The overall goal of my research is to understand how individuals learn and remember information and how these processes are affected by aging. In particular, my research is focused on 1) cognitive control and explicating the factors that affect the choice of effective strategies during learning, and 2) age-related cognitive constraints and explicating the limits of cognitive function in different aged adults. For example, recently completed and ongoing studies carried out with students and colleagues in the Adult Cognition Lab examine the factors that affect the efficiency of strategic and associative processes during skill learning in younger and older adults, the similarities and differences between associative memory and skill learning in younger and older adults, and age-related differences in the use of recollection and familiarity processes in memory and skill learning.

Onyper, S. V., Hoyer, W. J., & Cerella, J. (2008). Effects of item difficulty on the retrieval of solutions during cognitive skill acquisition: Age differences. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 15, 358-383.

Buchler, N. E. G., Hoyer, W. J., & Cerella, J. (2008). Rules and more rules: The effects of multiple tasks, extensive training, and aging on task-switching performance. Memory & Cognition, 36.

Verhaeghen, P., & Hoyer, W. J. (2007). Aging, focus switching, and task switching in a continuous calculation task: Evidence toward a new working memory control process. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 14, 22-39.

Hoyer, W. J., Semenec, S. C., & Buchler, N. E. G. (2007). Acute alcohol intoxication impairs controlled search across the visual field. Journal of Studies of Alcohol and Drugs, 68, 748-758.

White, A. S., Cerella, J., & Hoyer, W. J. (2007). Effects of inter-item similarity on strategy transitions during cognitive skill learning in younger and older adults. Memory & Cognition, 35, 2106–2117.

NIA

Adult Cognition Lab

APA Divison 20