Elizabeth J. Marsh | Scholars@Duke

Elizabeth J. Marsh
Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience

Why do people sometimes erroneously think that Toronto is the capital of Canada or that raindrops are teardrop-shaped? How is it that a word or fact can be “just out of reach” and unavailable? What changes, if anything, when you read a novel or watch a movie that contradicts real life? Have you ever listened to a conversation only to realize that the speaker is telling your story as if it were their own personal memory? Why do some listeners fail to notice when a politician makes a blatantly incorrect statement? These questions may seem disparate on the surface, but they are related problems, and reflect my broad interests in learning and memory, and the processes that make memory accurate in some cases but erroneous in others. This work is strongly rooted in Cognitive Psychology, but also intersects with Social Psychology, Developmental Psychology, and Education.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Psychology and Neuroscience, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2016
Associate Chair in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Psychology and Neuroscience, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2014
Faculty Network Member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, University Institutes and Centers 2011

Contact Information

212 Soc/Psych Bldg, Durham, NC 27708
Box 90086, Durham, NC 27708-0086
emarsh@psych.duke.edu (919) 660-5796
Marsh Lab

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., Stanford University 1999
- B.A., Drew University 1994
Duke Appointment History
- Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Psychology and Neuroscience, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2010 - 2016
- Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Psychology and Neuroscience, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2006 - 2010
- Assistant Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, University Institutes and Centers 2003 - 2006
Recognition
Awards & Honors
- Langford Lecture Award. Unknown. December 2010
Expertise
Subject Headings
- Aging
- Education
- Illusions
- Imagination
- Knowledge
- Learning
- Memory
- Mental Processes
- Writing
Research
Selected Grants
- Aging and Finding Information: Using Google vs. Relying on Other People awarded by Google Inc. 2015 - 2025
- Effects of Aging on Episodic Memory-Dependent Decision Making awarded by National Institutes of Health 2018 - 2023
- Advancing Artificial Intelligence for the Naval Domain awarded by Office of Naval Research 2018 - 2022
- Leveraging Older Adults' Social Goals awarded by National Institutes of Health 2018 - 2020
- Exploring the potential of essay testing for improving memory and learning awarded by Department of Education 2013 - 2019
- Heuristics for Truth across the Lifespan awarded by American Psychological Foundation 2017 - 2019
- Heuristics for Truth across the Lifespan awarded by American Psychological Association 2017 - 2018
- DIP: Collaborative Research: A Personalized Cyberlearning System based on Cognitive Science awarded by National Science Foundation 2011 - 2016
- Building a better reader: Activating knowledge through retrieval awarded by Spencer Foundation 2014 - 2016
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Academic Articles
  - Wang, W-C, Brashier, NM, Wing, EA, Marsh, EJ, and Cabeza, R. "Neural basis of goal-driven changes in knowledge activation." The European Journal of Neuroscience 48, no. 11 (December 2018): 3389-3396. Full Text
  - Stanley, ML, Yang, BW, and Marsh, EJ. "When the Unlikely Becomes Likely: Qualifying Language Does Not Influence Later Truth Judgments." Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition (September 2018). Full Text
  - Wang, W-C, Brashier, NM, Wing, EA, Marsh, EJ, and Cabeza, R. "Knowledge supports memory retrieval through familiarity, not recollection." Neuropsychologia 113 (May 2018): 14-21. Full Text
