Dr Vanessa Loaiza
School of Psychology
Senior Lecturer
+44 114 222 6556
Full contact details
School of Psychology
Interdisciplinary Centre of the Social Sciences (ICOSS)
219 Portobello
Sheffield
S1 4DP
- Profile
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I am a cognitive developmental psychologist. My research broadly concerns human memory across the adult lifespan. I am particularly interested in how we keep information in mind from moment to moment (working memory) and how that information is retrieved long after it has left our immediate awareness (long-term memory).
I use a range of behavioural paradigms and statistical/computational modelling methods to investigate questions concerning how factors like attention and prior knowledge influence working memory, how working memory processes impact retrieval from long-term memory, and how these processes vary in healthy older age.
I also am interested in individual differences in working memory, long-term memory, and higher-order cognition more broadly (such as intelligence and executive functions) and how we update information in memory, especially in a world full of misinformation. I am also passionate about open science and enjoy using Bayesian inference to address my research questions.
- Qualifications
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- 2007 - BA, Psychology - Loyola Marymount University, USA
- 2010 - MS, Cognitive Psychology - Colorado State University, USA
- 2012 - PhD, Cognitive Psychology - Colorado State University, USA
- Research interests
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- Working Memory
- Long-Term Memory
- Cognitive Ageing
- Memory updating
- Meta-cognition
- Cognitive modelling
I will be accepting applications for a PhD position starting October 2024.
- Publications
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Journal articles
- Evidence Against Effects of Cultural Group and Prior Knowledge on Feature Binding in Working Memory. Journal of Cognition, 7(1), 62.
- An overview of the hallmarks of cognitive aging. Current Opinion in Psychology, 56, 101784-101784.
- Are latent working memory items retrieved from long-term memory?. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 17470218231217723.
- What you don’t know can’t hurt you: Retro-cues benefit working memory regardless of prior knowledge in long-term memory. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 1-12.
- Testing can enhance episodic memory updating in younger and older adults.. Psychology and Aging, 38(7), 656-669.
- Planning engagement with web resources to improve diet quality and break up sedentary time for home-working employees: A mixed methods study.. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 28(4), 224-238.
- Language learning aptitude in older adults. Journal of the European Second Language Association, 7(1), 1-15.
- Examining the role of attention during feature binding in visuospatial working memory. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 1-12.
- How does Working Memory Promote Traces in Episodic Memory?. Journal of Cognition, 6(1), 4.
- Are facet-specific task trainings efficient in improving children’s executive functions and why (they might not be)? A multi-facet latent change score approach. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 227, 105602-105602.
- Fake news reminders and veracity labels differentially benefit memory and belief accuracy for news headlines. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 21829.
- The eyes don’t have it: Eye movements are unlikely to reflect refreshing in working memory. PLOS ONE, 17(7), e0271116-e0271116.
- Elaborative strategies contribute to the long-term benefits of time in working memory. Journal of Memory and Language, 117, 104205-104205.
- The long-term consequences of retrieval demands during working memory. Memory & Cognition, 49(1), 112-126.
- Distinguishing the Impact of Age on Semantic and Nonsemantic Associations in Episodic Memory. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 76(4), 722-731.
- Semantic Relatedness Corrects the Age-Related Binding Deficit in Working Memory and Episodic Memory. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 75(9), 1841-1849.
- Dissociating refreshing and elaboration and their impacts on memory. NeuroImage, 199, 585-597.
- An age-related deficit in preserving the benefits of attention in working memory.. Psychology and Aging, 34(2), 282-293.
- Where working memory meets long-term memory: The interplay of list length and distractors on memory performance.. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 45(8), 1455-1472.
- Is refreshing in working memory impaired in older age? Evidence from the retro‐cue paradigm. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1424(1), 175-189.
- What is attentional refreshing in working memory?. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1424(1), 19-32.
- Covert retrieval in working memory impacts the phenomenological characteristics remembered during episodic memory. Consciousness and Cognition, 57, 20-32.
- Maintenance of item and order information in verbal working memory. Memory, 25(8), 953-968.
- Corrigendum. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 28(6), 770-771.
- Using the process dissociation procedure to estimate recollection and familiarity in working memory: An experimental and individual differences investigation. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 27(7), 844-854.
- Long-term semantic representations moderate the effect of attentional refreshing on episodic memory. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 22(1), 274-280.
- The Influence of Age-Related Differences in Prior Knowledge and Attentional Refreshing Opportunities on Episodic Memory. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 70(5), 729-736.
- Assessing Working Memory Capacity Through Time-Constrained Elementary Activities. The Journal of General Psychology, 141(2), 98-112.
- The influence of aging on attentional refreshing and articulatory rehearsal during working memory on later episodic memory performance. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 20(4), 471-493.
- Rapid communication: The fate of being forgotten: Information that is initially forgotten is judged as less important. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 65(12), 2281-2287.
- Temporal–contextual processing in working memory: Evidence from delayed cued recall and delayed free recall tests. Memory & Cognition, 40(2), 191-203.
- Correcting fake news headlines after repeated exposure: memory and belief accuracy in younger and older adults. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 9(1).
- JOLs Impact Item Memory but not Source Memory: Insights into JOL Reactivity using a Multinomial Model. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition.
- Active maintenance in working memory reinforces bindings for future retrieval from episodic long-term memory. Memory & Cognition.
- Explaining age differences in working memory: The role of updating, inhibition, and shifting.. Psychology & Neuroscience, 12(2), 191-208.
- Does limited working memory capacity underlie age differences in associative long-term memory?. Psychology and Aging, 34(2), 268-281.
- The role of semantic representations in verbal working memory.. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 44(6), 863-881.
- Does Controlling for Temporal Parameters Change the Levels-of-Processing Effect in Working Memory?. Advances in Cognitive Psychology, 12(1), 2-9.
- The influence of levels of processing on recall from working memory and delayed recall tasks.. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 37(5), 1258-1263.
- Grants
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"Unraveling underlying working memory elements to address age-related decline" - PI, Experimental Psychology Society, £9782
- Teaching activities
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- PSY2004 Developmental Psychology II
- PSY331 Extended Essay in Psychology
- PSY346 Research Project in Psychology
- PSY6308 Computational Neuroscience II
- Professional activities and memberships
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I am an associate editor at Memory and a consulting editor at Journal of Cognition, Journal of Memory and Language, and Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. I am an executive committee member of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCOP) and a fellow of the Psychonomic Society. I am also a member of the Experimental Psychology Society (EPS) and Women in Cognitive Science (WiCS). Within the psychology department, I am director of PGT recruitment.
- PhD Opportunities
I am happy to receive applications for PhD study in my area of research.
We advertise PhD opportunities (Funded or Self-Funded) on FindAPhD.com
See PhD studentship opportunities with Vanessa Loaiza.
For further information, please see the department PhD Opportunities page.