Toward an Understanding of Cognitive Mapping Ability Through Manipulations and Measurement of Schemas and Stress

Paulina Maxim, a Ph.D. student of Thackery Brown, assistant professor in the School of Psychology, has published her first lead author paper in a special edition of Topics in Cognitive Science. The edition is dedicated to individual differences in spatial navigation ability, and Maxim's paper reviews current knowledge on spatial schemas in navigation, and discusses future research opportunities. (Schemas are patterns of thought or behavior that help organize information.) A key focus of Maxim's review is the impact of psychological stress on spatial memory and navigation. Maxim researches cognition and brain science in Thackery's Memory-Affect-Planning (MAP) Lab.