  - Butler, AC, Black-Maier, AC, Raley, ND, and Marsh, EJ. "Retrieving and applying knowledge to different examples promotes transfer of learning." Journal of experimental psychology. Applied 23, no. 4 (December 2017): 433-446. Full Text
  - Marsh, EJ, and Yang, BW. "A Call to Think Broadly about Information Literacy." Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition 6, no. 4 (December 2017): 401-404. Full Text
  - Marsh, EJ. "Family Matters: Measuring Impact Through One's Academic Descendants." Perspectives on Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science 12, no. 6 (November 2017): 1130-1132. Full Text
  - Arnold, KM, Umanath, S, Thio, K, Reilly, WB, McDaniel, MA, and Marsh, EJ. "Understanding the cognitive processes involved in writing to learn." Journal of Experimental Psychology. Applied 23, no. 2 (June 2017): 115-127. Full Text
  - Brashier, NM, Umanath, S, Cabeza, R, and Marsh, EJ. "Competing cues: Older adults rely on knowledge in the face of fluency." Psychology and Aging 32, no. 4 (June 2017): 331-337. Full Text
  - Cantor, AD, and Marsh, EJ. "Expertise effects in the Moses illusion: detecting contradictions with stored knowledge." Memory (Hove, England) 25, no. 2 (February 2017): 220-230. Full Text
  - Arnold, KM, Daniel, DB, Jensen, JL, McDaniel, MA, and Marsh, EJ. "Structure Building Predicts Grades in College Psychology and Biology." Applied Cognitive Psychology 30, no. 3 (May 2016): 454-459. Full Text
  - Wang, W-C, Brashier, NM, Wing, EA, Marsh, EJ, and Cabeza, R. "On Known Unknowns: Fluency and the Neural Mechanisms of Illusory Truth." Journal of cognitive neuroscience 28, no. 5 (May 2016): 739-746. Full Text
  - Mullet, HG, and Marsh, EJ. "Correcting false memories: Errors must be noticed and replaced." Memory & cognition 44, no. 3 (April 2016): 403-412. Full Text
  - Marsh, EJ, Cantor, AD, and M. Brashier, N. "Believing that Humans Swallow Spiders in Their Sleep." (2016): 93-132. Full Text
  - Fazio, LK, Brashier, NM, Payne, BK, and Marsh, EJ. "Knowledge does not protect against illusory truth." Journal of Experimental Psychology. General 144, no. 5 (October 2015): 993-1002. Full Text
  - "Judging the familiarity of strangers: does the context matter?." Psychonomic Bulletin and Review 22, no. 4 (August 27, 2015): 1041-1047. Full Text
  - Deffler, SA, Brown, AS, and Marsh, EJ. "Judging the familiarity of strangers: does the context matter?." Psychonomic bulletin & review 22, no. 4 (August 2015): 1041-1047. Full Text
  - Brown, AS, Croft Caderao, K, Fields, LM, and Marsh, EJ. "Borrowing Personal Memories." Applied Cognitive Psychology 29, no. 3 (May 2015): 471-477. Full Text Open Access Copy
  - Cantor, AD, Eslick, AN, Marsh, EJ, Bjork, RA, and Bjork, EL. "Multiple-choice tests stabilize access to marginal knowledge." Memory & cognition 43, no. 2 (February 2015): 193-205. Full Text
  - "Learning misinformation from fictional sources: Understanding the contributions of transportation and item-specific processing." Memory 23, no. 2 (January 1, 2015): 167-177. Full Text
  - Fazio, LK, Dolan, PO, and Marsh, EJ. "Learning misinformation from fictional sources: understanding the contributions of transportation and item-specific processing." Memory (Hove, England) 23, no. 2 (January 2015): 167-177. Full Text
  - Mullet, HG, Umanath, S, and Marsh, EJ. "Recent study, but not retrieval, of knowledge protects against learning errors." Memory & cognition 42, no. 8 (November 2014): 1239-1249. Full Text
  - Mullet, HG, Butler, AC, Verdin, B, von Borries, R, and Marsh, EJ. "Delaying feedback promotes transfer of knowledge despite student preferences to receive feedback immediately." Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition 3, no. 3 (September 2014): 222-229. Full Text
