Professor Aaron Paul Johnson, PhD, FCSBBCS.

Associate Vice President Research, Strategic Institutional Initiatives and Innovation, Office of the Vice-President, Research Innovation and Impact
Professor, Psychology
Interim Executive Director, District 3 Innovation

Research areas: Vision, Attention, Eye movements, Low vision, Macular degeneration, vision rehabilitation,EEG, dyslexia, Aviation, Pilots, Marketing.

Contact information

Email:

Aaron.Johnson@concordia.ca

Website:

Concordia Vision Labs

ORCID:

0000-0002-4428-7109

Biography

Education

PHD (Glasgow)

Research interests

My program of research investigates the cognitive mechanism that impact visual perception. Visual acuity and contrast sensitivity are visual function measures that are most easily and therefore most frequently assessed by vision researchers. This is because it is easy to map such measures onto the known physiological properties of the human visual system. However, it is also important to investigate functional vision while individuals are performing cognitive tasks, how vision skills, task difficulty and abilities of the individual are used and change in tasks of daily living (e.g., reading, object recognition, navigation, balance); this is less easy to investigate. My research combines the two, to better understand how the structure and function of the visual system impact what information is available for functional vision.

To do this, I use a combination of methods including psychophysics, modelling, eye tracking (both static and mobile, gaze-contingent, pupillometry), EEG, and heart-rate measures both in the lab and via online data collection. Using these techniques, I conduct research in low vision, visual marketing, human factors research in aviation and investigating visual encoding by individuals with Dyslexia. My research has published in the above research areas in Scientific Reports, Frontiers in Psychology, Nature Eye, Journal of Vision, Vision Research, the Journal of the Optical Society of America A, Visual Cognition, and Visual Neuroscience.

My research has been funded by NSERC, CIHR, SSHRC, FRQSC, FRQNT, FRQS, and the Office of Naval Research.

Teaching activities

PSYC363 Fundamentals of Sensation and Perception

PSYC460 Vision

PSYC452 Neurobiology of Sensation and Perception

PSYC727 Special Topics in Behavioural Neuroscience: Eye tracking theory and practice

PSYC316 Statistical Analysis 2

PSYC485 Specialization Thesis

Selected publications

(* indicates HPQ author)

Albury, A.W., Bianco, R., Johnson, A.P., & Penhune, V. (2026) Stimulus predictability and liking enhance auditory-motor encoding and memory for melodies. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (in press). https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/hsf32_v2

Stark, Z. & Johnson, A.P. (2025) Understanding the experience of adults with dyslexia: a quantitative and qualitative analysis. Annals of Dyslexia, 73, 67-93. doi.org/10.1007/s11881-025-00336-z.

Rizzo, JR., Rosenblum L.P., Samuel, C., Wittich, W., Martiniello, N., Beheshti, M., Johnson, A.P., Wu, Y.H., Sukhai, M., Swenor, B., (2025) Accessible scientific conferences for blind and low vision professionals and researchers: A necessary step for achieving STEMM equity. Disability & Society 40(9), 2618–2624. doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2024.2412269

Vingron, N., Karoza, L.A.M., Azevedo, N., Johnson, A.P., Konstantinidis, E., Panagiotis, B., Võ, M., & Kehayia, E. (2024) How words can guide our eyes: Increasing engagement with art through audio-guided visual search in young and older adults. The Mental Lexicon, 19, p. 78 – 89 https://doi.org/10.1075/ml.24024.vin

Stark, Z.*, Elalouf, K.*, Soldano, V.*, Franzen, L.*, & Johnson, A.P. (2024) Validation and Reliability of the Dyslexia Adult Checklist in Screening for Dyslexia. Journal of Dyslexia, 11;31(1):e1797. https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/2r5ct

Aubin, G., Phillips, N., Jaiswal, A., Johnson, A.P., Joubert, S., Bachir, V., Kehayia, E. & Wittich, W. (2023). Visual and cognitive functioning among older adults with low vision before vision rehabilitation, Frontiers in Psychology – Cognition, 14, 1-11. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1058951

Stark, Z.*, Morrice, E.,*, Wittich, W., & Johnson, A.P. (2023) The effects of simulated and actual visual impairment on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition. 30(4), 523-535, doi.org/10.1080/13825585.2022.2055739

Santaguida, M.*, Dubé, S.*, Yarymowich, Z.*, Williams, M.*, Vachon, D., & Johnson, A.P. (2023). Alcohol Expectancy Theory and High-Risk Sexual Behavior Among College Students. In: Lykins, A.D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sexuality and Gender. Springer, Cham. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59531-3_110-1

Dubé, S.*, Williams, M.*, Santaguida, M.*, Hu, R.*, Gadoury, T.*, Yim, B.*, Vachon, D., & Johnson, A.P. (2022). Hot for robots! Sexual arousal increases willingness to engage erotically with robots. The Journal of Sex Research 30;1-11. doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2022.2142190. Epub ahead of print.

Dubé, S.*, Santaguida, M.*, Zhu, C.Y.*, Thomasse, L.*, Hu, R.*, Cormier, G.*, Johnson, A.P. & Vachon, D. (2022) Sex robots and personality: it is more about sex than robots. Computers in Human Behavior 136, 107403, doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107403

Boyle, A., Johnson, A.P., & Ellenbogen, M. (2022). Intranasal oxytocin alters attention to emotional facial expressions, particularly for males and those with depressive symptoms. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 142 doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105796.

Dubé, S.*, Santaguida, M.*, Anctil, D., Zhu, C.Y.*, Thomasse, L.*, Giaccari, L.*, Oassey, R.*, Vachon, D., & Johnson, A.P. (2022). Perceived Stigma and Erotic Technology: From Sex Toys to Erobots. Psychology and Sexuality. doi: 10.1080/19419899.2022.2067783

Franzen, L.*, Cabugao, A.*, Grohmann, B., Elalouf, K.*, & Johnson, A.P. (2022). Individual pupil size changes as a robust indicator of cognitive familiarity differences. PLoS One. 17(1):e0262753. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262753.

Santaguida, M.*, Dubé, S.*, Williams, M.*, Eidus, C., Vachon, D., & Johnson, A.P. (2022) Alcohol Myopia Theory and High-Risk Sexual Behaviour Among College Students. In: Lykins A.D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sexuality and Gender. Springer, Cham. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-59531-3_70-1

Dubé S.,* Santaguida M.,* Anctil D., Leshner C., Vachon D., Johnson A.P. (2022) Technology-Based Sexualities. In: Lykins A.D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sexuality and Gender. Springer, Cham. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59531-3_70-1

Stark, Z.*, Franzen, L.*, Johnson, A.P. (2022). Insights from a dyslexia simulation font: Can we simulate reading struggles of individuals with dyslexia? Dyslexia, 28: 228-243. doi: 10.1002/dys.1704

Morrice, E.*, Murphy, C.*, Soldano, V.*, Addona, C.*, Wittich, W., Johnson A.P. (2021). Assessing Optimal Colour and Illumination to Facilitate Reading: An Analysis of Print size. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. 41(6): 1209-1221. doi: 10.1111/opo.12885