Memory Lab | Ryerson University

Lab Members

The Memory Lab at Ryerson will be recruiting new graduate students for Fall 2022.

Please email Dr. Szpunar to inquire.

Principal Investigator

I completed my doctoral training at Washington University in St. Louis in 2009 and my postdoctoral training at Harvard University in 2015. My research focuses on elucidating the cognitive and neural mechanisms that give rise to adaptive uses of memory in daily life.

Curriculum Vitae

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Google Scholar Citations

Graduate Students 

Growing up as an autistic, I felt great disparity between my cognition and that of others, leading to my fascination with how people think and how thoughts affect behavior. I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto in 2015. I then volunteered as a research assistant in the Multisensory Systems Neuroscience Lab at York University under the supervision of Dr. Joe DeSouza. I am an incoming first-year graduate student.​

I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2015 where I conducted my thesis project under the supervision of Dr. Benjamin Storm. I am currently a fifth year graduate student conducting research on collective cognition.

I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2018 where I conducted my thesis project under the supervision of Dr. Carolyn Parkinson. I am currently a second year graduate student conducting research on group dynamics in future thinking.

Undergraduate Thesis Students 

I am entering my fourth year at Ryerson University with a major in psychology and a minor in music. I am interested in exploring the effects of music on memory and related cognitive abilities. In my spare time, I enjoy writing and performing music which is often shared with the patients of St. John's Rehab Hospital as a part of their music therapy program.

I am entering my fourth year of Ryerson's psychology program with a minor in criminology. I am interested in exploring how psychology interacts with the legal system. I also enjoy writing and acting and am involved with a community theatre at Ryerson.

I am entering my fourth year at Ryerson University with a major in psychology and a minor in history. I am particularly interested in the clinical applications of cognitive psychology, as well as psychological assessment. Outside of school I enjoy writing, visual art, and playing the drums.

Visiting Scholars

Lisa Murphy (Fall 2018) - University College Cork (Ireland)

Trish Varao-Sousa (Spring 2018) - University of British Columbia

Jason Chan (Fall 2017) - Iowa State University (USA)

Müge Özbek (Fall 2016) - Aarhus University (Denmark)​

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Former Graduate Students

Vannia Puig (MA, 2019) - Current Position - Researcher, Department of Defense, Air force (USA)

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Former Undergraduate Research Assistants

Elizabet Bonilla, Izabela Brzoza, Martina Cancelo, Chloe Carl, Daniela Chacon, Ben Chaloupka, Tony Cossidente, Matthew Escalona, Araceli Estrada, Chiara Faust, Aurelie Ganem, Loan Huynh, Asfia Kahn, Jennifer Kargol, Constantina Mastoracos, Zachary McKenzie, Jessica Ngiam, Nicholas Pfahler, Sara Raja, Yaniz Rayo, Vritti Samtani​, Evan Self, Breyauna Spencer, Jadisha Vargas, Haley Lerand, Brittany Hamling, Lindy Leonard, Noor Saffarini

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Collaborators (past and present)

Donna Rose Addis, University of Toronto

Roland Benoit, Max Plank Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences

Jason Chan, Iowa State University

Felipe De Brigard, Duke University

Stan Klein, University of California, Santa Barbara

Kathleen McDermott, Washington University in St. Louis

Kourken Michaelian, Université Grenoble Alpes

Henry Roediger, Washington University in St. Louis

Daniel Schacter, Harvard University

Nathan Spreng, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital

Peggy St. Jacques, University of Alberta, Edmonton

Piotr Szpunar, University at Albany, SUNY

Endel Tulving, University of Toronto