Anne Cleary
Associate Professor
Cognitive Psychology
Phone: (970) 491-7701
Office Location: A21 Clark
Email: Anne.Cleary@colostate.edu
Web Page: http://lamar.colostate.edu/~acleary/AnneCleary.htm
PhD: Case Western Reserve University, 2001
Area of Specialization: Human recognition memory, metamemory, knowledge representation.
Teaching Courses:
Office Hours:
Monday- 2:00 - 3:00 | Tuesday- | Wednesday- 2:00 - 3:00 | Thursday- | Friday- | By Appointment-
Current Research: I study human memory. My primary research interest is in people's ability to recognize items and events as having been experienced previously. In particular, I am interested in familiarity-based discrimination between recently and non-recently presented items. One branch of my research attempts to identify what features of an item or situation can produce feelings of familiarity. For example, do geometric shapes contribute to feelings of familiarity with pictures and objects? Do phonemes contribute to feelings of familiarity with spoken words? Can rhythm contribute to feelings of familiarity with songs? Another branch of my research attempts to relate feelings of familiarity with tip-of-the-tongue experiences (when people feel that a word is in memory, but cannot access the word), and with déjà vu experiences (when people have a feeling of having been someplace before, with no recollection of when).
Vita: cleary.pdf
Recent Publications
Cleary, A. M. (in press) Recognition memory, familiarity, and déjà vu experiences. Current Directions in Psychological Science.
*Langley, M. M., Cleary, A. M., *Woods, J. & *Kostic, B. (2008) Picture recognition without picture identification: A method for assessing the role of perceptual information in familiarity-based picture recognition. Acta Psychologica, 127, 103-113.
Cleary, A. M. (2008) Using wireless response systems to replicate behavioral research findings in the classroom. Teaching of Psychology, 35, 42-44.
Cleary, A. M., Winfield, M. M., & Kostic, B. (2007) Auditory recognition without identification. Memory & Cognition, 35, 1869-1877.
Lab
Cleary Memory Lab: This laboratory engages in the scientific study of human memory. There are many ways to study human memory. In our laboratory, we conduct experiments aimed at investigating various human memory processes. In a typical experimental session, a research participant sits down at a computer and is first presented with a list of items (such as pictures or words) to remember. Then, his or her memory for these items is tested with a computerized test. This particular method is useful for examining many aspects of memory, such as how people recognize that something was experienced recently, or what sorts of activities lead memory to be better or worse. In this laboratory, the list learning method is primarily aimed at studying familiarity-based recognition: We are interested in the feelings of familiarity that can allow a person to recognize something as having been experienced previously. A classic example of familiarity-based recognition is when a person recognizes another person's face as familiar, but cannot recollect the details of when or where the face was seen before. Much of the research in this lab attempts to address what features of an event or situation can give rise to feelings of familiarity, and what types of mental processes underlie the sense that something is familiar.
Location: Clark Hall: A wing, Rm A003a, b, c, d & e.
Research Projects
Recognition without Cued Recall: The recognition without cued recall effect (Cleary, 2004) is the finding that people can recognize memory test cues as resembling earlier presented items, in the absence of an ability to recall the earlier presented items. Our laboratory uses the recognition without cued recall method as one of our techniques for studying familiarity-based recognition.
Tip-of-the-Tongue Experiences: Tip-of-the-Tongue Experiences (TOTs) may relate to familiarity-based recognition. People can detect the fact that a word was presented recently, without being able to access to the word itself from memory.