Overview
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My main research interest has been in long-term memory, especially for complex (or "real-world") stimuli. This work includes the study of autobiographical memory and oral traditions, as well as prose. I have also studied memory as it is more commonly done in experimental psychology laboratories using lists. In addition to this purely behavioral research, which I plan to continue, I work on memory in clinical populations with the aid of a National Institute of Mental Health grant to study PTSD and on the underlying neural basis of memory the aid of a National Institute of Aging grant to study autobiographical memory using fMRI.
My main research interest has been in long-term memory, especially for complex (or "real-world") stimuli. This work includes the study of autobiographical memory and oral traditions, as well as prose. I have also studied memory as it is more commonly done in experimental psychology laboratories using lists. In addition to this purely behavioral research, which I plan to continue, I work on memory in clinical populations with the aid of a National Institute of Mental Health grant to study PTSD and on the underlying neural basis of memory the aid of a National Institute of Aging grant to study autobiographical memory using fMRI.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Juanita M. Kreps Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
·
2008 - Present
Psychology & Neuroscience,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
·
2006 - Present
Psychology & Neuroscience,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Faculty Network Member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences
·
2011 - Present
Duke Institute for Brain Sciences,
University Institutes and Centers
Recent Publications
The Properties of Involuntary and Voluntary Autobiographical Memories in Chinese Patients with Depression and Healthy Individuals
Journal Article Cognitive Therapy and Research · December 1, 2025 Background: Research on depression has largely focused on negative intrusive memories with little research on general involuntary memories as they occur in everyday life. In addition, all studies have been conducted on Western participants, and there are n ... Full text CiteCollective memory and autobiographical memory: The same evolutionary basis serving group cohesion and cooperation.
Journal Article Current opinion in psychology · December 2025 Autobiographical memory allows us to remember events in the personal past, while collective memory is memories of events shared by a group. An autobiographical recollection is contextualized in subjective time, while a collective memory is contextualized i ... Full text CiteShame, tonic immobility, and reactions to stressful events as phylogenetically conserved submissive defense mechanisms.
Journal Article Journal of experimental psychology. General · December 2025 Shame, tonic immobility, and passive reactions to stressful events are phylogenetically conserved, obligatory, submissive defense reactions. Behavior, biology, genetics, evolutionary theories, and theories of humans as ultra-social animals are integrated t ... Full text CiteRecent Grants
Behavior and Physiology in Aging
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institute on Aging · 2015 - 2025Training Autobiographical Memory Retrieval in Healthy Older Adults Using Novel Lifelogging Technology
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2018 - 2023A Model of Autobiographical Memory & Its Changes in PTSD
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2002 - 2016View All Grants
Education, Training & Certifications
Harvard University ·
1974
Ph.D.