1996). Hypnosis and imagination [edited book].
  • Kunzendorf, R., Boisvert, P., Spanos, N.P., Wallace, B. (1996). Presence vs absence of a 'hidden observer' during total deafness. Hypnosis and imagination (pp. 223-234).
  • Rader, C., Kunzendorf, R., Carrabino, C., Spanos, N.P., Wallace, B. (1996). Relation of image vividness, absorption, reality boundaries and synesthesia to hypnotic states and traits. Hypnosis and imagination (pp. 99-121).
  • Sheikh, A.A., Kunzendorf, R., Sheikh, K.S., Velmans, M. (1996). Somatic consequences of consciousness. Science of consciousness (pp. 140-161).
  • Kunzendorf, R., Thompson, D., Butler, W. (1995). Percepts considered as "bundles of sensations": confusion of percepts with afterimages. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 15 309-318.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Moran, C., Gray, R. (1995). Personality,traits and reality-testing, abilities, controlling for vividness of imagery. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 15 115-131.
  • Kunzendorf, R. (1995). VVIQ construct validity: centrally excited sensations versus analog representations and memory images. Journal of Mental Imagery, 19((3&4)) 150-153.
  • Kunzendorf, R. (1993). "Three pens" test for autohypnotic hallucinating: hypnotic virtuosos versus eidetic imagers versus control subjects. J.of Mental Imagery, 17((3&4)) 133-140.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Moran, C. (1993). Repression: active censorship of stressful memories versus source amnesia for self-consciously dissociated memories. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 13 291-302.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Carrabino, C., Capone, D. (1992). "Safe" fantasy: the self-conscious boundary between wishing and willing. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 12 177-188.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Butler, W. (1992). Apperception revisited: "Subliminal" monocular perception during the apperception of fused random-dot stereograms. Consciousness and cognition, 1(1) 63-76.
  • Kunzendorf, R. (1992). Effect of image vividness on reality monitoring. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 12 197-205.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Sheikh, A.A., Sheikh, K.S. (1991). Confronting death through mental and artistic images. Death imagery (pp. 127-46).
  • Kunzendorf, R., Marsden, D. (1991). Dissociation in Ambidextrous Students. Perceptual and motor skills, 73(3).
  • Kunzendorf, R., Jesses, M., Michaels, A., Ciazzo-Fluellen, G., Butler, W. (1991). Imagination and perceptual development: effects of auditory imaging on the brainstem evoked potentials of children, adult musicians and other adults (pp. 159-166).
  • Kunzendorf, R. (1991). Mental imagery [edited book].
  • Kunzendorf, R., Beltz, S.M., Tymowicz, G. (1991). Self-awareness in autistic subjects and deeply hypnotized subjects: dissociation of self-concept versus self-consciousness. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 11 129-141.
  • Kunzendorf, R. (1991). The causal efficacy of consciousness in general, imagery in particular: A materialistic perspective. Mental imagery (pp. 147-58).
  • Kunzendorf, R., Hoyle, D., Shorr, J.E., Robin, P., Connella, J.A., Wolpin, M. (1990). Auditory percepts, mental images, and hypnotic hallucinations: similarities and differences in auditory evoked potentials. Imagery--current perspectives (pp. 1-12).
  • Kunzendorf, R., Sheikh, A.A. (1990). Imaging, image-monitoring, and health. Psychophysiology of mental imagery (pp. 185-202).
  • Kunzendorf, R., Sheikh, A.A. (1990). Mind-brain identity theory. Psychophysiology of mental imagery (pp. 9-36).
  • Kunzendorf, R., Jesses, M., Dupille, L., Butler, W. (1990). Subliminal,activation of, intrapsychic conflicts: subconscious realms of mind vs subconscious processes of mentation. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 10 117-128.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Sheikh, A.A. (1990). The psychophysiology of mental [edited book].
  • Kunzendorf, R. (1989). Afterimages of eidetic images: a developmental study. J.of Mental Imagery, 13((1)) 55-62.
