Research Purpose
We are a research lab in the Psychology Department at the University of the Pacific. Our research focuses on psychology of aging. This work takes an applied approach, focusing on everyday memory and intervention, looking at the practical impact of training and education. Our overarching goal is to understand and improve cognitive health, specifically everyday memory, in midlife and beyond.
Memory is essential and highly valued by adults of all ages, but age-related declines in memory processes are well-documented, leading to anxiety among older adults. At the same time, age-related memory declines are not comparable across all types of memory, are not equivalent for all individuals, and vary dramatically depending on broader social and motivational contexts.
We focus on those broader contexts of memory, in particular self-regulatory factors, or non-ability factors that affect performance. Successful self-regulation involves maximizing one's performance by responsively adapting task effort to feedback, to performance self-appraisal, and to careful evaluation of task demands. Our research centers on three leading foci:
For reprints, go to the Publications and Presentations pages.
Memory is essential and highly valued by adults of all ages, but age-related declines in memory processes are well-documented, leading to anxiety among older adults. At the same time, age-related memory declines are not comparable across all types of memory, are not equivalent for all individuals, and vary dramatically depending on broader social and motivational contexts.
We focus on those broader contexts of memory, in particular self-regulatory factors, or non-ability factors that affect performance. Successful self-regulation involves maximizing one's performance by responsively adapting task effort to feedback, to performance self-appraisal, and to careful evaluation of task demands. Our research centers on three leading foci:
- Self-regulatory factors that promote cognitive health
- Ways to enhance everyday memory through training
- Personal beliefs about aging which may limit cognitive success
For reprints, go to the Publications and Presentations pages.