Stephanie Travers
Biography
Education:Â Ph.D., State University of New York-Stony Brook; M.A., Stony Brook University, Stony Brook; B.A., University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth; A.A., Bristol Community College, Fall River
Stephanie Travers has been a professor in the Psychology Department since 2006, focusing on memory, executive control processes, and aging and cognitive processes. Some of her course topics include General Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Cognitive Processes, and Psychology of Aging.
During January Term, Professor Travers leads a course on the study of adult development and aging. The course includes the physical, cognitive, and social changes that effect individuals aged 60 to 95, and examines some current findings in aging research.
PSYC 130 General Psychology
An introduction to the field of psychology intended for both majors and non-majors. Topics covered include social processes, personality, emotional disorders, development, thinking, testing, learning, motivation, perception, psychobiology, and animal behavior.
PSYC 185 Young as You Feel: Psyc Aging
This seminar will introduce students to the study of adult development and aging. We will discuss the physical, cognitive, and social changes that effect individuals aged 60 to 95, and examine some current findings in aging research. In addition, we will consider how external influences contribute to ageism and shape our expectations of growing older in the 21st Century.
PSYC 240 Developmental Psychology
Developmental psychology is the branch of psychology that studies how people change as they age. This course focuses on the description, prediction, and explanation of physical, cognitive, and psychosocial aspects of age-related change, from conception to old age.
PSYC 245 Psychology of Aging
This course will explore the psychological aspects of growing older in the 21st century. Students will be introduced to the current theories in aging research and will gain an understanding of the methodologies used to study the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes in individuals over the age of sixty. The lectures, readings, and discussions will address a variety of topics including what constitutes normal aging, memory impairments, how individuals cope with illness and loss, and frameworks for preserving physical and mental health.
- Ph.D., Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 2004
- M.A., Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 2002
- B.A., University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, MA, 1999
- A.A., Bristol Community College, Fall River, MA, 1996
- Implicit memory
- Executive control processes
- Aging and cognitive processes
- Conscious experience of memory
- Memory for emotional information
- Social cognition
I am interested in different types of memory and in how we use these forms of memory in our daily lives. The distinction between implicit and explicit memory and the various factors that influence these types of memory guide much of my research. In particular, I am interested in how the information we try to ignore impacts our memory for what we are actually trying to remember. (This question is particularly relevant for all of us who multitask!)
A second area of research centers on executive control, or those processes that order, coordinate and guide attention, as well as memory and actions. I am interested in how these processes (re)adjust when we make errors, and in how executive control processes change as we grow older.
Another line of research concerns I have is the qualitative conscious experience of memory. Specifically, I am interested in whether our memory for highly emotional material consists of re-experiencing the first time we saw the information, or whether this memory is based on our familiarity with the emotion itself.
Recently, I have become interested in implicit attitudes; I have started to examine issues related to environmental concerns and attitudes that stigmatize individuals who have a mental illness.