He is a co-director of the Gustav Fechner Perception Laboratory at Western Kentucky University,[1] along with his wife, Hideko Norman.
In addition to his role as professor, researcher, mentor, and advisor, Norman has served as the consulting editor of the journal Perception & Psychophysics.
One of the hallmark features of Norman's research has been his exploration of the visual and haptic perception of ecologically valid objects (i.e., those that occur naturally in the real world).
[2][3] In particular, he has used a variety of stimuli recreated from bell peppers (Capsicum annum) in the form of plastic casts as well as laser-scanned, 3-D computer models available for 3-D printing.
In addition, he is a past member of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Perception, Action & Cognition Grant Review Panel.