  - "Delaying feedback promotes transfer of knowledge despite student preferences to receive feedback immediately." Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition 3, no. 3 (July 1, 2014): 222-229. Full Text
  - Umanath, S, and Marsh, EJ. "Understanding How Prior Knowledge Influences Memory in Older Adults." Perspectives on Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science 9, no. 4 (July 2014): 408-426. Full Text
  - Butler, AC, Marsh, EJ, Slavinsky, JP, and Baraniuk, RG. "Integrating Cognitive Science and Technology Improves Learning in a STEM Classroom." Educational Psychology Review 26, no. 2 (June 2014): 331-340. Full Text
  - "Ageing and the Moses Illusion: Older adults fall for Moses but if asked directly, stick with Noah." Memory 22, no. 5 (January 1, 2014): 481-492. Full Text
  - Umanath, S, Dolan, PO, and Marsh, EJ. "Ageing and the Moses illusion: older adults fall for Moses but if asked directly, stick with Noah." Memory 22, no. 5 (2014): 481-492. Full Text Link to Item
  - Goswick, AE, Mullet, HG, and Marsh, EJ. "Suggestibility From Stories: Can Production Difficulties and Source Monitoring Explain a Developmental Reversal?." Journal of Cognition and Development 14, no. 4 (October 2013): 607-616. Full Text
  - Slavinsky, JP, Davenport, KJ, Butler, AC, Marsh, EJ, and Baraniuk, RG. "Open online platforms advancing DSP education." 2013 Ieee International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing (May 2013). Full Text
  - Dunlosky, J, Rawson, KA, Marsh, EJ, Nathan, MJ, and Willingham, DT. "Improving Students' Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology." Psychological Science in the Public Interest : a Journal of the American Psychological Society 14, no. 1 (January 2013): 4-58. Full Text
  - Wing, EA, Marsh, EJ, and Cabeza, R. "Neural correlates of retrieval-based memory enhancement: An fMRI study of the testing effect." Neuropsychologia 51, no. 12 (2013): 2360-2370. Full Text
  - Umanath, S, and Marsh, EJ. "Aging and the memorial consequences of catching contradictions with prior knowledge." Psychol Aging 27, no. 4 (December 2012): 1033-1038. Full Text Link to Item
  - Marsh, EJ, Butler, AC, and Umanath, S. "Using Fictional Sources in the Classroom: Applications from Cognitive Psychology." Educational Psychology Review 24, no. 3 (September 2012): 449-469. Full Text
  - Butler, AC, Dennis, NA, and Marsh, EJ. "Inferring facts from fiction: reading correct and incorrect information affects memory for related information." Memory (Hove, England) 20, no. 5 (July 2012): 487-498. Full Text
  - Umanath, S, Butler, AC, and Marsh, EJ. "Positive and Negative Effects of Monitoring Popular Films for Historical Inaccuracies." Applied Cognitive Psychology 26, no. 4 (July 2012): 556-567. Full Text
  - Fazio, LK, Barber, SJ, Rajaram, S, Ornstein, PA, and Marsh, EJ. "Creating illusions of knowledge: Learning errors that contradict prior knowledge." Journal of Experimental Psychology: General (2012). (Academic Article)
  - Marsh, EJ, Fazio, LK, and Goswick, AE. "Memorial consequences of testing school-aged children." Memory (Hove, England) 20, no. 8 (January 2012): 899-906. Full Text
  - Marsh, EJ, Lozito, JP, Umanath, S, Bjork, EL, and Bjork, RA. "Using verification feedback to correct errors made on a multiple-choice test." Memory 20, no. 6 (2012): 645-653. Full Text Link to Item
  - Umanath, S, Butler, AC, and Marsh, EJ. "Using popular films to enhance classroom learning: Mnemonic effects of monitoring misinformation." Applied Cognitive Psychology 26 (2012): 556-567. (Academic Article)
  - Wing, EA, Marsh, EJ, and Cabeza, R. "Neural correlates of retrieval-based memory enhancement: An fMRI study of the testing effect (Submitted)." Neuropsychologica (2012). (Academic Article)
  - Butler, AC, Fazio, LK, and Marsh, EJ. "The hypercorrection effect persists over a week, but high-confidence errors return." Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 18, no. 6 (December 2011): 1238-1244. Full Text
