I joined the Psychology Department in fall 1996, after completing postdoctoral research in aging at Washington University in St. Louis and at Duke University.
My main research interest is in cognitive aging, particularly the mechanisms that are responsible for memory changes and, in some cases, the lack of memory changes in healthy older adults. Specialty areas include source memory (e.g., where did you learn information?a friend, a TV show, Facebook?), autobiographical memory, and inhibitory control (e.g., what we use to name the color of ink in RED "black").
My most recent line of research is on the effects of video game training on the cognitive performance of older adults; this research is supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging. I also enjoy helping students develop research projects in aging that are not necessarily about cognition and projects in cognition that are not necessarily about aging.
In 2007, I was deeply honored to be a recipient of the Hunter-Hamilton Love of Teaching Award.
Teaching
PSY 101 General Psychology
PSY 245 Psychology of Aging
PSY 276 Cognitive Psychology
PSY 304 Psychological Research: Memory
PSY 319 Psychological Research: Adult Development
PSY 377 Life Stories
PSY 378 Aging & Memory
PSY 401 Issues in Psychology
Memberships & Associations
Fellow of the American Psychological Association and its Divisions 3 (Experimental Psychology) and 20 (Adult Development & Aging)
Phi Beta Kappa
American Psychological Association Divisions 1 (General Psychology) and 2 (Teaching of Psychology)
Association for Psychological Science
Council for Undergraduate Research
Gerontological Society of America
Psychonomic Society
Sigma Xi
Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition
