One of the most fascinating things about memory is that while it enables us to recollect a vast array of our experiences with great vividness and accuracy, at the same time memory is an imperfect system fraught with errors and distortions. How is it that people remember events that never happened, why do they forget events that did happen, and when do they misremember details about what they experienced or how they experienced it? The imperfections in memory are not random, but follow predictable patterns based on cognitive principles. My research program aims to understand the cognitive processes involved in memory and information processing and how various mental processes give rise to both correct remembering as well as errors and distortions.
I also study cognition in applied contexts, such as how people are able to intentionally forget information when they are told to (as when jurors are asked to disregard information) and how jury members weigh into their verdicts information regarding disputed confessionsUndergraduates can gain valuable experience in both
supervised
and independent research in my Memory and Cognition Lab at Fairfield
University.
If you are interested in learning more about this, please contact
me:
lhenkel@mail.fairfield.edu
PUBLICATIONS
Please email me if you would like a reprint of any of my research
articles. Email me at lhenkel@mail.fairfield.edu
Abenavoli, R., & Henkel, L. A. (in
press). Remembering when we last
remembered our
childhood experiences: Effects of age and context on retrospective
metamemory
judgments. Applied Cognitive Psychology.
Henkel, L. A. (2009). Doing
justice to the complexities of interrogations. Book
review of R.A. Leo (Ed.), Police interrogation and American justice. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23, 299-300.
Henkel ,
L. A., & Carbuto, M. (2008). How source
misattributions arise from verbalization, mental imagery, and pictures.
In M.
Kelley (Ed.), Applied memory.
Henkel, L. A. (2007).
The benefits and costs of repeated memory tests for young and
older adults.
Psychology and Aging, 22, 580-595.
Henkel, L. A., & Mather, M. (2007). Memory attributions for choices:
How beliefs shape our memories. Journal of
Memory and Language, 57, 163-176.
Benney, K. E., & Henkel, L. A. (2006). The role of free choice in memory biases for
past decisions. Memory, 14,
1001-1011.
Henkel, L. A. (2006).
Increasing student involvement in cognitive aging research. Educational Gerontology, 32, 505-516.
Henkel, L. A. (2005).
False memories. In N. J. Salkind
(Ed.), Encyclopedia of human development.
Henkel, L. A., & Coffman, K. A.
(2004). Memory
distortions in coerced false confessions:
A source monitoring framework analysis.
Applied Cognitive Psychology, 18,
567-588.
Henkel, L. A. (2004). Erroneous memories
arising from
repeated attempts to remember. Journal
of Memory and Language, 50, 26-46.
Henkel, L. A., Franklin, N., &
Johnson, M. K.
(2000). Cross-modal confusions between perceived and imagined events.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,
26,
321-335.
Henkel, L. A., & Franklin, N. (1998). Reality monitoring of physically
similar and conceptually related objects. Memory and Cognition, 26,
659-673.
Henkel, L. A., & Franklin, N. (1998).
Comments on
“Measuring memory for source: Some theoretical assumptions and
technical
limitations.” Memory and Cognition, 26, 678-680.
Henkel, L. A., Johnson, M. K.,
& De
Leonardis, D. M. (1998). Aging and source monitoring: Cognitive
processes and
neuropsychological correlates. Journal
of Experimental Psychology: General, 127,
251-268.
Mather, M., Henkel, L. A., &
Johnson, M.
K. (1997). Evaluating characteristics of false memories. Memory and
Cognition, 25, 826-837.
Franklin, N., Henkel, L. A., & Zangas,
T.
(1995). Parsing surrounding space into regions. Memory and Cognition, 23,
397-407.