  - Eslick, AN, Fazio, LK, and Marsh, EJ. "Ironic effects of drawing attention to story errors." Memory (Hove, England) 19, no. 2 (February 2, 2011): 184-191. Full Text
  - Bottoms, HC, Eslick, AN, and Marsh, EJ. "Memory and the Moses illusion: failures to detect contradictions with stored knowledge yield negative memorial consequences." Memory 18, no. 6 (August 2010): 670-678. Full Text Link to Item
  - Fazio, LK, Agarwal, PK, Marsh, EJ, and Roediger, HL. "Memorial consequences of multiple-choice testing on immediate and delayed tests." Memory & Cognition 38, no. 4 (June 2010): 407-418. Full Text
  - Fazio, LK, and Marsh, EJ. "Correcting false memories." Psychological Science 21, no. 6 (June 2010): 801-803. Full Text
  - Fazio, LK, Huelser, BJ, Johnson, A, and Marsh, EJ. "Receiving right/wrong feedback: consequences for learning." Memory 18, no. 3 (April 2010): 335-350. Full Text Link to Item
  - Brown, AS, and Marsh, EJ. "Digging into Déjà Vu." (2010): 33-62. Full Text
  - "Creating illusions of past encounter through brief exposure: Research report." Psychological Science 20, no. 5 (May 1, 2009): 534-538. Full Text
  - Brown, AS, and Marsh, EJ. "Creating Illusions of Past Encounter Through Brief Exposure." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 20, no. 5 (May 2009): 534-538. Full Text Link to Item
  - Marsh, EJ, Agarwal, PK, and Roediger, HL. "Memorial consequences of answering SAT II questions." J Exp Psychol Appl 15, no. 1 (March 2009): 1-11. Full Text Link to Item
  - Fazio, LK, and Marsh, EJ. "Surprising feedback improves later memory." Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 16, no. 1 (February 2009): 88-92. Full Text
  - Barber, SJ, Rajaram, S, and Marsh, EJ. "Fact learning: how information accuracy, delay, and repeated testing change retention and retrieval experience." Memory (Hove, England) 16, no. 8 (November 2008): 934-946. Full Text
  - Fazio, LK, and Marsh, EJ. "Older, not younger, children learn more false facts from stories." Cognition 106, no. 2 (February 2008): 1081-1089. Full Text Link to Item
  - Fazio, LK, and Marsh, EJ. "Slowing presentation speed increases illusions of knowledge." Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 15, no. 1 (February 2008): 180-185. Full Text
  - Brown, AS, and Marsh, EJ. "Evoking false beliefs about autobiographical experience." Psychonomic Bulletin and Review 15, no. 1 (2008): 186-190. Full Text
  - Fazio, LK, and Marsh, EJ. "Slowing presentation speed increases illusions of knowledge." Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 15 (2008): 181-185. (Academic Article)
  - Marsh, EJ, and Dolan, PO. "Test-induced priming of false memories." Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 14, no. 3 (June 2007): 479-483. Full Text
  - Marsh, EJ, Roediger, HL, Bjork, RA, and Bjork, EL. "The memorial consequences of multiple-choice testing." Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 14, no. 2 (April 2007): 194-199. Full Text
  - Marsh, EJ. "Retelling Is Not the Same as Recalling." Current Directions in Psychological Science 16, no. 1 (February 2007): 16-20. Full Text
  - Butler, AC, Marsh, EJ, Goode, MK, and Roediger, HL. "When additional multiple-choice lures aid versus hinder later memory." Applied Cognitive Psychology 20, no. 7 (November 2006): 941-956. Full Text
  - Marsh, EJ. "When does generation enhance memory for location?." J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 32, no. 5 (September 2006): 1216-1220. Full Text Link to Item
  - Marsh, EJ, and Fazio, LK. "Learning errors from fiction: difficulties in reducing reliance on fictional stories." Memory & Cognition 34, no. 5 (July 2006): 1140-1149. Full Text
  - Marsh, EJ, Tversky, B, and Hutson, M. "How eyewitnesses talk about events: implications for memory." Applied Cognitive Psychology 19, no. 5 (July 2005): 531-544. Full Text
