Ph.D. (1970) Experimental Psychology
University of Virginia
Associate Dean, College of Sciences
Regents Professor of Psychology
My research interests focus on adult age differences in memory. I want to know what about memory changes as we grow older and what are the causes for those changes. Recently, I have been interested in how context helps, or hurts, younger and older adults with episodic recall. Our research is showing that context can be either facilitative or distracting, and seems to affect memory regardless of age. Older people, however, are not as influenced by contextual factors when the context is not well-integrated with the to-be-remembered information. Other research is examining how cognitive mechanisms may be responsible for much of the age-related variance in memory performance across a variety of tasks.

Office Location: 202 Administration Building (Tech Tower)
Phone Number: (404)-894-3300
E-mail: Anderson.Smith@cos.gatech.edu

Current Lab Members

Deborah Eakin

Cognitive Aging Post Doc
		Ph.D. (2003) Cognitive Psychology University of Kansas M.A. (2000) Cognitive Psychology University of Kansas B.A. (1996) Psychology Columbus State University For more information about my research, click here.

Former Lab Members

COLLEEN M. PARKS

Now a post doc at UC Davis

Ph.D. (2004) Experimental Psychology
Georgia Institute of Technology
M.S. (2000) Experimental Psychology
Georgia Institute of Technology
B.A. (1998) Psychology
Trinity University

My current fields of interest primarily involve the (related) domains of memory and subjective experience. In both cases, my focus is on the relationship between automatic and controlled processes - for instance, how unconscious influences can bias our experiences, how (and when) we can avoid or combat these influences, and how automatic and controlled uses of memory relate to one another. In the same vein, I'm also interested in age-related differences in these controlled and automatic processes; for example, research has shown that older adults exhibit less cognitive control (e.g., in memory and attention) than do young adults, and this renders older adults more susceptible to unconscious influences of memory in many situations. My research addresses a bit of each of these interests and has included projects on non-criterial recollection, unconscious influences on judgments of truth, and contextual biases on recognition judgments. For more information, see my vita.

DAVID P. MCCABE

Now a post doc at Washington University

Ph.D. (2003) Experimental Psychology
Georgia Institute of Technology
M.S. (2001) Experimental Psychology
Georgia Institute of Technology
B.A. (1997) Psychology
SUNY Institute of Technology

I am primarily interested human memory, particularly false memories. I am also interested in the role of controlled attention in memory performance. My research focuses on the processes involved in memory errors. Also, I do work examining the relationship between working memory capacity and false memories. I use a combination of experimental and individual difference techniques to understand age-related memory changes. For more information, see my page at Wash U.

CHUCK L. ROBERTSON

Now a professor at North Georgia College and State University

Ph.D. (2004) Experimental Psychology

Georgia Institute of Technology
M.S. (1998) Experimental Psychology
Mississippi State University
B.S. (1995) Psychology
University of Tennessee at Martin

My research interests include how individual difference constructs predict memory ability across a range of performance levels and tasks for all age groups. I am also interested in how strategy selection and internal organizational structures/schemas interact with external contextual cues to produce differing memory performance. Click here for more about Chuck and his research and work at North Georgia.

Whythe L. Whiting

Now a professor at Washington and Lee University

Ph.D. (1998) Experimental Psychology

Georgia Institute of Technology
M.S. Experimental Psychology
Georgia Institute of Technology
B.S. (1992) Psychology
Birmingham Southern College

Go here to learn more about Whythe and his research.

Julie L. Earles

Now a professor at Wilkes Honor College at Florida Atlantic University.

Ph.D. (1994) Experimental Psychology

Georgia Institute of Technology
M.S. (1992) Experimental Psychology
Georgia Institute of Technology
B.S. (1990) Psychology
Davidson College

Julie's profile at FAU can be found here, and her personal page here.