Shenandoah University’s One Big Question series continues its spring slate of events with a session that will explore the impact that knowledge and experience have on perception and memory.
The session, presented by Shenandoah Assistant Professor of Psychology Kimberly Newberry, Ph.D., is titled “There is More Than Meets the Eye: How Knowledge Shapes Perception and Memory, and Why This Matters for Older Adults.” The free event, which is open to the public, will take place on Thursday, March 24, at 5 p.m. in Henkel Hall, Hester Auditorium.
Some cognitive functions, like perception and memory, naturally worsen with age. During this session, Dr. Newberry will discuss the influence of prior knowledge and experience on perception and memory, and how these effects may be used to attenuate cognitive deficits in older adults.
Shenandoah University is so fortunate to have such a talented faculty, and we’re delighted Dr. Newberry has an opportunity to share recent research with SU and the broader community.”
Jonathan A. Noyalas ’01, M.A., director of SU’s McCormick Civil War Institute and member of the College of Arts and Sciences One Big Question Committee
Newberry joined the psychology department in 2020 after completing her Ph.D. in cognitive psychology at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. Her research interests broadly include event perception, comprehension and aging. More specifically, her scholarship focuses on how knowledge influences perception and memory for everyday activities, and how these processes change with age. Her recent publication, “Influences of Domain Knowledge on Segmentation and Memory,” (Memory & Cognition, 2021) investigated how expertise influences the events people perceive and their memory for specific activities, including basketball and a video game. Newberry is currently collaborating with colleagues at Kansas State University on a chapter focusing on how semantic knowledge influences older adults’ perception and memory for everyday events.
One Big Question debuted in 2019, and engages the Shenandoah campus and broader community in open, respectful and civic dialogue on critical topics of the day. The series uses a mix of invited speakers, faculty lectures, cultural performances, specially designed courses, and other events to highlight and discuss a specific question chosen for each academic year.
This year’s One Big Question series is built around the central question, Why does it matter? The series kicked off the 2021-22 academic year with four sessions in the fall and resumed this spring with a session titled “The Global War on Terror and Mass Surveillance: Racializing Muslims in the Name of Security” with Saher Selod, Ph.D., of Simmons University, on March 8.
For more information, visit https://www.su.edu/obq/.