  - III, HLK, and Marsh, EJ. "The positive and negative consequences of multiple-choice testing." Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition 31, no. 5 (2005): 1155-1159. Full Text
  - Marsh, EJ, Balota, DA, and Roediger, HL. "Learning facts from fiction: effects of healthy aging and early-stage dementia of the Alzheimer type." Neuropsychology 19, no. 1 (January 2005): 115-129. Full Text
  - Marsh, EJ. "Story stimuli for creating false beliefs about the world." Behav Res Methods Instrum Comput 36, no. 4 (November 2004): 650-655. Link to Item
  - Marsh, EJ, and Tversky, B. "Spinning the stories of our lives." Applied Cognitive Psychology 18, no. 5 (July 2004): 491-503. Full Text
  - Dudukovic, NM, Marsh, EJ, and Tversky, B. "Telling a story or telling it straight: the effects of entertaining versus accurate retellings on memory." Applied Cognitive Psychology 18, no. 2 (March 2004): 125-143. Full Text
  - Marsh, EJ, Dolan, PO, Balota, DA, and Roediger, HL. "Part-set cuing effects in younger and older adults." Psychol Aging 19, no. 1 (March 2004): 134-144. Full Text Link to Item
  - Luminet, O, Curci, A, Marsh, EJ, Wessel, I, Constantin, T, Gencoz, F, and Yogo, M. "The cognitive, emotional, and social impacts of the september 11 attacks: Group differences in memory for the reception context and the determinants of flashbulb memory." Journal of General Psychology 131, no. 3 (2004): 197-224.
  - Marsh, EJ, McDermott, KB, and Roediger, HL. "Does test-induced priming play a role in the creation of false memories?." Memory (Hove, England) 12, no. 1 (January 2004): 44-55. Full Text
  - Marsh, EJ, and Bower, GH. "The role of rehearsal and generation in false memory creation." Memory 12, no. 6 (2004): 748-761. Full Text
  - Marsh, E. "Learning facts from fiction." Journal of Memory and Language 49, no. 4 (November 2003): 519-536. Full Text
  - Marsh, EJ, Edelman, G, and Bower, GH. "Demonstrations of a generation effect in context memory." Memory and Cognition 29, no. 6 (2001): 798-805.
  - Tversky, B, and Marsh, EJ. "Biased Retellings of Events Yield Biased Memories." Cognitive Psychology 40, no. 1 (2000): 1-38. Full Text
  - Marsh, EJ, and Bower, GH. "Applied Aspects of Source Monitoring." Cognitive Technology 4 (1999): 4-17. (Academic Article)
  - Butler, AC, Godbole, N, and Marsh, EJ. "Explanation feedback is better than correct answer feedback for promoting transfer of learning.(Published online)" Journal of Educational Psychology 105, no. 2: 290-298. Full Text
  - Marsh, EJ, and Sink, HE. "Access to handouts of presentation slides during lecture: Consequences for learning(Published online)." Applied Cognitive Psychology 24, no. 5: 691-706. Full Text
- Book Sections
  - Roediger, HL, Agarwal, PK, Kang, SHK, and Marsh, EJ. "Benefits of testing memory: Best practices and boundary conditions." In Current Issues in Applied Memory Research, 13-49. November 24, 2009. Full Text
  - Nairne, JS. "The Foundations of Remembering(Published online)." .: Psychology Press,. Full Text
  - Nash, RA. "False and Distorted Memories(Published online)." .: Psychology Press,. Full Text
  - Zacks, JM. "Representations in Mind and World(Published online)." .: Routledge,. Full Text
Teaching & Mentoring
Recent Courses
Scholarly, Clinical, & Service Activities
Presentations & Appearances
Outreach & Engaged Scholarship
- Bass Connections Faculty Team Member. Aging and Heuristics: Do Older Adults Use Different Cues to Evaluate Information?. July 2015 - May 2016 2015 - 2016
- Bass Connections Faculty Team Member . Aging and Reliance on Memory-based Heuristics . August 2014 - May 2015 2014 - 2015
Service to the Profession

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Education, Training, & Certifications

Duke Appointment History

Awards & Honors

Subject Headings

Selected Grants

Selected Publications

Academic Articles

Book Sections

Recent Courses

Presentations & Appearances

Outreach & Engaged Scholarship

Service to the Profession