Faculty of the Department of Occupational Therapy Education

Joan McDowd, PhD
Professor

Lab: Grayhawk Research Laboratory

Ph.D. 1986; Psychology; University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Research Interests: Aging and cognition; Aging and selective attention; Aging and memory

The Grayhawk Research Laboratory is dedicated to study of aging and cognition. Research interests focus on age-related changes in cognitive functioning. More specifically, I am interested in attention as a fundamental aspect of information processing, and in how attention develops and changes with advancing age. There is some evidence to suggest that older adults are more susceptible to distraction than are young adults, and this distractibility could underlie a number of age- related cognitive deficits. My research is intended to describe the characteristics of attentional function in later adulthood.

Goals of this line of work include: documenting age-related changes in cognitive processes; identifying the contexts in which age-related performance differences: are present or absent; allow understanding of the changing abilities of older adults in order to maximize their potential for successful interaction with the environment.

Recent clinical interests include the role of cognition in functional impairments in aging and the diseases of aging (Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and stroke).