Rice University, 1991
Professor, Cognitive/Experimental Psychology
Office Hours: by appointment
Phone Number: (631) 632-7841
e-mail: suparna.rajaram@stonybrook.edu
Website: http://www.psychology.stonybrook.edu/srajaram-/
See also: Culture and Cognition
Areas of Interest: Memory, amnesia, cognitive neuroscience, recollective experience, memory in the social context
Current Research:
Dr. Rajaram's research focuses on memory and amnesia in humans. She is particularly interested in the differences between implicit and explicit memory, the distinction between episodic and semantic memory, and the contribution of specific cognitive processes to memory and learning.
On one hand, she examines the nature of conscious recollective experience, a cognitive ability that seems unique to humans. On the other hand, she is deeply interested in the process by which people (with intact memory or with amnesia) acquire new knowledge even in the absence of an awareness of such learning.
In addition to studying facilitatory effects in memory, she is also studying the role of attention, and in particular of deselection processes, in modulating long-term memory.
More recently, she has also begun experimental studies on the impact of social and interpersonal context on individual memory.
Representative Publications:
Rajaram, S., Hamilton, M., & Bolton, A. (2002). Distinguishing states of awareness from confidence during retrieval: Evidence from amnesia. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 2, 227-235.
Rajaram, S., Srinivas, K, & Travers, S.(2001). Effects on attention on perceptual implicit memory. Memory & Cognition, 29, 920-930.
Rajaram, S., & Coslett, H.B. (2000). Acquisition and transfer of new verbal information in amnesia: Retrieval and neuroanatomical constraints. Neuropsychology, 14, 427-455.