  • Sheikh, A.A., Kunzendorf, R., Sheikh, K.S. (1989). Healing images: from ancient wisdom to modern science. Eastern and western approaches to healing (pp. 470-515).
  • Kunzendorf, R. (1989). Posthypnotic amnesia: dissociation of self-concept or self-consciousness? Imagination Cognition and Personality, 9 321-334.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Montisanti, L. (1989). Subliminal,activation of,hypnotic responses: subconscious realms of mind vs subconscious modes of mentation. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 9 103-114.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Butler, W., Pearson, B. (1988). Are monocular arrays discriminable from binocular arrays? Perceptual and motor skills, 66(2) 531-534.
  • Kunzendorf, R., McLaughlin, S. (1988). Depression: a failure to suppress the self-conscious 'monitoring' of dismal cognitions. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 8 3-17.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Maurer, J. (1988). Hypnotic attenuation of the 'boundaries' between emotional, visual, and auditory sensations. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 8 225-234.
  • Kunzendorf, R. (1988). Vivid images, eidetic images, and hallucinations: 'unvivid' differences. Journal of Mental Imagery, 12((3&4)) 75-80.
  • Kunzendorf, R. (1987). Geophysical variables and behavior: XL. Electromagnetic stimulation of 'extrasensory' evoked potentials. Perceptual and motor skills, 64(3 I) 1015-1018.
  • Kunzendorf, R. (1987). Self-consciousness as the monitoring of cognitive states. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 88((7)) 3-22.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Lacourse, P., Lynch, B. (1986). Hypnotic hypermnesia for subliminally encoded stimuli: state-dependent memory for 'unmonitored' sensations. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 6 365-377.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Butler, W. (1986). Personality and Immunity - Depressive Tendencies Versus Manic and Schizophrenic Tendencies. Psychological reports, 59(2).
  • Kunzendorf, R. (1985). Hypnotic hallucinations as 'unmonitored' images. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 86((5)) 255-70.
  • Kunzendorf, R. (1985). Repressed Fear of Inexistence and its Hypnotic Recovery in Religious Students. Omega-Journal of Death and Dying, 16(1).
  • Kunzendorf, R., Benoit, M. (1985). Spontaneous posthypnotic amnesia and spontaneous rehypnotic recovery in repressors. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 86((5)) 303-310.
  • Kunzendorf, R. (1984). Centrifugal effects of eidetic imaging on flash electroretinograms and autonomic responses. J.of Mental Imagery, 8((4)) 67-76.
  • Sheikh, A.A., Kunzendorf, R. (1984). Imagery, physiology, and psychosomatic illness. International Review of Mental Imagery, 1 95-138.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Pearson, B. (1984). Perception of Randomness. Perceptual and motor skills, 59(2).
  • Kunzendorf, R. (1984). Subconscious percepts as 'unmonitored' percepts. Imagination Cognition and Personality, 85((4)) 367-75.
  • Kunzendorf, R., Bradbury, J.L. (1983). Better Liars have Better Imaginations. Psychological reports, 52(2).
  • Kunzendorf, R., Brown, C., Mcgee, D. (1983). Hypnotizability - Correlations with Daydreaming and Sleeping. Psychological reports, 53(2).
  • Kunzendorf, R. (1982). Consciousness. Encyclopedia of science and technology. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill,, 558-580.
  • Kunzendorf, R. (1982). Mental images, appreciation of grammatical patterns, and creativity. J.of Mental Imagery, 6((1)) 183-202.
  • Kunzendorf, R. (1981). Individual differences in imagery and autonomic control. J.of Mental Imagery, 5((2)) 47-60.
  • Kunzendorf, R. (1976). Selected features of word meaning. J.of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 15 633-40.

Selected Contracts, Fellowships, Grants and Sponsored Research

  • "Effects of psychological interventions on cancer patients' emotions" (1998), Grant - Student-Faculty Collaborative Research Grant
  • "Psychphysiology of imagery and its psychosomatic use" (1982), Grant - NIMH Grant