• The University of Western Australia (M304), 35 Stirling Highway,

    6009 Perth

    Australia

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Personal profile

Biography

Our attention and memory are limited resources even though it often feels that we are aware of everything and that we remember events exactly as they happened. I am fascinated with the way our attention and memory operate, and the way that some things - especially emotional information - tend to be attended and remembered with greater priority than other things.

In my research, I explore interactions between emotion and cognition. I'm also interested in way that individual differences - including age - can change the way people attend and remember. I often use behavioral, eyetracking, or neuroimaging techniques in my research to study these topics.

I completed my PhD in Psychology at UNSW Sydney with Steve Most and studied emotion-attention interactions, especially emotion-induced blindness. I then went to complete a postdoctoral position at the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California with Mara Mather. I was awarded an NIH NRSA postdoctoral fellowship to study how age impacts emotion and attention and particularly studied the positivity effect - a fascinating pattern whereby older adults prioritise positive information more than younger adults.

At UWA, I am a lecturer in the School of Psychological Science and director of the PECAN (Perception, Emotion, Cognition, Ageing, and Neuroscience) Lab. In my lab, we study a range of topics including emotion-cognition interactions, the positivity effect and age-related changes in cognition, ways arousal impacts cognition more generally, and potential neural mechanisms involved.

Roles and responsibilities

Teaching

  • Psychology: Mind and Brain (PSYC1101)
    - Unit Coordinator & Lecturer, 2020-present
  • Human Neuroanatomy and Neuropsychology (PSYC5539)
    - Unit Coordinator, 2020-2021

Service

  • UWA School of Psychological Science Undergraduate Education Committee
    - Unit Equivalence Advisor, 2023
  • UWA School of Psychological Science Inclusion & Diversity Committee
    - Undergraduate Education Representative, 2023
  • UWA School of Psychological Science Research Committee
    - Deputy Chair, 2022
    - Adjunct Officer, 2021
    - Participant (“Sona”) & Equipment officer, 2020-2021
  • UWA School of Psychological Science Statistics and Research Methods Working Group
    - Member, 2022

Research expertise keywords

  • Cognitive psychology
  • Attention
  • Emotion
  • Ageing

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