Robert J. Youmans is a cognitive psychologist who looks at the cognitive mechanisms associated with creativity and innovation and how they relate to and affect design and engineering.  He is also interested in the safe, efficient, and intuitive design of commercial products and systems.

His current areas of research include: how attention and other cognitive traits affect creativity in the design process, how humans use technology, and how cognition and social behavior inform the safe, efficient, and fun design of technology and systems.

Youmans also has an interest in learning process, and how learning processes are affected by technology and new methods in higher education. Included in his publications are articles and items examining: how students evaluate instructors, how students respond to quizzing, meditation in the classroom, and how and why students plagiarize.

Youmans earned his PhD in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2007 for his work on how physical prototyping and group work lead to more functional and creative engineering designs. He also earned a doctoral minor in industrial design. His M.A. degree in Experimental Psychology was awarded in 2003 by Wake Forest University for his work on human decision-making.