Eda Mizrak

I am a memory researcher, and my research investigates two fundamental aspects of human memory—working memory and long-term memory (LTM)—using multiple research methods. Understanding how humans make and retain memories over the short and long term helps us analyze other cognitive functions such as how we learn or make decisions. I use a diverse methodological toolkit, including behavioural experiments, computational modeling, and cognitive neuroscience.

My current research program seeks to uncover what factors help and expands the limits of WM and how individuals differ in benefiting from these factors. My previous research showed that people can preserve more information in their WM when a) they give a pause (i.e., free time) during encoding new information in WM, b) the information consists of familiar chunks (e.g., a well-known number sequence such as 911 in a phone number). My current research focuses on examining the underlying mechanisms of these two benefits further using neuroscientific methods and cognitive modeling. My future research aims to examine individual differences in the observed benefits.