Dr Emma Ward

My research surrounds human memory and cognitive aging. I am particularly interested in the relationship between explicit (e.g., recognition) and implicit (e.g., priming) memory, and the effect of ageing on these forms of memory.  

I am also interested in factors that affect memory processing, including incidental versus intentional encoding, attention, processing, context reinstatement, and temporal expectation. I primarily use experimental behavioural methods to address mechanistic questions about the operations of memory, but employ EEG in collaboration with colleagues in the Jones, Silas, & Ward lab to examine the neural basis of effects on memory.

Enquiries from potential PhD or MSc by research applicants who wish to undertake research in one of these areas are welcome.

Other roles:

REF2021 Deputy Coordinator for UoA4

Middlesex Psychology Department Leadership Team: Director of Research, 2017-Present

External Examiner, Second Year BSc Psychology, UCL, 2019-2023

Member of the Experimental Psychology Society (EPS)

Member of the European Cognitive Aging Society (EUCAS)

Specialist journal reviewer: Psychology and Aging; Memory; Journal of Alzheimer's disease; Memory and Cognition; Frontiers in Psychology; Journal of Memory and Language; Nature Scientific Reports

Associate  Editor, Frontiers in Cognition (2014-2016)

Review Editor, Frontiers in Psychology, Psychology of Aging (2021-Present)

PhD Supervision:

I welcome enquires from prospective PhD students with an interest in undertaking research on memory or cognitive ageing. Of particular interest are topics around explicit (conscious, declarative) and implicit (unsoncsious, nondeclarative) memory, including changes in these forms of memory with age. I'm also interested in memory processing, and the effects of attention, processing, context, and temporal expectation. 

MSc by Research in Cognitive Neuroscience:

Operated through the Jones, Silas, & Ward Lab, we welcome enquiries from prospective students. Broad staff expertise and techniques mean that a range of topics are possible. Further information here. 

Current & Past Research Students:

Director of Studies for PhD student Shadi Shirazi (Effects of attention andprocessing style on memory encoding in aging: An EEG investigation)