Cognition
Overview
The Cognition group has particular strengths in human memory, metamemory, and attention.
Dr. Fawcett runs the NeuroFog Lab, which adopts a multifaceted approach to understanding the neurocognitive basis of human memory. Although his research focuses on the mechanisms involved in forgetting unwanted memories, he has also conducted work involving eyewitness memory and is interested in bridging the gap between cognitive and clinical topics.
Dr. Hourihan studies human memory, focusing on what we know about our memories (metamemory), and what we forget in addition to what we remember. She examines factors that influence memory and metamemory accuracy, including stimulus characteristics, situational variables, and individual differences in cognitive abilities, with the ultimate goal of facilitating educational learning via improved metacognition.
Dr. Matheson is a theoretically motivated experimental psychologist pursuing the idea that cognition is embodied—that thinking and learning arise from brain-body-environment interactions in the service action. Using the brain imaging techniques of cognitive neuroscience (brain wave measurements using electroencephalography), his lab tests hypotheses about the role of embodied experience in shaping brain function and thought.
Faculty
Blaire Dube
Jonathan Fawcett
Kathleen Hourihan
Heath Matheson