Professor Eddy Davelaar's Inaugural Lecture - The Specious Present: A Constant Within the Web of Memory-Cognition Interactions
When:
—
Venue:
Birkbeck Clore Management Centre
In this lecture, I will take you on a journey of memory research I have been involved in over the last two and half decades and I will focus on the many memory-cognition interactions from that research.
When taken together, a slightly different conceptualisation of memory emerges, one where episodic and semantic memory are both on a continuum and are separate systems: a fuzzy-modular perspective. In so doing, the seemingly identical constructs of primary memory, short-term memory, and working memory refer to different aspects of immediate memory. It is here where "the specious present" comes in and presents itself as a constant, yet dynamic, structure within which the contents of consciousness reside.
Biography
Prof Eddy Davelaar holds degrees in Biological Health Sciences and in Psychology from Maastricht University, and a PhD from Birkbeck, University London. His early work was on the topic of computational modelling of human memory. After a postdoctoral period in the United States involving modelling perception, attention, and language, he returned to Birkbeck as a Lecturer in 2006, where he is currently a full Professor of Psychology and Applied Neuroscience. He conducts research on cognitive ageing, with a particular focus on supporting healthy ageing and preventing/slowing cognitive decline. This work involves experimental testing and population level statistical analyses. Ongoing work is in collaboration with the target audience with whom he codesigns intervention studies. Another area of his research involves neurofeedback for enhancing cognitive performance and mental wellbeing. Within that topic, he leads the way for understanding the neurocognitive mechanisms involved in successful brain training.
Current Expertise and Research Interest: Cognitive science with focus on attention, memory, and decision-making, using experimental, differential, experiential, and computational methodologies. Applying this knowledge to intervention research to maintain and improve mental health in clinical and non-clinical populations.
This inaugural lecture will be followed by a drinks reception in the Clore foyer.
Contact name:
Chris Fray