Learning and Memory

Bridging minds and machines: Advancing AI innovation through cognitive science

As a cognitive psychologist who leads a higher educational institution, I contemplate the effect of artificial intelligence (AI) on equity and justice every day. This technological era highlights the importance of bridging our knowledge of human cognition and behaviors with the design and execution of codes through machine learning. By understanding cognitive processes such as […]

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Remembering blue bananas: A multi-method approach to episodic memory research

It’s a beautiful day outside. While you recline comfortably under a tree, you see a small creature in the distance. It has four legs, a long tail, brown fur, and dark eyes that stare directly at you. If you had no prior experience with a creature like this, how would you encode and later remember […]

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Never Eat Sour Watermelons: Remembering lists as sentences

Everyone struggles to remember things. Whether it’s a home address, someone’s phone number, or even a new acquaintance’s name—it’s challenging to recall information when we need to. We have lost count of the number of times we’ve been introduced to someone only to immediately forget their name. However, some things might be easier to remember […]

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Does our memory always get worse as we age? New evidence suggests not necessarily

I have played sports my whole life—swimming, tennis, basketball, track, cycling, fencing, soccer—you name it, I have probably tried it. Even though I loved working hard and competing, I still remember boys snidely remarking, “Girls can’t play sports” or “You run like such a girl!” I tried not to listen, but I would be lying if […]

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Does she remember differently than he? Gendered differences in eyewitness memory

Have you ever found yourself struggling to remember your babysitter’s name from childhood? Or what about remembering if you ate a full meal before 8 PM? If you’re anything like me, some details are often discarded immediately from memory, but others are sometimes weirdly retained for years. Some days, I can remember the cool jacket […]

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Unsweet memories and unclear visions

Do you remember your prom? Do you remember your 16th birthday? Do you remember your first day of school? People usually have detailed memories of important autobiographical events. These events are usually represented in memory as being tied to a specific context and a specific moment in time. But, this specificity in recall is not […]

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What could possibly have caused this? Investigating the difficulty of causal learning

I have a fairly straightforward relationship with dairy: I partake in its delicious fruits semi-regularly and it, in turn, completely devastates my guts. Yet despite this connection between lactose consumption and gastrointestinal distress—a correlation that I can only describe as very strong—it somehow took me several years to fully realize that, yes, I’m lactose intolerant. […]

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Turn left, or was it right, at the giant donut – how do we learn to find our way along a new route?

How am I supposed to learn my way around this confusing new place? Picture the following situation: you’re on vacation, you’ve spent all day (and then some) in airports and on planes, and you’ve finally made it to your hotel. Now you’ve got to find your room, and you need to remember how to get […]

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Distilling answers – what do we truly know about memory differences between Deaf and hearing people, and what are the implications?

Is this the right assessment for you? Is it right for me? Imagine you’re back in school (it may have been a while for you!) and you’re undergoing some kind of psychometric assessment, perhaps to see if you need extra support to be the best student you can be. If you’re reading this, it’s probably […]

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