James T. Enns is a Canadian psychologist and academic known for his research in visual perception, attention, social perception, and cognitive development. He is a professor of psychology and a distinguished university scholar at the University of British Columbia (UBC), where he directs the UBC Vision Lab.
Early life and education Raised as one of seven siblings on a mixed berry–dairy farm in Abbotsford, BC, Enns completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Winnipeg, earning a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in psychology in 1980. He pursued graduate work at Princeton University, where he received an M.A. in 1982 and a Ph.D. in psychology in 1984.
Academic career From 1984 to 1987, Enns served as assistant professor at Dalhousie University. He joined the University of British Columbia in 1987 as an assistant professor, was promoted to associate professor in 1990, and became a full professor in 1996. In 2003, he was named a distinguished university scholar at UBC. Enns has held editorial positions in several leading journals. He served as an associate editor for Psychological Science (2000–2003), Perception & Psychophysics (2005–2007), and Consciousness and Cognition (2007–2010). From 2012 to 2017, he was editor-in-chief of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. He is also the series editor of Elements in Perception, published by Cambridge University Press (2018–present).
Research Enns' research spans cognitive psychology, vision science, and developmental psychology. His work has contributed to understanding how attention and perception develop, and how the brain processes visual information for perception and action. Among his most cited contributions are studies on object substitution masking, the role of prediction in visual processing, and changes in visual attention across the lifespan.
Selected honors 2013 – Donald O. Hebb Distinguished Contribution Award, Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science 2009 – Fellow, Society of Experimental Psychologists 2009 – Fellow, Psychonomic Society 2007 – Fellow, Association for Psychological Science 2004 – Robert Knox Master Teaching Award, Department of Psychology, UBC 2002 – Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
Selected works
Books Enns, J.T. (2004). The Thinking Eye, the Seeing Brain. New York: W.W. Norton. Coren, S., Ward, L.M., & Enns, J.T. (2004). Sensation and Perception (6th ed.). New York: Wiley. Coren, S., Ward, L.M., & Enns, J.T. (2001). Sensación y percepción (5th ed.). Mexico: McGraw-Hill Interamericana. Coren, S., Ward, L.M., & Enns, J.T. (1999). Sensation and Perception (5th ed.). New York: Harcourt Brace. Coren, S., Ward, L.M., & Enns, J.T. (1994). Sensation and Perception (4th ed.). New York: Harcourt Brace. Collyer, C., & Enns, J.T. (1986). Analysis of Variance: The Basic Designs. Chicago: Nelson-Hall.
Edited volumes Burack, J.A., Enns, J.T., & Fox, N.A. (Eds.). (2012). Cognitive Science, Development, and Psychopathology: Typical and Atypical Developmental Trajectories of Attention. Oxford University Press. Burack, J.A., & Enns, J.T. (Eds.). (1997). Attention, Development, and Psychopathology: A Merging of Disciplines. New York: Guilford Press. Enns, J.T. (Ed.). (1990). The Development of Attention: Research and Theory. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
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