Overview
Memories provide a record of our past experiences that contributes to our understanding of who we are. However, they can also serve as “building blocks” for forms of flexible cognition including future event imagination, reasoning, and creativity. Using behavioral and neuroimaging methods, I examine how improvements in memory processes contribute to the development of these other important abilities. I seek to not only understand their development, function, and intersection, but also how we might leverage this knowledge to promote positive outcomes in children from diverse backgrounds.
PLEASE NOTE: I moved to the Psychology Department at the University of Illinois Chicago this fall, where I have started the FLAME (Future, Learning, And MEmory) Lab! I am recruiting a graduate student to start fall 2024, as well as a lab manager to start January 2024. Please reach out if you have questions about either opportunity or the application process – I would love to hear from you!
Research
Development of a flexible episodic memory system
Episodic memory supports not only our ability to remember individual events, but also forms of flexible cognition that benefit from remembering multiple events. How discrete events are encoded, organized, and retrieved relative to one another thus impacts these other abilities. Part of my research examines developmental differences in these relational features of episodic memory and the neurocognitive mechanisms that underlie them. Some specific questions include:
- How do children develop the ability to encode and retrieve relations between memories?
- Are there developmental differences in how relations between events are represented at the neural level?
- How does the encoding and retrieval context impact the ease with which memories of related events are accessed across development?
TEAM
Publications
Vale, G., Coughlin, C., & Brosnan, S. (in press). The importance of thinking about the future in culture and cumulative cultural evolution. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.
Coughlin, C., Ben-Asher, E., Roome, H.E., Varga, N.L., Moreau, M., Schneider, L., & Preston, A.R. (2022). Interpersonal family dynamics relate to hippocampal CA subfield structure. Frontiers in Neuroscience. [PDF]
Coughlin, C., Nissel, J., Kelly, K., Clegg, J.M., Li, H., & Woolley, J.D. (2022). Cross-cultural sensitivity to context when reasoning about the impossible. Proceedings of the 44th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. [PDF]
Coughlin, C., Prabhakar, J., D’Esposito, Z., Thigpen, B., & Ghetti, S. (2022). Future-oriented thought and math achievement in children. Cognitive Development. [PDF]
Resources for Students
HOW TO Get involved in research as an undergraduate student
Getting your first position as an undergraduate research assistant in a lab can be a daunting task. I remember not knowing where to begin! My intent for this video is to demystify the process, and to help you get a research position that is fulfilling and that will help you along your career path – whether it be in acadamia, industry, or something else entirely! Best of Luck – You’ve got this!