Training in the Psychology of Aging
Opportunities are available for predoctoral and postdoctoral study in the program on Cognitive Aging in a Social Context, funded by the National Institute on Aging. The training reflects a multidisciplinary approach to the study of normal aging with special emphasis on the integration of cognitive and social perspectives.
Faculty sponsors in the Psychology Department include: Derek Isaacowitz, Margie Lachman, Pat Tun, Art Wingfield and Leslie Zebrowitz. Other useful training resources are at the Heller School at Brandeis, where there are several other faculty members specializing in aging and our National Policy Center for Women and Aging is housed. In addition, we have a cooperative agreement for training sites with the Boston V.A. Normative Aging Study (NAS), and the Roybal Center for Research in Applied Gerontology in the Boston area.
Faculty Research
Angela Gutchess's research focuses on the effects of aging and culture on memory and social cognition. She uses both behavioral and neuroimaging (fMRI) methods to investigate the ways that life experiences and biology impact the use of strategies and the recruitment of neural regions. More information can be found on her Web site.
Derek Isaacowitz's research focuses on the links between emotion and cognition in adulthood and old age. In particular, he uses eye tracking techniques to investigate the attentional underpinnings of individual and age differences in emotion regulation. More information can be found on his Web site.
Margie E. Lachman's research focuses on personality and cognitive changes in middle and later adulthood. Lachman is currently exploring how the sense of control is related to memory, physical activity and health in laboratory studies and in a large national survey. She also is interested in designing intervention programs to enhance the sense of control over memory and physical exercise in later life. For more information please visit the Lifespan Lab Web site.
Patricia Tun, who works in close collaboration with Art Wingfield, has a special interest in the effects of background noise on comprehension and memory for spoken language in older adults. She is especially interested in the question of why multiple speakers talking at the same time has a greater negative impact on older adults' recall of what has been heard than is the case for younger adults.
Arthur Wingfield's research focuses on effects of age-related changes in hearing and cognitive function in older adulthood, and their impact on language comprehension and memory. Of particular interest in his work are the compensatory operations older adults may employ to maintain good levels of language understanding.
Leslie Zebrowitz's research concerns the role of physical qualities in age stereotypes. More specifically, 1) What contribution do nonverbal physical qualities (facial appearance, voice, gait) make to age stereotypes? 2) Why do perceivers respond as they do to these physical qualities? 3) What social and psychological consequences result from the contribution of physical qualities to age stereotypes?